 'Do not quench the Spirit,' Ufford-Chase urges assembly By Craig M. Kibler The Layman Online Saturday, June 17, 2006
In presenting a brief summary of his moderatorial tenure, Rick Ufford-Chase, moderator of the 216th General Assembly, said he had had a "troubled relationship with Paul. I identified with the justice orientation of Jesus, being the poorest of the poor over and over again." Then, he said, after turning to Paul's letters, he realized that "Paul was, in fact, the first moderator. He was dealing with a deeply divided people" and how that "new thing that was occurring should work itself out." Ufford-Chase then cited 1 Thessalonians 5:14, emphasizing the phrase, "Do not quench the Spirit." "It sure worked for me as a moderator, to encourage the idlers a little bit, admonish them, and tell them that we need more from you, not less." He drew a distinction between the movement of the Spirit and the "good job" that was done in the past on institutional maintenance. This, however, is a different time and simply focusing on institutional maintenance will not work. "My friends, if that's where we stay, we're going to die. Let's not kid ourselves. So, if we truly want to watch this denomination come alive again, we need to follow the movement of the Spirit across the church." "This is a critical moment in the life of our church," Ufford-Chase said. "How will we shift gears?" He then gave a brief description of his travels, averaging 20 days a month on the road visiting 110 presbyteries, 43 states, 14 countries and 14 of the 16 synods. "I have a pretty good sense of what's happening in our church. The missional spirit defines the boundaries of the church." "There's a difference between a church that does mission and a missional church," Ufford-Chase said. "Our task as a church is to insist that we are going to build up our members in a constant and never-ending process. Presbyterians are hungry to be challenged, to engage themselves in a missional presence in the world." He said the second area in which he sees "true possibilities in the future" are in immigrant fellowships and multicultural churches. "It is the future of our denomination. Not a lot of it is going on, but it's coming." The third area Ufford-Chase cited regarding future possibilities was in leadership. "There is a possibility of welcoming a new generation of leadership of all ages," he said. "Are we willing to engage in a renewed sense of what it means to disciple people? Young people have little desire to be involved in a church that is not willing to engage them." "If we target folks and say, 'This is what we need from you,' they'll come. It works. This is what I've seen during my travels as moderator. They want to know that their involvement will make a difference." |
||
Respond to this article |
||
| Home
· Archives
· The
Layman ·
PLC
Publications Presbyterian Lay Committee · Feedback · Links |
||