"Change is in the air... breathe deeply!"

The Association of Stated Clerks spent their morning with The Rev. Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk for the General Assembly. He gave us a broad overview of some of the hot topics coming up this week, which could be summarized by the comment of one person in attendance:

Change is in the air - breathe deeply.

Gradye's comments were somewhat influenced, I think, by the fact that he has just returned from a 10-day meeting with the former World Alliance of Reformed Churches and another such body (sorry, I don't know their correct name) which have now merged to become the World Council of Reformed Churches. There were 226 denominations in attendance from 80 countries - which, Gradye says, means that "there were 226 ways to do things."

We feel the changes deeply among us right now, if for no other reason than we are together living into "shared leadership" and shared ministry between Sierra Blanca and Santa Fe presbyteries. But Gradye said that it's not just our two presbyteries, or even our denomination. He mentioned that the mainline Lutherans (ELCA) among others are having conversations like ours, as well as some other mainline denominations. It's even global - the Church of Scotland is trying to figure out restructuring as well. It seems that structurally, everything right now in the Church is up for grabs.

One of the driving forces behind all this change, he believes, has been the influence of technology. He pointed out that many of our relationships are now more based on technological connections than by who may be down the road from us. He told the story of watching TV one day with his wife Kathy, a 4th-grade teacher. A commercial came on for some kind of electronic Legos. He asked her why kids just couldn't play with plain old Legos - why did they have to be electronic to sell? Her response: "With this generation, if it's not virtual, it's not real." As he pointed out that for some people virtual relationships are as or more "real" than people they see every day, I reflected on some of the closest friendships I enjoy right now - with EPs in Nebraska, Indiana, New Jersey and Texas.

I can't help but wonder what bearing this will have on us as we move forward in our new endeavor in New Mexico. Our Joint Council meeting brought about some very fruitful discussions, and the Implementation Team has had some conversations about the use of technology in our future together. I think we will need to "boot up" those conversations even more in the days to come.

Gradye went on to reflect on this time in which you and I are living, which some label as the early stages of a new Reformation. He cited a recent Pew Research study which learned that - read this twice - only 37% of those surveyed attend one church exclusively. Only 37%, a little more than 1/3. That means that 63% of those surveyed are attending activities at two or more churches - worship here, Bible study there, youth group yet elsewhere. What does that mean, he wondered aloud, for our expectations of members who will be "exclusive in their attentions to us and their gifts to us?"

We began to talk more about the notion of being in the middle of a new Reformation, and one person asked whether it was wise for us to undertake something like the New Form of Government or restructuring our middle governing body structure if we didn't know where we were or where we were going. In respose, Gradye cited a book called The Reformation: A History by Diarmaid MacCulloch. MacCulloch puts forward the idea that it took more than just Martin Luther and John Calvin to pull off what we now call the Reformation. According to Gradye, he writes that "every village had their own Calvin or Luther, or it wouldn't have happened." Every village had to have somebody who spoke up and said they wanted things to be different where they were.

You all were front and center in my thoughts as he said, "It's easier to get the Spirit moving if you're already in motion." Whether or not initiatives like the Form of Government succeed at this GA, they are "making cracks to allow the Spirit to seep in." In a period of change, Gradye said, it's better to do something than nothing.

As I've said before, your recognition of the need for change was one of the things which most attracted me to serve alongside you. Since I've been here, I've met a number of people for whom Gradye's statements were news; as usual, the saints of Santa Fe and Sierra Blanca are ahead of the curve. We are continuing to move ahead in our life together. Whether it looks this way in three years or not, we are indeed making cracks to allow the Spirit to seep in.

I've gone on longer than I planned, but this was good and important stuff. In a separate note I'll share with you a summary of some of the issues to look for this coming week.