Church Leadership

Sadly, Christians have not been fully and properly sensitive to all of the oppressed and needy people in our society.

Written in the early twentieth century, The Fundamentals were a series of twelve volumes of articles designed to define the Christian faith against attacks, and people who subscribed to the principles were called fundamentalists. (The word is now often used to describe “fundamentalist” Christians who bomb abortion clinics, “fundamentalist” Mormons who live in strange compounds, and “fundamentalist” Muslims who commit suicide bombings.) Of all of the hundred articles in the series, only one touched on the church ‘s responsibility in a society of need – except for those that discuss evangelism. Have we improved on that lack of emphasis? The church has often not even spoken to “cases extraordinary,” when it was appropriate to have done so.

In the latter part of the nineteenth century, harsh attacks sought to deny the authority of the Bible. It was claimed that the Bible was based on mythology, that Jesus was not the Son of God in any real sense, that His role in history was as a teacher of the moral life, and that Christians and churches were called to be an influence for “good,” however that was defined in society. Man was thought to be inherently good. Two world wars dispelled that view, and out of that background arose what was called the social gospel. Its various viewpoints challenged the Bible. Theologians, seminaries, and their churches affirmed, for example, the following kinds of statements:

1. The Bible is a record of some events, with added mythological meaning that accumulated after the events. The Gospel of John, for example, with a much more developed doctrine of Jesus’ Deity, was written perhaps far into the second century long after John died.
2. The Bible does not contain propositional revelation, because there is no such thing.
3. The Bible is the Word of God written, in the sense that God did some things in history, and then men recorded and interpreted the events.
4. The Bible is not the objective Word of God. It is not the Word of God when it is closed; it becomes the Word of God when it speaks to me in my experience.

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J. I. Packer wrote that there are three final authorities in Christendom: Scripture, the church, and reason. He might well have added “experience” since for many people, “what I experience is what is true.” A focus on experience, allows considerable freedom in interpretation and expression.

An Example of Beginning with Experience

In the 1950s and 1960s, there were a number of Marxist movements in Latin America. They sought to gain political and other power for the many peoples in those countries who did not share in whatever wealth there was and had not political or civil power.

The Roman Catholic Church was an active force among many of these poor and deprived peoples. During this time, bishops, priests, and some Protestant scholars developed a Liberation Theology, which affirmed that God and Jesus were on the side of the Marxist revolutionaries and others claiming to seek civil rights for the masses.

While the Church at Rome affirmed the goals to bring equity for the peoples of Latin America, it also spoke against any alliance with godless Marxism and many of the tactics being employed. It affirmed that priests should not personally be involved in political affairs.

Recently. a small notice in a local newspaper bore this title, “Former Bishop Elected President of Paraguay.” The ruling party candidate conceded defeat, “signaling the end of six decades of one-party rule and handing victory to former Roman Catholic Bishop Fernando Lugo.” The article concludes, “News of the Lugo win sent thousands of his supporters into the streets of Asuncion in a massive celebration. Lugo, dubbed the ‘bishop of the poor,’ has vowed to help Paraguay’s poor and indigenous.”

In the United States, this Liberation movement has been supported by “Black Liberation Theology.” Psalm 103:6 and the constant reminders in our news media suggest that something needs to be said about this issue.

Before entering our brief journey into Black Liberation Theology, a few comments seem to be necessary.

1. I apologize to all of you for referring to color, white or black. It grieves me that this theological system is so racially divisive.

2. In recent newspapers, you have perhaps seen references to James H. Cone, a professor of systematic theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York. He is one of the fathers of Black Liberation Theology. I am using his writing, particularly from the 1960s, to define this thought system.

3. A few comments about currently held views. During the past month I have talked with several people claiming to hold to Black Liberation Theology. They are evangelical friends who do not endorse the excesses of Professor Cone. I purposefully am only commenting about Professor Cone at this point.

The past two issues of Equip to Disciple have focused on the church and the important role it must continue to play in growing and expanding the kingdom of God. In this particular article, I want to focus your attention on the theme expressed in the title above; the church as a believing community learning to live in communion. As our Westminster Confession of Faith says in 26-1, “All saints that are united to Jesus Christ their head by his Spirit, and by faith, have fellowship with him in his graces, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory: and, being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other’s gifts and graces.”

A CONNECTED COMMUNITY

In the last issue of 2007, Dr.Charles Dunahoo stated in the editor’s section that the church is more and more being marginalized. In this connection he referred to J.I. Packer and John R.W. Stott’s descriptive term the “stunted ecclesiology” of the church. Some of the reasons for the church’s being pushed from the center of life are the lack of focus on community, the emphasis on individualism, and self-interest. Phil Ryken describes in his book The City on a Hill the problem of our culture as twofold: relativism and narcissism.¹ The postmodern society rejects absolute truth; the only truth is what you discover for yourself; you have your story and I have mine. Self-love and instant gratification are driving forces in this day of radical individualism. These are the types of issues that fly in the face of the theology of the Communion of the Saints as stated in the Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 26. Ryken points out in another chapter, “Christianity has never been a private religion. It is personal of course, because it involves a personal relationship with Jesus Christ… But in coming to Christ…every single Christian gets connected to every other Christian. Our union with Christ brings us into communion with His church as members of a local congregation.”²

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In a book entitled A Peculiar People, Rodney Clapp writes, “It is important for the church in each time and place to embody and communicate the life of Christ exactly where it is. Christianity is not about compartmentalization or withdrawal: it is radically and relentlessly life encompassing. Christianity understood as culture is about a living tradition, a continuing argument, a still unfolding history.”³

In a similar vein Dr. Edmund Clowney in his book The Church writes, “When Peter describes the impact of Christian righteous deeds in a pagan world, he is thinking not of isolated saints, but of the people of God, called out of darkness into God’s light. Christian witness that is limited to private religious experience cannot challenge secularism. Christians in community must again show the world, not merely family values, but the bond of the love of Christ.”⁴ In other words it is not about “me and Jesus” or “you and Jesus,” but it is about us as a community of believers united to Jesus and to one another. The church is in need of continually being reminded of the connectedness it has both to Jesus Christ and to each other. Some in the church have failed to understand the meaning of community, and consequently have failed to experience the benefits of their salvation. There are others in this post-modern world looking for a place to connect and belong that will give meaning to their lives. The church today needs to demonstrate to the world what our Confession says.

In the article “Keeping the Church Front and Center” Dunahoo wrote, “The PCA has a great opportunity to make a difference for Christ and His kingdom but only if we practice our theory… We must come together with a working connectionalism that enables us to be all that God would have us to be.”⁵ This is where the Westminster Confession of Faith in Chapter 26,”Of the Communion of Saints,” teaches the church the practicality of a “working connectionalism.” Paragraph one states that saints are “obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man.” In verse 7 of I Cor. 12, Paul writes of the “varieties of gifts given by the Spirit and to each given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good, Paul then refers to the church as one body with many members. He says that “God has composed it [the church] that there be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.” In verse 27 Paul writes, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” How often do leaders ask themselves and the church how they are doing in the public and private caring for one another for the common good of the community of believers? How well connected are the saints in the local church? Who are those on the fringe, the seemingly friendless? What should the church be doing to correct conflict that may cause division and lack of care for its members?

LEARNING TO LIVE IN COMMUNION

In the Westminster Confession of Faith 26-2 “Saints by profession are bound to maintain an holy fellowship and communion in the worship of God, and in performing such other spiritual services as tend to their mutual edification; as also in relieving each other in outward things, according to their several abilities and necessities. Which communion, as God offereth opportunity, is to be extended unto all those who, in every place, call upon the name of the Lord Jesus.” In an age which demeans authority and devalues accountability, it behooves the church to instruct the congregation in the responsibility of being “obliged to the performance of duties,” and “bound to maintain a holy fellowship and communion” because of profession in Christ. The “profession” is the public profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and the commitment to live a life of holiness, as well as to support the work and ministry of the body and be subject to the authority and government of the church. In an age of post-modernism, individualism, and privatization of faith, such profession as described is quickly forgotten as members settle into their life in the church. Any obligations and binding as had been vowed seem to fall by the wayside as time moves forward. Maintaining a holy fellowship and communion in worship can often get squeezed as priorities change. Weekend schedules of work and entertainment become excuses for not participating in fellowship and communion. Sundays become a time of personal relaxation and pleasure.

Mutual edification is lost as believers only think about their personal feelings of self-gratification. The shift from spiritual services (what can I do for others) to a consumer mentality (what has the church done or not done for me) begins to seep into the hearts and minds of those who have not been assimilated and taught what it means to be a part of the Body of Christ and family of God. Where does a “working connectionalism” come into play? How does the church bring such a connectionalism back into focus?

In Ephesians 4:15 the church is instructed by these words, “Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” Reformed Presbyterians are known for their knowledge and systemizing of truth. We are after all a creedal church. However, we must question where the love is as we proclaim the “doctrines of grace.” This love should be manifested as a self-sacrificing love where one looks not upon his own interests, but upon the interests of others. Encouragement of others in spiritual growth is the goal for the building up of the body in love.

Such speaking is not always easy when believers do not see themselves as needing instruction, correction, or reproof. Sometimes it takes on the character of “tough love.” The apostle Paul instructs Timothy in his pastoral epistles in this manner in II Timothy 2:24-26.”And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” Our obligations and commitments should have growing in maturity in Christ as their goal.

The local church has a wider arena in which to practice its communion. In the PCA, there is a structural foundation in place to help local churches to demonstrate in a visible manner what it means to live in communion by sharing with one another the gifts and graces given by the Holy Spirit. “Communion as God offereth opportunity, is to be extended unto all those who, in every place, call upon the name of the Lord Jesus.”⁶ This structure is of course the presbytery and general assembly. Calling the PCA a connectional church means the Communion of the Saints should be manifest for all the world to see. Churches should not just be interested in building their own congregations, but should be interested in displaying a concern for the wider metro and state communities by planting new congregations, joining in united worship services, pooling resources to minister to the needs of the poor and needy, and evangelizing and discipling people with the gospel. With the multi-ethnic society in communities growing so rapidly, the gospel speaks to breaking down the walls of hostility and bringing into existence the manifestation of the Communion of Saints as a foretaste of the glories of heaven.

Finally, the ministries of the General Assembly can aid and assist local congregations to experience the worldwide Communion of the Saints as they send missionaries out to the nations of the world. Today it is even more a reality for both young and old to experience the Communion of Saints as many groups travel for short term ministries to believers in other countries. Phil Ryken edited a book called The Communion of Saints: Living in Fellowship with the People of God, one of the best and most comprehensive studies on the subject. Ryken says, “A Christian can go anywhere in the world and immediately experience the love and embrace of brothers and sisters whom he or she has never met. Stronger than the bonds of blood relationships are the ties that bind one Christian to another, even when they cannot speak the same language. “Further along there is this statement regarding Revelation 7:9-10, “This is the culmination, the end toward which God is moving all human history-the worldwide community of saints worshiping before his heavenly throne… The history of the church is the story of the progress of the communion of saints.”⁷

Today, the church and the PCA have not been able to experience fully what it means to be in the Communion of Saints. Our challenge is to continue to pray and strive to bring it to fullness through the gifts and graces of the Lord Jesus Christ. A “working connectionalism” is hopefully the goal of every congregation in the PCA, so that Paul’s words in Ephesians 4:15,”we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,” provides impetus toward corporate maturing in true communion.

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1 Philip Rykin, City on a Hill: Reclaiming the Biblical Pattern for the Church in the 21st
Century (Wheaton, IL: Moody Publishers, 2003), 18.

2 Ibid., 77.

3 Rodney Clapp, A Peculiar People: The Church As Culture in a Post-Christian Society
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 188.

4 Edmund Clowney, The Church: Contours of Christian Theology (Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 1995), 16.

5 Charles Dunahoo, “Keeping the Church Front and Center,” Equip to Disciple, issue 4
(2007): 11.

6 Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms, (Lawrenceville, GA: Christian Education
and Publications, 2007), 26-2.

7 The Communion of Saints: Living in Fellowship with the People of God, Philip Ryken, ed.
(Phillipsburg: NJ: P&R Publishing, 2001), 154-155.

Editor’s note: Question: I am being asked more and more what the term “missional church” means. Does it mean what we have generally thought regarding missionaries leaving and going to other parts of the world to evangelize and church plant? Often those questions have been asked in relation to discussion on the negative and narrowing impact of much of the modern church growth philosophy, especially as it relates to the church and the kingdom. There are some helpful books being written on the topic of the mission church. I am still awaiting one on the missional kingdom, although this book has an excellent chapter on that general topic.

Also, at our September 2006 Christian Education and Publications committee meeting, we studied a book entitled Breaking the Missional Code, by Ed Stetzer and David Putman. While we did not agree with some of the conclusions, we agreed that the book raised important questions that the church should be able to discuss as it relates to the missional church.

Though there is so much that could be said on this issue or topic, the book reviewed here will at least introduce the concept to those not familiar with it.

Dictionary of Mission Theology: Evangelical Foundations, John Corrie, ed., with Samuel Escobar and Wilbert Shenk, IVP, 2007,461 pages,$25.60 (#8930)

The West is now not the only major player involved in global missions. With many third world Christians coming to theological maturity and entering the worldwide field of missiology, the more familiar names connected with missions like Wheaton College and New Haven are being expanded to include Nairobi, Manila, and Sao Paulo. Missions has become global. Everybody is doing missions, as should be the case; but this is forcing a rethinking of our traditional concept of missions.

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Much of the newer emphasis in North America regarding the “missional church” is also challenging us to reconsider our Western paradigm of missions, which has tended to see missions as something primarily focused on evangelism and independent church planting, disconnected from holistic theology and especially the church. The church, for example, has been viewed from a pragmatic position as a place where we only get missionaries and support for their mission effort. This has been described as the typical western pattern of doing missions.

At the same time the North American church is being challenged to rethink its concept of missions, this kind of rethinking is going on globally by those involved in missions from around the world. The hope is that a newer and better grounded missiology will emerge. However, as I read many of the books being written from and for both arenas, I conclude that it is simply an attempt to return to a more biblically based paradigm. We have so romanticized missions in recent years and made it an individualistic focus that we have failed to ask good and hard questions about God’s intention, both for the church and the kingdom.

That is no longer the case as this book and a number of others are reminding us. For example, some of the questions involve the connection of missions to the local church. Is missions something a church does or is it something a church is? Does missions simply involve evangelism and church planting or is there more from God’s perspective? Another question relates to the church and kingdom. So much of our missiology has reflected not only a misunderstanding of missions and the church but it also has not brought front and center the place of the kingdom and how the kingdom concept impacts our missiology.

In this volume, John Corrie writes that in the past we have failed in three major areas, thus setting the agenda for rethinking.

1. We have failed to consistently integrate missions and theology. This has caused two results-a divide between missions and theology and a separation of the missional concept from theology.

2. We have not always understood the importance of an interrelation with missions, theology, and context; hence much effort by missionaries has been to communicate a Western version of missions.

3. In Evangelicalism, we have not incorporated a holistic view of missions, theology, context, and evangelism. Therefore, we have narrowed a view of missions to simply deal with one’s personal relationship with God rather than reconciliation with God, with others, and with creation.

Corrie suggests the old Western view of missions tends to teach and emphasize converts and church plants but has little emphasis on making disciples. Maybe that is why some are saying that globally the church is a mile wide and an inch deep. This book addresses those kinds of issues.

I was so pleased with Corrie’s section on the kingdom of God. We agree that the kingdom concept is the missing link in understanding God’s mission from His perspective. He says that most of the mission movements “often see little or no role for the kingdom of God in society, politics, or creation. For many, their sole aim is to plant churches.”

The section on the church by Tormond Engelsviken of Norway also challenges us to rethink a number of things about the church, especially as it relates to its missional role in the world. He underscores, with others writing in this area, that the church is not simply a sending agency for missionaries; the church in its very nature is missional.

The topics in this dictionary are alphabetically arranged and also include topics on enculturation, accommodation, syncretism, and the sovereignty of God. This will be an important book as these kinds of discussions continue. Corrie says that it is written for church leaders, missionaries, students of missions, those involved in the teaching and practice of worldwide missions, and the non-specialists. I encourage all these categories of audiences to read this book, especially church leaders, in order to further explore the many definitions of a missional church. The church is only partially, at best, demonstrating a missional perspective.

By Dr. Roy Taylor

EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Roy Taylor is the Stated Clerk of the PCA. He presented this material at the September 2006 Christian Education and Publications Women in the Church Conference in Atlanta. We asked him to adopt it for Equip to Disciple as part of its ongoing feature on the church.

The Kyzer family reunion was an impressive experience for me as an eight-year-old child. My mother’s side of the family, the German side, had gathered at a park in Tuscaloosa, Alabama for a picnic and reminiscences. I knew I had a lot of cousins, sixteen to be exact; but at that gathering I began to realize my family was much larger than I had previously thought, with four generations of people who looked, thought, and behaved like each other to varying degrees. Then, when there was talk of ancestors long dead, I knew I came from an even larger family with deep roots.

The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the second largest Presbyterian denomination in the USA and relatively young as far as denominations go, begun in 1973. Overall, Presbyterians are a small minority of Christians in America. We need to realize, however, that we are part of something bigger than we usually think.

Our church family has deep roots, not only back to the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, but back to the early church and even into the Old Testament era as well. It is our understanding from Scripture that the church is composed of all the people whom God has chosen to call unto Himself. Our Westminster Confession of Faith puts it this way, “The catholic or universal Church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the Head thereof; and is the spouse, the body the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.”1 The church then is not just New Testament believers only, but all who are saved by Christ, both before and after Christ’s incarnation and redemption.2 Key biblical texts on this issue are Romans 4 and Galatians 3 where the Scriptures teach that all believers (both Old and New Testaments) are justified by faith alone in God’s Anointed Redeemer and that all who trust in Christ are spiritual descendants of Abraham. This deep-roots understanding of the church has several significant implications. It is why we prefer to speak of a “biblical church,” spanning and based upon both Old and New Testament, scriptures rather than a “New Testament church,” not beginning until the New Testament and based on New Testament scriptures only. This means that the whole Bible, not just the New Testament, is for us. Covenant Theology may simply, perhaps simplistically, be expressed by the statement, “In the Old Testament, God was faithful to his people as families, not just as individuals; in the New Testament God is still faithful to his people as families, not just as individuals.” That is why we practice covenant baptism of our children. Moreover, we see continuity between the Passover of the Old Testament and the Lord’s Supper in the New Testament. So, the rites of our family have deep roots.

We call ourselves “Presbyterians” because we have a representative and connectional form of church government in a church governed by elders (presbuteroi). Collegial leadership by a plurality of elders began in the days of Moses (Numbers 11), was enhanced in the synagogue movement beginning in the sixth century BC, continued in the New Testament (Acts 14:23) as the apostolic practice, continued until the mid-second century AD, and was restored by John Calvin and John Knox in the Reformation of the sixteenth century.3 So the system by which our family is managed has deep roots both biblically and historically.

Just as there are strong physical resemblances in extended families, there are certain beliefs held by all branches of the Christian family. These common beliefs are expressed in such ancient creeds as the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed. When we confess our faith in common worship by affirming these creeds in congregational unison, we are confessing the beliefs of the extended family for millennia.

All families have illustrious members and black sheep, members of whom we are rather proud and others we would prefer not to discuss. The visible church has always been a mixture of true and false professors, truth and error. Our family did not begin in the sixteenth century Reformation. Our deep-roots view of the church means that all of the history of the church is our family’s story. We may proudly claim church fathers such as Justin Martyr, Polycarp, Tertullian, Augustine of Hippo, Athanasius, and others as “our folks.” Since the church has never been pristinely pure, as evinced by the errors and divisions Paul often addressed in his epistles, our family has had some heretics and rogues in our ranks over the millennia, which we sadly acknowledge. The church has to struggle in every generation to maintain purity of doctrine and holiness of living.

Not only does our family have deep roots, our family also has several separate branches. Though for a thousand years there were smaller and more short-lived divisions in the church, there was not a formal division until the Great Schism of A.D.1054 between the eastern and western churches. The eastern churches developed into the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the western churches developed into the Roman Catholic Church. Our spiritual predecessors were part of the western branch.

As the doctrinal aberrations and moral laxity increased over the years in the Western church, the Protestant Reformation came as a “tragic necessity” in the Roman Catholic Church in the sixteenth century. Coming out of the Reformation several family clans developed, Lutherans, Reformed, Anglican,4 and Anabaptist. Our branch of the family is the Reformed branch influenced by such leaders as Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, John Knox, and Francis Turretin. Reformed folks affirm that God is actively sovereign, sin has adversely affected the entire human personality, the Bible is the supreme rule of what we believe and how we are to live, and God is gracious to His people as families from one generation to another, not simply to individuals. We are part of Evangelicalism (high view of Scripture, emphasis on individual conversion, evangelism, missions, etc.) that arose due to the Great Awakening of the eighteenth century and the Second Great Awakening in the nineteenth century, the conservative side of the fundamentalist-modernist controversy between World War I and World War II, and the evangelical post World War II movement.

There have been disagreements and reconciliations that have occurred within our family over the years that resulted in several denominational-level divisions and reunions. In 1741, there was a division, the Old Side/ New Side controversy over the First Great Awakening; but a reunion took place in 1758. In 1837, there was a division over doctrinal subscription, the Old School, taking the firmer position. In 1861, the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States was formed when the Old School General Assembly required allegiance to the Federal Government of the United States. In 1865, the name of the Southern Church was changed to the Presbyterian Church in the United States; and the Synods of Kentucky and Missouri joined. The Southern Church was not as quickly affected by theological decline, laxity in discipline, and a trend toward a more hierarchal type of Presbyterian polity as was the Northern Church; but eventually, such unhealthy beliefs and practices took root. After several decades of ineffective efforts to counteract those trends, the PCUS conservatives faced a crossroads in the early 1970s. Some conservatives decided to remain in the PCUS to bear witness to evangelical truth. Others concluded that time, effort, and resources could be better channeled into positive efforts by forming a new denomination. The PCA founders “in much prayer and with great sorrow and mourning . . . concluded that to practice the principle of the purity of the Church” they “reluctantly accepted the necessity of separation” and severed their ties with their Mother Church “with deepest regret and sorrow.”5 The PCA could be rightly described as “reluctant and grieving separatists.”

Our convictions to preserve the purity of the church led us to separate ourselves from what we believed to be an irreparable situation from the human perspective. On the other hand, our theological convictions of the connectional nature of the church and Christ’s desire for visible unity compel us to seek union with other churches of the same doctrinal convictions and representative form of church government. Therefore, the PCA was involved in the formation of the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council in 1975. For a time there was an effort to effect a four-way merger of the PCA, the Christian Reformed Church, the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, and the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod. The four-way merger did not come about, but there was a “Joining and Receiving” that took place in 1982 when the RPCES was received as a body into the PCA. The merger added churches in the Northeast, Midwest, and West to make the PCA a national denomination and added Canadian churches as well to make the PCA an international denomination. Meanwhile, with vigorous church planting efforts, the PCA continued to grow.

Just as some families have common recognizable physical characteristics and patterns of behavior, the PCA has its distinctives as well. Our brand of Presbyterianism has been called non-hierarchal Presbyterianism, democratic Presbyterianism, or grassroots Presbyterianism. Our connectionalism is spiritual. Our churches, presbyteries, and General Assembly are separate civil entities that voluntarily bind us together. We are bound together by three mutual commitments of Presbyterian connectionalism: Doctrinal Fidelity through a binding theological standard (Westminster Standards), Accountability through connectional church courts and discipline, and Cooperative Ministry (we should minister together and can accomplish more together than independently).

We seek to relate to other Presbyterian and Reformed churches, as well as to other Christians through various means. We are part of the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council composed of Evangelical Presbyterian and Reformed denominations in North America who hold to the Westminster Standards or the Three Forms of Unity. Early on, the PCA became part of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) composed of evangelical denominations, local churches, institutions, individuals, and ministries who subscribe to the NAE Evangelical Doctrinal Statement, representing the evangelical community in the USA. Through its participation in the NAE, the PCA has contacts with other evangelical Christian denominations, organizations, individuals, and ministries; shares in the mercy ministries of the World Relief Commission; participates in world evangelization; and has a greater voice and influence in civic engagement through the NAE Office of Governmental Affairs in Washington D.C. We are part of the World Reformed Fellowship (WRF) composed of evangelical denominations, local churches, institutions, individuals, and ministries who subscribe to the WRF doctrinal standards, forming a fellowship as a resourcing community for ministry worldwide. Moreover, many PCA local churches, individual members, officers, and ministers partner with other Christians in their own communities for evangelistic and mercy ministries through word and deed.

The Lord has richly blessed the PCA in its brief history with notable growth and an influence far beyond our relatively small size in comparison to the largest Protestant denominations in North America. We now have 76 Presbyteries,

Welcome to the first issue of 2008. We believe this year will be an especially important year for Christian Education and Publications and the Presbyterian Church in America. We ended 2007 with the topic of the church. The church and the kingdom will be the main themes for 2008 because we want to reflect the mind and heart of our triune God, and both the church and the kingdom are the objects of His deepest affections and concerns.

It becomes more and more obvious that people are deficient in understanding the church and the kingdom; hence, they have not embraced nor understood them as clearly as God would have. As a result, from a human standpoint, the church is taking a licking. People, lacking a biblical view of both, are saying things that should not be said about either. There is apparent confusion about how the local church fits into the universal church and then how the universal church, including the local, relates to and is part of the kingdom.

When we must from time to time critique the church, realizing that we as professing Christians are the church, we must remember that the church is the bride of Christ. It is His body, made up of many members. I think we should be very careful of how and what we say about the church that would suggest it is non-essential, out of date, or that our relation to the church is an elective. Using the marriage analogy of the church as the Bible does, there are times when the bride may need some counseling or help in the marriage; but there is never a time when the bride is to be abandoned or put down.

As Reformed, Bible believing Christians, we have a high view of the church. It is the place where we can demonstrate our love for God and our neighbor as ourselves more clearly than with any other institution. The church plays a key role in our spiritual lives, and how the church functions will be determined by how Christians are discipled. If that process does not include a “twenty-four/seven concept” of the Christian life and “doing all to the glory of God,” then the church will not have served the kingdom in a positive manner.

CEP is committed to assisting our local churches to be equipped to serve the kingdom. Through our training and resources, we focus on the triune God and how we best serve His purpose to this generation. The PCA’s concept of being a missional church focuses on the same, but how effective we are in that mission requires seeing the church holistically and not as separate parts. The lead article by Dr. Roy Taylor, Stated Clerk of the PCA, is a summary of a seminar from our 2006 Women in the Church conference. The article underscores the significance of our understanding the connection of the local churches. Of course, there is the sense in which all churches committed to the triune God, the Scriptures as God’s authoritative Word, the saving work of Christ on the cross and His Lordship seen in the lives of His people are connected; and we must look for opportunities to express that broader connection. However, there is a unique way in which our understanding of the church links us together with those of like mind doctrinally and missionally. It is simply not true that we can do ministry better independently. We are interdependent, and we need one another.

The truth is that you cannot serve the kingdom without a deep love for and involvement in the church; because it is to the church that God has given the assignment to disciple, train, and equip people for ministry.

CEP will be sponsoring a discipleship conference November 13-15, 2008 in Atlanta – Making Visible God’s Invisible Kingdom. It will feature speakers such as Chuck Colson, Christian Smith, myself, and a host of others. The conference is designed for those who want to make visible God’s invisible kingdom. We will keep that event before you, here, on our website, and by other means of publicity.

Our commitment to the ministries mentioned in this issue is to help and encourage local churches, and thus the PCA, to demonstrate a kingdom world and life view; to provide training and resources to equip people, young and old, to know how to interact with the ideologies of the world in order to be able to give a credible reason for our hope and faith in Christ. Our challenge is for the church to regain its God assigned position of helping its people know how to think God’s thoughts after Him and apply them to daily life. We have turned so many of those things over to other institutions that the church is “hovering on the brink of irrelevance,” and its influence is being continually marginalized, neutralized, and compromised. We must make every moment count, as we serve the King.

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Our prayer is that this issue will be helpful and challenging to you, first to pray for your local church and the PCA as a whole more intentionally and then that you will determine in no area of your life will you fail to serve His purpose to this generation. Pray that our denomination will have a kingdom perspective that will make a difference.