INTRODUCTIONS
Begin by introducing the leadership from presbytery.
Explain that you will have all present to introduce themselves in a few minutes.
Remind them that the presbytery consists of the member churches and the clergy of those churches. Emphasize the importance of the elders as the spiritual leadership of each of the churches. Acknowledge that in recent years some churches have concluded that they had to separate from the denomination and that the presbytery leadership has concluded that they need to take some pro-active steps to overcome the feelings of distance among the churches and between the churches and the presbytery as an organization.
Explain the conviction based on John 13:35 “By this the world will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” that the inability of Christian communities to relate to each other weakens our witness to the Gospel. We believe that those outside the church are always drawing conclusions about the faith and the ministry of churches based on their interpretation of our behavior. We believe that too much cynicism is evoked by stories of church fights, splits, etc. and we want to improve our testimony to the larger society.
INTRODUCTIONS
Ask each individual, pastor and elder, to introduce themselves, identify the church they are from, and share one positive impression they have of one of the other churches in the group.
Go around the group again and ask each person to share a positive image that they would like the public to have of the Presbyterian churches in their community.
THE CHALLENGE BEFORE US
Recognize that churches in the One Body of Christ–even churches in the same denomination– can have real and sincerely held differences. You might even want to point to some similar phenomenon in the early church as evidenced by the Epistles.
What your presbytery is seeking to do with these conversations is to recognize the core faith that binds us together while respecting the integrity of our differences. Then based on that, exploring how we can demonstrate to the world at large how the Christian faith enables us to both respect our diverse opinions and transcend them in our relationship among each other.
The hope is that by exploring this together we may also build stronger ties among us as Presbyterians and find ways that we can enrich each other as we journey together as Presbyterians.
TO BE CONTINUED
SUBCRIBE TO THE BLOG SO THAT YOUR CHURCH CAN BE ENRICHED BY THESE DISCUSSIONS AND THOSE THAT FOLLOW.
