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Thinking the Faith, Praying the Faith, Living the Faith is written by the PC(USA) Office of Theology and Worship.

Thinking, praying, and living the faith is at the core of ministry in the Office of Theology and Worship. In the following videos, learn more about what thinking, praying, and living the faith means to the leadership of the Office of Theology and Worship. Discover why it matters and what difference it makes in our lives, work, and worship.  

Charles Wiley  
Barry Ensign-George
David Gambrell
Christine Hong 
Karen Russell

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January 11, 2011

Why Be a PCUSA Presbyterian?

Barry Ensign-George

Why are you a member of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)?  How do you explain to others why they would want to be a Christian in and through this denomination?  How do you explain it to yourself? 

 [A brief aside: apologies to any readers who are members of other denominations, or other religious groups, or no religious groups.  Your responses are welcome, too!]

 I'm not asking "why are you a Christian?"  That is the first question, I think - the more basic question.  That is an essential question, as 1 Peter reminds us: "Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you . . . " (1 Peter 3:15).  The primary question is, "why be a follower of Jesus Christ?"

But that is not the only question.  Once you've answered that question, other questions follow.  Because there is no generic Christianity.  When we become a follower of Jesus Christ, we become part of the fellowship of followers of Christ.  The fellowship of followers of Jesus Christ takes concrete form in a myriad of actual congregations.  These congregations are linked to one another in an array of ways.  

Denominations are one of the ways in which congregations are linked together.  The links are formal and public, and they involve mutual commitments to a common way of living the Christian faith.  These mutual commitments undergird a common life together, life together that has a certain density and weight that can't be achieved through the more informal ties that congregations and individuals develop both within and beyond one's own denomination.  This common life together is a concrete embodiment of a set of deeply theological commitments - about God, about the church, about the world.

And that's where my question comes in.  How do you explain - to others and to yourself - why it is that they (and you) would want to be part of the common way of living the Christian faith that is embodied in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)?  [Well, of course, that assumes that we in the PCUSA do have a common way of living the Christian faith - but that's a question I'd like to come back to another day.]

Actually, to answer these questions publicly is a very presbyterian thing to do.  That's why we've got our Constitution, with all those words in its first part (the Book of Confessions) laying out the theological principles, and all those words in its second part (the Book of Order) laying out how we are going to live our theological principles together.

Here's why I ask my question.  Over the last couple of decades I think we (the PCUSA) have spent a lot of time focusing on other questions, and very little time trying to articulate, for today, the nature of the life to which we together are committed in this denomination.  What we know is that we have some strong differences.  But what is it that keeps us committed to this common life together, even in the face of deep disagreement?  What is the content of that commitment?

My speculation is that we’ve reached a point where we are haunted by the fear that we have very different - maybe even incompatible - understandings of the nature of the life to which we are mutually committed by being members of this denomination.  And we wonder whether we could face the articulation of those differences.  Because we know that denominations are built around differing views of sometimes subtle matters - after all, what is it that keeps us separate from the Reformed Church in America, or the Evangelical Lutheran Church, or any other denomination? 

 So, why are you a member of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)?  How do you explain to others why they would want to join us in being a Christian in and through this denomination?  How do you explain it to yourself?