Moderator
About this blog
Moderator's blog
Recent posts
Categories
- Religion (1)
- View all categories →
Archives
How's It Going?
Five months into my term as Moderator, the question I get asked most frequently is, "so how's it going?"
That's both an easy and a difficult question. It's easy to say, "great!" because I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know particular corners of Christ's kingdom within the PC (USA) -- corners like St. Augustine, Lehigh, New Covenant, Donegal, and Whitewater Valley presbyteries.
It's hard because it takes a while to figure out who and what you are as Moderator. Having some time and space to do that is one of the great benefits of the two-year term.
It's also hard because we're in a hinge time as a denomination. As I told presbytery and synod moderators-to-be at the Moderators' Conference last week, there is no more important time to be a moderator. There may well have been better times to be a moderator, but no more important.
What can I do to help our denomination not just survive, but thrive, in a post-denominational age? That's the question that keeps me up at night.
So far I've come up with at least two things I can do -- and I welcome your insights and thoughts about others.
The first is to keep asking questions and to keep prodding us in terms of the changes we need to make.
The second is to hold up in thanks and prayer those who are on the front lines of making these changes and confronting the anxiety and fear that always accompany change.
This Thanksgiving week, I ask you to give thanks, and to be in prayer, for those who staff our General Assembly, the General Assembly Mission Council, our synods, and our presbyteries. They labor faithfully in the vineyard, seeking to carry out what we as a presbytery, synod, or denomination ask. They all too often only get feedback when something goes wrong, or when someone takes offense.
Having now seen a good segment of these staff people in operation, I can tell you that they are committed servants of Jesus Christ seeking to faithfully serve Christ's church.
This Thanksgiving, what is first on my list of what I'm thankful for is our staff. Thanks be to God for their continued witness and their faithful service.
- Posted at 2:01 p.m.
-
- Tweet