What about . . .? Conversations among Clergy

Colleagues,

Clergy gatherings among are some of my favorite times of the month. Conversations can get rich quickly as devoted servant-leaders tell stories of struggles and breakthroughs in personal, family, congregation and community. Today, several of us in the central part of the area grazed on grapes and donut holes and bandied about the question, "How do we relate to Mormons - especially in communities where they are becoming a significant influence?" "Do we embrace them as full partners in a Christian ministerial alliance?" "Do we challenge their claims to be Christ-followers in union with the historic Church?"

Questions like these are not rhetorical or merely theological whimsy. They now draw considerable pastoral time and energy (in some places more than in others.) What do you say to a member of your church who, having been treated kindly by a local Mormon, now doubts their salvation or that of the dearly departed?

Beyond pastoral concerns, such questions raise other issues that linger always in the background. "Who is a Christian?" "Who gets to decide that for everyone?" "How do we relate to people whom we judge to threaten the orthodoxy of the Church?" "What in me gets 'hooked' whenever I am engaged in these controversial conversations?" What is the proper balance between justice and compassion?"

You can imagine that we did not find mutually agreeable, easy solutions. What I did find, however, was an integrity among us that I could trust. There is value in conversations that are open, honest, vulnerable to the Spirit's influence and passionate. What makes them even more valuable is that they take place within the assurance of a covenant. We commit to being here for each other. We allow for the fact that most transformation (even that which is fully directed by Christ) may take years for most of us . We challenge each other's conclusions but not those deep convictions forged over decades by prayer, Bible study, worship, and mission. We clamber up the mountain together to a teachable height, knowing that we cannot live here long but we will each return soon to the more congested and separated valleys of service and leadership.

I like to think that we go back to work together, that we have each other's back, that we care a bit more about each other each time we gather and return. The Great Commission and Great Commandment were, thank you Jesus, entrusted not to a few but to all the early Christ-followers and to us.

May we continue to invest in each other and into the missions we share in common - particularly the mission to make disciples of all nations.