10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
11 The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
15 The LORD said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”
19 So Elijah went (1 Kings 19)"So why should anybody even consider doing the Fellowship of Presbyterians? Isn't this just another schismatic body?" So I heard someone ask. To look at what God is doing through the old lenses of past fights might do an injustice to what is going on today. In many ways, The Fellowship is an effort to keep schism to a minimum and to hold onto those who are going to leave anyway.
There has been a seismic shift in our denomination with the recent votes of 2010 General Assembly and concurring presbyteries to eliminate national ordination standards. For those who say that nothing has changed, Rulings by the PJC to allow homosexual ministers and by the Board of Pensions to pay for unmarried partner's benefits have made this even clearer. The greater problem is a moving away from scripture as our standard for belief and practice; moving us back to the Pre-Reformation idea that experience, the experts, and the world should shape our belief and practice.
Almost everyone is tired of the endless debates about adultery and homosexuality (chastity and fidelity debates). Yet the Fellowship of Presbyterians is an effort to hold people together both within the churches and holding churches in unity. The Fellowship seeks to have some kind of communication and mission with those who are leaving anyway (this has never officially been tried before), and a way to hold together within the PCUSA without trying to change the denomination through votes or politics (though we will still vote).
The vast majority within the Fellowship of Presbyterians seek to differentiate themselves from the votes and move on to doing something positive (like disaster relief, migrant ministry, starting new churches etc.). Yet, simply because we disagree with some denominational vote and are forming a Fellowship does not necessarily mean we are leaving the denomination- or even taking eventual steps to do so.
Most are driven by what the people are thinking in the pews more than anything else. Some churches are going to leave. Would it not be better for them and for those staying to have some mutual communication and mission? For example, would it be good for Thornwell Home or Presbyterian Communities (Presbyterian Homes) to not have a First Presbyterian Greenville relating to them? Surely the answer for all these institutions is "no." Some churches are sharply divided over this issue, and the Fellowship of Presbyterians is a way for those who disagree with what the denomination has done (and is doing) to find differentiation without separation- to be a faithful remnant where God has providentially placed us. Most ministers in the Fellowship really want to find a way to be faithful to scripture and also to the church, and to keep their churches as united as possible - (though they may be sometimes very diverse and divided, and sometimes united on leaving). We are in a storm, seeking shelter most from God- but huddling together. God reminded Elijah in a similar time of sexual promiscuity (Baal worship was what he fought, and Baal was a fertility god), that there were 7,000 that had not bowed the knee to Baal. God asked Elijah, "What are you doing here?" It is a good question. Perhaps we, like Elijah then, are sheltering ourselves- getting ready to go out an anoint others and make a difference.
