The PC(USA) was established by the 1983 merger of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, whose churches were located in the Southern and border states, with the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, whose congregations could be found in every state. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its relatively progressive stance on doctrine and ordains women and LGBT community as elders and ministers. The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States.
So yes, worship is essential, but the church’s worship in today’s crisis will be defined by how we step up to our responsibilities, not how we stand up for our rights. How rare indeed it is for one to stand up for his responsibilities.” I cherish it and will even fight for it.īut as my teacher and mentor, the late Dallas Willard, used to say, “How common it is for a person to stand up for his rights. Seeing their struggle for justice firsthand, I will never take for granted the incredible privilege of religious liberty we enjoy in this country. When I visit our ministry partners in Africa, Asia and Central America, I witness vibrant worship in far more restrictive and hostile circumstances. Maybe we even misunderstand worship itself.
If we are driven to return to our “houses of worship” even at the expense of the health of our flocks and the community at large, maybe we are less secure in our mission than we realize. Between these two lies all the difference in the world.” Railroad companies that failed to diversify to motor and air travel missed it.Īs my friend Will Mancini writes in his forthcoming book, “Future Church,” “If you start with a culture of mission, you get worshippers, but if you start with a culture of worship you get worship services. Music labels that clung to selling CD’s while the digital revolution swept the industry missed it. It is perilous to confuse a business model with mission. I’m saying that it reveals the sincerity of the mission behind the ministry. I’m not touting numbers to argue that the pandemic is good for ministry. The first Sunday after Easter - historically one of our lowest-attended Sundays of the year - had more “attenders” than last Christmas Eve! Engagement in online studies and groups exceeds pre-COVID numbers. The congregation I serve is packing 6,000 pounds of food each week for families in need of food sustainability. Church facilities may have been closed to certain gatherings over the last few months, but let me be clear: the church - the people of God, the body of Christ - has never been closed. So you could shutter every church building in the world and true worship would continue.
In its full sense, worship encompasses all the loving work of God’s people, every act of compassion and grace. Worship can’t be reduced to a gathering on a Sunday morning.
Therefore all of life is an act of worship.