Dear Synod Friends,
My prayers are with you as you prepare for fall Presbytery meetings and you look toward full church calendars in September. At the Synod, we are winding down the Mission and Ministry Commission. As one of the pastors who has been around since the New Way Forward was implemented, I am reminded of the many ministries that the Synod supported through that vision. I worked with the personnel and search committee that ultimately hired our Synod leader. During that time, it became clear that it was time to discern a new vision for the Synod. That new vision would be worked on in the coming years and eventually approved in 2025. In October, the new Synod Assembly will be oriented, and the widespread implementation of our new vision will begin.
I wasn’t involved in the work of our vision team. But when I read it, I felt that it filled many of the gaps that needed to be filled during the early New Way Forward years. Some of these would only be noticed by Stated Clerk types and those who are especially interested in church polity. The nuances and attention to detail present in the vision and new governing documents are important. They are important in any church structure. Clarity in our vision and documents creates space for a Spirit led process where decisions can be made and commissioners can focus on values and the actions before them. This never happens automatically. If a meeting or process runs smoothly, it means that someone or some group has spent a lot of time clarifying roles and documents so that the body can focus on its values, prayer, and the actions it needs to take. If it is done well, most won’t even notice how it all works. It will just work.
But we all need to notice some of the changes built into this new vision. As we begin to implement the new vision, entitled, Reimagining the Church in the World, it is important for us all to pay to an important detail, the addition the Theology and Spiritual Formation Pillar. This pillar creates a regular report that gives special attention gives special attention to our conviction that discernment through our Assembly, committees, and commissions is all spiritual work. This means there will be a group of people paying attention solely to spiritual formation as part of our assembly’s work. This is an important innovation that will shape the work of the Synod.
I think this new pillar reminds us of a perennial question for us. How do we balance good order with the leading of the Spirit? I think most of us would admit that sometimes we get this right and sometimes we don’t. For me, as a pastor, Reimagining the Church in the World challenges me to find new ways to build the Spiritual into the business of the congregation that I serve. It’s good for me to be challenged in this way. As people who are always reforming, I hope that we can learn to resolve this apparent tension between the business and the Spirit and discover that these two can work together in harmony instead of against each other. As Teaching and Ruling Elders, we can embody both at the same
time. That is, I believe, how the Spirit is inviting leaders of Christ’s church in these roles to be formed.
Peace,
Rev. T. J. DeMarco, Temporary Stated Clerk
Synod of the Northeast