You are currently subscribed to the PCUSANEWS
email list of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
========================================
This story may be seen here: http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2007/07536.htm
07537 August 30, 2007
Guide to go
Elders told to be leaders in mission
by Mike Ferguson Presbyterian News Service NASHVILLE - Love. Go. Guide.
Corey Schlosser-Hall wants Presbyterian elders to use that job description to help the church take a turn toward mission.
Schlosser-Hall, an elder and executive presbyter of North Puget Sound Presbytery, picked the verbs from the greatest commandment and the great commissioning - love and go - and added "guide" to the list of elder duties, as in guiding a ship through shoals and reefs.
Schlosser-Hall spoke Wednesday (Aug. 29) to the first-ever Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) National Elders Conference, titled "Elder as Spiritual Leader: Reclaiming the Call." More than 300 Presbyterian elders from around the country are in attendance.
He said one of the best definitions for mission was given him last summer by the Rev. Joan Gray, Moderator of the 217th General Assembly, who quoted the Swiss theologian Emile Bruner: "The church exists by mission as a fire exists by burning."
"The church is alive and growing," Schlosser-Hall said, "by being relevant to God's cause."
No less an authority on relevance than the Irish rocker Bono, lead singer for U2, drove home its importance during a talk at the National Prayer Breakfast last year, Schlosser-Hall related. A pastor once told Bono he would "have to stop asking God to bless what you are doing and start doing the work that God has already blessed."
Elders' "attentiveness to what's going on around them is essential to leadership," Schlosser-Hall said.
In the Book of Acts, he recounted, Philip's attentiveness meant he noticed an Ethiopian eunuch seated in a chariot was reading from the Book of Isaiah. Philip helped the man interpret what he was reading.
"When God said, 'Get up and go,' Phillip did, and he took the church to a new place," Schlosser-Hall said. "After you're gone, don't forget to ask God, 'Why are we here?' People in the Bible - from Abraham to Revelation - usually don't know why they're where they are, because they forgot to ask."
Schlosser-Hall presented real-life examples of Seattle-area churches who are taking the turn toward mission:
The First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue, a partner with nearby elementary schools in everything from purchasing playground equipment to providing school supplies. "The task," said church elder Gary King, "is overwhelming and impossible to accomplish on my own." A two-day fix-up project at one school in 2005 attracted 1,200 church members. Jin Lee of the Myong Sung Presbyterian Church of Shoreline, whom Schlosser-Hall called "our visionary missionary." Lee has sparked construction of a multicultural center for his community and has a vision for a sister center in South Korea. Jace Allen of First Presbyterian Church in Seattle, who started the New Life Community in the church's basement as a ministry for homeless men to help teach them building skills. "I thank God for all of you, too," Schlosser-Hall told the audience. "You're all elders in mission whether you know it or not."
Mike Ferguson, a Presbyterian elder, is a reporter for the Baker City Herald in Baker City, OR.
========================================
You are currently subscribed to the PCUSANEWS
email list of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to
mailto:PCUSANEWS-unsubscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org.
To update your email address, send your old email address and your new one to mailto:PCUSANEWS-owner@halak.pcusa.org.
For questions or comments, send an email to mailto:PCUSANEWS-owner@halak.pcusa.org.
To learn more, visit http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 100 Witherspoon Street Louisville, KY 40202 (888) 728-7228