Will this work?”
That is the question many of our Presbyterian new church pastors
are asking about their call to begin a new faith community.
Would God call us to risk much with no guarantee of success,
no assurance that lives will be changed, and no promise of forming
the next “great” church? Absolutely! God has called
Presbyterians to preach the good news to the entire world, including
many parts of the United States where the importance of being
connected to God and others through Jesus Christ is just not
seen or readily accepted.
A few decades ago it would have been a challenge to find a
major store open on Sunday morning; now in many communities
a large retailer has more cars in its parking lot than any church.
Given a choice to stay home and read the newspaper or go somewhere
to worship, many Americans are choosing the paper. The United
States continues to change, but our need for the good news of
Jesus remains. We, as Presbyterians, must develop and support
new ways to present the good news of Jesus to reach the changing
population of the United States.
All across the United States pastors of new PC(USA) churches
are faithfully presenting the good news of Jesus to those who
have never really heard that message. Today in coffeehouses,
warehouses, once abandoned church buildings, schools, and movie
theaters, new church pastors are leading worship in a way that
is relevant to their community. There are urban, rural, and
suburban communities that are hearing the gospel in new ways
and often for the first time through the work of Presbyterian
new churches.
New church development is not a matter of success; it is a
matter of faithfulness.
—Rev. Brian Clark, Riverside Presbyterian Church, Sterling,
Virginia |
