A few years back, I visited a prominent, moderate-to-progressive downtown church in Atlanta that shall go nameless. Now, at the time I was the pastor of a New Church Development, and the friend I was with introduced me as such to one of their elders.
“Well, welcome to our church. Is it different worshipping with us?” he wanted to know.
“Pardon me?” I said, with a confused look on my face.
“Is it different worshipping with Presbyterians?”
“Uh … I am Presbyterian,” with a look on my face as intelligent as my response.
With a puzzled look of his own, the elder shot back, “So, PCA then?”
Annoyed, I immediately shot back, “No, PC(USA). Just like you.”
And then comes the moment I haven’t been able to forget. The elder, now thoroughly confused, said, “But you’re the pastor of a new church development. I didn’t know we did that. I thought that was more of an evangelical kind of thing.” He spit out the word evangelical like it was a piece of finger in his bowl of Wendy’s chili. “You know I don’t see why we even need to do it — it seems like we’ve got plenty of churches, don’t we?”
I’m not entirely sure what I said. I’d like to think it was brilliant, but I’m pretty sure the eloquence I was able to manage came out like, “Um, wait, no. Uh … that’s not quite right. Um … yeah.”
So why has this moment stuck with me these last few years? Strangely enough, I think it’s because this painful little exchange helped me stumble upon a possible solution to the division ailing our church. Like many of us, I’m hopeful that as we begin to live with the Peace, Unity, and Purity report we really will find ways to mend fences and exercise mutual forbearance towards one another.
However, as a student of Presbyterian history, I’m skeptical. Yes, the idea of declaring a scruple is modeled after the Adopting Act of 1729. And yes, Jonathan Dickenson’s appeal for tolerance eventually wins out over John Thompson’s argument for subscription. So there is certainly sound historical footing for what the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is trying to do today. But historically, did this legal remedy work? Well, no. The Adopting Act of 1729 is the leading factor in the first major division the Presbyterians faced in America when in 1745 they used New Jersey as a kind of buffer zone between Old Light Philadelphia and New Light New York. Why should today’s attempt at “scrupalism” result in anything different?
You know what would: redeveloping failing congregations and planting new ones. And not only by so-called ‘evangelical’ churches (like any church following Jesus Christ isn’t evangelical), but by moderate and progressive churches, too. See, the issues that divide Presbyterians — homosexuality, abortion, you name it, as important as they are, are just presenting issues. These are the issues that have brought us into the counselor’s office and yes, we’re angry about them, but deep down, these aren’t what is really troubling us. What really troubles us is existential — we sense our church is dying. We sense it is shrinking, and becoming less and less relevant. And we are afraid. And when we’re afraid, why it’s much more comfortable to fight about the things on the surface. Oh, it’s much easier talking about sex than about death; turn on the TV for five minutes if you don’t believe it.
So here’s a modest proposal. What if we took even a quarter of the time we spend on legal issues like drafting amendments and making motions in Presbytery and what not — what if we took this time and talked to one another about starting a new congregation or two? What if our political interest groups, groups I’m a fan of like the Covenant Network and MoreLight Presbyterians — what if we told them we want them to spend as much energy on growing new congregations as they do lobbying for legislation? What if we went to our sessions, left, right, and center and simply asked them, “What are we doing to support new church development?”
Churches aren’t immune from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs anymore than you and I are. And until we solve our fundamental attrition problem, I’m not sure we’ll be able to address the higher level issues many of us care so much about.
So we can talk about sex, but we can also talk about church development. We can do that sort of thing, you know — even in the PC(USA).
Kenneth Evers-Hood is pastor of Tualatin Church in Tualatin, Ore.
