A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original article appears below. The Rev. J.H. (Hans) Kouwenberg is the minister of St. Giles’ Church in Prince George, B.C. and editor of Channels.
Who are we when we worship?
Eph. 3:12,14; 4:6 (TEV)
Before we can consider what one future vision for ministry might be, we ought to consider what our vision for ministry has been and what, to some extent, may still be. One way of doing that may be to consider who we are when we worship. Because worship is the most visible, regular and well-attended activity of the congregation, it provides a good snapshot of who we really are or try, at least, to be.
Although there are lots of good things in all of the passages, I want to focus on the magnificent and celebrative vision statement picked up by the apostle Paul and embedded in his correspondence to the Ephesians. It may well have been a fragment of an early Christian hymn. It is certainly singable. In any case, it will serve as a useful framework for us of what any Christian congregation might want to be. In the midst of diversity: unity. In the midst of hopelessness: hope. In the midst of faithlessness: faith. And in the midst of wondering what’s going on: “one God and Father of all [human] kind, who is Lord of all, working] through all, and is in all” (Eph. 4:6).
If you think we are a people of diversity – and we are, both in faith backgrounds and faith expressions, as well as, I suspect, diverse in many ways – remember that the first century church also encompassed a very diverse group of people! If you think that at times things look rather hopeless and confusing, remember that the first century church faced its hopelessness, faithlessness and confusion!
“There is one body and one spirit, just as there is one hope to which God has called you. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism; there is one God and Father of all [humanjkind, who is Lord of all who works through all, and is in all.” (Eph. 4:4-6 TEV)
Notice, by the way, that it is a trinitarian statement of faith and vision. Beginning with “one spirit,” we are led to celebrate that there is “one Lord” also – the Lord Jesus Christ, of course – “one God and Father of all [human]kind, who is Lord of all, works through all and is in all.” Unity in diversity is already reflected in the Godhead, even before we recognize it and struggle with it among very human people. And this unity in the Godhead ought to help us with our lack of unity, as Christians, with each other.
Well, how is this text also a guide to us in seeking to describe who we are as we worship? I believe this text may give us some guidance as we reflect on that.
First of all, we who gather for worship Sunday by Sunday, are Christians. Who are we as we worship? We are Christians, or perhaps we may be, some of us at least, “pre-Christians.” Maybe some of us even prefer to describe ourselves as “non-Christians” – we haven’t yet made the leap of faith or put our trust wholly in the Lordship and Saviourhood of Christ. But we’re interested and intrigued by what goes on around church. We’re willing, at least, to rub shoulders with some of these folk we’ve gotten to know who also happen to be Christians. We’re willing to listen a little and learn a little about what it means to “name the name” of Jesus Christ with reverence and love, even with devotion, affection and awe.
We’re here because we recognize that this body of human beings, even with all its faults and failings, is a body of believers, believers in Jesus Christ. And we’re glad to shelter, for a little while at least, “under the shadow of the almighty” (Ps.91:1), under the shelter of “his wings” (Ps.91:4). Who are we when we worship? We are very ordinary human beings who seek to be loved and to be helped and to be forgiven and to be healed. We are people who seek the mercy and protection and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn’t that what puts us on the road to be Christians and to be with Christians?
You don’t have to be a Presbyterian to worship here. Presbyterians do not have a monopoly on the gospel. There is “one Lord, one faith, one birth” – the new birth, that is, the new birth to the Christian life. This is something that is shared by many Christian churches. To be a member, even, in the Presbyterian church, all you have to do is to profess a faith in Jesus Christ who makes us whole, who is Saviour and Lord of all our life.
I suppose you don’t even have to be a Christian to worship here. Initially, you need only be interested in the Christian basics. In a recent helpful little book introducing the Christian faith, called Christian Basics, a Christian couple, who are both down-to-earth theologians, suggest that the “Christian basics” include the Hebrew and Christian story of the good creation of this world, the bad “fall” humankind has experienced, as we find it, again and again, in our own human weakness and sin, and the hopeful promise of rescue that we may receive in the forgiveness and mercy of Jesus Christ, gained and displayed so powerfully in crucifixion on the cross and delivered empoweringly by his astounding resurrection from the dead. Christian basics include too, of course, a life of integrity and lowliness or humility, great-heartedness and gentleness, and patience or long-suffering, some of the things the apostle Paul refers to in the opening lines of his chapter on “the unity of the body” in his Ephesian correspondence (chapter 4). But, essentially, Christian basics have to do with recognizing and accepting God’s search for us and love for us, like a Father searches for and loves his children. Christian basics have to do with recognizing and accepting that the face of the Father is in the face of Jesus, who walks with us and cares for us like a pleasant and playful, loving and non-competitive brother. Christian basics have to do with recognizing and receiving the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Christ himself. And out of that flows all the grace and goodness of the Christian life. Who are we when we worship? We are Christians. This is the beginning and the ending of the Christian Life.
But, in fact, to discover who we are when we worship we will need, somewhere along the way, to probe a little more. Who are we when we worship raises questions about our theological or denominational heritage. The truth is that we come from many different backgrounds. True, we are committed to “one Lord, one faith, one birth.” But are we committed to the Presbyterian (and Reformed) vision or expression of the Christian faith? Does it matter at all? I think it does.
In a congregation-wide survey [of St. Giles’ church where the author is minister] completed on a Sunday in January of 1990 by over 210 members and adherents we discovered that 58 of our people came from a United Church background; 51 from a Presbyterian or Reformed; 29 from an Anglican; 19 from a Lutheran (of some sort); 19 from Baptist churches of different kinds; 14 from Roman Catholic; 6 from a Brethren; 6 from a Pentecostal; 4 from Mennonite churches of several kinds, and so on, with another 24 from everything else under God’s sky and sun. We are a diverse group of people! “One Lord, one faith, one birth,” essentially Christian in allegiance, but differing in our understanding of how we came to know that Lord, grasp that faith and practise that birth.
This is a Presbyterian church. There are certain things that Presbyterians understand and do that other Christian churches (unless they are also of a Reformed and Presbyterian background) understand and do differently. Presbyterians have certain distinctives about the expression of their Christian faith that the leadership, at least, of any given Presbyterian congregation is committed to.
In worship, for example, these Presbyterian and Reformed distinctives may include certain emphases. If worship is an expression of our Christian faith and if there are differing and unique expressions among people, as I know there are, we Presbyterians have our own unique ways of expressing ourselves. We delight, for example, in emphasizing the sovereignty of God. That may, at first glance, seem hardly unusual. All Christians emphasize (or should emphasize) the glory and the supremacy of God. But Presbyterians particularly want to emphasize that God takes the initiative in our creation, election and salvation. Where other Christians emphasize humankind’s response to God’s gracious initiative in Jesus Christ, Presbyterians want to emphasize God’s prior and persuasive and pervasive action. That’s why, for example, Presbyterians baptize babies. It’s not to say that adults cannot be baptized as believers if they’ve never been baptized before. Presbyterians will do that gladly – even with immersion if desired (and convenient!) – if it’s never been done before. But Presbyterians and Reformed, (and some other denominational people, too, of course) bring their babies for baptism because they believe that baptism signifies the gracious initiative of God. We love to quote – as I do at baptismal services – the passage from Romans 5:6, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly… while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” “… While we were enemies, we were reconciled to the death of his Son” (Rom. 5:6,8b, 10a NRSV). We want to declare in baptism, as in other acts and rituals of worship, that there is something at work in this world and universe that has more to do with the One outside of us and over us and within us than with ourselves. And we admit freely that this is a difficult emphasis to maintain in a world that prides itself upon human freedom and ingenuity and decision.
I read once in an article by Martin Marty, a Lutheran historian, that our culture today – and that includes our Christian sub-culture (we’re not the dominant culture anymore, remember) – suffers from general ascendancy of what he calls the “baptistification” of society. It’s a struggle to be a correctional, corporate Christian in a world that stresses the power and free choice of the individual. It’s a struggle to honour our Catholic and Reformed roots in a world that doesn’t care a great deal about where you’ve come from, only where you’re going.
And yet struggle we must. So we do want to emphasize the public and corporate aspect of our worship as much, if not more, than its private and individualistic aspect. We do want to emphasize the connection we have with the saints of all ages as we repeat occasionally the Apostles’ Creed or other statement of faith and as we pray the Lord’s Prayer which Jesus taught his disciples to pray. These acts of worship, and others like them, grab hold of the umbilical cord of our faith. They connect us with the source and tradition of our faith.
Presbyterians are not afraid of “tradition,” what Jaroslav Pelikan had called, “the living faith of the dead”; like other Christians, they may be wary of “traditionalism, the dead faith of the living.”
What we all need is to struggle to rediscover traditions that are valuable and appropriate in celebrating our faith. We all have and appreciate certain traditions; we just need to understand them and reflect on them and sort out which ones are worth keeping and which ones are worth storing and putting away.
We can well do away with the former austerity and even harsh sterility of some forms of Presbyterian tradition; we can use some more joy and spontaneity in our services of worship. But we can be thankful for and seek to maintain the thoughtfulness of our faith. After all, we are supposed to be people of the Book and of the Word, as well as people of the Spirit. We want to continue to think through our faith even though a lot more passion in our faith wouldn’t be amiss either! Hence the “order” of our services of worship is important to us. And the reading and interpretation of the Bible is important to us.
And so a passage like our text is seen not only as a guide for our Christian faith but it is also understood as a guide for our own particular emphasis of it. When we read that “there is” indeed “only one body and one Spirit, just as there is one hope to which God has called [us],” we know that there is a unity to Christians everywhere. We understand, further, that Christians ought to work at their unity. Interchurch and ecumenical cooperation is necessary and helpful that we may work for the day when “they may be one, just as you and I are one” as Jesus once prayed (John 17:22b TEV).
But that is not to say that there are no differences among Christians. Indeed, our text alludes to this when it goes on to say “There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism…” Why is this asserted? Because, perhaps, there were differences in understanding the Lord and his work, faith, and the practice of baptism, even in New Testament times. And these differences have not yet vanished away or been overcome. Some of these differences persist and with good reason. And so while we affirm our unity as Christians and are willing and able to celebrate that – even within the embrace of one congregation – we are not willing to abandon the unique emphases and expressions of our faith and heritage. We try to continue to understand and reflect upon who we are as we worship.
We are Christians but we are also Presbyterian Christians.
Finally, of course, we are part of a specific congregation as we worship. We have our own uniqueness as a congregation. We are not exactly like every other Christian or even Presbyterian congregation. We’ve done some unique things as a congregation. We may have differing musical accompaniment; we may sing different and additional songs. We may encourage lay participation. We might try to have an informal, more laid-lack tone than is usual for most Presbyterian services of worship. And we may have developed a certain style of life as a congregation because of the many children and young people we enjoy having around. This uniqueness, of course, can be changing, as time goes on and visions change; we can be “a reformed church always reforming.” What will our future be? Who will we be as we worship five years, ten years or twenty years from now?
In 1954 the St. Giles’ elders brain-stormed and developed a mission statement for our church. In general and theological terms, they tried to state what, they thought, our purpose as a congregation to this generation might be. Whereas, initially, St. Giles’ had been established to give comfort and haven to, what one charter member described as, a group of “disaffected Presbyterians.” In 1984, 30 years later, St. Giles’ purpose had changed a little in focus. Now the elders felt that “St. Giles’ exists for the purpose of enabling individuals to grow spiritually as Christians, to develop towards mature Christian community and to share Christ’s love and life with others.” The purpose of St. Giles’ in the ’80s and ’90s and beyond, I trust, is to have a specific Christian, Christ-centered, out-going focus, not merely, an inward, denominational one. But that focus was still to be directed “within a Reformed and Presbyterian setting.” For me this is still a valid context for our operation. Is it for everyone? Or, at least for the leadership of the congregation?
Recently I’ve been trying to have us reflect, as well, upon the vision we might have for our congregation. A vision statement may be different from a mission statement. A mission statement focuses on general theological objectives; a vision statement is a clarification of the specific direction and activities the congregation will pursue towards making a significant ministry impact. A mission statement is “essentially a philosophy statement that undergirds the heart of [our] ministry” (Barna, 1992 p.38). Knowing the content of the mission statement generally enables a person to feel confident that the church is Christian and ministry-minded. The vision statement [however] “puts feet” on the mission detailing how the church will influence the world in which it will minister. Thus while a mission statement is general and philosophic in nature; the vision statement is specific and strategic in character (Barna, p.39).
(George Barna lists a number of questions that would help someone test whether what they’ve come up with is a mission or a vision statement. Put your statement to a test. If all or most of the answers to the following questions are “no,’’what you have is probably a definition of your mission rather than a statement of God’s vision for your ministry.
- Is the statement one that points the ministry in a clear and unique direction for the future?
- Does the statement identify a target audience whom you hope to impact through the church’s ministry?
- Does the statement include information which, when compared to the vision statements of other nearby churches, clearly sets your church apart in a significant manner?
- Does the statement provide focus for ministry so people are excited about being involved in the work of the church?
- Have any inactive Christians who regularly attend the church become excited about the prospect for ministry after being exposed to the statement?
- Does the statement lead to a precise understanding regarding the strategies and tactics that are permissible in ministry?
- If someone contacted your church regarding involvement in what seemed like a reasonable ministry opportunity, is the statement specific enough to permit you to have a ministry-oriented reason to reject that opportunity and to explain the reason for the rejection?
- Does the statement prevent the church from seeking to be “all things to all people” [George Barna The Power of Vision 1992, pp. 40-41].
These are some of the questions that might help you to distinguish a missions statement from a vision statement.)
I’ve reviewed a number of vision statements listed in The Power of Vision and then tried to write out a vision statement of my own that might reflect St. Giles’ vision as I see it. This is what it sounds like if I try to describe what St. Giles’ vision has been for me in the last ten years or so:
“Our vision has been to reach out to previously ‘churched’ people (most often from so-called ‘mainline’ churches) and, occasionally, from no church background at all. These all needed a gospel message that is biblical and clear, vibrant and alive, intellectually challenging and emotionally satisfying. We have offered a ministry that is sensitive to both believer and unbeliever, characterized by a loving, forgiving and accepting environment, yet offering growth or faith from ‘nominal’ or ‘social’ Christian to Christians committed to Jesus Christ. And we have tried to do this in the context of being an evangelical, denominational congregation, using both contemporary and traditional worship styles.”
We have tried to be Christian and Presbyterian and ‘Gilesian’ all at once. We have tried to stretch the boundaries of mere denominationalism as we sought to be faithful to what C.S. Lewis described as “mere” or essential Christianity. But we have not sought to abandon our denomination which remains Presbyterian.
Is this vision statement sufficient for our future together? Or do we need another one?
What would your vision statement be for your congregation?
Who are we as we worship is not only a question for the past and the present but for the future as well.
Will you help me to answer the question?
Reading List
Francis Foulkes, Ephesians
Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition
George Barna, The Power of Vision