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We lift up our voices as members of the Presbyterian family |
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in this time of restructuring in the church's life; |
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in this time of retrenchment in the church's mission; |
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in this time of preoccupation with survival |
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of the church as an institution . |
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We lift our voices from the wilderness areas of the church, |
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remote from the centers of strategic decisions. |
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We find ourselves confronted |
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by a world full of dysfunction and disorder; |
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in family life; |
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in social and community relationships; |
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in perceptions of God, faith and the church. |
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and we find it difficult to embrace and incongruous to claim |
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a carefully crafted and theologically refined statement of faith |
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in such a messy world. |
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The voices we hear and to which we respond, |
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are not the voices which ring in numbered sentences |
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constructed by committees; |
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they are not voices calculated to bring agreement and unity |
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to a steadily declining organization; |
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but they are voices which compel us to confess our faith |
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in sometimes awkward and unproven attempts |
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at bearing witness to Jesus Christ. |
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Because of what we have seen and heard |
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in the wilderness where we live, |
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and because of the vision of faith which sustains us, |
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we cry out to elders and deacons and lay people |
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in the pew and out of the pew |
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to take up the cross; |
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Take up the cross of harassed migrants |
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who dash across the borders in the middle of the night; |
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take up the cross of grieving family members |
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in places like Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua |
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where loved ones still watch the blood of loved ones |
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seep into the soil; |
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take up the cross with drug and alcohol addicts |
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who stumble along streets and hide behind glass curtains |
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in upper and middle income America; |
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take up the cross with abused children, |
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battered persons |
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and guilt-ridden residents |
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in the community where you live. |
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Leave behind petty disputes about church property |
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and how to use the church parlor, |
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leave behind committees which labor for hours |
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over documents that no one will read; |
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leave behind your fears about pleasing self-appointed power brokers |
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in the church and the world; |
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and come follow him who said: |
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"Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, |
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but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." |
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