Ortberg on the Future of Presbyterians

Warning: this may be of interest only to Presbyterians.

I was in Orlando last week for a meeting of the (new) Fellowship of Presbyterians. It’s an attempt to rededicate Presbyterian congregations to core biblical purposes. I won’t try to describe the nuts and bolts of that, which are inevitably tedious. I’ll just say that I appreciated the tone set by the leaders. They resolutely did not complain about the current denomination (PCUSA). They emphasized that they were not so interested in escaping a compromised church as in reinvigorating their own sense of mission.

My highlight, by far, was a talk by John Ortberg, pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church. (Here’s the video.) I recommend it most heartily. I particularly appreciated his evocation of a faith that is thoughtful, courteous, socially and culturally engaged, and loves Jesus. In this, he said, we really do have something important to offer our world.

In this era when “evangelical” often seems to mean simplistic, sloganeering dogmatism, I found it most encouraging to think that the kind of faith I resonate with can have great significance. Ortberg spoke to that well.

Those New Wineskins

I am a Presbyterian, and last week I represented my congregation (along with my two pastors) at a gathering of 1,900 to talk about the direction of our denomination, the PCUSA. The catalyst was a recent decision to remove any ethical standards from our constitution, thus allowing the ordination of gays (and anybody else). This prompted a February letter from seven pastors of large churches describing the state of the denomination as “deathly ill” and inviting anyone with similar concerns to the August meeting.

These seven anticipated 300 people, not nearly 2,000. The size of the response was perhaps the most notable aspect of the two-day gathering. Those who came—mostly pastors, nearly all evangelicals—appeared to have reached a turning point. There was no interest expressed in rescuing or reforming the denomination, as had been the case at other gatherings of evangelicals for decades. Instead of bad-mouthing liberals, speakers described them respectfully and appreciatively. They assumed that the denomination would continue on its course. The question was whether Presbyterians of orthodox beliefs could carve out a space to be themselves—to set themselves apart from a theologically liberal denomination in order to carry out God’s mission on earth.

Most of the discussion was about structures—proposals for new ways for evangelicals to live peaceably with (or depart peaceably from) the denomination while affirming their distinctive beliefs and mission. This is a work in progress, but it’s evidently going to happen. Here are the main points:

The Fellowship of Presbyterians will serve as an umbrella over a variety of responses. It will offer an orthodox statement of faith, and opportunities for fellowship and training. For a church like mine, it can help in a couple of ways. First, it will enable us to affirm our distinctive stance—to say, we are Presbyterians who belong to the Fellowship; you can look at the website to see what we (and many others) stand for. Second, it will help us build alliances with like-minded Presbyterians, to encourage each other and stimulate each other. With the wide theological diversity in our presbytery (the local governing body for Presbyterians) that isn’t happening. We are just too different.

Possible changes in the way presbyteries are formed. There are proposals percolating to allow churches to form presbyteries of like-minded churches. As is, churches are joined together by geographical region, regardless of their theology or sense of mission. If churches could choose presbyteries the way they choose pastors, they could form alliances of the like-minded that could work closely together. This is a work in progress. To allow such presbyteries to form would be a mind-boggling change for the denomination. It’s only going to happen if the imminence of denominational death concentrates minds.  This, more than any other proposal, would change the very nature of the denomination.

A new Presbyterian body—in essence, a new denomination. The idea is to make this new denomination a friendly, sister denomination to the PCUSA, such that churches could, if they wanted, jointly affiliate with both. (They can do that now with denominations like the Methodists or the UCC.) Other churches will undoubtedly choose to simply leave the PCUSA and join this group. The underlying suggestion is that no other Presbyterian denomination–there are several small, conservative ones–is suitable.

Does any of this really matter? Should anybody really care? Maybe not. Denominations were once a powerful organizing force, but today most American churches are independent and it’s not clear what value denominations add.

Given the discouraging environment we western Christians live in, though, there ought to be a place for mutual reinforcement and strategic cooperation. A few small denominations seem like-minded enough to offer that. (The Covenant is one example.) It’s been a long time since Presbyterians have had that experience. The hope of this Fellowship is that congregational vitality can be encouraged through structures that actually work.

New Wineskins?

I’m in Minneapolis, along with 1,900 other people, mostly pastors, in the Presbyterian Church USA. That’s a lot of people in our denominational context, which suggests a powerful groundswell of feeling. The leaders who convened The Fellowship of Presbyterians–seven pastors of large evangelical churches–have adopted a very civil, non-schismatic tone. They recognize that people are angry and sad, and that some churches will continue to leave the denomination. They are trying, however, to find new structures that can enable evangelicals to live peaceably within the boundaries of the denomination but develop distinctive structures and identity. Much of this would require the acquiescence of the denominational leaders, which it is not clear will be forthcoming, but they are talking respectfully and hoping that the atmosphere has changed.

Everybody on all sides knows that the denomination is dying fast, and will surely be dead soon unless something really different is tried. The evangelical pastors here truly appreciate much of the Presbyterian heritage they find in the denomination–they just have radical difficulties in living with the liberal direction the denomination as a whole has chosen. I suppose the larger story, if there is one, lies in the attempt to find new structures. It would require thinking differently about denominations–as less a top down command and control model, with rules and regulations holding us together, and more a bottom up structure in which people of like minds can find allies to hold them accountable in their seeking to honor God and the gospel. One pastor who is helping lead this charge said that presbyteries–our regional bodies–should be thought of more as we think of a church and its pastors. Churches and pastors in the Presbyterian church choose each other. They carefully weigh the qualities they are going to find in each other, as they will have to live with and submit to each other in the relationship. If presbyteries also could be chosen, rather than simply assigned by geography, a lot of the friction and sense of abusive power might disappear.

Can denominations be restructured in a way that allows them to regain their usefulness? That’s a stretch to imagine, but stay tuned. A lot of people at this meeting would like to find out.