After more than two years of trying, this opening phrase of the introduction to the values of the Presbytery may very well be the Vision Statement. As I read through this Mission Study time and time again, the piece that challenged me was the lack of a hard-edged statement that would cut like a two edged sword. I wanted something bold, even prophetic for our Presbytery.
But the more I read it, the more I realized the need of the still, small voice, the one Elijah heard on the mountain of God.
My last assignment in the hierarchy of the Presbytery was as the Chairperson of what started as the Financial Development Committee, which we changed to the Stewardship Committee. I learned some very startling lessons in that assignment. First, I came to understand just how culture-driven our Presbytery is. I am not talking about its own culture, I am talking about the culture that surrounds us.
FDC, Stewardship, was about the money. We made budget, we presented budget, we set priorities for the spending of the Presbytery, we had an inordinate amount of power to make or break. I quit when the idolatry got to me. It wasn't intentional, certainly not, it was insidious. The Presbytery's most basic vision was driven by the money. We had bigger fights about the 'investments', about what to do with the funds of closed churches, about how to tiptoe around the big money centers of the place. As the guy who presented the budget for a number of years, the amount of interest a line item worth a few hundred bucks could generate on the floor of Presbytery was disproportionate to what we claimed, as a body to stand for. But if money is the idol, the amount of debate and time debating came into sharp focus.
I'm going to be told I am not fair, that I am naive, whatever. I resigned from that committee when it became clear to me that I was beginning to think after the money as well. I came to realize that as chair of the moneypot, my suggestions carried weight far beyond my years. And I began to entertain thoughts of using that weight to make policy, to push for change, to get some 'real' work done for Jesus.
And I walked away. It is only now, reading this mission study, that I am daring to reflect on what my time was like and how that affected me and my work.
The wisest thing I read about before going on that committee was that the budget of an organization can tell you where its real priorities are, about where it really puts its energy. The energy follows the money.
Creating a community of trust is also of profound importance in the other cultural quagmire we've been engaged in. Our Presbytery was, roughly speaking, split 60-40 over any issue concerning gays in the church. I've been ordained for 15 years, seen a lot of dancing come down out of GA over the issue of ordaining gay people and we could call the split almost to the person every time it came to the floor of Presbytery. I've seen tears, bible pages torn out, accusations thrown, party lines built and rebuilt, anything short of someone being stoned in effigy.
What is finally shifting is that the balance of power has gone to the 60% and the 40% has been given the opening to take their marbles (and their property) and go find some other Presbyterian game to play. And no one, NO ONE, has had the courage to stand up and say that our denomination is suffering from a schism. Yes, we are in schism.
So we have now the opportunity to build a community of trust. I believe that is the community we must build if the 40 something churches of Elizabeth Presbytery are going to walk forward together.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Sunday, August 12, 2012
One of the Values of the Presbytery Tickled my Memory
"PASSION: We carry out our God-given tasks with energy, intelligence,
imagination, and love in the power of the Holy Spirit."
Passion, one of the values of our Presbytery. That is not something I have seen very often. I like it. And I like the way that it is governed. Unbridled passion can take us to places in our lives that may not reflect the love of Jesus Christ. Passion, in the current cultural concept, is often paired with words like "torrid", to describe a love affair.
The Passion of Jesus, a historic usage of the word, reflects Jesus' trial and death on the cross. In the Middle Ages, where life was brief and the plague always in the forefront of people's minds, Passion Plays, portraying the death of Jesus, were often staged, many times with brutality and pain and sorrow to make Mel Gibson's movie portrayal of Jesus' Passion pale in comparison.
The phrase in this value statement that tickled my memory was "energy, intelligence, imagination, and love", because that statement recurs in our worship on an annual basis. It is from the last of the general ordination questions for church officers: "Will you serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love?" The answer is "I will".
So the call of the Presbytery in this instance is NOT to be lazy, stupid, thick, and uncaring. (I define the opposite of love to be uncaring, not hate. That is a discussion for a future blog post). Each of these characteristics, by themselves, could apply to anything from playing music to doing church to pursuing a degree to building models.
Passion is what gives our souls fulfillment, what triggers the "WOW" factor in what we ourselves are doing.
Let me give you an example. I don't much like cello music. But I love to watch Yo Yo Ma play. The reason is the passion that is on his face as he plays. He is absorbed, sucked into the very essence of what he is giving to the audience listening to him. When I watch the passion he brings to the playing, it elevates the music to something almost magical.
What a thing to aim for in the work of the church! And, consider the value statement, we are doing the tasks God has appointed us to accomplish. Even more, we aren't flapping in the breeze on our own, but the Holy Spirit can inspire and fill us to carry out these tasks! Not just passion, but divinely appointed and driven passion!
And Passion that is not pursued for the sake of Passion. This is not the first of our values, but second to last. There is much that governs our work that can channel and focus our passion to change the world, or at least this pie-wedged chunk of New Jersey, for Jesus Christ.
Passion, one of the values of our Presbytery. That is not something I have seen very often. I like it. And I like the way that it is governed. Unbridled passion can take us to places in our lives that may not reflect the love of Jesus Christ. Passion, in the current cultural concept, is often paired with words like "torrid", to describe a love affair.
The Passion of Jesus, a historic usage of the word, reflects Jesus' trial and death on the cross. In the Middle Ages, where life was brief and the plague always in the forefront of people's minds, Passion Plays, portraying the death of Jesus, were often staged, many times with brutality and pain and sorrow to make Mel Gibson's movie portrayal of Jesus' Passion pale in comparison.
The phrase in this value statement that tickled my memory was "energy, intelligence, imagination, and love", because that statement recurs in our worship on an annual basis. It is from the last of the general ordination questions for church officers: "Will you serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love?" The answer is "I will".
So the call of the Presbytery in this instance is NOT to be lazy, stupid, thick, and uncaring. (I define the opposite of love to be uncaring, not hate. That is a discussion for a future blog post). Each of these characteristics, by themselves, could apply to anything from playing music to doing church to pursuing a degree to building models.
Passion is what gives our souls fulfillment, what triggers the "WOW" factor in what we ourselves are doing.
Let me give you an example. I don't much like cello music. But I love to watch Yo Yo Ma play. The reason is the passion that is on his face as he plays. He is absorbed, sucked into the very essence of what he is giving to the audience listening to him. When I watch the passion he brings to the playing, it elevates the music to something almost magical.
What a thing to aim for in the work of the church! And, consider the value statement, we are doing the tasks God has appointed us to accomplish. Even more, we aren't flapping in the breeze on our own, but the Holy Spirit can inspire and fill us to carry out these tasks! Not just passion, but divinely appointed and driven passion!
And Passion that is not pursued for the sake of Passion. This is not the first of our values, but second to last. There is much that governs our work that can channel and focus our passion to change the world, or at least this pie-wedged chunk of New Jersey, for Jesus Christ.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Mission Study: Part 1-What is NOT posted.
Two concentrations of information from the Mission Study were not posted in the blog. The first are the two Scripture texts that frame the Calling and Values Statements, to which I will return in moment. The second, more extensive, is the breakdown of the teams, laying out their purposes, Book of Order citations to their form and function, responsibilities, and membership. I do not believe that is central to the discussion at hand.
First, the Scriptures. Above the Calling, John 15:12 is quoted, "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I first loved you." The second pair of passages are on the bottom: Matthew 22: 37-39 and Matthew 28: 19, The Great Commandment and the Great Commission listed in the Calling: "You shall love the Lord with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind". This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like this, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Mt. 22: 37-39) "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you." (Mt. 28:19).
The Calling Statement itself is: "As a Christ-centered community of congregations, we support and encourage one another as we joyfully carry out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission."
That is the sound-byte, the bumper sticker, the Vision Statement being laid out in this Mission Study. Our sound-byte is that "we seek to be a neighborhood in the kingdom of God."
I see this statement, at its best, calling us to be together, in Jesus, as we love God, our neighbor and seek to convert the world to belief in Jesus Christ. It is a call to arms to evangelize in our section of central New Jersey.
It assumes a few things.
1. That we are, as congregations, Christ-centered.
2. That we are, as congregations, a community.
3. That our work together in the Presbytery is to support and encourage one another.
4. That our congregations are, in fact, joyfully carrying out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.
The work and the role of the Presbytery is going to be to shape our congreagations into this Vision of what we see God doing in the lives of our churches, if this passes second reading in September.
For me, the single biggest question that I have is how applicable is this to us in Elizabeth Presbytery? How does this speak to us as one group of churches in God's world? My fear is that this statement is so broad that it doesn't speak to who we are in this place and in this time, and, if it doesn't speak of who we are, how can we mold ourselves to live into it?
That is a question that I will, in my turn, be bringing to the Mission Study team.
Blessings,
Pastor Peter
First, the Scriptures. Above the Calling, John 15:12 is quoted, "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I first loved you." The second pair of passages are on the bottom: Matthew 22: 37-39 and Matthew 28: 19, The Great Commandment and the Great Commission listed in the Calling: "You shall love the Lord with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind". This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like this, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Mt. 22: 37-39) "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you." (Mt. 28:19).
The Calling Statement itself is: "As a Christ-centered community of congregations, we support and encourage one another as we joyfully carry out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission."
That is the sound-byte, the bumper sticker, the Vision Statement being laid out in this Mission Study. Our sound-byte is that "we seek to be a neighborhood in the kingdom of God."
I see this statement, at its best, calling us to be together, in Jesus, as we love God, our neighbor and seek to convert the world to belief in Jesus Christ. It is a call to arms to evangelize in our section of central New Jersey.
It assumes a few things.
1. That we are, as congregations, Christ-centered.
2. That we are, as congregations, a community.
3. That our work together in the Presbytery is to support and encourage one another.
4. That our congregations are, in fact, joyfully carrying out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.
The work and the role of the Presbytery is going to be to shape our congreagations into this Vision of what we see God doing in the lives of our churches, if this passes second reading in September.
For me, the single biggest question that I have is how applicable is this to us in Elizabeth Presbytery? How does this speak to us as one group of churches in God's world? My fear is that this statement is so broad that it doesn't speak to who we are in this place and in this time, and, if it doesn't speak of who we are, how can we mold ourselves to live into it?
That is a question that I will, in my turn, be bringing to the Mission Study team.
Blessings,
Pastor Peter
The Mission Study of the Presbytery of Elizabeth
The document previously posted in this blog is the hard and dedicated work of a team of people in this Presbytery who are to be commended for their labors in bringing this document to the forefront of our consideration. Having been in the center of and on the edges of the process of trying to formulate a mission statement and plan for our Presbytery, I know the blood, sweat, and tears that have gone into the process.
My work here is not to deconstruct the process or to chip away at it from my own little bully pulpit in cyberspace.
My work is to use this blog as a place for members of First Church of Perth Amboy and other interested parties to review what is being presented to the presbytery for informed decision making in September. Any responses that are brought up in this forum will be forwarded to the Mission Study Team.
I think the relationship of our congregation and the Presbytery is long overdue to be reviewed and reforged. I believe that coming in at the beginning of a new mission focus for the Presbytery will allow for a reconnection to be made.
Some may question the orthodoxy of interpreting and commenting on the mission study work of our Presbytery. Okay. I invite the questions and the discussion.
Pastor Peter
My work here is not to deconstruct the process or to chip away at it from my own little bully pulpit in cyberspace.
My work is to use this blog as a place for members of First Church of Perth Amboy and other interested parties to review what is being presented to the presbytery for informed decision making in September. Any responses that are brought up in this forum will be forwarded to the Mission Study Team.
I think the relationship of our congregation and the Presbytery is long overdue to be reviewed and reforged. I believe that coming in at the beginning of a new mission focus for the Presbytery will allow for a reconnection to be made.
Some may question the orthodoxy of interpreting and commenting on the mission study work of our Presbytery. Okay. I invite the questions and the discussion.
Pastor Peter
The Mission Study Report of the Presbytery of Elizabeth
Preamble and Introduction:
Proposed Presbytery of Elizabeth Structure
Through the Holy Spirit, reinforced by prayer, the Mission Study Team
recommendations were guided by the input we received from more than 450 members
of Presbytery at the breakout sessions at presbytery meetings, the dialogues with
various sessions, the documented hopes and dreams of presbytery members, and
feedback from surveys conducted over the recent past. These helped to shape the
presbytery calling, which underpins the proposal and the proposed structure. While the
presbytery is often perceived to be the stated meetings or the team of six serving as the
presbytery staff in Plainfield, the Mission Study Team endeavored to propose a
structure that reflects and relies on the true heart of the presbytery – the congregations
and ourselves.
The proposal attempts to reflect a more decentralized model of leadership and
decision making while still adhering to the requirements of the PCUSA Book of Order.
We live in a world that is rapidly changing and demands structures that are flexible and
responsive to these changes. The Mission Study Team perceives less tolerance,
particularly in younger members, for rigid structure, hierarchy and formality. We believe
the recommendation acknowledges our human and financial constraints,
accommodates the evolving role of middle governing bodies and builds on experiences
of other presbyteries.
The Mission Study Team was created by the Cabinet in September 2011 and has
been meeting nearly every week since then. During that time the team has held wideranging
and thought provoking discussions concerning the mission and responsibilities
of the presbytery. Teaching elders Cynthia Cochran-Carney, John Howard, Shannan
Vance-Ocampo, Ray Roberts, Bobbie Arrrowsmith, Matt Davis, Chris Kile, Sam
Massengill, ruling elders Jack Paddon, Alan Ford, Lee Anne Lowman, and Barbara
McLaughlan contributed their time, experience, inspired thoughts and ideas to the final
proposal.
The Mission Study Team would welcome written and/or oral communications from
members of the presbytery concerning the proposal and realistic ways to staff and
finance it. The Team meets most Thursday’s from 11 am to 1 pm in the Presbytery
Office. The first 20 minutes of each meeting would be available for discussions with
presbytery members. Please inform the Presbytery Office of your desire to participate
in a discussion on a particular day. We may not be meeting every week during the
summer. We will hold two open meetings for the membership, July 19
th, 7-9 pm at The
Presbyterian Church in Westfield, 104 Mountain Ave, and August 9
th, 10 am – 12 noon
at the Presbytery Office, 525 E Front St., Plainfield.
The Mission Study Team is grateful for all input received from the membership. As
you review the proposal may you be informed by the Holy Spirit and prayer. The first
reading is at the June Stated Meeting at the Elizabeth, Second church, and the vote
will
be at the September Stated Meeting at the Scotch Plains, Willow Grove church.THE CALLING OF THE PRESBYTERY:
As a Christ-centered community of congregations, we support and encourage one another as we joyfully carry out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.
THE VALUES OF THE PRESBYTERY:
"To create a community of trust, we as God's faithful respond to our calling by committing ourselves to the following values:"
FORGIVENESS: We forgive each other as Christ forgives us.
HONESTY: We speak the truth in love, with mutual respect for others.
JUSTICE: We demonstrate God's unconditional love through acts of compassion and reconciliation in Christ's name./
LISTENING: We are graciously attentive to each other in discerning God's will.
OPENNESS: We honor God with our acceptance of the diversity of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
PASSION: We carry out our God-given tasks with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love in the power of the Holy Spirit.
RESPECT: We honor all people as children of God, cultivating an environmnet of kindness, trust, and integrity.
THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF STRUCTURE:
Presbytery Stated Meetings
Meeting Guidelines
•
The values (behaviors) listed in the Calling will govern the meetings.
•
4 meetings per year
•
2 Saturdays and 2 Tuesday evenings
•
Meet in assembly halls preferably around round tables
•
A 20 minute prayer service at each meeting, except for the July meeting where
communion will be served
•
All meetings shall be opened and closed with prayer (G.30105)
•
Minimal business will be conducted – significant time available for open conversations
•
New teaching elder members will be welcomed with presentation and celebration
•
Nominating recommendations, if necessary
•
Trustees’ actions, if necessary
•
All reports will be in written form only sent by email (snail mail only where necessary)
•
Omnibus motion will be used extensively
Suggested meetings and content
October Saturday
•
Prayer Service
•
Budget (presentation and vote)
•
Oral reports from churches
January Saturday
•
Prayer Service
•
Workshops based on needs expressed by churches such as,
o
Officer training
•
Preplanned instructional presentations on such things as …
o
Stewardship
o
Grant applications
o
Engaging teens/youth/young adults
o
Subjects of interest to a group of congregations
May Tuesday evening
•
Annual meeting
•
Officers/chairs elected to take office after the July meeting
•
Prayer Service
July Tuesday evening a family event
•
A celebration, a barbecue, families invited
•
Games, Fun!!
•
Installation of officers and comm. Chairs
•
Communion
June 14, 2012
Presbytery of Elizabeth Book of Order Teams
Book of Order Teams
Emmaus Team
- Responsible for walking with and encouraging leaders as they enter
and exit our Presbytery as well as interpreting our call as Elizabeth Presbytery
Stephen’s Team
- Responsible for nurturing, caring, and sustaining relationships
among the leaders of the Presbytery
Pauline Team
- Servants responsible for fostering excellence amidst the pastors and
congregations in the ministry of Jesus Christ
Esther’s Team
- Responsible for theological, stewardship, strategic direction, and
programmatic resources to be shared with Elizabeth Presbytery and the larger
community so that we are responding faithfully in and toward God’s world
Wisdom Team
- Responsible to share, discern, Interpret, implement, and recommend
the policy and practice of Elizabeth Presbytery
Diversity Team
- Responsible for ensuring the presbytery gives full expression to the
rich diversity of the church’s membership and provides for full participation and access
to representation in decision-making and employment practices (F-1.0403).
Book of Order Support Teams
Stated Clerk
– responsible for maintaining the books and records of the presbytery
Presbytery Judicial Commission
– responsible for hearing and rendering decisions
on disciplinary cases referred to it
Nominating
– responsible for recommending to presbytery elders to fill presbytery
leadership positions
Board of Trustees
– responsible for oversight and accountability of all presbytery funds
in addition to their property and corporate responsibilities
Personnel
– responsible for guiding, listening to, and reviewing the work of the paid
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