Spin Off a New Presbyterian Church

It's clear that denominations like the Presbyterian Church (USA) are floundering in the sea change of culture and society. So, I was wondering what it would be like if we spun off a new kind of church. Kind of like General Motors did with Saturn - with limited success but a good idea, nevertheless.

The Saturn Company was an attempt to wrestle with a new way to build a car, one that was not mired in old, costly, and unproductive practices. Religious denominations are mired in the same.

We value the grand experiment of a body of associated

congregations living into the vision of God's dream for all humanity.

That's a vision I covet. Yet we insist on front loading the vision with mechanics that make it our dream rather than God's emerging vision. We want members to freely embrace the vision and create rules that stifle that embrace. We want to share the Gospel with those whom God is calling yet we insist in doing it in ways that we can control, monitor, and shape into our own image. After watching millions of dollars go to new church developments that flounder, disappear to "independent affiliations", or simply never get past "go" I know it is time for a new approach.

My imagination takes over and wonders what would happen if the Presbyterian Church (USA) created an imaginative, missional and purposeful new way to "be church" - one fit for this time and place, not forever, and launched it into the future. I imagine these congregations as missionary communities in a world hungry for Good News. Their connectedness would be organic rather than organizational. Their purpose will be rooted in the call to God's mission discovered through consistent spiritual practices. Their accountability will be to one another through honest and open communication. These will be communities of witness and disciple formation. They would be a grand "experiment" in displaying the colorful textures of a faith community tapestry that is the Body of Christ.

My imagination grinds to a halt thinking, "now the first thing we have to do is create a name, and a 501c3, write a constitution and...."

Just Thinking Out Loud on a dreary afternoon...

Bob