Is anyone (really) listening?
By Carmen Fowler, The Layman, September 14, 2009
Having a mother who was a university professor specializing in professional presentation, I learned early in life about the “communication loop.”
The sender seeks to communicate a particular message to an intended receiver.
Carmen Fowler
The message is sent.
The message may then be intercepted, misinterpreted, received by an unintended party or actually received (“let those who have ears hear”).
The communication loop is not complete until the intended receiver responds to the message. That response may include confirmation to the sender of receipt of the message, an adaptation in behavior, the initiation of an action, etc.
Several committees of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) are inviting input from “the church” on matters before them. The Form of Government Task Force, the Special Committee on Civil Unions and Christian Marriage, and the review committee of the Washington Office all are openly asking for feedback. Many in the church are sending communication. The question is whether or not anyone is “really” listening. Are there among us ears to hear or have we become a generation of such itchy ears that none of us really receives communication sent by those with whom we already know we disagree?
From the days of the Witness for Biblical Morality in the 1980s to the Confessing Church Movement early in this decade, from the withholding of per capita by local sessions to the realignment of congregations from the PCUSA to the EPC, to efforts like that of Beaver Butler presbytery, Presbyterians have been seeking to communicate their “here we stand” positions and their frustration with the institution’s seeming deafness to their concerns. We are all aware following the latest round of voting on Amendment 08-B that a majority of Presbyterians desire their denomination to be led by ordained leaders who support and adhere to all parts of the Constitution, including G-6.0106b. Unfortunately, it feels to many as if the messages sent are falling on deaf ears. Many Presbyterians find themselves asking, “Is anyone in Louisville actually listening?”
The research done by the Presbyterian Panel affirms that there is a significant disconnect between the positions held by specialized clergy and the people in the pews. Presbyterians have sought to communicate with those in positions of leadership that it is the desire of those in the pews that national denominational officials not seek to speak for “them” on issues where there is deep disagreement. However, it has historically been the pattern of PCUSA employees at the Washington Office, the United Nations and the National and World Council of Churches, to speak their own mind and pay no heed to the counsel of the Presbyterian body politic. In the past, they did not appear to have been listening. Or, if they were listening, their personal opinions and their actions were not brought into conformity with the Confessional standards of the PCUSA. Indeed, for many years, everyone has simply been allowed to do what was right in his or her own eyes.
Many of you will now protest, “But this is a new day! Things have changed!” Maybe you are right. Maybe those who are asking for input are really listening. Maybe things in Louisville have changed. Maybe the Special Committee on Civil Unions and Christian Marriage will promote the church’s historic, Biblical and confessional commitment to marriage between one man and one woman. Maybe the committee considering the continuation of funding for the Washington Office will realize that the diversity of Presbyterian opinion on international, national and social issues is too broad to be authentically represented as “one voice.” Maybe those who work for the PCUSA will uphold the mutually agreed Constitution in all its parts without scruple. Maybe.
Presbyterians are speaking. Is anyone listening?
Turning the tables and reflecting on what we hear from you, let me assure you that we at the Lay Committee are listening. You have asked that we broaden our coverage to include news from the wide variety of branches in the Presbyterian family and we have responded with stories from the PCUSA, EPC, PCA, ARP and now the CCAP (Church Central Africa Presbyterian). You have asked for more online resources and we have responded by posting stories and links to relevant news Monday through Friday at www.layman.org. We have also posted audio and video resources in response to your requests. You have asked for more “good” news about what Presbyterians are doing in the world and we have responded. You have asked to hear other voices and we have responded by expanding our writer base. You have asked that we seek not only to inform but also to equip and we have responded by offering regional equipping events and publishing new books to more fully equip every disciple for every good work that God has prepared in advance for you to do. We are listening, seeking to hear the Lord’s voice amidst the cacophony of this generation and seeking to hear the voices of orthodox men and women who continue to express their faith as “Presbyterians.”
Indeed, may the Lord open our ears that we might hear, and having heard, may we conform our witness as a people who are indeed Reformed and always being reformed, according to the Word of God.
Carmen Fowler is president of the Presbyterian Lay Committee and executive editor of its publications.