Not a threat, not a front and not a fix
Getting to know The Fellowship of Presbyterians
By Carmen Fowler LaBerge, The Layman, August 28, 2012
Like two inseparable sides of the same coin, The Fellowship of Presbyterians (FOP) and ECO: a Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians share a vision of being the church together in a new way but they will do so from the context of two different denominations.
In a session offered in both Colorado Springs and Atlanta, Jim Singleton, president of FOP, underscored that FOP churches will remain in the Presbyterian Church (USA). He outlined the three different types of churches in the Fellowship.
- “There are congregations that are highly loyal to being in PCUSA, have no intention of leaving and want to work for renewal by staying within. But, they really want to live in a different way – a way marked by common theology, common missional focus and common covenanted life.”
- “Then there are those churches whose leadership would actually prefer to be in ECO, but the congregation as a whole is nowhere near taking that step. In some cases the congregation is broad theologically, even pluralistic. If the leadership brought this to any kind of vote it would split the church and we don’t want to do anything that’s going to be harmful to the local church.” Singleton then shared from his own experience at First Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs where a 95 percent positive vote was achieved for seeking dismissal from the PCUSA to the ECO. He said, “However, 6 percent of a 4,000 member church is significant. Those people are precious souls.” There is always a cost associated with moving toward a vote.
- “Then there are those congregations who already have one foot out the door. They’re prepared to leave but something is preventing them.” Singleton then described the wide variety of presbytery contexts. “Sixty-one of 173 presbyteries have gracious dismissal policies,” he said,which means that most do not. “These churches are staying in The Fellowship until the way is clear to move to ECO.”
Singleton then remarked on the reality that every congregation is different, every context is different, the process in every presbytery is different, and in every case, the facts and the people are different. Reflecting again, Singleton stated, “two of the original seven of us who started this conversation two years ago have gone to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) because that was the right solution for their church at the right time. We need to just honor that.” Singleton observed that congregations were in the midst of discernment that would lead some to join ECO, some to join the EPC and many to remain in the PCUSA as a part of The Fellowship.
Singleton then assured that “the Fellowship is not a threat and it is not a front.” Confirming what he has said on other occasions about the role the Fellowship will play in the PCUSA, he said, “Fellowship is not going to spend any of its energy to fix the PCUSA. We’re going to work with congregations, model what we’re called to be, and if an example is set for others in the denomination, that’s fine. We’re going to live out our calling as Reformed evangelical Christians.”
In a follow-up question about the intentional disconnect between FOP churches and the PCUSA, Singleton described the “posture of gracious indifference.” He said, “I hope the FOP will influence by example. I think that within five years there will be a demonstrated difference in the health of FOP congregations by comparison to the larger PCUSA. Our depth in studying the Reformed faith might also be winsome. Its example, not confrontation … It’s about being graciously indifferent about the PCUSA.”
Singleton then turned the conversation from description to prescription, calling those present to recognize the challenge of becoming something they have not been and have not seen. Borrowing an analogy from baseball, he said, “sometimes when a trade is made you think he’s going to be better in the new club – but just changing affiliations is not going to make us the missional, solidly theological and relational congregations we want to be. We have to become something we weren’t.”
Becoming a new variety of relational church requires technical and adaptive change. Singleton said that “adaptive change often involves identifying, addressing and balancing competing values.”
To illustrate the difference Singleton recalled the issue of “smugglers” in the 11 a.m. service. “Smugglers?” Singleton asked the elder who surfaced the issue at a session meeting. “Yes, smugglers. They’re sneaking coffee into the sanctuary.” Singleton then quipped, “it took us longer to decide that than to decide to leave the denomination.”
That adaptive work for Fellowship churches will be done in the context of mission affinity groups and ECO’s three legged stool is the tool for getting there. What differentiates FOP churches here from ECO is that FOP churches will function within the constitution of the PCUSA even as they seek to live into the covenanted theology, collaborative ministry and catalytic mission FOP/ECO seeks to embody.
Addressing that challenge, Singleton spoke about each of the three legs:
- Theology: “ECO may eventually vote to drop and add certain confessions. We (in the Fellowship) will not” because the confessional standard of FOP churches is ultimately the PCUSA.
- Collaborative ministry: FOP churches will continue to function within the PCUSA presbytery structure and additionally they will be required to participate in mission affinity groups. Using the Narrative on the State of Religion as one example, Singleton pointed out that “working through the 10 questions takes time. It is not a quick and easy fill in the blank exercise. It’s going to take four months of session’s attention every year. Once you have written yours, you share it with your mission affinity group and they help you reflect on how you might do some parts better. The goal here is to actually connect people who share a theology and a missional passion for greater effectiveness.” Then he said, “What you measure shows what you expect.” When asked later why the metrics used in “The Narrative” were abandoned, Singleton gave a history lesson. “One question on there is ‘how are you doing with the family alter?’ Family devotions were giving way in the mid 1920’s to all kinds of fun things to do on Sunday. So, over time, every session’s answer was ‘we failed on this one.’ They got tired of answering that negatively.” Continuing, he said, “the first question about Holy Spirit was euphemistic for revivals – so for years it was answered with ‘we had a revival and x number of people were converted.’ A 1924 book caused people to disavow revivals and therefore that question. Then there is the third question about Sabbath observance. What was available for people to do on Sunday began to change radically in the 1920s. Again, they didn’t want to answer the question negatively year after year so they just stopped asking it.” Then Singleton noted that “Narrative is very popular in post-modern thought. A qualitative answer is more valuable now than a quantitative answer. Engaging in the Narrative process will prove incredibly healthy for us and others.”
- Catalytic Mission: “We want churches to get excited about being mission outposts. We are not franchises of Christendom.” Not throwing stones, but illustrating his point, Singleton said that “out of 10,000 (PCUSA) congregations
in 2010, we started 10 new churches. I don’t know how the stats could be any worse.”
The Fellowship is not alone in its critical observations about the health and welfare of the Presbyterian Church (USA). The desire to do church differently and the passion to live into missional effectiveness in the context of existing congregations and through new expressions of the church is shared by people on the left and the right of the most divisive issues that plague the denomination. On the left of center is NEXT church and on the right of center is The Fellowship of Presbyterians. All these folks intend to continue as a part of the PCUSA, but the share the hope of getting away from internecine battles and getting on with the mission of the Church.
What separates NEXT church from The Fellowship are the core values under which they are operating.
The Executive Director of The Fellowship, who divides his time between FOP and Presbyterians for Renewal (PFR), is Paul Detterman. He reminded those gathered that “this will not work without the theology, this will not work without the mission, and this will really not work without the covenanted order.”
Detterman encouraged those gathered toward adaptive change with a spirit of patience. “Patience is imperative,” Detterman said. He outlined the necessity of patience with self, patience with local congregations as “we corporately figure out how to lead our people through this,” and patience with others, as “we are neither functionally in lock-step with the PCUSA nor are we in ECO.”
To “pull this off,” Singleton said, everyone needs to “grab an oar” and start paddling. The FOP effort is largely run by volunteers and “is really grassroots.”
In conclusion Singleton challenged those gathered, saying, “We’ve actually got to believe that the Gospel makes a difference and that a vital thriving congregation that is working for Biblical justice changes things. It’s been so long since we’ve actually seen that kind of transformation broad-scale that we’ve kinda’ forgotten it.” The Fellowship gives PCUSA congregations a new way of being church, if they’re willing to invest the time, energy and resources necessary to grab an oar.