Taylor’s written responses to Layman Online questions

Taylor’s written responses to Layman Online questions

The Layman Online, December 28, 2006

Some evangelicals believe you have broken the glass ceiling because few evangelicals are in the forefront of staff leadership in Louisville. Were you surprised when you were selected? If so, or if not, explain why.

I am frequently surprised by the grace of God. My journey has taken me in many different directions over the years, from a small independent Christian church background, to Yale Divinity School, to Law School, to Salt Lake City, and then through a call to ministry as pastor, and to southern California. I am often surprised by where God might lead me next.

I don’t really know enough about the history of the personnel at the General Assembly Council to know if I should be surprised by Linda Valentine’s recommendation of me as her choice for deputy executive director for mission. I just sensed that she and the GAC Executive Committee truly seemed to welcome a shared leadership in our denomination of people from various theological traditions and backgrounds. I was not surprised, in that when Linda invited me to this position, I too had felt God’s call nudging me in this direction. In that sense, Linda’s invitation came not as a surprise, but rather a confirmation of where I felt God might be leading. And I am grateful for the grace of God that brings me to this new call.

Which word or combination best describes you as a Christian, and why: 1) orthodox, 2) evangelical, 3) disciple, 4) moderate, 5) other?

First and foremost, I am a follower of Jesus Christ. If additional words of description are useful, then I would claim each of the words you have mentioned, but I do this carefully. I am orthodox (with a little o), evangelical (with a little e), etc. Once we begin to capitalize adjectives we are really no longer describing things, but rather labeling them. The one capital I would put on myself is Reformed, because that is our common agreement in the PCUSA, and that truly describes how the grace of God has touched my mind and heart, personally. But again, most importantly, I consider myself a passionate follower of Jesus Christ, who has found a place to serve God through the Presbyterian Church.

What are your goals in deciding to leave the pulpit and join the PCUSA’s management team during a time of great tension and acrimony? What are your anxieties?

My goal is to follow where God is leading me. The decision was difficult because I so loved the people and ministry of Glenkirk where I served. But though I have been happy as a pastor, I felt God calling me to do something different. I love our broader Church. I think we are better followers of Jesus when we are together. But I also think that we are more effective messengers for Jesus, reaching more people and having broader impact, when we remain together. So a considerable part of my motivation is to hold people I love together for the sake of the Gospel of Christ.

I have a little anxiety about moving my family 2,000 miles across the country to start a new life in the Louisville area. But I know God has already been at work to make this transition a success, so I’m resting in the 23rd Psalm where the Lord is my Shepherd, and I have everything I need, whether the movers successfully get my worldly stuff there or not.

Your gifts have obviously been preaching, teaching, building strong congregations and writing. Will these continue in your new work or must they be reduced substantially to allow sufficient time for management? Please elaborate.

I hope to continue preaching on occasion, with perhaps some teaching and writing when I can get the opportunity. But I’m also excited that much of my time will be spent learning the ins and outs of GA mission work. I will move from building a strong congregation, to leading the mission programs of the GAC in ways that support the ministries of presbyteries and congregations.

The General Assembly Council has often fretted over its image and whether Presbyterians in the pews are pleased with its work. It has called for brochures, videos and other ways to promote a positive image. What is your view of the “image” problem?

I was amazed as I learned the enormous breadth of the scope of GAC ministries. While efforts have been made to communicate this to Presbyterians across our denomination, I know that Linda and GAC members want continually to more effectively tell the truly incredible story of these ministries. Once the new deputy executive director for Communication & Funds Development is hired, our goal is to have all the deputy executive directors sit down to make the connections between our areas work smoothly.

To various degrees, many Presbyterians agree there are some major problems in the denomination. Membership has nosedived. Money has dried up – thus forcing the very restructuring of which you have become a part. Trust in the denomination has declined sharply. Do you believe you can make a contribution to turning that around, and how?

I think the General Assembly Council has already established a good direction in the work they have laid out in the Mission Work Plan. I’m excited to be helping in the implementation of that Plan. I hope to use the experiences that God has blessed me with to further that work in creative ways. Money has not dried up in the Presbyterian Church. Many of our members are still responding to God’s call on them to fund mission within the church and around the world. True, more and more congregations are becoming directly connected with mission outreach. But this is exciting to me. It means that committed Christians want to know the ministries and mission projects personally that they’re funding, even if that requires the General Assembly mission offices to change some of the ways that we’ve always done things.

You will have staff oversight for work areas (to be renamed later). Can you briefly say what you believe should be done, including possible changes, in these areas to glorify God:
a. Theology, worship, Christian education, stewardship.
b. Evangelism, church growth, vocation and leadership.
c. Social justice, peacemaking, Washington Office, UN office
d. Relief and development
e. Worldwide mission in partnership
f. Women and racial issues

To determine this, I will really need to listen to the perspectives of many people, including those who currently work in these areas, leaders within the GAC and across the church, and other groups whom we will consult on these subjects as we move to a more networked world of mission. I don’t come to the position with specific change recommendations, but rather with a commitment to listen, to understand, and to build a leadership team that will be capable of delivering on Linda’s commitments to be accountable, responsive, and collaborative.

Your congregation in California became a Confessing Church before you began serving there. It is still listed as a Confessing Church. I mention this because more than 1,300 Confessing Churches constitute an evangelical bloc that has expressed strong disagreement with much of what has happened in the denomination. Do you regard it as personally important to regain the lost trust of the evangelical wing and, if so, what are some steps you would take to accomplish that?

In my experience, the Confessing Churches are made up of churches with a variety of agendas, some of them who feel in some way mistrustful of the tenor of our denomination and others who simply wanted to reassure their congregations that their particular local church remains committed to our PCUSA Confessions.

To the extent that trust has been broken between some of those affiliated with the Confessing Churches and the denomination, I want to treat it like any relationship where trust has been broken. That requires listening, finding out specifically what may have brought about any mistrust, then see what we can do to remedy and heal that.

How would you deal with staff leaders when they step beyond the bounds of General Assembly or constitutional authority? Past examples: a) Dirk Ficca’s address to the PCUSA’s 2001 Peacemaking Conference, which was defended by the staff and required two years before the General Assembly repaired the damage with “Hope in the Lord Jesus Christ;” b) Elenora Giddings Ivory’s press release in 2004 declaring, erroneously, that “General Assemblies have affirmed the civil right of same sex-couples to civil marriage.”

Accountability is important to me as one who is used to working in partnership with a session. Everyone must be accountable to someone. Staff leaders in the GAC mission organization will report to me, in the same way that I report to GAC executive director Linda Valentine, and she in turn she reports to the Council. If staff step beyond their authority and violate General Assembly policies, then this will be dealt with in the same manner as all human resource matters – through personal conversations with the staff, and corrective action if necessary.

What has been your greatest disappointment about the PCUSA?

My greatest disappointment is the decline in numbers of our people. That’s because I love this church and so believe in it. I joined the PCUSA at about 30 years old when, as a young attorney in Salt Lake City, Utah, I realized that I needed friendships, to find significance in life, and people who really cared about me. The people of First Presbyterian Church of Salt Lake became those dear friends.

At the time, I was coming off the tail end of a long time away from church and God during my 20s. But the people of FPC Salt Lake, like so many great PCUSA churches, gave me great breadth in my faith journey, essentially saying, “Come as you are.” They meant it and I needed that breadth. They accepted me with all my ideas and habits, many of them not particularly orthodox or edifying at the time. They were a beautiful example of a church that was able to have theological bounds, yet they accepted and loved me nonetheless.

What do you appreciate most about the denomination that is being currently expressed?

Despite how much we may complain, I think we are doing a lot of things well. I was just at our Association of Presbyterian Mission Pastors Conference in Louisville, Ky. I was really moved by the faithfulness of the participants – pastors and leaders out in the field and in churches, incredibly committed to the Gospel. I love much of what we’re doing in the way of social justice. I teach that subject at Fuller Seminary, so it’s a real passion of mine. But I am learning more everyday as I move toward my new role. I’d ask your readers to pray that what we appreciate about what we do together as a denomination comes to far outweigh what we may be tempted to complain about.

Were you satisfied that the 2006 General Assembly set the stage for greater peace, unity and purity by approving its authoritative interpretation on G-6.0106b?

The 2006 General Assembly roundly reaffirmed our denomination’s ordination standards, while at the same time encouraging more locally focused conversations and examinations for candidates for ministry and those nominated to ordained offices. Whether there is any actual disruption of the peace, unity and purity of the church based on how our people interpret those decision remains to be seen.

What words would you use to describe the PCUSA: liberal, moderate, orthodox, traditional, centrist, progressive? Where would you like the denomination to be on that spectrum?

No one word adequately describes a denomination of over two-million members. We are greatly varied, yet one body, interdependent. Personally, I’d want to be very careful that we not become a church where everyone is required at threat of expulsion to think and act exactly like I do. I don’t always have it right. We find boundaries in our Confessions, which we have to apply on a case by case basis to specific circumstances. In my Christian experience, people’s challenges to my theology or way of life have more often kept me more intellectually honest, deepened and broadened me as a Christian, more than they have divided me from those challenging me.

What should Presbyterians focus on in their prayers for you and other members of the staff in Louisville?

When Linda was called to this position, she drew attention to the ordination question: “Will you serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love?” While not all of the staff are ordained, I believe that all would do well to heed those as ministry goals at the General Assembly, seeking to serve with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love. I would love to know that Presbyterians around the globe were praying for us in each of those four areas. We all stand in daily need of the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit.

You have been described as a bridge builder between polarized factions in the denomination. When might you raise the drawbridge?

Two responses: First, I’m reluctant to view the church as a fortress that I need to protect. Our Reformed heritage tells us that it is God who is our mighty fortress. And God doesn’t need my protection. To the extent that you mean when do I draw lines in the theological sand, I don’t think one can honestly answer that in the abstract. Our applied theological decisions are made daily, on case by case bases, and take a huge variety of things into consideration, like the topic at hand, the context of situations, the language used, intentionality, etc. So I really can’t answer that in a general way. More importantly, my job as a bridge builder for the GAC is to carry out the mission of the church, while helping people of differing theological leanings to love, understand, and work well with each other. But, I am not there to be an ultimate gatekeeper who will save our church. My job is, along with many others, to faithfully carry out the mission of the areas which I oversee. Pray for me that I will do that with righteousness, integrity and grace. But I’ll leave the saving of our Church to the one who can best do that job – Jesus Christ.