I have found it interesting that over the last couple of months the same sentiment has been expressed by different leaders in different settings related to the current controversies in the Presbyterian Church (USA).  Specifically, these were both racial ethnic leaders, one Hispanic and one African-American, talking about what was important to them and their constituents.  Guess what, it is not the PUP Report and ordination standards.  It is issues of justice, empowerment, and church growth. The issues of ordination standards and homosexuality are “Anglo” issues.  It is not a priority in their congregations and constituencies.  There are other things that are more worthy of their valuable time.

Let me extend this a little bit.  Yes, I’m going to stick with ordination standards related issues here, specifically the departure of churches from the PCUSA to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.  Where does this fit in the grand scheme of things?

I’ll return to the 2006 denomination statistics published in the June issues of Perspectives.  In particular, I would note that in 2006 there were 56 congregations dissolved and only 6 dismissed.  I would also note that there were almost 28,000 members lost by certificate of transfer and about 102,000 just left.  Here in So. Cal. our presbytery has several churches hanging on by their fingernails and only one with any rumblings about leaving.  And a neighboring presbytery projects that at the current loss rate it will cease to exist in 20 years or less.

What this tells me is that the New Wineskins Association is not the only problem.  At the present time the chart from the Layman On-Line indicates 46 churches leaving.  We dissolved more churches last year than are trying to leave this year.  And while it is obvious that a church that gets dissolved will have few members and many of those leaving are larger and thriving, you still can not ignore the fact that about four times as many people just left the denomination than transferred out last year.

So what matters?  We can’t blame the New Wineskins movement alone for depleting our numbers.  We all need to carry the burden of reaching out the world around us with the Good News of Jesus Christ.