{"id":544,"date":"2008-09-23T01:01:23","date_gmt":"2008-09-23T01:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2008\/09\/the-pcusa-and-church-property-part-7.html"},"modified":"2008-09-23T01:01:23","modified_gmt":"2008-09-23T01:01:23","slug":"the-pcusa-and-church-property-part-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/09\/the-pcusa-and-church-property-part-7.html","title":{"rendered":"The PC(USA) and Church Property, Part 7"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part 7 of series: The PC(USA) and Church Property
\n<\/em>Permalink for this post<\/a> \/ Permalink for this series<\/a>
\nIn my last post I began to consider what a congregation should do if it begins to think that God might be leading it to leave the PC(USA). On the basis of Ephesians 6:10-20, my proposed first step is:<\/p>\n

1. Put on the whole armor of God. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I explained in some detail what this might entail for a church. Now on to the next steps.
\n2. Congregation leaders should communicate with leaders from other churches that have considered leaving the PC(USA), or have left, to learn about what was good and not good in their process.<\/em>
\nFor most of us, considering leaving a denomination leads us into uncharted waters. Yet others have navigated those waters before us. Some crashed on the rocks. Others made it safely through. There is much to be learned from the experiences of other churches.
\n3. Congregation leaders should communicate with the presbytery.<\/em>
\nNow I know I\u2019m going to get some negative comments about this suggestion. I know of many evangelical PC(USA) churches that find themselves in hostile presbyteries. I\u2019ve heard of cases where presbyteries seek to remove pastors who even allow their churches to entertain a conversation about leaving the denomination, not to mention situations where pastors are in favor of leaving. Pragmatically speaking, it may seem foolish for a church to notify its presbytery about its considerations.
\n<\/a>But, according to our Book of Order<\/em>, presbyteries have the authority \u201cto divide, dismiss, or dissolve churches in consultation with their members\u201d (G-11.0103i). It is the rightful role of the presbytery to guide and support its churches, even when they\u2019re thinking about leaving the PC(USA). Presbytery leaders should be mature enough and Christian enough to do this well, even if they strongly oppose a church\u2019s dismissal. But even in a case when the presbytery leaders are not able to do what\u2019s needed, I think a church should still be committed to acting rightly toward its presbytery . . . putting on the breastplate of righteousness, if you will. (Photo: The breastplate of Augustus, from the statue of Augustus found at Prima Porta.)
\nI do not have direct experience of something like I\u2019m describing, so one could accuse me of being hopelessly na\u00efve. Na\u00efve I may be, but surely not hopeless! Yet I have watched a pastor friend who faced an analogous situation in his church. He had on his staff a director who worked with younger people in the congregation, primarily folks in their 20s and 30s. This director\u2019s ministry was flourishing, much to the delight of my pastor friend. But his delight disappeared when the director starting talking about breaking off the group and starting a new church, not a PC(USA) church, I might add. The pastor made it clear to the director that this was not a good thing, in his view. But he didn\u2019t fire the director immediately and demand that he never return. The pastor tried to walk the second mile with this director and the young adult group. When, in the end, they decided to leave the church and start a new church, the pastor refused to bad-mouth them or hamper their efforts. In fact, he believed that it was his calling to continue to pray for and support his former director and the new church he was planting. This was not easy for my friend, who felt plenty of grief and anger. But he tried to be faithful to God\u2019s call.
\nA couple of years later, the new church that had broken off from my friend\u2019s church was struggling along. My friend found himself in the strange position of being a mentor and encourager to his former director. Meanwhile, my friend\u2019s church had a new young adult ministry that was thriving, stronger than ever before. His overall attendance and membership numbers were up noticeably, contrary to what one might have expected. I am convinced that my friend\u2019s maturity in Christ, his graciousness, and his willingness to walk the second mile had everything to do with the blessing on his church.
\nI know there are other stories, stories that don\u2019t have such happy endings, stories that illustrate human sinfulness and downright meanness. I have heard some of these stories, and they grieve me. But I believe that sometimes (often?) God calls us to do what seems foolish in terms of this world. Walking the second mile is pretty foolish. So is loving one\u2019s enemies. The greatest foolishness of all is the gospel of Christ crucified. Therefore, if a church does what\u2019s right by communicating directly with its presbytery, I believe that God will be honored by that action, and will find ways to bless the church, even if presbytery leaders are unwilling to respond graciously.
\nIt will be rare, of course, for a presbytery to be enthusiastic about losing one of its churches. But, even so, there will be presbytery leaders who will be able to engage in a constructive process with a church. This is surely their calling as Christian leaders who are to imitate the servanthood of Christ. Moreover, if a presbytery is involved with a church that votes to leave, the involvement of presbytery leaders may very well pave the way for a church to leave with its property. Treat me with respect and I\u2019ll be apt to treat you in the same way. Treat me with disrespect and I\u2019ll be apt to return the favor. That reminds me of something someone said about treating others the way you want to be treated. Hmmmm. Maybe step #3 should read, simply: Treat presbytery leaders as you would like to be treated<\/em>, or perhaps even, Do unto others as you would them them do unto you<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part 7 of series: The PC(USA) and Church Property Permalink for this post \/ Permalink for this series In my last post I began to consider what a congregation should do if it begins to think that God might be leading it to leave the PC(USA). On the basis of Ephesians 6:10-20, my proposed first…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pcusa-church-property"],"yoast_head":"\nThe PC(USA) and Church Property, Part 7 - Mark D. 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Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}