Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I read John 13 in my devotional reading this morning, Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (vs. 34-35).
I have been a member of this presbytery since January 1, 1990. I have always appreciated the collegiality, respect, accountability and love which has been present. It has spanned even the great divide there is in the church and culture. Lately, in the most recent round of discussions about ordination standards, changes in the Book of Order and discussion about churches withdrawing, I have felt (to my horror) the collegiality, respect, accountability and love slipping. I pray we can regain some of what has been slipping away before we open our mouths on Saturday at the Presbytery meeting.
It seems to me, this time is hitting us harder as a Presbytery because we are divided down the middle. In our March meeting 43 voted to approve 10A, 50 voted against it. I have heard both the right and left say they want to retreat to “like-minded” places. That is the epitome of what is going on in culture – then we can lob philosophical and biblical bombs at each other from the safety of “like-mindedness”.
Could we, with God’s grace, model something new – respecting conscience, seeking truth, living collegiality and love?
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35).
With love in Christ, David Feltman
A few quotes from THE OUTLOOK, “Why stay? How to stay” (June 27, 2011) –
“But part of what sets the church of Jesus Christ apart is a call to be agents of reconciliation, breaking down barriers and dismantling wall of hostility between disparate groups. Our life together is not diminished by conversation, but enriched. The church is not the big sort; rather, through Christ, it is the big mix, marked by grace, generosity, friendship and radical hospitality – truly counter-cultural practices.
That’s why my heart sank when in response to the recent letter from former GA moderators urging the church to ‘move forward in unity,’ one evangelical pastor wrote, ‘Sorry, not a chance’ and championed a retreat into like-mindedness.
I was equally saddened when a progressive pastor suggested the former moderators didn’t need to ‘beg’ conservatives to stay, that we should be careful of making an idol of unity, remain self-differentiated and just let them go – like it’s no big deal.”
“Why Stay?” Heidi Husted Armstrong p. 29
“Ecumenism – the search for the visible unity of Christ’s church – is not restricted to relationships among denominations. Perhaps the most pressing ecumenical challenge today is the search for unity within denominations. Reformation era division of the church and the ensuing proliferation of denominations do not provide justification for further splits in any denomination. The chief ecumenical task before the PC (USA) now is to pray and study and work for our own visible unity.”
“Why stay? Why go?” Joseph Small. 26
“One of our cherished principles is freedom of conscience in Scriptural interpretations. It is not a boundless freedom, but if we are to stay together as a broad spectrum church, our life together needs to be marked more by generosity than by restrictiveness. Where significant differences persist within our fellowship, such generosity is especially incumbent upon the majority”.
“Making space for wholeness” Sheldon Sorge p. 35
“There is no shortage these days of high talk about churches splitting or leaving or worse, ‘winning’ or ‘losing.’ I hate that talk more than I hate having to deal with this whole matter. There is no purer church out there. That is the great Protestant if not Presbyterian heresy, i.e., to think that we could, by separating ourselves from each other, create a more faithful church.
Baloney.
Our baptism has stuck us with each other, even with people who are ‘wrong’. It is hard work being the church. We will do almost anything to keep from having to be the church. We so much prefer the wide gate where the road is easy and populated with folks like us. Such a way, Jesus tells us, ‘leads to destruction.’ The narrow way is where, ‘the road is hard that leads to life.’ (Matt. 7:14)
Jesus keeps messing things up, doesn’t he? He keeps giving us folk on the right who are wrong and on the left who are wrong and in the middle who can’t figure any of this out, and he calls us his own, embarrassing us with his intrusive presence. He’s not the savior any of us would have chosen….”
“Muddled in the middle: reflections on a presbytery vote” Thomas S. Currie p.23
Rev. David Feltman, General Presbyter, North Central Iowa Presbytery
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