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06343 July 7, 2006
Making a way where there is no way
Moderator addresses 'future of the church' conference
by Toya Richards Hill
MONTREAT, NC * The church was never meant to be a place where people only pulled from their human resources, but instead it is to be a "God-powered institution," Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Moderator Joan Gray said earlier this week. No one knows what is going to happen in the months ahead, but "God has everything we need," she told a group gathered at Montreat Conference Center. "I know God can make a way where there is no way. The question is, do we want it?
"Where is our passion? Are we praying for the church every day," she said. "Now is the time to lay hold of the fact of our faith."
Gray's comments resonated among several hundred people gathered for the opening worship service of "The Hope of the Church: Celebrating Common Ground" conference taking place here July 5-8.
The newly elected Gray, 15 former General Assembly moderators, 11 PC(USA) seminary presidents or their representatives and a host of pastors, elders and lay leaders are at this first-of-a-kind event to answer four key questions:
How is the church called to transform itself;
How is the church called to transform the world;
What is God calling the next generation of pastors to do to faithfully serve the church in the future; and
What are the opportunities for ministering to a diverse and multicultural 21st century church?
The conference, billed as a consultation about the future of the PC(USA, comes on the heels of the 217th General Assembly (GA) that just ended in Birmingham, AL. The pivotal assembly saw a number of hot-button issues addressed, including the report of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity & Purity of the Church.
"This is an absolutely incredible opportunity in the life of the church," said the Rev. George Barber III, president of Montreat Conference Center. "Lets make this precious time. Lets do something good with it."
Gray used the worship opportunity to talk about God's expectations for Christians and the church, and to challenge the group to tap into what God has for them.
"Jesus said this is my commandment, that you love one another," she said. But, "this is a love that doesn't come out of the natural human spirit."
"It is beyond our human ability. This kind of love is an in-spite-of love," Gray said. "What God requires of us, what Jesus demands of us, cannot be done in our human strength."
Tapping into that love requires a desire * a "burning passion," she said.
Gray admitted to the group that as a pastor for the last 30 years, she hasn't always had that passion. And too often the focus has been on keeping a roof overhead or preparing that next sermon, she said.
Yet, "God won't give us the ability to have an in-spite-of love unless we want it," she said.
The early Christians had that passion and love, and in doing so they "reached out across the great divide," Gray said. "Everything we need to be church * is available to us."
"Maybe now is the hour God has appointed for us to receive what God has wanted to give us," she said.
More news from the "Hope of the Church" conference will be posted by PNS on Monday, July 10.
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