We are viewing the future of the church from the perspective of God’s call. What is the church’s vocation? Yesterday we reflected on that from the location of the local church. Today I would like to direct our attention to God’s call with respect to regional grouping of churches, both ecumenically and within denominations. In my case that regional grouping is a presbytery but that is easily translated to other intra-denominational groupings. There are very few, if any , churches that do not have some association with other churches. Even the independent or community churches soon form a network with other similar churches.
The question that all Christian churches have to answer is what is God’s call with respect to their relationship with other Christian churches. Even the most independent of congregations would acknowledge that God is not indifferent to the relationship of one Christian body to another. While some denominations proscribe association with churches from other denominations, they at least expect relationships within the denomination.
So if you were to write five statements that state God’s call with respect to that association between churches, what would they be? What is God’s calling for Christians in such associations? For Presbyterians, I think God calls us to be accountable to each other. I think God calls us to work together to engage in missions that would be less viable if we were to work alone. I think God calls us to be supportive of each other as we seek to live faithfully in our community. I think God intends that we demonstrate in our relationships how a community should relate to each other as they wrestle with the complex issues of our world. I think God expects us to reach out across time, distance, cultures, and languages and reflect the oneness of the Body of Christ.
That’s my list. What would your look like? And once you have made your list, how is your church doing with respect to that relationsip?
