Basis works for renewal in Britain's United Reformed Church By Robert P. Mills The Presbyterian Layman Monday, October 12, 1998
Hilborn knows what it is to stand for biblical faith in difficult circumstances. He is pastor of City Temple in London and president of Basis, a renewal organization within the United Reformed Church (URC), England's largest Reformed denomination. Of immediate concern to Hilborn is Resolution 19, an action taken by the URC's 1997 General Assembly. Although the URC is currently debating the question of human sexuality and ordination, Resolution 19 preemptively declares that "during the process of further reflection and discussion … the fact of a homosexual relationship shall not be the ground for rejecting a candidate for ministry during the process of selection, assessment, entry to a college or course and ministerial training." The resolution, according to Hilborn, is threatening to split the URC. Two goals It was in response to the threat of schism that Basis was formed in 1997. (The organization's name comes from its founding document, "The Basis of Union.") Hilborn says Basis has two main goals. The first is to restore and promote biblical authority in the denomination. The second is to replace Resolution 19 with a code of practice, ethics and doctrine that reflects classic biblical morality. Another concern is what PCUSA renewal groups would call "leveling the playing field." According to the URC's own research, only two percent of its congregations would call a gay or lesbian pastor. Yet Resolution 19 passed the General Assembly by a 2-1 margin. Basis is working to see that the grassroots level of the church is more fairly represented in its governing bodies. Of the URC's 1,700 churches, 136 are members of Basis, and the organization has representatives in each of the denomination's Provinces and District Councils. In an interview with The Layman Hilborn said the existence of Basis has kept a number of individuals and congregations from leaving the denomination, but he admits that some "are getting very depressed about turning this ship around." Helpful resources Asked why he traveled so far to come to Gathering III, Hilborn responded, "to gain encouragement, to listen to the stratagems that have been used over here. The strategies you have used have been instructive to us. I came to be prayed for, to be encouraged by a sister church that has pulled back from the brink of doctrinal deviation, apostasy to be dramatic. When you are in a denomination like the URC you can believe that the move to liberalism is inexorable." He added, "I can go back and say that the PCUSA has gone for B rather than A. I shall certainly be taking back the declaration and strategy paper and history of A and B. The resources I've picked up have been very helpful. It was also good to hear this morning about reversing of Ichabod. [See related article.] I'll be taking back that message." If Basis is to do its work effectively, Hilborn said, it needs an office with one paid worker. "This takes funding. If there is anyone over here who is willing to help a weaker brother with financial support we would be grateful." City Temple Hilborn has been pastor of City Temple, an historic church in the middle of London, for four years. City Temple "was born in Puritanism, with Thomas Goodwin, a member of the Westminster Assembly, as its first minister." During the latter half of this century it has largely been dominated by liberal theology. Sunday attendance had declined from 1,000 in the 1950s to about 40 on Sunday in 1994. "We've turned that around," Hilborn says. "We've managed to get a project up and running to redevelop the historic site and our mission agenda, to form a residential community of mission workers, including the staff of the church." His dream is for the redevelopment to include a health club, restaurant, prayer chapel on roof "so people can pray while looking over London." Hilborn estimates the cost of the project at $8 million and declares "I'm convinced that a healthy City Temple church in the heart of London would be a profound witness." However, with a British flair for understatement he adds, "The denomination isn't particularly disposed to help us." A word of warning In addition to his evident appreciation for the renewal work being done in the PCUSA, Hilborn also had a word of warning for his brothers and sisters on this side of the Atlantic: "One message I'd like to come through loud and clear is that while I've learned a lot from you you've got something to learn from us - Don't be complacent. Once you've cleaned out the evil, this side of glory there is always the chance that things will fall apart due to complacency. One of our greatest enemies, apart from the devil himself and radical committed liberalism, is apathy. For evil to triumph only requires that good people do nothing." For more information on Basis visit the Basis web site. |
||
| "For Such a Time as This" Gathering III draws 600 Presbyterians to Dallas | ||
| News From the PCUSA | ||
| News Updates | ||
|
Home,
·
Archives,
·The
Presbyterian Layman, current issue |
||
