Moderator: Without Katrina, are there tipping points for the PCUSA?
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, September 22, 2005
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – After 15 months as moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Rick Ufford-Chase admitted to the General Assembly Council on Wednesday that there are times when he wearies of the travel. Or worse.
Like the days he spent traveling about small towns in Idaho, South Dakota, Nevada, Wisconsin and parts unknown to many Presbyterians. Then, he got lucky. The owner of a small plane offered to shuttle him to a couple of the stops.
One trip went well. The second was from Iowa to North Dakota, straight into a 35-mph wind that provided a “light chop all the way.” Trying to phrase the predicament gently, Ufford-Chase said the plane landed with his having a bad case of woozies. “Just as we came to land, I made use of – how should I say this? – the motion sickness bag. And I was hanging onto that bag when I was greeted by 12 representatives of the church.”
It was not, he acknowledged, one of his most dignified moments as moderator.
But, even with the bumpy rides and occasional weariness, Ufford-Chase, who became the denomination’s first two-year moderator in 2004, rated the job as “some of the best parts of my experiences.”
He then sequed into a brief review of a book titled The Tipping Point and asked, “What would it generally take to create a tipping point in the Presbyterian Church (USA)? I think we all believe it is quite possible to experience a new movement of the Holy Spirit. Do we have it within us to become a new kind of church?”
Ufford-Chase recalled the story of the transfiguration and its aftermath in Mark 9, focusing on Jesus’ conversation with the man who had a son with an evil spirit. Asked by Jesus what he wanted him to do, the father said, “If you are able, cast out the evil spirit.” Jesus asked, “Do you believe?” and the father responded, “I believe, help me in my unbelief.”
“I feel that’s where a lot of our church is right now,” Ufford-Chase said. “I sense we’re on the edge of a new moment. We believe, yet we are desperately in need of help for our unbelief.”
What are the signs of “tipping points” in the Presbyterian Church (USA)? “Here are some of the things that I have been watching for,” he said:
- “Things that are Biblically grounded and yet call us to something new out of our Biblical tradition.”
- “Perhaps we will celebrate the most fundamental values that Presbyterians had in the past.”
- “The potential for broad representation from across the church. New movements have to start from the bottom up.”
- “Anything that would emphasize young adult participation and leadership.”
- “A movement by cohesion rather than coercion – the difference between naming a compelling vision and trying to coerce people into the behavior we want.”
Ufford-Chase added that not all sizes fit all Presbyterians. An advocate for Latin Americans and easing border restrictions, Ufford-Chase cited a cooperative program involving U.S. Presbyterians working with churches in Colombia. “No one said all Presbyterians had to get excited about Colombia,” he added.
Having made a recent trip to the Gulf Coast region devastated by Katrina, Ufford-Chase mentioned another “tipping point.”
“Presbyterians are practically fighting with one another to extend hospitality,” he said. “Everyone wants a piece of this action. Folks are desperate to step up and offer their help. The question I would put before is, ‘Does it have to be a hurricane?’ Can we do this when we no longer feel the immediacy of a crisis? Is it possible we might just become that kind of church all the time?”