I'm a Presbyterian living in a Methodist body - or is it the other way round? Wife's even worse off for she's a a reluctant Presbyterian, wearing Methodist clothes but living inside an Anglican skin. And sons aren't much better, with one bobbing between a couple of Presbyterian churches, when he's not at a Methodist building or one of several Baptist establishments he frequents while the other is best described as a Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal, Brethren worship leader with a touch of Vineyard. Confused? Actually, we're not at all, though you might think so. But of course the common denominator is not all about denominations at all, for the only word that really matters is Christian. And I don't mean that broad definition which defines an individual, group or country according to a main religious leaning. We can talk about people being Christian as opposed to Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or Sikh but to be a Christian in the true sense of the word involves a much more personal faith and belief in Jesus as God's Son and Saviour of the world. In other words, we are 'Christ's ones' and that doesn't always apply to everyone who walks under the banner of Christianity. The Presbyterian church building where I grew up was an ancient and traditional affair but two things I remember well was the old tree near the entrance where us boys always congregated between Sunday School and the church service to talk about the previous day's football results, though now I guess there wouldn't be much to say, since most of the games happen on the Sabbath itself. But I also recall the old stable whee the 'men' gathered for a smoke and a chat before filing in just when the minster was about to commence proceedings. The service itself was pretty standard, with a sung Psalm at the start, prayers, two Bible readings with a hymn sandwiched between, a children's address and hymn, the announcements and offering and another prayer, which was always the time to slip in a sweet before the sermon and then ending about forty five minutes after the sermon had begun with a closing hymn or Paraphrase. Throw in the odd choir anthem at the offering and you could probably be spot on every Sunday with the running order. I guess it's still much the same today and probably like most churches there is a certain amount of security in having a regular agenda. I always remember too the little piece of purple cloth that hung down in front of the pulpit showing an embroidered picture of the burning bush and those words that I viewed every Sunday from the choir, 'ardens sed virens.' that, I think, roughly translated meant, 'burning but flourishing,' a reference to the bush where Moses encountered God and discovered his mission to free the Israelites from captivity. I recently discovered that the bush in question should be a desert acacia with some tangled branches containing both green leaves and white flowers. I used to think it meant 'burned but not consumed' and even in my basic understanding of foreign languages, I couldn't find any word which would have represented 'not' in that phrase.
Anyway, like most churches, the Presbyterian family has its own internal structure and as I have talked to many other denominations about their own levels of responsibility and hierarchy, I have discovered that all the main churches have similarities in positions of leadership and all have many differences in doctrinal positions and interpretation of Scripture. Presbyterians have Presbyteries,elders and committees, Church of Ireland have Parishes, Select Vestry and Churchwardens, Methodists have Circuits, stewards, leader's committees and lay preachers while Baptists have Conferences, pastors, deacons and elders. Essentially, every church has a group of people who have overall responsibility for keeping everything running on a week to week basis and every time I'm talking to someone from another denomination, I almost invariably try to equate what they tell me with my own Presbyterian background. Suffice to say that, every 'Christian' church has its strong points and while I still feel a Presbyterian at heart, years of sharing worship with believers from many denominations that I haven't even mentioned, assure me that when Jesus said to His disciples ' Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation,' He hadn't any particular denomination in mind. And that is why when one group of believers casts a critical eye on their neighbours, I think sometimes we need to remember the words of Peter when he said 'We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved.' Nothing added to that makes us Christians, for God doesn't accept us on the basis of our denomination but wholly on the sincerity of our faith in Him. And he won't be asking me if I'm a good Presbyterian.
