As of today, we, the Presbytery of San Diego declare that we
are no longer primarily a governing body. We declare that we are a relational community and that we are becoming a
mission agency.
THE PAST/A GOVERNING BODY: In recent years, our Presbyterian Church (USA) has described the
identity of presbyteries as governing bodies. This gives the impression that the main reason we come together is to
govern ourselves. It suggests that
rules, regulations, and policies are what is most important about our life
together. This is probably a result of
the corporate and regulatory model of church that our denomination has followed
in the twentieth century. While this may
have been sufficient in the past, it does not describe who we are today or who
we hope to become in the future. While
we will continue to govern as needed, it is not the primary adjective that
defines who we are. Our polity alone
cannot be the reason enough for us to meet together.
THE PRESENT/A RELATIONAL COMMUNITY: The main reason we as a presbytery come
together today is for relationships: our
relationship with God through Jesus Christ, our relationships with personal friends,
and the relationships that congregations have with one another. It is through our God-given relationships
that we experience joy, sorrow, purpose, fulfillment, and hope. Our connections are providing a bridge for us
towards our emerging future. As a
relational community, we will emphasize listening, learning, and praying. We have taken vows to abide by the
Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and we will continue to do so,
lovingly holding one another accountable in relationships. Our polity helps us set up appropriate
boundaries for our relationships. It is
a means to an end, it is not an end in and of itself. We see the value of being a part of a
connectional system with other presbyteries and other communities who share a
similar identity in Christ.
THE FUTURE/A MISSION AGENCY: Our dream is that we will learn to become a mission agency
together. As the early church laid hands
on people and sent them out in mission (Acts 13:1-3), we hope to do the
same. We live in a mission field and all
of us are sent by God into it. God has a
mission and God’s mission has a church. We hope to discern what God is doing in our world and Join Christ in the
mission He has already initiated. We
hope to learn new skills for new forms of mission for this new millennium. We hope to launch new missional experiments
to discover together how God’s Holy Spirit is leading us. We want to be a sent people who are shaped by
God’s mission, energized by God’s mission, and defined by God’s mission. The reasons we will come together is to
discern where and how to be in mission together. We hope to connect with other mission
agencies in California, the
United States, Mexico, and around the world,
extending the Kingdom of God here on earth. As we move into our new future, we desire to be both humble and
bold. We are humble because we do not
have all the answers, we are learning as we go, and we know we need each
other’s wisdom and insight. We want to
be bold because we do not want to be trivial or waste our time on what is not
important. We long to make a difference
in the world.
This statement was approved on March 11, 2008, at a regular
stated meeting of the Presbytery of San Diego.
Rev. Dr. Clark D. Cowden, Executive Presbyter
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