Let the Church Rise

Ahhh the Presbyterian Church. I feel like I have had a bit of a love/semi-frustrated relationship with it this summer. As many of you know the classes I've taken this summer have been all about the Presbyterian Church, helping prepare us (well theoretically...time will tell if that was accomplished...) for our ordination exams which are this weekend. Many of you have probably also seen the PC(USA) in the news earlier this summer as our General Assembly met for their bi-annual meeting, voting on controversial issues such as changing the ordination standards to allow individuals who are practicing homosexuals be ordained to the office of pastor. (And just so you know the reporting that was done was not fabulous journalism, or completely accurate--no, the Presbyterian Church constitution has NOT been changed yet to allow this, it's a much longer and more complicated process than the one vote that was taken in June...). I've spent the summer in difficult conversations with classmates and colleagues in the PC(USA), as we question where is our denomination headed, will there even be a denomination for us to be ordained into, and is it right to be ordained into a denomination where you disagree with some of the policies? There are no easy answers to these questions, and I found myself frustrated and SO tired of these topics of conversation by mid-July. My Presby Creeds class in July was another frustrating experience, as our professor made the entire class a platform for her to spout her own particular beliefs surrounding the homosexual ordination question. Every single document in the Book of Confessions was somehow connected to this issue in her mind, and she told us regularly, and in no uncertain terms that she was distraught over the direction the denomination was headed. That's fine, but I didn't pay $1400 to sit there and listen to someone spout their own personal ideologies on ONE issue for two weeks! Several classmates and I gave up listening and taught ourselves the Book of Confessions on our own time, listening to lectures was less than helpful. Then it came time to take Presbyterian Polity--an entire class devoted to the rules, regulations, structures, and government of the Presbyterian Church. Sounds thrilling right? The Book of Order is not actually that bad to read--there is a lot of wonderful stuff in there, but it was so easy to get bogged down in the rules and legal jargon in certain sections that it made me want to say 'forget it!' I'm glad we have structures in place to deal with situations as they arise, but it was a bit painful sitting there for 40 hours listening to it be explained!

This past week though, I have had a couple of experiences that have greatly encouraged me, reminding me of the good that IS present in the Church. One actually has been studying for my ordination exams. While tedious at times, my time spent with my flashcards and the Book of Order has helped me realize that I am a person who understands God in light of the Reformed tradition, I believe with all my heart the doctrines of the Presbyterian Church, and so memorizing theological statements on the mission of the church, the sacraments, the end times, and the nature of God has almost been a devotional practice for me--giving me language to express that which I so deeply believe already.

Another encouraging moment was this past weekend, when a few of us traveled cross country to see Sophie be ordained as a pastor in the PC(USA). Her service was held at her home church in Durham, and while we were only there for less than 48 hours, the time spent celebrating her and God's faithfulness to her was such a beautiful reminder that while this ordination process seems long sometimes, it is worth it. During the service, the elder who had walked through the ordination process with her as her 'mentor' essentially got a chance to speak. Becca, Jenn and I had met Gerry that morning at church, chatting with him for quite awhile. When he was speaking during Sophie's ordination, he said to everyone that people spend a lot of time talking and speculating about the future of the PC(USA), but that he had had the chance to meet some of the future of the Presbyterian Church that morning and he was fully confident the church was going to be in good hands in the next generation. My first thought was, "wow, what a great compliment!" and my next immediate thought was "oh my word! He's talking about US! We're not qualified to lead the church into the future--who is he kidding?!" My friends, classmates and I are young, fairly inexperienced, and will probably fail a lot, but the more I've been thinking about it, the more I realize how committed we are, how much we believe in the future of the church, and how passionate we are to see the church return to a focus of preaching Christ to the broken world around us. The overwhelming responsibility of being handed a piece of the future of the church is daunting, but the knowledge that Christ is the head of the church and is the one who sustains the church is SO encouraging to me.

The final experience I had this past week to give me hope for the future of the church was actually on the last day of my polity class. Our professor showed us a DVD that a group had made last year in her class for their final presentation, a very professionally done DVD. The video was a photo montage of images of the Church in action--serving, worshiping, participating in the sacraments, reaching across barriers of gender, race, and social status, interspersed with quotations from the Book of Order stating what the Church is called to be and to do in this world. That was a reminder that I desperately needed. The church is called to action, to go forth into this world and transform it, with the power of the Holy Spirit. And that is something I am passionate about. Maybe polity isn't my favorite subject, maybe I don't care a ton about the disciplinary procedures of the church, but I DO care about seeing the Church be filled with renewal, and move beyond complacency and maintaining the status quo.

The group set the video to a song I had never heard but fell in love with, called Let the Church Rise. I thought I'd close these thoughts with the words from that song, words which have been my prayer daily this past week, asking God to bring His Church from the ashes of brokenness to our knees.

We are alive, filled with Your glorious Life

Out of the dark, into Your marvelous Light

We are waiting with expectations

Spirit, raise us up with You

Let the Church rise from the ashes

Let the Church fall to her knees

Let us be light in the darkness

Let the Church rise

Let the Church rise

Moving with power, bringing Your Name to the earth

Singing Your praises, lifting up glorious songs

We are moving with His compassion

Spirit, fill our hearts with You

Let the Church rise from the ashes

Let the Church fall to her knees

Let us be light in the darkness

Let the Church rise

Let the Church rise.