Our big topic that we’re working on is “call” with the subset of that topic in particular being the call to Ministers of Word and Sacrament and how that call gets worked out through the judicatories of the denomination. We’ve poked and prodded at our system, told stories both good and bad, and related to the quirks we see in other ways of doing things – trying to figure out what gifts and processes are uniquely Presbyterian and valuable for us to hold on to.

One theological theme we came across in our history was the “priesthood of all believers” – the understanding that God needs no intermediary to reach us with forgiveness and grace. We all have access to God’s Word translated to our own language and can find ways of interpreting it for ourselves, and yet the analogy doesn’t go as far in our denomination as it does in other Christian groups. The “ordained” class still has the privilege/responsibility to preside over the sacraments, and we are only now, cautiously and carefully, with many hoops to jump through, allowing elders who have taken the training to become commissioned lay pastors officiate at the Sacraments in the limited situation of their particular commissioning. Therefore, it prodded one member of the committee to say, “We lie,” and by that he meant that our theological premise and our practice don’t quite equate with one another. If we truly believed in the priesthood of all believers, we might have different rules for doing things. It’s still the rare case that Commissioned Lay Pastors are permitted to do marriages in our denomination – and that’s not even a sacrament for us.

So what might it look like if we did believe fully, wholly in the priesthood of all believers? Since we were in central Pennsylvania, not far from Amish country, someone in the group remembered how they “call” a pastor into ministry. They draw straws, literally, from among the baptized members of the community. That’s it. If a new pastor is needed and you’ve been baptized there, you’re in the pool. My colleague then said, in that community, you think damn good and hard about your baptism vows which includes promising to pastor the church if you’re so called on.

It kind of sounds like the story from Acts we read this morning. Judas needed replacing. He not only betrayed Jesus, he died a bloody death seemingly as an act of revenge or at least consequence of his actions. They wanted to carry on as 12 apostles – those who had been sent out to take the message of love in Jesus Christ as far and to as many as they possibly could. Two from the gathering were nominated. (Sounds kind of Presbyterian to me so far.) But then instead of being elected by popular vote, they prayed and cast lots to pick the winner.

This isn’t exactly the Powerball here. When we win something by lottery, we have in our minds an image of life-changing amounts of money – at least I do anyway. And I certainly don’t imagine being selected in my particular profession as pastor of a church by the committee sitting around and playing “Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo” until they have a winner. I may have to ask former Pastor Nominating Committee Chair Jim Campbell about that later, but my expectation and perhaps bias as well is that I was chosen for this ministry because those on the committee saw in me gifts and skills that would be beneficial to this particular church.

However, could even our carefully orchestrated call system complete with computer matching and multiple levels of evaluation all really be a crapshoot in the grand scheme of things? Some are truly called and it works out. Some are called to end up a bloody mess of their own making. And some work out so-so and the parties move on after a few years together. These were the kind of questions we were asking.

What does it take for the community to be aware of its role in discerning God’s call to individuals, and how do we nurture individuals to hear God calling them? In today’s Presbyterian Church, are our members aware that baptism is the sacrament that connects them to a life-long relationship with God when most of us were too young to remember it? Do we pray enough for God’s involvement in our decisions, and do we trust the outward signs that point to God’s leading? In effect, what kind of church have we created for ourselves, and how do our beliefs (the real ones, not the ones we say we believe) shape our understanding of who we all are as followers of the living Christ?

This conversation for our seminar was full of more questions than answers. Fortunately we have more than two years left in our project.

(Some was added/embellished during the delivery of this sermon, but this is the general trajectory. CD's of the service as delivered are available from the church office. )