Moderator envisions more inclusive PC(USA)

Says church must ‘learn to do evangelism in a Presbyterian way’

by John Filiatreau

       “Our ministry is not about us,” the moderator of the 215th General Assembly added in a sermon during high-noon Communion service. “It’s about God.”

Andrews  urged the Austin students to “look for God ... enfleshed in the ordinary stuff of life.”
Photos by David Young.

       She used the occasion to challenge the Austin students to “look for God ... enfleshed in the ordinary stuff of life,” even if they sometimes hunger for “a pure and predictable set of rules, and a creed cemented in doctrine,” and are tempted to “retreat into a church separate from the world.”

       Andrews, introduced in the seminary chapel as “one of the tallest trees in the Presbyterian forest,” spoke of her vision of a “deeper, wider, bigger and more playful” church than the one we know today.

       She said she’s gotten glimpses of it in her travels: “I’ve seen the living word of Christ become flesh in some amazing ways.”

       During the mission tour, Andrews devoted more time to listening than talking. The seminary visit was her chance to say what she believes — in the sermon, in a meeting with a selected group of seminarians, and in a brief appearance before a conference of Hispanic pastors from the Synod of the Sun.    

       “We are called to be practical theologians, resident theologians,” she said, “... called to point out the presence, power and promise of God ... to be light, salt and yeast.”

       She said PC(USA) members and ministers must keep talking about the issues that divide the church, even if some prefer to “put blinders on” and withdraw from the conversation. “The last thing a counselor will tell a family to do,” she said, “is stop talking.”

Moderator Susan Andrews preached during a service at Austin Theological Seminary.

       Earlier, during an informal question-and-answer session with a selected group of students, Andrews listed the five things people most often tell her they look for in a church:

       Warmth. “They want an environment of welcome.”

       Passion. “What are we passionate about? Jesus? The poor? Worship?”

       Authenticity. “It’s time to take the masks off.”

       Jesus. “Not doctrine; they want to experience the presence of a living Jesus in our midst.”

       Mission. “All Presbyterians can get behind mission.”

       Andrews said she has discovered in her travels that the PC(USA) “has a whole lot more spiritual flexibility than we give ourselves credit for,” and that, while the church is struggling with a welter of new challenges, “the celebrations far outweigh the problems”— even if the problems attract the most attention.

       “I don’t want a church where everybody believes exactly the same,” she told the students. “I don’t want a denomination that only has people like me in it. We need to continue to be a church with our own distinctive flavor and focus and strength. ... And there’s room for theological diversity in our seminaries just as in our denominational life.”

       Because it does not reduce theology to a simple formula, she said, “The Presbyterian Church is never going to be a mega-denomination.”

       She added: “I don’t want to lose what sets us apart. I really love our polity. I love it that we do things ‘decently and in order’ through our deliberative bodies. ... We have to learn to do evangelism in a Presbyterian way. Our people don’t understand that every one of them is an evangelist. We’ve got to help our people learn to talk about their faith.”

       Andrews said staid, white Presbyterians “need to loosen up and have more joy in our worship ... get our bodies moving, get our hands clapping ... engage in creative, chaotic worship that is more about glorifying God than entertaining us.”

       Diversity was the watchword when the moderator met with about 30 members of the Association of Hispanic Pastors. She got a chorus of “Amen!” when she told them, “We must, for the sake of the kingdom of God, and to be the church of Christ, grow and expand our ministries in Hispanic and Latino communities.”

       She spoke about Honey Creek Presbyterian Church in New Carlisle, OH, near Dayton, which has 80 members, all over 65 years old. Like many other established PC(USA) churches, Honey Creek is rising to the challenge of becoming a multicultural and bilingual congregation.

       She said the PC(USA) must regard the broadening racial and cultural diversity in the church and in the United States as an opportunity.

       “We can die, literally hanging onto the old,” she said, “or we can die and rise again as a new form of the body of Christ.”

       Andrews makes a distinction between “multi-ethnic” and “multi-cultural.” She says a “multi-ethnic” church includes people of more than one culture, but does things in ways typical of the dominant group, while a truly “multi-cultural” church recognizes and celebrates all the cultures represented in the worshiping community.

       Multi-ethnic churches decline, she says, while multi-cultural ones thrive.

       To deal with the new reality, she said, “We have to figure out how to be a Pentecost church.”

       The Hispanic pastors told Andrews that the PC(USA) doesn’t have enough Spanish-speaking ministers to reach out effectively to Latino and Hispanic Christians in communities across the country. One said the area he hails from has “14 pastors — and 235 preaching places!”

       Several in the group said commissioned lay pastors could help meet the need, but there is sharp disagreement in many parts of the church about the qualifications for commissioning, many PC(USA) ministers are opposed to any flexibility or relaxation of standards, and many worshippers “believe it’s not a real church if it doesn’t have a full-time, ordained pastor.”

       They said the church is being held back by this “two-tier system.”

       “It’s a matter of getting to what works,” one pastor said. “Some churches with committed, passionate lay pastors do better than many churches that have highly educated pastors. It doesn’t make sense to require people go somewhere to be certified to do something they’re already called by the Spirit to do, and have been doing for years. ... But we get no money for the lay people.”

         “I have seen that (reliance on lay pastors) work well in churches across the country,” the moderator said. “In certain situations CLPs do better than I could ever do.”

       “I know money is important,” she added, “but money isn’t everything.”

       Andrews assured the pastors that the denomination’s “priorities have shifted, at every level,” in response to changes in the racial and cultural makeup of the church. She cited the $40 million fund-raising campaign, the Mission Initiative: Joining Hearts and Hands, as clear evidence that ministry with immigrant groups is “a major commitment” of today’s PC(USA).

       She said the church will thrive in the 21st century “if we can not get stuck in, ‘We’ve always done it this way.’”