The Lord of the Dance is one of my all-time favourite hymns. Not only does it have a beat you can dance to (although this hypothesis may go largely unproven in most Presbyterian worship services) it also evokes the Ascension of Christ and the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Consequently, here the hymn brings into view the dawning of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church and it has an eye toward the beginning of the life of faith for any contemporary man, woman or child. There is an important reciprocity at work here that is not limited to just me and Jesus though. There is also the undeniable interdependence between the individual believer and the corporate body we call church. I invite you to explore the Presbyterian Church in Canada’s Social Action Handbook with me as a neglected but necessary embodiment of the relationship between the one and the many, the church and the world. Whether you’re new to the faith, a born Presbyterian or somewhere in between, I believe you will get a better sense of what if means to be a Canadian Presbyterian through an engagement with the handbook wither in its classic orange binder form or the online version. My hope is that you may be persuaded to embrace the rich living witness of the PCC found there.
A distinctive feature of Presbyterianism is that its church governance is participatory, democratic and representative. The courts above session are comprised of an equal amount of ruling elders and teaching elders. It is not hard to a imagine a member of St. John’s, Winnipeg, for example, concerned about the use of pesticide by the city during mosquito season, asking their elder, Jane Doe, to bring it up at session. If this concern is found to have merit and thought to have an impact on other Presbyterian congregations then the session may bring it to presbytery. Coincidentally, Ms. Doe, ruling elder, may happen to be an equalizing elder for the congregation in the Presbytery of Winnipeg and thus meets the criteria for being a member of the court. If presbytery thinks the issue is of concern to the rest of the church, the court could, in turn, send it to General Assembly as an overture. If General Assembly adopts the overture to consider the issue of pesticide use in Canada as it relates to the care of God’s creation then it may, in its wisdom, commend it to the Life and Mission Agency for further study or perhaps even a special committee could be struck with an eye toward updating the church’s position.
Ultimately, the member of St. John’s, Winnipeg, would have the treatment of his concern about pesticide use in Winnipeg become part of the annual update of the Social Action Handbook. “The issues considered and the decisions made by General Assembly remind us that Christianity is a public faith that reflects the lordship of Jesus Christ over all creation.” Granted pesticide use, for some, may not be deemed worthy of consideration by the courts of the church, nonetheless it is what the high court, or better the court of last appeal, does and has done in the past that constitutes the content of the Social Action Handbook. And it is the actual content of the book we turn our attention to now.
The handbook is a living witness to the worldview of the PCC. One of its main theological understandings is what Dr. Art Van Seters’ states in his opening essay, that, “It is the very nature of God to be utterly self-giving and to be open to the other.” This knowledge of God and its concomitant demands for a vibrant testimony (the life that’ll never, never die) to the radical egalitarianism of the gospel for humanity comes through the handbook’s five thematic books. The titles of these books are: Life, Relationships, Community, Nation and World. Its structure represents concentric circles moving outward from the level of the individual in terms of the gift of life toward ever-expanding spheres of intimacy, impact, and interest. Each issue — from abortion to family planning, from protecting the vulnerable to caring for the planet — is addressed following a set pattern for the articles. The articles are divided into three parts: The Church Speaks, The Church Acts and The Church Reflects.
In particular, the third section recounts how the church in faith came up with its position and consequently may be the best example of where to go to gain an appreciation of the integrated view of the PCC as it accords with the various classical forms of revelation.
Take, for example, the global economic crisis and one might wonder what the Social Action Handbook says for and to Canadian Presbyterians, if anything. Under the section, Nation there is an entry entitled Social and Economic Issues. In the first section two of the numerous statements caught my eye. “Respect for human beings is not based on merit, but on the unmerited rights and dignity of all guaranteed by the incarnation and the grace of God.” The other was, “Believers in Jesus Christ and members of his church will pray for and work at the overcoming of greed in our own lives. We realize that there are limits to what we should own and consume. We use our strengths, talents and will not merely for personal gain, but for the welfare of the community.” These two statements demonstrate the solid theological understanding and biblical knowledge that our church brings to the social issues it confronts. One can almost hear the words of Jesus about specks, logs and sight.
Furthermore, if one went so far as to check the World section, she would find an entry on Global Economic Justice where similar statements are made. Additionally, in this entry you would learn of a Bible study entitled Wisely And Fairly for the Good of All, which was created by the Committee on Church Doctrine. You could consider using it to more intentionally engage and explore your own, your youth group’s or even your congregations’s faith commitments. It may turn out that just such a Bible study will be the spark that lights a fire in the heart and mind of one of our brothers or sisters of faith and a brand new overture could be on its way.
“Dance, dance, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the Dance said he,
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.”
