On the Presbyterian Church, by John G. Hamilton
At the close of the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) the moderator, Bruce Reyes-Chow, invited us to stand and sing a closing hymn. The crowd, which had dwindled down to just a few hundred, obediently stood, but in an awkward silence. There was no one to lead us.
The moderator gamely looked around for a musician or song leader, but no one appeared. Meanwhile, someone to my right began to sing, attempting to get us started. Her voice was lost in the cavernous hall. A cluster of people behind me started singing, as did another cluster to my left and one near the front. However, they were singing different words from different places in different keys. At one point the screens flashed words something like this (I didn’t write them down):
“May we all be united, so that our song be heard … ”
We weren’t and it wasn’t.
It is for me an image of our church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.): an ever-dwindling remnant singing different words from different places in different keys. And, I believe, here’s why: We have forgotten to include our Leader.
Read the article…here
1 comments:
Thanks, Dave, for including this on your blog. It makes one stop and think about what is really important in this life. K.
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