wfn.org | Carpenter calls Presbyterians to bring mission back

[PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org]

30-June-1996 
 
GA96023 
 
 
                 Carpenter calls Presbyterians to bring mission 
                           back to heart of the church 
 
    In her final official act as outgoing General Assembly moderator, Marj 
Carpenter said the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) "must call mission back to 
the heart of the church." 
 
    Carpenter, who has logged hundreds of thousands of miles flying around 
the nation and the world making her "mission, mission, mission" speeches to 
churches and Presbyterian governing bodies, gave the sermon during the 
opening worship and communion service for the 208th General Assembly Sunday 
morning in the Albuquerque Convention Center. 
 
    About 3,500 persons filled the main assembly hall and another 1,600 
participated via television hookup in the nearby Kiva Auditorium. 
 
    Carpenter based her sermon on John 3:16: "For God so loved the world 
that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whosoever believeth in him may 
not perish but have everlasting life." To appreciate that scripture, she 
said, one must go back to the Old Testament story of 
Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac, as a sign of his 
devotion to God. 
 
    "I couldn't do that ... I couldn't do what Abraham did," said 
Carpenter. "That story is the only story that makes us appreciate what God 
did when he sacrificed his only son, Jesus." 
 
    Carpenter's sermon was also based on Matthew 28:16-20 which includes 
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations ..." 
 
    "I couldn't do that either," she said. "As I have been out in the 
mission fields, I have realized that I am not a missionary; I am a 
messenger. I've always been a messenger. I'm a reporter, a communicator ... 
and I am the messenger for missionaries. ... I go home, but our 
missionaries stay." 
 
    From her firsthand experiences, Carpenter listed examples of 
missionaries' service in South and North Korea, India, Ethiopia, Pakistan, 
Japan, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Zaire, Rwanda, the former 
Yugoslavia, Siberia, Guatemala, and the Cameroons. 
 
    "God gives you the strength if He gives you the call," she said. "I do 
know that our wonderful Presbyterian church must call mission back to the 
heart and get on with it. You see, I have really enjoyed serving as your 
moderator, the messenger, the reporter, the communicator, because I 
couldn't do what Abraham did. I'm awed by God's sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 
Of all the people I've seen in this wonderful church, only the missionaries 
come close to that kind of sacrifice." 
 
 
    In addition to serving as Carpenter's valedictory address, the sermon 
also led into the commissioning of new mission personnel and honoring those 
who are retiring. Approximately 50 of more than 400 new mission personnel 
were on hand for the commissioning ceremony. Four of the 12 retiring 
missionaries were present. Worldwide Ministries division director, Clifton 
Kirkpatrick, noted that the 12 represented 336 total years of service. 
 
    During 1995, 1,050 persons served in mission posts in the U.S., Puerto 
Rico and 83 other countries around the world. 
 
    An offering of $34,743 was collected during the service. It will be 
split three ways between the Menaul School in Albuquerque; Pan American 
School in Kingsville, Texas; and the Burned Churches Fund of the National 
Council of Churches. The latter cause was added in the wake of church 
burnings across the south which have damaged or destroyed more than 40 
African American church buildings. 
 
    Carpenter added a twist to the end of the service by having her two 
grandsons, Chad and Cody, join her on the stage while she led the assembly 
in an a capella singing of "Jesus Loves Me."  With the boys carrying the 
Christ candle, the worship leaders then left the stage to Dixieland 
versions of "Onward Christian Soldiers" and "When the Saints Go Marching 
In." 
 
    "I always said I'd go out to "Onward Christian Soldiers".... It's not 
printed in the program, so sing the first verse over and over. But remember 
that the third verse says `We are not divided, all one body we'," Carpenter 
explained. At the doors, she greeted departing commissioners and guests 
while flanking bagpipers played "Jesus Loves Me." 
 
    The communion service featured loaves of bread baked and brought into 
the hall by members of Laguna Presbyterian Church, the only Native American 
church in the Presbytery of Santa Fe. The church's choir also provided 
Keres language renditions of several hymns during the service. 
 
    Music for the service was provided by approximately 250 choir members 
of churches from around the Synod of the Southwest. They, and an 
accompanying orchestra, were directed by Jeff Jolly, choir director at 
Covenant Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque. Jolly also composed the 
anthem, "Hymn to the Holy Spirit," for the 208th General Assembly. 
 
    The backdrop for the service was a series of brightly colored banners 
depicting the active spirit of God, forever flowing freely and graciously. 
The banners, bulletin cover, pulpit hangings and communion table covers 
were created by textile artist Jean Jones of Santa Fe. 
 
by John Sniffen 

------------
For more information contact Presbyterian News Service
  phone 502-569-5504             fax 502-569-8073  
  E-mail PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org   Web page: http://www.pcusa.org 

--