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07129 March 7, 2007
Beyond Polity
A message to the PC(USA) from the moderator
by the Rev. Joan S. Gray Moderator, 217th General Assembly (2006)
ATLANTA - One of my treasures is a small volume titled, The Book of Church Order 1925, Revised Edition. This book is six inches high, three and one-half inches wide, and one-half inch thick, with big print and lots of white space.
Our current Book of Order measures nine inches high, six inches wide, and is one inch thick, with much smaller print.
Recognizing that the Book of Order had gotten somewhat cumbersome, the last two General Assemblies set into motion processes for shortening our current book and making it more user-friendly. The idea is to remove some of the material that is currently in the book and put that material in manuals to be used by groups such as committees on ministry, committees on preparation for ministry, and so forth.
While the wisdom of specific changes may be debatable, the overall notion of revising our current Book of Order seems good to me. What comes to mind is the story about Jesus' disciples plucking grain to eat on the Sabbath. When criticized about this, Jesus replied, "The Sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27).
Likewise, the Book of Order exists to serve the church's life and mission, not the other way around. As the church moves into a time of new challenges and mission opportunities, it makes sense that our polity should follow suit, holding firmly to the things that are crucial to our Presbyterian identity, while giving some freedom in the details.
Having said this, it is important to realize that one reason the 1925 book was so short is that trust in the denominational system was fairly high. Rules tend to proliferate when trust declines. Along with working on the Book of Order, we must find ways to nurture relationships of trust in our denomination, especially across theological divides.
This is spiritual work. It involves claiming by faith our essential unity as members of Christ's body in spite of theological differences, then working humbly and fearlessly to live into that unity. Jesus called his followers to this work before he died: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you" (John 15:12).
We cannot create this kind of unifying love. It comes to us as a gift of the Holy Spirit when we repent of our hardness of heart and open ourselves to receive it. And when it comes, it is a powerful witness to the world that Jesus is still alive in and beyond the church.
I love Presbyterian polity. I also stand by what I said on the night I was elected moderator of the 217th General Assembly: Polity will not save us. Only God can make a way forward for us, and God is ready and able to do that right now. Are we ready to receive it?
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