PORTLAND, Ore. – “We need to get unstuck.”
That was advice that Heath Rada, moderator of the 2014 General Assembly, gave June 17 to a committee of the 2016 General Assembly, which is embarking on the difficult work of envisioning what’s ahead for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and what Presbyterians need to do to for their church to become what they want it to be.
Rada also said: “I’m wondering if we need to set aside a bit of our idea to always do things decently and in order, and act boldly in faith.”
The Way Forward committee started its work early – two days before the assembly’s other committees will convene and the day before the assembly’s opening worship service. That’s because it’s being asked to think deeply and comprehensively about the future of the PC(USA) – about the structure and focus of a denomination that’s declining in members and budget, and for which change is already the rule of the day, presenting both challenges and great opportunity for mission and ministry.
The business before The Way Forward committee includes a series of overtures from Foothills Presbytery, which present ideas for reconfiguring how the assembly itself does its work (for example, limitations to how frequently constitutional changes could be brought to the assembly).
What’s ahead for the PC(USA)?
The committee is also considering a variety of broader conversations about the future and structure of the PC(USA). Among them:
- Reports from both the review committees for the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) and the Office of the General Assembly (OGA) – part of the regular cycle of reviewing the PC(USA)’s six agencies. Those reports ask the assembly to begin discussing the idea of at some point possibly merging PMA and OGA.
- The findings of a listening project which the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) initiated last fall, which drew responses from more than 3,400 Presbyterians.
- What Rada learned as he conducted a series of conversations this spring about the future of the PC(USA) – talking to Presbyterians about what they want the church to become.
What has Rada learned?
Rada gave the committee a preview of remarks he will make to the whole assembly June 18, describing some of what he’s learned through the listening conversations he organized around the country this spring. Among his points:
Presbyterians are hungry for the renewal of faith formation and proclamation. Increasing numbers of Americans describe themselves as “nones” (not affiliated with any religion) or “dones” (“those who’ve had it with organized religion and don’t want to be part of it any more,” as Rada described it). Yet Presbyterians have a renewed sense of urgency about the importance of proclaiming God’s word and helping form and grow people’s faith. The religiously disenchanted also are watching the PC(USA) “to see if we are genuinely looking to be different,” Rada said.
Congregational vitality is essential. However, about 80 percent of PC(USA) churches are small and many are rural, “and they’re saying they don’t feel supported adequately.” It’s not just a matter of giving money, Rada said, but also sharing resources and ideas to help small churches transform their ministry.
Some large-church pastors feel burdened by their property (“the noose around the neck”), and some don’t feel much denominational loyalty. One pastor told Rada: “I don’t give a damn about the PC(USA),” saying he cares about the people of his congregation and “I care about Jesus,” but he does not feel loyalty to the denomination itself.
The PC(USA) is essentially three subsets, Rada said: the old Southern church, with a deep sense of family and “horribly ingrown”; the old Northern church, with its own understandings and ways of doing things; and the church in the West, “where the lack of connectionalism is most profound.”
People want change from the grass roots, not top-down, and sometimes perceive a separation from the denomination’s national offices in Louisville. Despite that distrust, “all of us are Louisville,” Rada said. “All of us are the church.”
Presbyterians care about the Beloved Community. That’s language articulated by Martin Luther King Jr., envisioning a community of love and justice and racial reconciliation. Affirming social justice is a deeply held value for Presbyterians, Rada said – although they also want space to protect individual conscience. But forging the Beloved Community – fighting for justice in racial reconciliation, in economic policy, in creation justice and many other areas – is difficult, he said. Native Americans express “a profound sadness” about being taken for granted in the PC(USA) and not having the resources to support much-needed work. LGBTQ people face discrimination, and “we still have many who feel they are unwelcome in God’s house.”
Presbyterians deeply value education. That includes faith development, an educated pastorate and a strong network of camps and conference centers.
COGA findings
Eileen Lindner, representing the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly, spoke of some of what the COGA listening project revealed – recognizing that what’s happening in the PC(USA) is set in the context of broader changes in the religious landscape.
There also are internal denominational changes. For example, while many conservative congregations have left the PC(USA), the denomination also is seeing an influx of immigrants and the growth of new worshipping communities.
Among the learnings of the COGA listening project:
- One reality is an erosion of denominational identity. The days are gone when Presbyterians exclusively used Presbyterian curriculum and hymnals, went to Presbyterian camps or supported only Presbyterian mission.
- Presbyterians “like who we are” and like Presbyterian polity. “We like that we are a thinking church. We like that we can change our minds on important theological and social issues. … We like Reformed theology.”
- The PC(USA) has clusters of people who share values – including a large group of “purposeful progressives” and a smaller group (about 20 percent of the denomination) that’s disappointed and discerning, but have not left the PC(USA).
- Denominations are experiencing “creeping congregationalism” – with more focus on the local congregation and less on the national or regional structures.
The morning of June 18, commissioners and advisory delegates will have an opportunity to discuss these ideas more in an optional event, the Riverside Conversations, organized by the Office of the General Assembly. Among the questions those attending will consider:
Who are we as a church? What is our identity and our calling? What are the core issues that draw us together in discipleship?
The Way Forward committee will resume its work the evening of June 19, when all the other General Assembly committees will begin their deliberations as well.
