Some years ago John Burgess wrote an essay for The Christian Century in which he described the drain on the ordinary life of the PC(USA) by coalitions with “reform” agendas for the denomination. To whichever coalition or covenant group you belonged, the dedication and resources with which you once strengthened the church for mission, service, and witness, now went into lobbies that were hungry for power, for theological dominance, or for political control. Burgess’ article was written in the ’90s. Has anyone calculated the hundreds of thousands of dollars which, since then, have been contributed to the Covenant Network, the Presbyterian Coalition, PFR, and the Confessing Church movement, and the like — in staff salaries, speakers’ fees, and travel for conferences, phone bills, office equipment, and the like? If those sums of money were prudently managed and spent, they might eliminate AIDS in a medium-sized African nation.
For years I have viewed all these groups with suspicion, and wondered why the ordinary “means of grace” in congregation, session, presbytery, and General Assembly were not enough — not enough to assist faithful Presbyterians in resolving the issues that divide us by deciding them and moving on. Why should Presbyterians waste precious time and financial resources on something that is not the church of Jesus Christ our Lord, not the body of Christ, not the royal priesthood, the chosen race, and definitely not the holy repository of Word and Sacrament? We do not baptize persons into the Covenant Network. And as for the Confessing Church — I already belong to a Confessing Church and wish that presbyteries and sessions had the gumption to hold officers accountable to our constitutional standards.
What has happened to us and other mainline churches is similar to what has happened to American cities. When those with power and money lose control of the political process and the schools — they move to the suburbs, build their own schools and systems, abandoning those without money and power to leftovers. In similar fashion, when I cannot get my way in the church, I form a group and not only try to change the church’s direction, but also relentlessly attack the church for its apostasy or its lack of courage and prophetic zeal. I then weaken the church sufficiently, so that when my group finally takes control, what do I have?
The Report of the Task Force on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church has revealed this as nothing else in recent Presbyterian history. Even with its flaws and the risks to which it calls the church, the 20 people on the TF have proven — at least to themselves — that the church of Jesus Christ is bigger than its expensive factions. They found that they all belong to something higher and larger and grander than any coalition from which they come — with an intentionally limited vision. They belong to Jesus Christ and they need each other. In addition to the General Assembly recommendations, they invite us to discover among ourselves what they have learned.
A group of young ministers, all of whom happened to be from Columbia Seminary, (See “Common Ground” articles, Outlook issue of May 30, 2005) discovered the same thing when they met together — that the Christ who called them to serve the church is more compelling and lovely than the issues that divide them.
It is foolish to expect all these coalitions to disappear, or to wither away, or to be required to hold their meetings in Harare, Zimbabwe, while the General Assembly is meeting in Birmingham, Alabama. But it is not too much to expect, for ministers and elders from the 50 largest congregations (or even the 15 largest) to follow the example of those young ministers and meet together, so that — for the good of the church of Jesus Christ under the leadership of the Spirit — they may learn that the gospel vocation that binds them together is bigger, deeper, and broader than any issue dividing them. Hey, even the Layman and the Outlook might learn to break bread together — on our knees!
Instead of a sucked-dry chalice — we need to become a cup overflowing with the wine of reconciliation and peace. Christ died — not for any group’s agenda, but for the church.
