What is your vision for the church in the 21st Century? – by Lisa Larges

View Responses by:
Garnett Foster
Andrew Kukla
Christian Iosso
Neal D. Presa

Some time ago I heard a hospital chaplain speak on the diminished role of religious leadership in the late 20th century.  He gave an example of a patient who’s case involved complex ethical questions.  Staff from the hospital gathered to talk through the issues and determine the best course of action.  A medical ethicist was brought in, along with several doctors with diverse specialties, a nursing supervisor, and a social worker.  Absent from that group was the chaplain.  Apparently it hadn’t occurred to anyone that the Chaplin’s point of view, training, and experience might be helpful.

To me, that story – which is not an unusual one I’m sure – could stand in for the greater story of the role of the church in our culture.  By and large, Christian voices aren’t at the center  in the conversations over the complex economic, environmental and technological choices before us with all their vast moral implications.  Certain religious leaders of all political stripes, have done a good bit to contribute to the noise, but I’m not so certain we’ve done that much to contribute to the solutions.

In part it’s our own fault.  We Presbyterians took a good bit of the first part of the last century to wage an internal struggle over “the fundamentals” and then another nice slice of the end of the century to argue amongst ourselves over the place of lgbt persons in the life of our church.  Sometimes, I think, fighting with each other, even with all the pain and exhaustion and discouragement that such conflicts bring, is still easier than confronting the urgent, but also overwhelming crisis unfolding in the world around us.

For some it’s evangelism, for others, the social gospel, but the point remains that  we have to turn our attention outward.  Our culture is desperate for the wisdom of mature spiritual leadership, and we are only suffocating under the weight of interminable doctrinal tug-of-wars.  I think we’re all ready and hungry for something more, I think we’re longing to get out and get busy.  It’s a new day in this new century, and Jesus s calling us out!

Lisa Larges is the Minister Coordinator for that All May Freely Serve.  She has been a candidate for Minister of Word and Sacrament for 25 years, and hopes to be ordained someday soon!  Lisa lives in San Francisco where she is a member of Noe Valley Ministry, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

View Responses by:
Garnett Foster
Andrew Kukla
Christian Iosso
Neal D. Presa

Note to the Reader:  This week on ecclesio.com, we feature five Presbyterians’ responses to the first question posed to a wide and diverse group of respondents by the GA Special Committee on the Nature of the Church in the 21^st Century.  We encourage you to engage with these respondents, offer your own thoughts, and be in touch with us at submissions@ecclesio.com to offer your answers to the Committee’s questions, which can be found here.