William Sloane Coffin. James E. Andrews. Both gone. After spending a lifetime on a mission, they joined the Church Triumphant, leaving big shoes to be filled.
Coffin and Andrews each embodied a particular kind of churchmanship.
Bill Coffin was the activist: a chaplain and pulpiteer who stirred the masses to take action against what he declared to be the evils of the day. Many disagreed with his diagnoses. What he called a “disastrous cult of power” others cast as an international “police action.” While others spoke of the force of law, he warned of the law of force. He provoked much rage. He also provoked action by those he persuaded with his arguments.
Jim Andrews was the ecclesiast: as Stated Clerk, the uniter and organizer of Presbyterians of all stripes. He helped engineer the reunion of two denominations with their two different cultures. Many folks opposed his reunification efforts. What he promoted as legitimate debate others called “out of order.” What he called connectionalism others labeled syncretism. He provoked much rage. He also provoked countless Presbyterians to form new relationships with neighbor strangers.
Each one spent a lifetime on a mission. Sometimes those mission endeavors stood at counter-purposes. In particular, while Jim tried to unite folks across the aisle, Bill was driving away those on the other side of the aisle. Even Jim divided while uniting. Yet somehow they understood that they were working for the same God and Savior.
Where are the leaders who fill their shoes today? What activist pulpiteer is unleashing the faithful to break chains of injustice? Which ecclesiast is casting a 21st century vision that will reverse the centrifugal forces being felt in the church? How about other kinds of leaders–the devotionalist igniting a movement of prayer, the altruist helping us to help others, the confessionalist renewing our love for God’s word?
Heroes have fallen on hard times. As Bill, Jim, and Moses of old can attest, grumbling reverberates behind all leaders’ backs. But in no era past have criticisms come at nanosecond speeds and in megabyte portions. Complaints are assaulting not only leaders of national renown. They are crushing the vision and heart of countless pastors of churches of all sizes in communities of all kinds. Forceful opposition has retuned a prophetic voice into bland compromise, its resonance reduced to lighthearted fluff. Many a passionate proclaimer of the Good News has been reprogrammed into being a server of Pablum spirituality.
No doubt, some criticisms are deserved. A few ministers lack a strong work ethic. Some ministers underachieve in their service to the church. Most preachers confuse their own “issues” with the proclamation of the scriptures. All pastors misjudge some members’ expectations. Yet the message of grace they proclaim ought to influence the congregation’s treatment of them–at very least, confronting them in love. Following the pattern outlined by the Savior (Matt. 18) ought to guide all church members’ desires to redress ministerial shortcomings.
At the same time, the ministers and other criticism-susceptible leaders do need to muster the Spirit-inspired courage to lead, to speak up, and to reach out. As Bill Coffin and Jim Andrews modeled, leaders lead.
Those two leaders have departed our ranks. They have left voids to be filled by new leaders. They left missions to be accomplished. Any idea who might fill their shoes?
