05175
April 1, 2005   

Go fish  

Moderator says PC(USA) must cast wide net to score big catch

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE — In a post-Easter address to fishers of men and women, Elder Rick Ufford-Chase, moderator of the 216th General Assembly, said the Presbyterian Church (USA) must cast its net wide in building a “renewed” church.

     Addressing the General Assembly Council (GAC) during a regular meeting here on Wednesday, Ufford-Chase said the denomination needs to find new ways of establishing partnerships, shaping young leaders and tapping the talents of the denomination in order to energize the church like never before.

     Ufford-Chase read a passage from the Gospel of John in which Jesus tells his disciples, after a long day of trying unsuccessfully to catch fish, to cast their nets from the right side of the boat.

     “He’s standing right there,” Ufford-Chase said of Christ. “He’s on the beach and he’s saying, ‘Cast out the net.’ I guarantee if you cast them out and you really believe, we’ll fill them up. And that’s what I think being church is all about. Especially in this moment immediately after resurrection.”

     Ufford-Chase cited three examples from his travels across the denomination as “steps in the right direction” for the PC(USA). 

     “As I’ve traveled, there seems to me to be signs that in fact Jesus is identifiably in our midst, and that there’s great reason to cast the net over and over and over again,” said Ufford-Chase, who attends Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, AZ.

     The first example he cited was a new PC(USA)-sponsored accompaniment program in partnership with the Presbyterian Church of Columbia (PCC). The effort is an attempt to curb harassment, threats and intimidation against church workers in Columbia.

     The moderator commended the council for its unanimous approval last September of action that sentU.S. Christians to Colombia to work with the PCC.

     “The more we can let go and find ways to partner across the denomination with folks in presbyteries and in our churches across the denomination and follow the energy and Holy Spirit that they’re discovering in their own places, the more exciting this denomination will become,” Ufford-Chase said. “I think our Columbia partnership is a great example of that.”

     The accompaniment program is being jointly administered by the PC(USA)’s Worldwide Ministries Division (WMD) and the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program of the Congregational Ministries Division. A growing number of partners are becoming involved in various aspects of the initiative.

     The theory behind accompaniment is simple: The presence of internationals often reduces violence and harassment because abuses will be reported through the church’s worldwide networks and major human rights organizations.

     “The response from the church there has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Ufford-Chase, who visited Columbia last year. “There’s been great enthusiasm for what that partnership has meant.”

     He called the accompaniment program a “model” that he’s been trying to lift up across the PC(USA) as part of a “new kind of church” or “renewed kind of church that I believe we need to be practicing all over the place.”

     The second sign of Christ at work in the denomination, Ufford-Chase said, is greater involvement of young people in the leadership of the PC(USA). He said the denomination should encourage enthusiastic students at Presbyterian-related colleges to become church leaders — now.

     That idea came to Ufford-Chase after recent visits to 21 Presbyterian-related colleges over 10 weeks.

     “Here’s the second place where I’ve watched casting the net kind of beginning to fill up with fish,” he said.

     The moderator said he believes students are “weary” of constantly hearing that they are the future of the church. He said they want to know who is providing leadership now.

     This has the moderator searching for new ways of encouraging church officials to talk to students to emphasize that “we want your leadership, and we want it right here and now.”

     Ufford-Chase said he has told students not to wait for an invitation from the denomination but to begin immediately to begin providing leadership to the church “around whatever you discover your spiritual gifts on this campus to be.”

     The third case Ufford-Chase cited was the success of the Taco Bell boycott, which the 214th General Assembly of the PC(USA) voted to endorse in June 2002.

     The national consumer boycott was organized to protest below-poverty wages and harsh working conditions of farmworkers who pick the tomatoes used in Taco Bell products.

     The nearly four-year long boycott successfully ended earlier this month with the approval of a historic agreement between the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), Taco Bell, and Yum! Brands, Inc., the Mexican-style fast-food chain’s parent company.

     The Louisville-based worldwide corporation announced on March 8 that it will pay 1 cent more for each pound of tomatoes it buys for use in its 6,500 Taco Bell restaurants, and will buy only from growers who agree to pass the penny surcharge to the workers.

     The PC(USA) helped arrange meetings between Yum! executives and members of the CIW,a Florida-based group of farmworkers who sponsored the national consumer boycott and negotiated with leaders of the mega-corporation, which also owns Long John Silvers, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut and A&W Root Beer restaurants.

     “I believe that Presbyterians showed great courage in standing with those workers,” Ufford-Chase said. “Pastors and lay people across the country especially helped run the leadership of this movement.”