What does it mean that the Presbyterian Church is a “connectional church?” Among many possibilities, I believe that it means we are committed and bound to one another, to live together and work together in spite of our differences, in spite of all the many ways we can end up disagreeing with each other.
A subject that has come up, both in committees and now in plenary session, is the desire among some churches in our denomination to create affiliation presbyteries – non-geographical bodies which would allow “like-minded” congregations to join together for mutual mission and support. “Like-minded” means “conservative.” Most everyone who speaks in favor of this concept cite the frustration and sadness that can be found in conservative churches over the future direction of the PC(USA). Yet, we are told, these churches still wish to remain in the denomination.
I am concerned that such a move does violence to our long-cherished value of being connectional. We need to live and work together and bring to our governance and our ministries the wide range of perspectives in our denomination. I understand the frustration and the sense of being “outside-looking-in” that is expressed by our conservative brothers and sisters. But this request to allow them to withdraw from the greater fellowship in order to play amongst themselves would, I think, lead to segregation and ostracism, rather than the greater power and voice they believe they would gain by such a move. I would miss them, and I would miss the opportunity for us to talk and work together.
“Unity in diversity” is another value we hold dear. It is sometimes a quite misused phrase. Unity does not happen without diversity existing in one place. When we pull apart into like-minded groups, we make our task of seeking unity all the more difficult.
