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When I was in grammar school, one of the first assignments we would almost always be given upon returning from our summer holidays was to stand in front of the class and talk a bit about how we spent the previous three months.  Vacations in my family were usually uneventful, but how I loved them.  They meant that I had time to read.  And, what I read was always the subject of my presentations. 

I still love to read, and one of the best books that I read during my summer vacation this year was Thomas Oden’s, The Rebirth of Orthodoxy – Signs of new Life in Christianity.  I commend it to you for your consideration, and guarantee that the hours you spend with it will be well invested. 

One section in Oden’s book is particularly apropos of an issue that is currently a hot topic for discussion in the PC(USA).  I refer to what, in its latest incarnation, is being called “gracious separation.”  Of course, conversations about splitting the church are neither new, nor particularly restricted to Presbyterians.  I would be willing to wager that schism is a subject for discussion in every mainline denomination.  But, I have to admit that these particular conversations profoundly disturb me.  So, I was acutely interested in some things that Dr. Oden has to say.  Let me share them with you.

“We are sternly warned by scripture against schism.  We dare not further divide the church, which has suffered enough already under the divisiveness of false teachers and ideological advocates who presume to speak for the future of Christianity."

"None of us heard the gospel apart from the community of believers who transmitted it to us.  To quit contending for the faith is to hold cheap our baptismal vow, which ties us to the larger body of faith ... "

"We in the confessing movements do not deny that a sincere believer may leave a faltering church or denomination for good cause, but to leave one structure is to embrace another – and that second structure may have similar limitations or worse.  Furthermore, to quit is to leave behind mounting problems that will never be solved unless the faithful are willing to roll up their sleeves and help.  The churches need loyal and steady critics more than purists or loners or deserters.”

That event left deep spiritual and psychological scars on both of us – as well as instill in both of us a profound resolve to never again be part of such a horrific catastrophe.  Long ago we learned that it is far better to pray and work for reform and reconciliation than to walk away from people with whom we disagree. 

 My prayer as I share my perspective on this issue is that you will join me in saying, “No,” to those who are counseling division within our denomination, and “Yes,” to those who are laboring long into the night to be agents of reformation.  As the writer of Hebrews put it to some sisters and brothers who were losing heart in their day, “lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.” 

God is always doing “new things” in his church – and that includes the PC(USA).  Therefore, I agree wholeheartedly with Dr. Oden – the church does need “loyal and steady critics more than purists or loners or deserters.”

Now is the time to keep the vows that we made upon joining the church – to dig down deep, to pray, and to invest our time, energy and resources in the hard work of renewal.