Dancing with Who Brung Us

We've known it was coming.  Long ago it ceased being if.  Only when. Forces within the Presbyterian Church USA working to change ordination standards would, sooner or later, win a war of attrition.  Opposing forces were increasingly weary of the fight, increasingly inclined to walk away.  And when, in 2011, the inevitable happened and ordination standards did change, the equally inevitable soon followed.  A new Presbyterian denomination appeared--the Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians--and the split (some resist calling it a split, but it is what it is) we knew to be coming is upon us.  Congregations are not cascading away, but make no mistake: the PCUSA as we've known it is circling the drain.

Many claim we are moving into a post-denominational era, that mainstream denominations are dinosaurs, their rupturing the inevitable consequence of too many congregations losing too many members trying desperately to embrace a center that simply will hold no longer. 

Maybe.  More definitely, I can say this: if the congregation I serve splits because the denomination splits, we can't blame it on the denomination.  If we split, we have only ourselves to blame.  The simple fact is that even if the PCUSA ceased to exist tonight, we'd show up tomorrow morning and the vast majority of the work we do, we'd do.  We'd still plan worship, still order curriculum, still support mission and outreach...women's circles would still meet, the men's Bible study would still meet...we'd still have our youth groups and our community groups and our prayer groups.  And we'd do this because our first allegiance is not to the PCUSA, or to our Synod or to our Presbytery. Our first allegiance is to Jesus Christ and the Kingdom, to the call God has placed on us to bless this community we call home.  It is, I think, one of the basic tenets of missional living--Jesus has first call on our lives.

The congregation I serve is in no danger of splitting now.  We will be in no danger in the future if, as we used to say in Texas, we dance with who brung us.  The PCUSA can do what it will do.  Our mission is living for Jesus and growing the Kingdom.