ECO discusses future of narrative reporting
By Paula R. Kincaid, The Layman, January 20, 2012
ORLANDO, Fla. –“For a long time in our Presbyterian heritage, we used a form of questions called the ‘Narrative on the State of Religion,'” the Rev. Jim Singleton told the more than 2,100 attendees of the Fellowship of Presbyterian’s Covenanting Conference.
Every congregation in the denomination had to answer the narrative’s questions and submit them for review by the presbytery.
“If you look in the minutes of 1925 and before you will see these wonderful reports,” said Singleton. “It’s story-telling by congregations.”
During his presentation, Singleton proposed that the new Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians (ECO) bring back the “Narrative” as a means of annual reporting. He said that in the 1920s, when the denomination “stopped looking at the stories and started looking at numbers. The narrative report was dropped.”
Singleton then reviewed questions from the 1908 “Narrative.” It included questions concerning:
- Attendance upon the service of the sanctuary by members and others;
- Proportions of families that observe family worship;
- Observance of the Lord’s day by the members;
- Home-training of the children in the Scripture and in the catechism of the church;
- Training of pupils in the Sabbath school in the Scripture and the catechism of the church (Singleton said that during that time, Sabbath school was for non-Presbyterian children. The congregation’s children were to be trained at home.);
- Fidelity of the membership in honoring the Lord with substance;
- Has the congregation paid its minister fully and promptly the amount promised him?
- Have there been any special manifestations of the Holy Spirit’s power in the church either by conversions or by increased activity in church work?
- To what extent does worldly conformity exist in the church?
- What evangelistic work is done by the church outside of its bounds?
- What is the church doing to secure people for the Gospel ministry?
Other than the first two questions, the “Narrative on the state of religion” the FOP and the ECOOP is proposing are not the same questions as the 1908 narrative, said Singleton.
What we are proposing is a way to live out the values we proposed this morning to hold each other accountable to these values,” Singleton said.
The proposed “Narrative” was included in the conference’s registration packet and, following Singleton’s presentation, participants spent time in small groups discussing the new questions.
They include:
- How has the Holy Spirit been evident in your congregation in the past year (through conversions, growth in the fruit of the Spirit or other transformational experiences in the congregation)?
- How has your congregation extended itself beyond its bounds through the establishment of new communities of worship and discipleship?
- In what ways is your congregation seeking the welfare of the “city” (community) to which we are called?
- How has your congregation devoted itself to the poor in this past year? Describe the evidence of the heart of compassion.
- How has your congregation sought justice as an expression of the Kingdom of God?
- Describe the state of moral expression in your congregation — are you more like the world or more like the participants in the values of the Kingdom of God?
- How are individuals, including women, men and people of different ethnic groups, experiencing the call to full-time or part-time ministry in your congregation?
- Describe how the idea of ministry as the joy and calling of every disciple is evident in your congregation.
- Describe how your employment practices are moving toward an expression of the values of the Kingdom of God.
- Explain how your congregation understands its commitment to the larger church through our connectional relationships within the Body of Christ.