[image: “passing by” from erin dunigan]
This past week I took part in a series of meetings that lead to the laying off of many people in the national offices of the denomination to which I belong, the Presbyterian Church (USA). While the situation leading up to these decisions and the process itself have been complicated, it is painfully clear that this has been a difficult time for many people on many levels. With so many, I grieve and pray for the people that lost their jobs, their families as well as those still working and serving faithfully. [Press Release]
As I was sitting through this meeting and have been mulling this over, I am again bolstered in my belief that we are in a time of transition like we have never known. At levels of society from civic groups to churches to government it does not take a bunch of studies for us to know that if we are going to truly thrive into the future, the ways in which we engage the world and one another have got to change.
While it would be easy for any of us to think that our particular institutions are in a unique situation when it comes to how “we do business,” I have sat in too many meetings where the same exact responses occur. Be they community groups, churches or local government we cling to the mindset of “if we just do what we do better or more efficiently” it will all be okay. I just don’t believe it will. Technical fixes no longer adequately address the rapidly changing ways engage the world, but we have yet to figure out what to do. Tinkering and restructuring a system that has lost cultural relevance only leads to a constant cycle of failure, despair and loss of influence. Our time is sucked up by reacting to the traumas that are caused by cultural shifts around us instead of being out in front of social trends in a way that we can the inform the evolution of culture. We need to be doing more of the shaping rather than always feeling like we are being shaped against our will.
Crap. So now what?
- Now we could certainly give up in disgust, check out and do so blaming the evils of the “the institution” . . . forgetting that many of us ARE the institution somewhere, somehow. A cowardly and easy way out, IMNSHO..
- We could actively work for the destruction of said institution for destruction’s sake. Not my style as I just can’t get up the energy to try and take down the sweet old lady who has been running our neighborhood association FOREVER.
- Or we can embrace a challenge that we are facing and dive in. For if we do not begin to live into these grand legacies that have formed us, we turn our back on so many who have worked and served in the hopes that the future would indeed be brighter. Don’t we now owe that to those who come next? I think I’ll choose this option.
First what we must do is ask ourselves soul searching questions about our very existence. What would happen if we simply let things go? And I am not talking about letting go in some metaphorical or ethereal sense, but really letting go. Let go of the security of our structures, the confines of our finances and the stifling nature of wanting to survive. What is the worst that can happen? The worst thing that could happen is that we discover – or realize – that for the most part, we would not be missed. This would be sad, of course, but at least we would know and would be given permission to stop. And then . . . now this is where life could get really interesting. No longer being fueled by our own delusions of grandeur, the best thing that could happen is that we are given permission to focus all of our energy and expertise towards discovering what may be, rather than propping up and dressing up what was. With a sense of possibility, grounded and formed by where we have been, we take on the privilege and challenge of birthing new life and we collectively become transformed.
Now again, I do not pose these questions lightly oblivious to real life issues and ramifications. Quite the contrary, I ask these questions with a deep commitment to honor those community groups, churches and organizations that have formed me and the communities in which I have lived and served. I know that asking these kinds of questions with an eye towards action opens up a whole range of possibilities and complications that certainly will include death. But lets be honest for most of our beloved organizations of the past, the current cycle of joyless rearranging of our communal lamenting is not working. So rather than avoid the conversation, lets invite the discourse into our midst. Lets talk with one another and trust that there is enough passion, wisdom and care that we can enter into these conversations with integrity . . . because if there is not enough integrity present to ask these questions, why on earth would we think our future is going to get any better?
Now what this looks like will certainly different depending on your context: church, not-for-profit, government, etc. but the questions in the same, “What would happen if we simple let go?”
So please share your stories, blog a bit about your “Letting Go” struggles or successes and lets see where this may lead.
We might be surprised at what we discover.
Sam Bryan
May 27, 2010 -
It’s a great, provocative question “What would happen if we simply let go?” It suggests another question: “What would have happened if the early church had simply let go?” I believe with MLK that “The arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice.”. It’s an erratic arc and far from its mark, but haven’t Christians been instrumental in that bending?
Tony Youlton
May 21, 2010 -
. . . if the P, exile, and Israel’s history example is followed further down the line of History, we have several examples of how God’s people re-imaged Faith and God’s calling after the exile. I pray we don’t follow all the examples of the people, culminating with Jesus’ confrontation with the Pharisees. But as the infamous saying goes ” . . . that decision is above my pay-grade” . Perhaps Jesus and his small group of followers were the first example for us of acting locally, and letting God cascade these efforts globally.
Walk
May 19, 2010 -
Thank you, Bruce and Tony. After I hit ‘send’ I realized I was a bit hyperbolic in my language about Jesus and judgment. I like your choice of the words ‘institutional nostalgia,’ because I want to go back to the church of the 1960s and my childhood. Yet, I also know that same PCUS of the ’60s was not very effective in speaking to its members or the world about civil rights. I am nostalgic for something that never was.
Tony, I’m glad history is not over. I hope I live through this exile to see the promised land, or a new promised land in whatever form God chooses to give us.
Can we re-imagine the church? Yes, but I think many of us were spooked about re-imagining things a dozen or more years ago when some women tried it and were throttled by the powers of the church. It is hard, but I’ll try.
Tony Youlton
May 19, 2010 -
This is a great discussion, and we all (including my prior post) seem to be using the same language that has divided the church for some time. A language fundamentally rooted in a sense of betrayal by history and those around us – who can you trust? In retrospect, that will lead to continuing the same either/or debate. In standard negotiation theory this is simply the “I can’t win unless you lose” strategy, a strategy born from insecurity, and seemingly posited by all sides. I’d like to suggest an alternate, or shift in the discussion, and bring it back to the OT and Israel’s history. It is generally accepted in scholarly circles the existence of the J,D,P manuscripts. P has application to our times. Written by the Priests in the time of exile in Babylon, under the circumstances that God’s people had to make sense of the destruction of their nation, traditions, and even question what their Faith meant, who God was, and were they even God’s people. One can consider our culture as one of similar exile, and by that I mean history has over run us, The historical social securities are gone. Pining for their return is a waste of time and energy. We are all in exile, we live in a world fundamentally different from our parents, which was fundamentally different from their parents. There is no historical blueprint to follow and we are on our own to sort it out. A way of doing that is holding to known traditions, and fighting off the change while we sort it out and make sense of the changes, how we will fit in, function, and even prosper. P is very clear on the theology of exile. God Loves you in spite of the disaster that has befallen you, in fact it was even being orchestrated by God. Some exiles in Babylon became Babylonians, some held to the Truth of God’s love in their circumstance, and some held onto their old history. The good news for us is that history is not over, and our blueprint is not a political or church history of the 20th century, but that of Israel, and we know that the story is not over. It is much easier to understand and grieve with, and love all the exiles, as we cope and find our way through. Letting go? That is merely letting go of those imposed Babylonian circumstances and walls, while reminding ourselves we are still Israelites, Children of Abraham, who are indeed the people of God, regardless of circumstance, and injustice that has led to our expected and varied responses based on our collective loss.
Bruce Reyes-Chow
May 17, 2010 -
Walk – I think you help to flesh this out a little bit more. I would also say that of these things that you life up, which I agree are some of our strengths, then should we really take a dep look at ourselves, these will live on in some form. I am simply tired of the contant trimming back so often pervades, not just the national church, but many organizations. I certainly GET why, but it leave very little room for newness and new people to help us engage in ways that we do not even know about. I hope you and other do not hear this as a me dismissing what we have done, but rather a great obligation to honor where we have been. Thanks for adding to the conversation. – Bruce
Walk
May 17, 2010 -
Hello Bruce,
Phyllis Tickle says we are in the middle of a 500 year epochal change in the life of the church (in her book The Great Emergence). But she also says that the church may invent new structures, but does not cast off all of the old structures. There may be hope for a downsized Presbyterian Church (USA) yet.
But you ask what would happen if we simply let things go. Good question. I think Jesus might judge us harshly (Matt 25:31 ff). Although denominational structures may sometimes do it poorly, they do assist the least of our brothers and sisters, they send missionaries to the ends of the earth, they educate pastors and lay leaders, provide health insurance and pensions, coordinate the work of Presbyterian colleges and other institutions. And so much, much more.
I should say WE do the work of the church through national structures. Every time we cut our giving to unified mission, we do less for the least and far away. My congregation may be able to send folks to install water purifiers in Mexico, but we are not equipped to send evangelists or doctors to distant lands.
I think I would deserve to spend eternity in hell if the PCUSA stopped doing the work of the church around the world. So would all who contributed to the church’s downfall. We’ve lost our way: I hope we can find it.
I’ll try to repost your thoughts on my blog at npc-pensacola.blogspot.com.
Greg Bolt
May 17, 2010 -
Great questions and thoughts. I too am more hopeful that the Church can let go of the things that it needs to in order for it to hold on to it’s core.
I hear a lot of people bitch and complain about our polity and processes, as far as I can tell the polity (at least the spirit of it) and the processes are not the problem it’s the people that get in the way. This will always be the case, we will always have broken, emotionally stunted people lashing out at the “enemy” while we search for God.
Bruce, I appreciate your modeling for the denomination and I hope and pray that others can sit down and have serious, deep, painful, meaningful conversations without falling into the defensive, he-said, she-said models of the past. Once again I think that if we can at least try to talk with each other and not at each other we have a chance to be the Body of Christ.
I reposted this on my blog as well. http://oregonbolt.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/letting-go-of-institutional-nostalgia/
Mark
May 17, 2010 -
My “Letting Go” struggles … I guess it’s time to come clean.
After a 20 year IT career, I’m very close to going to seminary. My Session has approved me and my first meeting with CPM is in late August. I’m mentioning it here publicly because I’m not quite ready to put it out there on my own blog. God’s call has gotten very loud.
The process of getting here has involved a lot of Letting Go. I’ve had to let go of my old persona – one that was linked to my job and what particularly that job was. I’ve had to let go of the idea of making a relatively high salary. I’ve had to let to of the idea that I can direct my path, rather than living into it.
One of the problems I’ve found is that letting go is not an individual activity. My wife needs to let go of some things too. We’re working on that.
And I’m scared of what will exist in the 4-5 years it takes for me to get through seminary. Will there even be jobs? Will I be able to meet basic financial needs?
I journey on, in the faith that something new is happening and with the belief that I am called to be a part of it. Scared, but moving.
Something big is happening, and in the end we’ll all have to consider these ideas. What is truly essential, and what is just tradition?
Tony Youlton
May 17, 2010 -
If you would consider a few thoughts from someone who has lived all my adult life in mostly presby churches, but works outside the groups you mentioned, the community/civic groups, churches, and local govt’s. I have spent most of my waking hours in the private sector, for profit fortune 500 chemical companies. By default, this seems to be considered “bad” within church culture. Overall, I have had to change cultures, language, and even how I dress when going to or participating in “church” whether it be high church, low church, or emergent church. You still need to fit in if you want to fit in. After being part of many churches over the years, the concept of the relevancy of the church is foreign to my life. Don’t misunderstand, its not for lack of effort, I’ve even helped plant “relevant” NCDs, that after a few years are irrelevant outside of the church walls. It seems by observation the great mass of people who actually create the society we live in are considered mostly irrelevant by the church, and consider the church irrelevant. Also by observation, in our church fights the battles seem to revolve around the great temptation to usher in the kingdom of God through ethical mandates, the temptation to be “Great”. These ethical mandates seem to fall between grace and law. Neither side seems willing to entertain the question, the fundamental question “what if I’m wrong, all or in part?”.
So I’ve let go. Over the last year I’ve stopped attending my home presby churches, and occasionally will visit churches that are around the area. Most are irrelevant, in spite of their sincere efforts. They are simply run by pastors and people that have little life experience outside the church. My life has been more peaceful since then, in spite of terrible personal circumstances. There was one though that I went to. I had heard their denomination was recruiting young people for pastoral training from Christian Drug and Alcohol rehabs, people who did know about the darker side of life and the consequences of horrific decisions. The pastor’s message did resonate with relevancy, one quote in particular “we are not here to give self-help advice, we are here to . . . “ How would the PC(USA) finish that sentence? Until it can give a unified answer, nothing will change.
Stushie
May 16, 2010 -
Other conservative denominations are growing, whereas we are just shifting deck chairs on the Titanic. We get what we deserve.
rev. kathryn
May 15, 2010 -
i both agree and disagree with you – more i suppose in that i have more hope for the powers of imagination and creativity and renewal of the spirit (whatever that means). then again i get accused of being a sprite even in the middle of meetings. i think for now we need to stop wondering what our relevance is, figure out who we are and what god may be calling on us to do and then go out and do it. what others think of us in the midst of this doesn’t matter. oh, and i refuse to live a fear-based life or in any way perpetuate a fear-based church. yes, we are needing to get smaller before we grow again, but pruning isn’t as bad a concept as this seemingly existential crisis.
mostly i would just love to be able to buy you a beer (or bloody mary mix – whatever) while at GA. landon can come, too. we shall giggle muchly.
Rev. Cynthia Jennison
May 15, 2010 -
I completely agree, 100 percent. I especially like Sue’s reflection on the foundations of the church. That is what I have tried to state in my own presbytery (where I am a pesky gnat).
I also agree with Bruce that we face a crisis in all institutions of our culture. Yes, we have to find a new way.
But… how do I pay my bills? how do I feed myself and 3 others in my family, 3 out of 4 of whom have been laid off? Do I give up my home? ok, where do I go? do I become homeless? Do I try yet ANOTHER career–after 4 of them in my life? Do I get yet ANOTHER degree? Do I give up?
Exactly HOW do you propose just “letting go” when I am not the one doing the letting go–I and many I know are the ones BEING let go. (including those at the national level–and all levels)
It is fine to be all idealistic when you know (or trust) that you are still going to have a job tomorrow, even if you have to “jimmie” the contours. What about people who seriously believe they have tried to be as flexible as possible, yet feel seriously frightened about the future. I’m pretty sure this is what is giving the Tea Party such clout.
If you have some realistic answers for us, that involve real process, steps in how to get there, then maybe I can see it as more than just musings.
The Rev. Sue Trigger
May 15, 2010 -
Bruce, I thank you for your observations. I think you are spot on. We have to move or recognize that not moving will likely lead to death. We need to ask ourselves what it means to be “the Church”. But I suggest that we need to begin this process with a look at some of the most basic principles of our faith. Like learning to love one another as we love ourselves. We have lost our sense of one community in the midst of diversity. We have taken up sides and chosen to fight to the death, and it looks as if death is coming.
Part of the problem is that I think we have adopted the attitude of society, reflected in the political arena. Or perhaps, and worse yet, has Christianity influenced the attitude we see in society? We have decided to choose division over unity. We allow our differences to become permission for behaving deplorably – but in the name of “truth, faithfulness, integrity, etc.” But there is no truth, faithfulness, or integrity in a body that is not being faithful in ministry – to the fullest of our ability – even while we disagree on “standards and principles.” We have made our battles over “standards” into what defines us and have made Jesus Christ secondary. We do it all in the name of biblical integrity, truth, righteousness and worst of all, Christ.
What I see is self-righteous arrogance that justifies withholding our financial gifts to our denomination in the name of purity. We have given up the biblical principle of giving to God our first fruits. Some would say that they are giving, but just to different organizations and programs. I’m to the point that I want to say fine – then leave the denomination or give up your voice in our higher governing bodies. I would like to challenge the churches that are witholding funds until they get their way to stop, give your fair share and engage in the dialogue. Allow the body to discern what the Spirit is saying to us together and respect the decisions the body makes. That would be a process with integrity. That would be a Reformed and Presbyterian process.
I’ve become angry with the idea that it is okay to use money and power plays to support our biblical interpretations knowing all the while that our failure to participate financially is killing our denomination. If this is our example to the world of how the PCUSA models the body of Chist – perhaps we deserve to die.
I really think that we need to acknowledge that we are in a time of reformation. But in the midst of that, we also need to beat ourselves with a humble stick (metaphorically of course), put down our weapons of power plays and harmful words, repent of our sinfulness and ask for God’s forgiveness for mishandeling the gift of the Church that Christ has given us. We need to stop the fighting and join together as one body – or perhaps shake the dust from our heels and move on toward separate bodies committed to ministry in our congregations, in our communities, in a nation so badly broken by division, and to the world. How can we show the world the way to live in Christ when we can’t seem to do it very well ourselves? Yet we’ll increase our global mission spending. Shouldn’t we remove the log from our own eye first?
I’m angry because I love God, desire to be faithful to Christ, have given my life to serving the church, and all around me the church that has shaped my faith is crumbling. I know there are lots of reasons for the decline – but I believe that our behavior is one of the primary reasons. There is plenty of documentation that shows that those outside the church see us as judgmental, hypocritical and not practicing what we preach. I think they see us more honestly than we see ourselves. I pray that God will open our eyes and guide us to a more faithful future.
That’s my rant.
Philip
May 15, 2010 -
Amen.
Jules
May 15, 2010 -
Great questions, and important ones for being the body of Christ in the 21st century.
I once asked the leadership of a church I used to serve, “If this congregation somehow ceased to exist, what would the impact be on the community around us?”
For several painful long moments I let us all sit in silence, as no one at the table could think of any impact on the community if we completely disappeared.
I was shown the door two months later.
As personally painful as that was, I now know it was life-saving for me, and hopefully some day redemptive for them. I hope the seed of that question, though they tried to stamp it out, will eventually bear fruit.
Beth
May 15, 2010 -
Grateful for the challenge. Have been reimagining church w my cong – a spirituality center?