The Rev. Matthew Bussell, a member of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board, leads those gathered in taking Communion together. Photo by Rick Jones
The Rev. Matthew Bussell, a member of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board, leads those gathered in taking Communion together. Photo by Rick Jones
Matthew’s gospel records Jesus’ promise to be where two or three are gathered in his name. On Wednesday, two national boards and a committee of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) were doing just that, conducting a joint worship service in the Chapel at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
Members of the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly and the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board joined the happy chorus, singing familiar hymns a cappella, sharing Communion and being treated to a homily by four people from among their ranks. In addition, the Presbyterian Historical Society Board of Directors is also meeting at the Presbyterian Center.
Tag-teaming their way through 1 Cor. 12:4-31, four members — Robin Pugh and Miguel Rosa Morales of COGA and Ximena Leroux and the Rev. Matthew Bussell of PMAB — delivered the homily. Pugh called their approach “a four-part relay sermon in this room of preachers.”
A teacher, Pugh has of late been drawn into union work. “Now is kind of a challenging time in education,” Pugh said. “We are constantly advocating for students and faculty in an era of austerity and control. My experience of church work, with all its challenges, varieties and personalities that are involved, the beauty and frustration of that work, is — it’s not a church people thing. Surprise! It’s also a union thing. It’s a people thing.”
“How many times have we been told, ‘Your distractions and interruptions are not welcome.’ They may not be welcome, but they are needed,” Pugh said. “All of these are activated by one and the same Spirit.”
“I am one of those prickly persons,” Leroux said, noting that when he wrote to the church at Corinth, Paul “didn’t have 500 years of church history to know that even divided, the church of Christ would stand.”
“I don’t know what Jesus would have said about Paul’s letter to the Corinthians,” Leroux said. “But I do know he told us where two or three are gathered, he would be there.”
Robin Pugh, a member of the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly, helps lead worship Wednesday at the Presbyterian Center. Photo by Rick Jones
Bussell, who serves First Presbyterian Church in Jonesboro, Arkansas, said the congregation has undertaken the Project Regeneration discernment process developed by the Presbyterian Foundation. Around the table is “a strange blend of people,” Bussell said, including a retired chief financial officer, a mechanic, an 80-year-old Scottish woman “who’s constantly reminding us about the Mother Church,” and a “lifelong Presbyterian who emigrated from Lebanon who is too blunt for Arkansas sensibilities.”
“From an outside perspective, this group seems doomed to failure,” Bussell said. “But after 40 days of prayer, this group articulated a vision to share our space with others, each in a different way.”
Morales makes lists “the same way Paul does. But I don’t put things in order. I make a list to remind myself of everything that’s important to me. If your list is like mine, no [item] is more important than another.”
“Each of our voices carries the same weight in the eyes of God. We are all independent but necessary, for our community and our church to function,” Morales said. “Thanks be to God!”
Those delivering the homily Wednesday were, left to right, Ximena Leroux, Miguel Rosa Morales, Robin Pugh and the Rev. Matthew Bussell. Photo by Rick Jones
Then it was time those gathered for worship to receive greetings. The Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PC(USA), said the current season of recalibration “will require a willingness to stand together during difficult times, and at the same time find a way to be reminded ‘we are one in the Spirit, one in the Lord.’ So let’s get busy,” Nelson suggested, “realizing we do not walk alone.”
“This is our home and your home. We look forward to the work God is doing,” the Rev. Dr. Diane Givens Moffett, president and executive director of the PMA, told those gathered in person and online. “When we come together and bear one another’s burdens, we believe there is a balm in Gilead. I look forward to working with our colleagues."
“We are so grateful for the ministry that you have embodied,” said the Rev. Ruth Faith Santana-Grace, Co-Moderator along with the Rev. Shavon Starling-Louis of the 225th General Assembly (2022). “I am grateful for PMAB and COGA and for the Unification Commission [whose leadership is also in town], which is listening with their hearts and their minds … We need each other and we need the bridges we are creating so we can be this extraordinary church into the next venture.”
“These firsts feel really precious and holy and special,” said the Rev. Shannan Vance-Ocampo, co-chair of the PMA Board together with the Rev. Michelle Hwang. “We serve a wonderful church, a church growing and becoming new and being Reformed every day … It’s my hope we will have many more gatherings together as we envision what will be this new step for the PC(USA).”
The Rev. Shannan Vance-Ocampo and the Rev. Eliana Maxim offer greetings from the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board and the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly, respectively. Photo by Rick Jones
“I give God thanks for each one of you, for your faithfulness and the gifts you bring,” said the Rev. Eliana Maxim, COGA moderator and the co-executive presbyter of Seattle Presbytery. “I walk alongside churches and minister members going through seismic changes in ministry. My advice to them always is, ‘I know you’re scared and anxious, but can we enter this time with curiosity?’”
“My invitation to all of us as we gather is, can we lean not just into the process, but dare we lean toward each other with curiosity? Each of us brings a desire and willingness and a love for this church.” In the coming days, “we want to hear each other’s dreams and passions and hopes for the future of our church.”
Meetings of COGA, PMAB and the PHS Board of Directors continue Thursday. Check pcusa.org for more reports.