STATE OF THE CHURCH
PROVINCIAL SYNOD
MORAVIAN CHURCH-NORTHERN PROVINCE
Paul speaks to us in
his letter to the Ephesians and says:
“I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of
the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness,
with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to
maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as
you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in
all. But to each of was given grace
according to the measure of Christ’s gift……The gifts he gave were that some
would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,
to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of
Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and
fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their
craftiness in deceitful scheming. But
speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the
head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every
ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes
the body’s growth in building itself up in love.” Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16.
We
find ourselves gathered together at this, the opening session of the 39th
Synod of the Moravian Church-Northern Province. On behalf of the Provincial Elders’ Conference and those who have
worked in the planning and preparation of this gathering, I say welcome in the name of Christ our Chief
Elder. We acknowledge that as synod
delegates, we are elected to serve as leaders of the church; and I pray that we
will provide a visionary role rather than a management role while we are here. The success of this synod may well not be
measured by the number of resolutions brought to the floor by our committees,
but by the visionary goals that we are able to place before the churches of our
province.
• We are here to celebrate our unity in
Christ and to use our God-given gifts as stated by Paul to acknowledge the
challenges that are before us as a province in the years to come, especially
the next four.
• We are here to provide for our province a
vision for our Church.
• We are here to focus our thoughts as
visionaries rather than managers.
• We are here to look beyond our personal and
congregational agendas to the viability and vitality of our church. Without viability, the issues that confront
us are insignificant. Paul said: “But
speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the
head”.
If
the events of the last year taught us anything, it is to celebrate life in the
midst of tragedy. We were all touched
by the events of September 11th and the results of that infamous day
affected the way we live our lives.
Each of us remembers exactly where we were and what we were doing on
that September morning, of how the words fear and uncertainty had new and
powerful meanings. What would the
future hold for our world, our nation, our community? What would it hold for our families and friends, our churches and
our own personal lives? Since that
Tuesday morning many of us have reflected upon and re-evaluated our lives. From those reflections we may well have
placed a stronger emphasis upon our faith and our family life. Many in our country have come to the Father
in prayer to ask for direction. Daily
life can be a celebration, the reception of a gift from a loving God. Daily life is a story to be shared, a gift
to be given.
Our
country has been through a difficult time and the church that we love offers
hope in a world filled with violence.
What will this 39th Synod of our church provide for the
future of our province. Might we
together foster that visionary spirit among ourselves and within our committees
that will enable us to leave this gathering next Tuesday with a story in our
hearts to propel the church to new horizons in the name of Christ our Chief
Elder?
As
a part of this opening session of synod, the New Church Strategy Committee will
be laying before us a mighty vision of church expansion, one that is a powerful
witness to the vitality of our province.
The leadership of our province believes that we are at a crossroads in
our life as a denomination. As
membership has continued to decline, (4.4% in this last intersynodal period) we
are concerned about our critical mass and our ability to make a difference in
the world. We live in a time where
people tend to confuse what they want with what they need. We see church expansion as a means to be a
witness.
There
is plenty of congregational vitality to be celebrated throughout our
province. Excellence in worship
leadership is taking place in many congregations. It’s exciting to see congregations that are alive and adding
additional worship services to accommodate those attending, to see a large
number of youth coming forward to hear a children’s sermon. To read about congregations excited about
sending short-term work crews to assist those in other parts of our Moravian
unity by sharing their time and talent and financial resources to strengthen
learning as well as to help with special construction projects. Other churches are involved in local
ministries such as Habitat for Humanity and our New York and Washington, DC
churches have participated in 9/11 ministries. The hungry are being fed, the sick are being ministered to,
people in prisons are being visited, people beyond our knowledge continue to
grow spiritually and reach out to others.
This is what Christ has called the church to be. This is the church at its best as we know
it. Michael Kinnamon said on another
occasion: “Our oneness in Christ is
because God loves us, and by that love we are empowered to love one another.”
As this synod convenes, we must all celebrate the reality of fifteen approved candidates studying for pastoral ministry in our province. There were five recent graduates bringing that total to twenty. This number is the largest at one time in as long as I could determine from our records in the office. The challenge is to be able to continue to finance ministerial education and surely that is something we can do. What a wonderful challenge for a new millenium!
Ministry
with and for youth is another sign of vitality. Exciting camps and conferences are planned for this summer and I
believe that youth conferences are on the increase again. A very exceptional Sr. High Convo was held
last summer here in Pennsylvania for the Moravian Church in North America. Building projects at our conference
facilities have gone forward positively in the last four years at both Mt.
Morris in Wisconsin and VAN-ES in Alberta.
Hope in New Jersey anticipates projects very soon. Meaningful ministry with today’s youth
will insure vital leadership for tomorrow’s church.
Another
cause for celebration is our ministry with and for the elderly. Our denominational sponsored homes in
Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Wisconsin continue to expand to meet the rising
needs of residential facilities and health care units. Each site has seen increases in available
space through building expansion in the past four years and new construction
that is eminent will provide even more residences with the addition of Moravian
Village here in Bethlehem.
On
Tuesday morning of this week, I received word of a major bequest to our
province and one that speaks of a celebration of stewardship. Our province is in the process of receiving
funds from the Clewell/Henry estates and trusts, including specifically the Ruth
H. Clewell, Jr. estate and the trusts of her father Clarence and her mother
Ruth, as well as her aunts, Helen M. Henry and Harriet L. Henry in the total
amount of 5.2 million dollars. To the
best of my knowledge this is the largest bequest ever received by our
church. These dollars are gifts
specifically to Larger Life, Society for Promoting the Gospel, the Northern
Province Pension Fund and Moravian Theological Seminary. Our province will be blessed now and in the
future by this major gift. What if
others in our province today might choose to make provisions in estates that
would provide bequests for ministerial education, the Archives, Music
Foundation, Board of World Mission, development and re-development of churches,
the pension fund or program ministries of our church? This challenge is before
each one of us.
Your
Provincial Elders’ Conference in these last four years has been made up of
members who were willing and able to give huge amounts of time, tremendous
energy and dedicated commitment to their duties as board members. Decisions have been difficult at times;
there have been times of consensus and times of lengthy conversation when we
had to make tough, sometimes unpopular decisions. One frustration we continue to face as a province is the funding
of our common ministries. Our current
method of meeting the budget results in an ever shrinking budget and the
reality that some churches are contributing more—and feeling resentful—and some
are contributing less—and feeling as if it’s an entitlement. Would that this synod provide vision for
this area of restructure. Yet in all
that we have done, we believe decisions are and were based on basic principles
and practices of our Moravian Church and were arrived at through prayer. We have given our all to bring into being
the restructure that was initiated at the 1998 synod. Some of our efforts have been more successful than others. When I became a member of the PEC, there
were eleven people on the staff and now there are six. This, I believe, has called more for
management on behalf of the office I serve than the visioning and leadership
function called for by restructure.
Some components of our work no longer exist. Coordination of education on a provincial level to mention
one. Your PEC has sought to work
closely with the District Boards in a partnership that provided leadership and
guidance for our province.
A
unique meeting where District Boards and the PEC met together in Chaska, MN
this past November challenged us to look forward with vision as your elected
leaders. We determined at that
gathering, as noted in the “reality statement” you have all received, that the
essential responsibility of this synod of 2002 was to focus on the future vitality and viability of our
church. We acknowledged that there are
other issues – some controversial and potentially divisive – which face our
denomination and are deserving of healthy debate. We also recognized that there may be little hope for
reconciliation of contrasting beliefs, attitudes and opinions about some of
these issues. We continue to encourage
honest expression and open, nonjudgmental discussion of issues such as the
authority and interpretation of scripture, of leadership or styles of worship
and homosexuality. We pray that this
will be done in a spirit of respect and caring for one another. It remains the challenge to this synod to
place its primary focus on the future vitality and viability of the Moravian
Church-Northern Province.
I believe that synod is more than just a
platform for special interest groups.
We should focus our hearts on Our Heavenly Father through our
prayers. Praying to Our Father can help
in the journey as we seek His guidance for the future of the church. Prayer is a way of life, not just for synod,
but for our life as vital and viable Christians and members of His body, the
church. I pray that we can, indeed,
celebrate the good the church has done, the good the church is doing and the
good the church will do in the future without ripping ourselves apart. We are not large enough to split. Thus by our actions or reactions and our
vote, we stand to destroy ourselves if we do not recognize the fact that as
long as persons with diverse personalities and diverse backgrounds and diverse
experiences gather into Christian communities, we will differ. The
Moravian Church has a tradition which has affirmed inclusivity. “There is one body and one Spirit, just as
you were called to the hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in all.”
Last fall, our 9-year-old grandson,
David, wondered when his Dad would be home.
It was evident to his mother that David wanted to talk with his father
so she said, “why don’t you call him on his cell phone and see were he is and
how long it will be.” Thanks to
technology, David had immediate contact with his father. When his father answered, David beamed with
delight and talked with his father.
David
longed to hear the voice of his father and to communicate with him was
delightful, because of the loving relationship the two of them experience. The anticipation of seeing him face to face
was even greater……
Where are you? David asked.
I’m almost home, replied his father.
Daddy,
can I talk to you until I see you?
Sure you can, was the response from
his father.
They continued their
conversation. Soon David, phone in hand
stood by the window and exclaimed, “I
see you, I see you, I see you!”
As David desired to talk to his dad,
may we desire to communicate with our Heavenly Father, through prayer, through
Scripture, and through the events of these days of synod. As we do, the anticipation of seeing the
Father face to face grows with each passing day. Living in Christ draws us closer to the heart of God and gives us
joy on the journey. May the Holy Spirit
give us power and joy in believing and serving as we continue to proclaim
Christ as our Chief Elder.
We
in one convenant are joined and one in Jesus are;
With voices
and with hearts combined, his praise we will declare;
In doctrine
and in practice one, we’ll love and serve the Lord alone,
With one
accord sound forth his praise, till we shall see his face.
MWB 527
RBJ 6/14/02