Taylor's written
responses
to Layman Online questions
The Layman
Online
Friday, December
29, 2006
Some
evangelicals believe you have broken the glass ceiling because few
evangelicals are in the forefront of staff leadership in Louisville.
Were you surprised when you were selected? If so, or if not, explain
why.
- I am frequently surprised by the grace of God. My journey has
taken me in many different directions over the years, from a small
independent Christian church background, to Yale Divinity School, to
Law School, to Salt Lake City, and then through a call to ministry
as pastor, and to southern California. I am often surprised by where
God might lead me next.
- I don't really know enough about the history of the personnel at
the General Assembly Council to know if I should be surprised by
Linda Valentine's recommendation of me as her choice for deputy
executive director for mission. I just sensed that she and the GAC
Executive Committee truly seemed to welcome a shared leadership in
our denomination of people from various theological traditions and
backgrounds. I was not surprised, in that when Linda invited me to
this position, I too had felt God's call nudging me in this
direction. In that sense, Linda's invitation came not as a surprise,
but rather a confirmation of where I felt God might be leading. And
I am grateful for the grace of God that brings me to this new call.
Which word or combination best describes you as a Christian,
and why: 1) orthodox, 2) evangelical, 3) disciple, 4) moderate, 5)
other?
- First and foremost, I am a follower of Jesus Christ. If
additional words of description are useful, then I would claim each
of the words you have mentioned, but I do this carefully. I am
orthodox (with a little o), evangelical (with a little e), etc. Once
we begin to capitalize adjectives we are really no longer describing
things, but rather labeling them. The one capital I would put on
myself is Reformed, because that is our common agreement in the
PCUSA, and that truly describes how the grace of God has touched my
mind and heart, personally. But again, most importantly, I consider
myself a passionate follower of Jesus Christ, who has found a place
to serve God through the Presbyterian Church.
What are your goals in deciding to leave the pulpit and join
the PCUSA's management team during a time of great tension and acrimony?
What are your anxieties?
- My goal is to follow where God is leading me. The decision was
difficult because I so loved the people and ministry of Glenkirk
where I served. But though I have been happy as a pastor, I felt God
calling me to do something different. I love our broader Church. I
think we are better followers of Jesus when we are together. But I
also think that we are more effective messengers for Jesus, reaching
more people and having broader impact, when we remain together. So a
considerable part of my motivation is to hold people I love together
for the sake of the Gospel of Christ.
- I have a little anxiety about moving my family 2,000 miles
across the country to start a new life in the Louisville area. But I
know God has already been at work to make this transition a success,
so I'm resting in the 23rd Psalm where the Lord is my Shepherd, and
I have everything I need, whether the movers successfully get my
worldly stuff there or not.
Your gifts have obviously been preaching, teaching, building
strong congregations and writing. Will these continue in your new work
or must they be reduced substantially to allow sufficient time for
management? Please elaborate.
- I hope to continue preaching on occasion, with perhaps some
teaching and writing when I can get the opportunity. But I'm also
excited that much of my time will be spent learning the ins and outs
of GA mission work. I will move from building a strong congregation,
to leading the mission programs of the GAC in ways that support the
ministries of presbyteries and congregations.
The General Assembly Council has often fretted over its image
and whether Presbyterians in the pews are pleased with its work. It has
called for brochures, videos and other ways to promote a positive image.
What is your view of the "image" problem?
- I was amazed as I learned the enormous breadth of the scope of
GAC ministries. While efforts have been made to communicate this to
Presbyterians across our denomination, I know that Linda and GAC
members want continually to more effectively tell the truly
incredible story of these ministries. Once the new deputy executive
director for Communication & Funds Development is hired, our
goal is to have all the deputy executive directors sit down to make
the connections between our areas work smoothly.
To various degrees, many Presbyterians agree there are some
major problems in the denomination. Membership has nosedived. Money has
dried up – thus forcing the very restructuring of which you have
become a part. Trust in the denomination has declined sharply. Do you
believe you can make a contribution to turning that around, and how?
- I think the General Assembly Council has already established a
good direction in the work they have laid out in the Mission Work
Plan. I'm excited to be helping in the implementation of that Plan.
I hope to use the experiences that God has blessed me with to
further that work in creative ways. Money has not dried up in the
Presbyterian Church. Many of our members are still responding to
God's call on them to fund mission within the church and around the
world. True, more and more congregations are becoming directly
connected with mission outreach. But this is exciting to me. It
means that committed Christians want to know the ministries and
mission projects personally that they're funding, even if that
requires the General Assembly mission offices to change some of the
ways that we've always done things.
You will have staff oversight for work areas (to be renamed
later). Can you briefly say what you believe should be done, including
possible changes, in these areas to glorify God:
a. Theology, worship, Christian education, stewardship.
b. Evangelism, church growth, vocation and leadership.
c. Social justice, peacemaking, Washington Office, UN office
d. Relief and development
e. Worldwide mission in partnership
f. Women and racial issues
- To determine this, I will really need to listen to the
perspectives of many people, including those who currently work in
these areas, leaders within the GAC and across the church, and other
groups whom we will consult on these subjects as we move to a more
networked world of mission. I don't come to the position with
specific change recommendations, but rather with a commitment to
listen, to understand, and to build a leadership team that will be
capable of delivering on Linda's commitments to be accountable,
responsive, and collaborative.
Your congregation in California became a Confessing Church
before you began serving there. It is still listed as a Confessing
Church. I mention this because more than 1,300 Confessing Churches
constitute an evangelical bloc that has expressed strong disagreement
with much of what has happened in the denomination. Do you regard it as
personally important to regain the lost trust of the evangelical wing
and, if so, what are some steps you would take to accomplish that?
- In my experience, the Confessing Churches are made up of churches
with a variety of agendas, some of them who feel in some way
mistrustful of the tenor of our denomination and others who simply
wanted to reassure their congregations that their particular local
church remains committed to our PCUSA Confessions.
- To the extent that trust has been broken between some of those
affiliated with the Confessing Churches and the denomination, I want
to treat it like any relationship where trust has been broken. That
requires listening, finding out specifically what may have brought
about any mistrust, then see what we can do to remedy and heal that.
How would you deal with staff leaders when they step beyond
the bounds of General Assembly or constitutional authority? Past
examples: a) Dirk Ficca's address to the PCUSA's 2001 Peacemaking
Conference, which was defended by the staff and required two years
before the General Assembly repaired the damage with "Hope in the
Lord Jesus Christ;" b) Elenora Giddings Ivory's press release in
2004 declaring, erroneously, that "General Assemblies have affirmed
the civil right of same sex-couples to civil marriage."
- Accountability is important to me as one who is used to working
in partnership with a session. Everyone must be accountable to
someone. Staff leaders in the GAC mission organization will report
to me, in the same way that I report to GAC executive director Linda
Valentine, and she in turn she reports to the Council. If staff step
beyond their authority and violate General Assembly policies, then
this will be dealt with in the same manner as all human resource
matters – through personal conversations with the staff, and
corrective action if necessary.
What has been your greatest disappointment about the PCUSA?
- My greatest disappointment is the decline in numbers of our
people. That's because I love this church and so believe in it. I
joined the PCUSA at about 30 years old when, as a young attorney in
Salt Lake City, Utah, I realized that I needed friendships, to find
significance in life, and people who really cared about me. The
people of First Presbyterian Church of Salt Lake became those dear
friends.
- At the time, I was coming off the tail end of a long time away
from church and God during my 20s. But the people of FPC Salt Lake,
like so many great PCUSA churches, gave me great breadth in my faith
journey, essentially saying, "Come as you are." They meant
it and I needed that breadth. They accepted me with all my ideas and
habits, many of them not particularly orthodox or edifying at the
time. They were a beautiful example of a church that was able to
have theological bounds, yet they accepted and loved me nonetheless.
What do you appreciate most about the denomination that is
being currently expressed?
- Despite how much we may complain, I think we are doing a lot of
things well. I was just at our Association of Presbyterian Mission
Pastors Conference in Louisville, Ky. I was really moved by the
faithfulness of the participants – pastors and leaders out in
the field and in churches, incredibly committed to the Gospel. I
love much of what we're doing in the way of social justice. I teach
that subject at Fuller Seminary, so it's a real passion of mine. But
I am learning more everyday as I move toward my new role. I'd ask
your readers to pray that what we appreciate about what we do
together as a denomination comes to far outweigh what we may be
tempted to complain about.
Were you satisfied that the 2006 General Assembly set the stage
for greater peace, unity and purity by approving its authoritative
interpretation on G-6.0106b?
- The 2006 General Assembly roundly reaffirmed our denomination's
ordination standards, while at the same time encouraging more
locally focused conversations and examinations for candidates for
ministry and those nominated to ordained offices. Whether there is
any actual disruption of the peace, unity and purity of the church
based on how our people interpret those decision remains to be seen.
What words would you use to describe the PCUSA: liberal,
moderate, orthodox, traditional, centrist, progressive? Where would you
like the denomination to be on that spectrum?
- No one word adequately describes a denomination of over
two-million members. We are greatly varied, yet one body,
interdependent. Personally, I'd want to be very careful that we not
become a church where everyone is required at threat of expulsion to
think and act exactly like I do. I don't always have it right. We
find boundaries in our Confessions, which we have to apply on a case
by case basis to specific circumstances. In my Christian experience,
people's challenges to my theology or way of life have more often
kept me more intellectually honest, deepened and broadened me as a
Christian, more than they have divided me from those challenging me.
What should Presbyterians focus on in their prayers for you and
other members of the staff in Louisville?
- When Linda was called to this position, she drew attention to the
ordination question: "Will you serve the people with energy,
intelligence, imagination, and love?" While not all of the
staff are ordained, I believe that all would do well to heed those
as ministry goals at the General Assembly, seeking to serve with
energy, intelligence, imagination, and love. I would love to know
that Presbyterians around the globe were praying for us in each of
those four areas. We all stand in daily need of the wisdom and power
of the Holy Spirit.
You have been described as a bridge builder between polarized
factions in the denomination. When might you raise the drawbridge?
- Two responses: First, I'm reluctant to view the church as a
fortress that I need to protect. Our Reformed heritage tells us that
it is God who is our mighty fortress. And God doesn't need
my protection. To the extent that you mean when do I draw lines in
the theological sand, I don't think one can honestly answer that in
the abstract. Our applied theological decisions are made daily, on
case by case bases, and take a huge variety of things into
consideration, like the topic at hand, the context of situations,
the language used, intentionality, etc. So I really can't answer
that in a general way. More importantly, my job as a bridge builder
for the GAC is to carry out the mission of the church, while helping
people of differing theological leanings to love, understand, and
work well with each other. But, I am not there to be an ultimate
gatekeeper who will save our church. My job is, along with many
others, to faithfully carry out the mission of the areas which I
oversee. Pray for me that I will do that with righteousness,
integrity and grace. But I'll leave the saving of our Church to the
one who can best do that job – Jesus Christ.
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