Getting married (to the church)

Yesterday I was able to witness something great: the ordination of not one, but two Ministers of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church. The occasion was doubly special since the candidates were spiritual sons of our church and actual sons of our pastor, Dr. Bill Stepp. There was lots of tears and laughter. Being there made me appreciate even more the heritage of our particular church, and the historic nature of our denomination, flawed as it is. My wife remarked how like a wedding the service was, starting with a procession of pomp and ceremony, replete with hymns and the receiving of solemn vows, ending with the presentation of the new ministers. Come to think of it, getting ordained is a bit like getting married. One plights his troth to the Bride of Christ, for better or worse.

As more than one speaker pointed out, the highest allegiance of the minister's call belongs not to their flock, nor to the Presbyterian Church(USA), but it belongs to Jesus Christ. In light of the growing rift within the PCUSA on issues relating to the authority of scripture and standards for ordination, this was a timely reminder. It's impossible to know what the future holds, but I was encouraged by seeing two men ordained into our denomination that everyone knows will stand firm on the authority of scripture no matter what. That's a legacy that's been passed down to them by their dad, who's done so as pastor of our church for 25 years.

Another remarkable aspect of yesterday, was that Ruffin and Andrew join their brothers Owen and John in the ministry. Owen brought the second sermon of the evening. Preaching on Isaiah 6, he spoke of how he's had cause to reflect on the nature of his own call to the ministry (the church he served at recently left the PCUSA). He remarked on what a strange time it is to be going into ministry -- a time marked by turmoil and triviality. Whereas Isaiah's time was defined by the death of King Uzziah, our time is defined by "the year that Paris Hilton went to jail". He said what the American church needs now more than ever are not "caretakers of the memories", but radically God-centered prophets, gripped by Isaiah's vision of a holy God, and the atonement achieved at the cross for unclean/undone people like us. This may not be a popular message, but the call remains to preach the word "in season and out of season."

As the church grows by leaps and bounds elsewhere, the American church is plateauing or in decline. This is especially true of mainline Protestant denominations like ours. Christianity is moving south and east. There are probably more Christians now in China than the U.S. Is there still life in these bones? Can these bones live? Seeing God's miraculous call on display yesterday tells me that they can. I've been reading about J. Gresham Machen. Machen fought brilliantly against the Protestant liberalism of the early 20th century. We can learn a lot from him. I don't think the battles he fought are very much different than what the church faces today. It's encouraging to see that the spirit of Machen lives on today in a remnant who take their vows to Christ and his Word seriously!