wfn.org | Rogers Asks Mariner's to Trust God's Future

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

16-June-1997 
GA97037 
 
                Rogers Asks Mariner's to Trust God's Future 
 
                          by Nancy D. Borst 
 
SYRACUSE--Those who attended Presbyterian Mariners' General Assembly 
breakfast Monday were urged to trust God's future, even in these times when 
the church is struggling. 
 
    The call was issued to the audience of about 90 people by Dr. Isabel 
Rogers, moderator of the 199th General Assembly (1987) and professor of 
Applied Christianity at the School of Christian Education in Richmond, Va. 
 
    Mariners is a family ministry that nurtures and supports marriages and 
families through small groups in local congregations. There also is a 
National Mariner level that publishes and provides resources and family 
events. 
 
    Mariners' theme this year takes a look at all the "stages of ages" and 
sums it up with the phrase, "Do You Buy Green Bananas?" Rogers further 
interpreted the theme as a call to trust the future. 
 
    She uplifted two role models - her father, who at age 81 planted a tree 
he never lived to see grow, and Moses, whose story ends with his death 
before he set foot in the Promised Land. Even though he only got to look at 
Canaan, Moses knew he had accepted the land for the Israelites and Joshua 
would lead the people on. 
 
    "That helps us understand the way Moses handled what would have been an 
excruciating disappointment," Rogers said. The story illustrates how 
incomplete human life is, and why "in this life, we never do finally arrive 
there (the Promised Land)." 
 
    There was a time in the 1950s when it seemed the church was on the 
verge of reaching that landmark, and we "felt like the trumpets were just 
waiting to announce our arrival," Rogers said. But, she added, "The 
trumpets never sounded." 
 
    Instead, in the `60s, mainline churches began a "long slide that is 
still going on." 
 
    "Are Presbyterians an endangered species?" Rogers asked. "Many have 
said that unless our membership declines at a lesser rate, there won't be 
any Presbyterian Churches left at the end of the 21st century." 
 
    To turn this tide the church must be "supple" and flexible, as Moses 
was. The church must counteract the "pop culture packaging" of "mega 
churches" and develop genuine outreach. She cited an example of several 
Presbyterian churches that offer contemporary worship services aimed at 
younger adults. 
 
    "They're not wallowing in the disappointment that the Promised Land was 
a mirage," she said. "They recognize we need new forms, patterns to clothe 
our theology. We've got to be flexible." 
 
    Moses was willing to let others harvest the crop he had planted. The 
Israelites knew God would continue to bless and save future generations. 
Rogers urged Presbyterians to look to the future with not only trust, but 
also hope. 
 
    "We need to discern God's will and move as faithfully as we can to that 
calling, trusting God for that harvest that is to come. Let's get on with 
the planting." 

------------
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 
  mailed from World Faith News <wfn-news@wfn.org>  

--