As I have stated before, I believe our Presbytery of North Central Iowa has many strengths and has been blessed by God for ministry in our time and place. Much good is being done in our churches.
People are coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Children, youth and adults are growing in faith and in love for God and for each other. Mission is happening because of our churches and their faithfulness. We are a visible witness to the glory of God and the love and compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Yet some individual members of churches, and some larger portions of members of some congregations, are talking of leaving our presbytery fellowship of believers and churches. This grieves my heart, and the hearts of many others.
Leaving our Presbytery is a big decision that must not be taken lightly. I hope that anyone who is considering leaving our presbytery will give careful consideration and prayerful discernment. Is where they are going really better than our presbytery? Is what they are doing really God's best? I just pray that before they walk out on our covenant life in the Presbytery they might take a close look at the things God has used, and is using, our presbytery to do, in God's great plan.
Who needs the Presbytery? Well, we all do.
You see, being a Christian, being a Minister of Word and Sacrament, being a Commissioned Lay Pastor, being an elder or a deacon, being a Presbyterian Church, is not a one-on-one relationship with God. No, it is connectional, it is cooperative, it is an image of the way God works and has worked with people. We are not Lone Rangers in the church, (and even the Ranger himself had Tonto to help).
You can probably get away with that kind of thinking for awhile, but when trouble, difficulty, bad times, tragedy, you need help. That is why God brings us together.
It is no accident that you are a Presbyterian, a member of the Presbyterian Church, in the Presbytery of North Central Iowa. God led you where you are for a reason. Think back and remember how you have experienced God most significantly in relationship, in community, where 2 or 3 are gathered together.
It is no accident that you are a Presbyterian, a member of the Presbyterian Church, in the Presbytery of North Central Iowa. God led you where you are for a reason. Think back and remember how you have experienced God most significantly in relationship, in community, where 2 or 3 are gathered together.
When one of churches is seeking a new pastor, the Presbytery and the national church (through our excellent Church Leadership Connection and its wonderful online services) is there to help. The Committee on Ministry is there in person, with your church liaison, and in prayer, with members praying deeply for your particular church, as we do for all churches in the presbytery.
If a minister has a problem, or a session or congregation needs assistance, we are there to help. We offer counseling and mentoring that only a committed presbytery can offer. We assist sessions and pastor nominating committees with face to face visits and numerous phone calls. We do our best, through the Committee on Ministry, and through the work of our Pastor to the Presbytery, the General Presbyter, to be helpful to pastors and congregations that grows our of the sacred connective ways God has given us as a presbytery. That is the Presbytery of North Central Iowa, connected and in the holy work of caring for one another.
We see this love Jesus acted out in our churches reaching out and touching their communities with outreaches of compassion, and in us banding together in mission to help a broken and hurting world. Who can forget the beauty of our mission trip to the Gulf Coast a few years back to help folks still struggling with the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. I went on that trip and witnessed a powerful moment when we completed a reconstruction of a home for a dear woman in southern Mississippi. Her smile was like an angel and her tears were genuine.
Devastation let by the powerful Parkersburg tornado -- the Presbytery helped after the disaster.
Who can forget the work of our Presbytery when tragedy struck right at home among some of our dear own, when the monstrous tornado laid waste to Parkersburg, affecting many of the members of our own Applington congregation.
Through our presbytery's mission efforts, with recovery teams and mission donations coordinated by North Central Iowa Presbytery executive assistant and disaster response coordinator Kaylene Hoskins, over $100,000 in money and services was raised for the entire affected area, and we walked closely with 15 families as they reclaimed their lives and homes.
Similar efforts by our presbytery assisted families and churches after the flooding in Cedar Rapids and Mason City a few years ago. These are things we can do as a caring presbytery, helping member churches to reach out to the hurting and needy in our own area, even as we do an excellent job nationally and internationally through the exceptional work of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.
One of the shining lights of our presbytery is the Commissioned Lay Pastor program that we share with Prospect Hill Presbytery. For years it has been equipping and training lay leaders to provide enhanced pastoral care and leadership for our congregations. We have a number of effective Commissioned Lay Pastors serving NCIP congregations -- and we have a wonderful group of faithful elders in training to serve as Commissioned Lay Pastors in the future.
Who needs the Presbytery? We all do.
No, the Presbytery is not perfect. Neither is the PC(USA). Far from it. But I do not know a perfect church, a perfect pastor or a perfect denomination. I only know a perfect Savior, in whom our mission, and unity, and very being lies.
The heroes in the Bible were not perfect. Moses was a stutterer, Abraham a coward, Rahab a prostitute; David was an adulterer, and Mary, was a homeless teenager, an unwed mother at that. Why should we expect members of our churches and Presbytery to be any different? We are not. We are not a perfect Presbytery. But we are a very good one that is doing some great work in the service of God.
The heroes in the Bible were not perfect. Moses was a stutterer, Abraham a coward, Rahab a prostitute; David was an adulterer, and Mary, was a homeless teenager, an unwed mother at that. Why should we expect members of our churches and Presbytery to be any different? We are not. We are not a perfect Presbytery. But we are a very good one that is doing some great work in the service of God.
In the end, it is a good thing that “nobody’s perfect”, that there is no perfect congregation, no perfect pastor, no perfect Presbytery, no perfect denomination. The Apostle Paul said it best in 2 Corinthians 12:9: "He has told me, "My grace is all you need, because my power is perfected in weakness." -- Yes, we all know the great truth of the Gospels -- it is not about perfection. From the beginning and until the end, it has always been about being faithful.
We, the Presbytery of North Central Iowa, imperfect as we are, must rely on God’s mercy and forgiveness; and on the grace and love of Jesus Christ! The Presbytery is all of us, together.
It is all of our congregations and elders and deacons and ministers – we are the Presbytery of North Central Iowa. And the Presbytery…needs us -- all of us -- together, unified in the One Who is perfect-- the Head of the Church -- Jesus Christ our Lord.
IN CHRIST, S. Glenn Wilson
Moderator, Committee on Ministry
WE ARE ONE IN THE SPIRIT!
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