‘Vision’ is an awkward word. We know what it means, or think we know what it means, but rarely use it properly. ‘Visioning,’ the verb extraction, is even worse. ‘A vision statement,’ which is part of an institution’s strategic plan, is a statement of what that institution will look like in the future. These all spring from the ‘to see’ verb and what we mean of them is ‘to discern a future direction.’ It is code for a hopeful plan.’Vision,’ ‘visioning,’ and ‘vision statement’ were often used at this year’s General Assembly. What the speakers often meant—and I am putting words into people’s mouths here—is that they were deeply dissatisfied with merging departments or shaving budgets; that they wanted a bold statement to tell them what the Presbyterian Church in Canada will look like in five, 10 or 25 years; and a roadmap to suggest how to get there. Adding another layer to the awkwardness: Commissioners were looking, in part, for senior bureaucrats to sit down and do some analysis and present a plan for the coming future, which will show trends, and present options, which are Christ – driven, filled with the Spirit and working for the Kingdom of God. If our church is ageing and membership is fading, then please tell us how we can serve the kingdom! Of course, within our polity, the rules of engagement state it is the courts and committees of our church that answer these questions. The bureaucrats merely manage what they are told by assembly. And so the frustration grows and we use vague words like ‘visioning,’ and the tension grows between commissioners and paid staff. You can hear that frustration in Rev. Dr. Glen Davis’ opinion piece at the beginning of this issue. Amongst Davis’ many different roles over half a century are general secretary and moderator of assembly. He’s been – there – done – that and is able to give it voice. And while he has not been at assembly as a commissioner the past few years, the frustration he names has been growing incrementally for a while. He has tapped into the collective voice—that mystical and mysterious thing that envelops a court and is passed on year to year. It was this unnamed frustration that hung over this year’s assembly. Presbyteries are closing churches, congregations are worried and national office is tightening staffing. But these are all merely responses to numbers—of decreasing people and dollars. Someplace behind all this is a silent cry: Lead us from this wilderness.Many branches of the church are working on discernment. There was the Emmaus Project; and I encourage you to visit presbyterian.ca/emmaus. A lot of wisdom there by a lot of wise people. Three presbyteries I have visited—Kingston, Barrie and Westminster—are amongst others to have workshops to determine their uncertain future. Many congregations are going through similar exercises.There is a long history of women’s leadership which dates back to the moment the empty tomb was discovered. I wonder if the May long weekend conference hosted by the Women’s Missionary Society and the Atlantic Mission Society is another example; the WMS and AMS returned to their mission roots by raising issues that matter in the world today. (The Record’s September issue is dedicated to the conference.) The financially struggling Cariboo Church led an elder’s conference in Grande Prairie, Alta., recently and the Record will report on it in January. All these efforts towards discernment are lacking a centralized focus. That was the unnamed beast roaming through assembly in London. ‘We’re trying,’ was the muted scream: ‘We’re trying but we don’t have the expertise; or we have the expertise and nobody is listening. We need leadership.’ The frustration in London was as physical as the hopefulness was at the WMS/AMS conference. Time will tell, it always does, which way we’re headed. I pray it happens before our vision completely fades.
