Reflections on Confluence
As I write this, two significant events are before me that shape the context of my reflections. First and most important, is the Celebration of our Savior’s Resurrection. Everything we do followers of Christ is in light of that transcendent reality. Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, sits at the right hand of the Father and has fulfilled His promise by pouring out the Holy Spirit to empower His followers to worship Him (in Spirit and Truth) and to be His witnesses (to Jerusalem, Judea and the Ends of the Earth).
The second event that is immediately before me flows out of the first and greatest event. Because of Jesus’ risen and ascended life, and the Holy Spirit’s leading and empowering, I will board a plane and fly Resurrection Sunday afternoon to Kenya.
I pastor a congregation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For years the cry of the faithful in our community was that “Pittsburgh would be more famous for God than for steel.” Now that the Steel Mills are gone, the visual landscape that remains suggests a new picture of what the Lord had planned all along. If you have ever looked a picture of Pittsburgh you will quickly notice the unique geography of our city that results in the Monongahela River joining the Allegheny River to form the Ohio River. That point, the visual center of our community, is called The “Confluence.” At that point of confluence, there is a fountain (I will come back to that).
It has been the observation of the New Wineskins Association of Churches that we are living in a time when there is a kind of “ecclesial confluence” taking place. God is again reforming or realigning His Church to accomplish her mission. Beginning with our own particular tributaries of the Church, we have watched as the Lord is bringing together two different streams of evangelical Presbyterianism that are not only united in a common theology, but a shared vision to become a fully missional Church. In the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, we have not found a perfect fellowship, but a like-minded body of believers who, because of a commonly held theology, have cultivated a culture of grace and trust. Together we believe that the Lord is creating a whole new stream of evangelical and missional Presbyterianism (call it the Ohio River) in our day.
In a few hours, I leave for Kenya, to be with the leaders of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (lets call them the Mississippi River)…to discern together how we can form a partnership around the task of the Great Commission. Only the Lord knows how He will sovereignly choose to bring into confluence the different streams of His Church to create this “new thing.” (If I had to guess, I suspect that the Church in Asia may very well be the Ocean in this analogy…) The realization that the Church in America (even more specifically the Presbyterian Church of the United States) is only a small tributary…is a good place to begin gaining our perspective.
Allow me one final reflection related to the confluence in my back yard. What is immediately visible is not all that is. Beyond the confluence of the three rivers in Pittsburgh lies a greater reality. Just below the city, is an underground fourth river. The name of this underground river is called “The Wisconsin Glacial Flow.” At the narrowest points it is about a half of a mile wide and at its widest points over a mile across. This unseen river is frequently only a few feet under the other three and is profoundly, the source of that fountain found at the point of confluence in the center of the city.
The New Wineskins Association of Churches believe that, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing! It springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams of water in the wasteland.” -Isaiah 43
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal,
flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations…” - Revelation 22
Dean Weaver
Co-Moderator, New Wineskins Association
April 11th, 2007 at 10:14 am
A Third Way
Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania
Posted: 04/10/2007
There is another way other than staying or leaving. Once again Beaver Butler Presbytery is sending the eLink amendment for the Book of Order to the 2008 General Assembly. Our presbytery sent it in 2006 where it garnered a sizeable minority of delegate votes. We are coming back in 2008 with approximately the same amendment for the same reasons we went in 2006 and also for some new reasons.(BB Presbytery approved the amendment in the March meeting)
We offered the amendment in 2006 because of the theological impasse which is present in the PCUSA and we bring it back again for the very same reasons. We bring it in 2008 for the new reasons that PUP is now a reality of our denomination and because numerous people are now supporting it for the first time and have suggested that we bring it to the table again.
The amendment calls for flexible membership in presbyteries and synods. With this amendment, a church that is alienated theologically in a present presbytery or synod may transfer WITHIN THE PCUSA, to another presbytery and/or synod where it finds fellowship with like-minded churches. We prefer this to simply leaving the denomination. Our amendment recognizes that geography can no longer be the primary consideration for fellowship between churches especially in 21st century America. We recognize that technology and globalization have profoundly changed the landscape of our culture. We can no longer do business as usual as if we were still operating in the 19th century.
This amendment recognized the theological impasse and that we are beyond working out our differences . Yes we may still work together in some areas(such as disaster relief), but on some issues(Ordination), there simply can be no compromise. Our hope is that by staying together in separate circles of fellowship(while staying together nationally), truth and eventually revival will take place by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.
This amendment can be seen at http:/elinkoverturepcusa.blogspot.com/
Greg Wiest
Glade Run UP Church
Valencia, Pa
April 12th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
I agree with your position but would question whether we can stay and survive. We are in a community of 8000 with a school system population of 25,000. Our church has a membership of 600 with 400 in worship. I think that the loss within the PCUSA is coming from churches like ours and smaller who are not evangelical and have a population base that won’t provide enough people to grow a church with a liberal bent. How much are we affected by the PCUSA positions and what are they offering to the evangelical church. I remember a number of years ago they were going to have an evangelism emphasis and came around with this brightly colored notebook filled with nothing the evangelical would think of as evangelism, and it went nowhere. What the PCUSA is offering is more of the same for as far into the future as one can see.
April 16th, 2007 at 11:02 am
I see no advantage of the elink approach of this proposed overture.
Congregations can choose their own presbytery and presbyteries can choose their own synod, groups of twelve congregations can petition a synod to form a new presbytery; all based on “geographical, theological, missional, or other considerations of importance to those congregations” and presbyteries.
So, we accomplish the ghettoization of the PC(USA). So what? We can each go to our own little, communal corner to feel good together about being in fellowship with like minded folk as members of a larger denomination that remains theologically apostate, missionally challenged, culturally accommodating, and socially liberal. What is gained from such a posture? Rearranging the chairs on deck so that everyone is comfortably seated in their clique of choice does nothing to keep the ship afloat.
It is time to stop every exercise in futility and crew the lifeboats.
If one must remain on board as a matter of conscience, a good use of one’s time would be warning others to abandon ship or perish! Yet three more days and the good ship PC(USA) will be destroyed!
The prophetic task is thankless and death-inviting, but many have repented unto salvation at the prophet’s plea.
May 17th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
NWI keeps talking about these two options: leave and join the EPC for a new thing or stay and work for reform the PCUSA. I don’t like either of these options. Here in Hudson River Presbytery in lower New York State, the prospect of reform towards an evangelical theology is nil. Most in our presbytery considers us evangelicals as lepers. The EPC isn’t a greener pasture either. In the northeast there are so few EPC churches it is impractical to have a viable presbytery. And besides that, the two EPC churches nearest us won’t ordain women (my wife and I co-pastor here in Suffern, NY) so we’d be facing that battle on a regular basis.
I hate going to our presbytery meetings because there are so many who believe and preach a different gospel than the one the Apostles preached (Galatians 1:6). The meetings are so depressing and it takes me days to get over them. But why should our church leave the PCUSA? My good friend in Shenango Presbytery in western Pennsylvania, who pastored in Hudson River Presbytery for nearly 20 years and knows our congregation well, tells me that Suffern Pres would be perhaps the most liberal church in his presbytery. Wow. There are places we’d fit in!
Maybe. I’m not sure I want to move to such a conservative community. I don’t want to leave the NYC metro area that God has called us to.
I desire to work alongside other like-minded PCUSA pastors and congregations that are committed to reaching the lost with the Gospel. I think our focus needs to be how we as local congregations can become more missionally minded and actually make a difference in our communities. That’s how we will not only survive but grow our churches. That probably doesn’t matter what denomination or even what presbytery we are in.
I love the idea of the Beaver Butler overture. I will quickly participate in and work for a new evangelically minded presbytery in our New York City Metro area if GA allows us this privilege. There are plenty of us PCUSA evangelicals around here to make an awesome presbytery (there should be given there are 25 million people living within a 2 hour drive of Manhattan). But what I don’t want to do is spend the next 15 years in organizational meetings to form this new presbytery and end up loosing sight of our mission: to reach the lost.
Any volunteers out there to organize a new presbytery in the New York City area?
May 18th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Dear Allen,
Your comment, “I desire to work alongside other like-minded PCUSA pastors and congregations that are committed to reaching the lost with the Gospel. I think our focus needs to be how we as local congregations can become more missionally minded and actually make a difference in our communities. That’s how we will not only survive but grow our churches.” is key. It’s key for NWs. The leaving and staying question has taken center stage during the past year. Come the fall, NWs will turn the corner and focus on the main thing, which are Jesus and his mission in the world.
Have you looked at the network founded by Redeemer at http://www.redeemer.com/connect/affiliated_churches.html ? I realize this is a church-planting network but these churches may also connect for other missional purposes.
Grace & Peace,
Renee
May 18th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Allen, we also have lists of confessing churches (CCM) by presbytery. I’d be happy to forward them to you.
Renee
rbguth@comcast.net
May 21st, 2007 at 10:09 am
Allen,
Forming a NWAC ministry network is like exercising the Beaver-Butler option without waiting for an overture process to successfully conclude (something that may never happen).
You don’t need permission from anyone to start a NWAC ministry network (although it is appreciated if you register with national, resources and help are available there too). It takes as few as three local congregations in covenant partnership to launch; get on the phone, hit the e-mail send button, form a network.
There is no requirement that you exit the PC(USA) before becoming part of a NWAC network. Ministry networks are 3 - 8 congregations, support networks are 3 - 8 ministry networks. There is every possibility that you could have a NYC metro area support network up and running in just a couple of years - not fifteen.
As for making the jump to the NWAC transitional presbytery, that is up to each local congregation. Personally, I am convinced that, unless a particular church is certain that God has called it to be a prophetic witness in the PC(USA), the congregation should seriously weigh the option of realigning with the transitional presbytery. That’s just me, you and your own congregation will have to decide what God is calling you to do.
In the interim, the exercise of establishing a ministry network just might help to keep you sane in the midst of our denominational insanity.
Jim
July 24th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
I understand that there are many things that are concerning New Wineskins to leave the denomination. Self examination can be a good, healthy process and can lead to improvement. But in this case, New Wineskins are obsessively talking about leaving the denomination to the point where their message is obscured.
Images of rivers, streams, all joining and meeting together for the glory of God can be a powerful image. However I am concerned that when discussions of leaving the denomination come up that they are often packaged with conversations about visions, highly charged motivational dialogs and lofty goals on why a church should leave the denomination. But the practical aspects of what actually will be gained by leaving the denomination and the suffering of those who do not agree are hidden. The EPC is a small denomination and I feel that some individual’s goals are to be dominant in a small denomination for self purposes. Self can be the driving theme in these movements.
I find no merit whatsoever in the concept of being “aligned with similar churches”. Everyone needs God’s love, not just people who are like yourself. The need to be only with people who are like yourself is selfish, unhealthy, inhibits personal growth, has withdrawal characteristics and abandons the rest of creation. If everyone has a quest to find micro groups to which they are perfectly aligned then the world will be a very lonely place.
I admire some of the refreshing stances the New Wineskins take but continually talking about leaving the denomination brings so much heartache to so many people; they seem to be completely oblivious to this. Most of these stories of personal pain following church separation will go untold.
May 14th, 2010 at 10:21 pm
I like your post. I have a random question, sorry to be off topic, but I was wondering how do you write to get your site found on Google like I found yours?