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Note #8097 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Trusting God's vision
04054
January 29, 2004

Trusting God's vision

Church transformers credit openness to Spirit, love of neighbor

by Jerry L. Van Marter

CHARLOTTE, NC - Openness to the guidance, direction and power of the Holy
Spirit is the first key to transforming struggling congregations, a pair of
veteran urban pastors said during a recent gathering of more than 850
Presbyterian leaders here last weekend.

	And creating authentically Biblical communities is the second key,
the Rev. Judy Lee Hay and the Rev. Reginald Tuggle said during the annual
Churchwide Transformation Conference here on Jan. 24.

	"Transformation is about embracing and trusting God's vision," said
Hay, the pastor of Calvary St. Andrew's Presbyterian Parish in Rochester, NY,
"because it's God's vision, and we're God's church."

	Tuggle, one of Hay's fellow keynote speakers at the conference,
backed her up, saying, "The overwhelmingly essential element for church
growth is the Holy Spirit, which leads and guides, and which gives direction
and power."

	Tuggle was speaking from experience. He has led Memorial Presbyterian
Church in Roosevelt, NY, from near-death in 1973 to preeminence in Long
Island Presbytery today.

	Hay, who has led the revitalization of her church and the
neighborhood around it, said God demands - and Jesus's life embodies -
healing and transformation.

	"Jesus was in the midst of lots of communities," she said, "and those
he healed were sent back to their communities to spread the Good News and
transform them with that same healing power."

	The world, she said, "is not seeking our opinion - but people are
looking for authentic, intimate community ... where they can sift out issues
and confusion, and be healed from life's bruises and oppressions."

	And the Biblical mandate in creating such communities of faith, Hay
said, is to promote the common good. Citing Jesus's teaching in Matthew 25:40
("Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are
members of my family, you did it to me"), she told a sellout audience, "We do
these things because God demands it."

	For pastors and sessions, that means empowering church members to
serve, Tuggle said.

	"The pastor doesn't have a monopoly on good ideas, and the session
must not be a roadblock," he said. "Anybody can say, 'No.' But it takes
people of faith and courage to convert ideas into ministry."

	Memorial Church's flourishing prison ministry, for instance, was
started by a former prostitute who had converted to Christianity under the
congregation's tutelage.

	"She died of AIDS 14 months later, but not before she converted
others who have picked up the ministry," Tuggle said, "and no one else at
Memorial could do this ministry, because no one else can talk the talk and
walk the walk except those who have been there."

	Hay's and Tuttle's congregations both have fueled revitalization
efforts in their tough urban neighborhoods, spearheading housing programs and
attracting commercial development. Memorial church has spun off two community
development corporations, one that addresses housing needs and one that
ministers to young people.

	Those efforts have led to bonds with a variety of other groups in the
community. "The only way to address all the needs of the community, because
there's so many of them," Tuggle said, "is to partner with others."

	"Community collaboration is essential," Hay agreed. "Don't do
anything alone if you can do it with someone else."

	That kind of common purpose and devotion to the common good produce
reconciliation, Hay said. "For us, it starts at the communion table," she
said. "There, God calls us to be reconciled, to come together in a culture
that loves to fight, to work together when the world wants us to choose up
sides. When we practice forgiveness and respect, we are teaching people how
to be better citizens."

	Worship and service are the twin pillars of authentic Christian
community, Tuggle said, noting that both of those expressions of faith "are
about God, not us."

	"Too often we give the impression that we love the Lord - but not
anyone else," he said.

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