What is your dream for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Church Universal?
By Emily Hope Morgan
Dream PCUSA Logo
I am convinced that the only real failure the church is experiencing today is a failure to dream. Have we become so enthralled with nostalgic ideals of what the church “used to be” that we have lost the ability to envision a future different from our present? Have we lost sight of the Holy Spirit’s movement? Have we lost the ability to dream?
No! While our dream-supply may be running dangerously low, and while institutional support may be lacking, we have not lost our ability to dream. Across many denominations a movement has sparked. Some are calling this awakening “the Mainline Summer”, but I prefer to think of it as the Summer of Dreaming. It all started when the United Methodist Church created a Twitter account @DreamUMC after their nation-wide General Conference earlier this year. Now the Presbyterians are getting involved.
I had the opportunity to visit the PC(USA)’s General Assembly in July and see the good, the bad, and the hopeless. The Saturday GA ended, I saw people using the hashtag #dreamPCUSA to share their dreams for the church, express their hopes and frustrations, and to get organized.
I created the Twitter account @WeDreamPCUSA in response to what I was seeing, and a youth director from New Jersey named Angie Rines created the Facebook account facebook.com/dreampcusa. Within eight hours, we had over 100 “likes” on Facebook and over 200 followers on Twitter, as we gathered for a prayer tweet up*. As of July 27th, we have over 200 “likes” and 440 followers. This may not mean much to some, but to me it says that people are thirsty for engagement and hungry for a place to dream together.
Next, we saw a DreamUCC and Acts 8 (the Episcopal version) emerge. We started a blog at dreampcusa.org with the support of seminarian Mark Smith. We have had Rev. Dr. Kirk Jeffery write about his unique ministry of being a pastor to pastors, Rosella McQuain write about living her faith in the workplace, and co-facilitator Angie Rines write about whether or not we are paying attention to God’s actions in the world, along with several others. We are also planning on developing a more organized way to share our dreams. We hope in particular to launch local (probably presbytery-based) Dreamer Fellowship groups this fall.
People have been tweeting and sharing on Facebook as well as other venues their dreams. Some are specific, some are general, and some are opening up questions that there are no easy answers to. Here are a few from Twitter that represent some of the main themes I am seeing:
Most of us are not sure exactly what will happen, but we have some strong dreams. Our Mission and Vision Statement begins with a quote from the Confession of 1967: “In every age, the church has expressed its witness in words and deeds as the need of the time required” (9.02). We are in a time when the church has a wonderful opportunity to prepare a place for those who will come after us through innovation and support for dreams, both new and old—dreams whose time has come or come again. We are not looking to destroy the structures which support us, but it is time to start dreaming about how they can be adapted to fit modern realities.
Unbound is a great example. It used to be a print magazine called Church & Society, which was shut down because of lack of funding. It has been resurrected, and transformed, as Unbound: The Interactive Journal of Christian Social Justice. It is a new way of doing ministry. The Church even ordained Rev. Patrick David Heery, fresh out of seminary, to serve as the journal’s Managing Editor, a blessing in good faith of what this ministry was dreamt to be. Now, as Unbound approaches its one-year anniversary, many of the dreams which supported its creation have come true; new dreams are being dreamt to take it even further.
It is my hope (one of my dreams) to see Dream PC(USA) saying the same thing around its one year anniversary. I hope our Dreamer Fellowships will have given people a space not only to dream together but also to organize as communities of faith. I hope our social justice passions find support through dreaming together and putting those dreams into action. I hope that, through particular denominational structures, we can lift up the church universal.
I ask Unbound‘s readers to join us whether or not you are a member of the PC(USA). Dream PC(USA) is a grassroots movement, and the more people who are involved, the more we can do. Join us on Twitter for prayer at 8pm EDT on Saturdays using hashtag #dreampcusa, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, bookmark our blog, share your dream with us, and/or sign up for more information about our Dreamer Fellowships.
Share your dream for the church below as a comment and then share it on Twitter!
Emily Morgan is the creator and co-facilitator of Dream PC(USA). She is a student at Princeton Theological Seminary and a Candidate for Ordination in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). She graduated with a BA in History in 2009 from Drury University and plans to pursue congregational and college ministry. She also recently started a website designed to ponder faith issues and get young adults and others thinking about issues in the 21st Century and how they relate to spirituality and religion. Read more at www.fightthebees.com.
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I dream of a church that does not separate justice and mission, a church that involves young people in its leadership (not just as “interns”) and in its policy-making (not just as “advisors”), a church that cares more about the people of God, and risking everything for them, than it cares about avoiding controversy, maintaining buildings, and sustaining the status quo – a church that is bold enough to love, and risk, as much as Jesus did.
Thank you, Emily and all the leaders behind Dream PC(USA)! Here’s how Unbound is dreaming about a church that intertwines both online and the on-the-ground organizing for faith, justice, and community: http://justiceunbound.org/unbound-blogs/binding-wounds-unbinding-chains/to-a-god-unknown/.
I dream of a church where the love of helping overrides the materialistic agenda, a church where the innovations of our time will be embraced wholeheartedly to the uplifting of the downtrodden, and the idea of progress does not equal the desire for finance. I further dream that we work harder at embracing the seemingly unembraceable when we are encountered with the unthinkable.
I dream of a church that is biblically knowledgeable, spiritually alive, and the voice for those whose voices have been silenced by power in their neighborhoods, cities, and around the world–and that this vision is alive in the pew, not just a vision held by the denominational leaders.
I dream of a church that thinks creatively about worship and communities–that worship our creative God with our wholes selves and calls people from all walks of life to join together in worship and community.
I dream of a church where children lead and adults listen; where racism and homophobia are erased; where the Spirit’s love knits us together.
My dream is to ignite a network of grassroots bible communities across the US with a clear commitment to and solidarity with the poor, similar to the base communities of El Salvador, South Africa, and Brazil. The only way to build a more just society is from the bottom up and people absolutely must come together to read and discuss the bible in light of social reality if we are to make any progress towards ending long-standing social injustices.
I dream of a church that actually follows what the Bible says. Psalm 15 would be a pretty good start:
Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may live on your holy hill?
He whose walk is blameless
and who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from his heart
and has no slander on his tongue,
who does his neighbor no wrong
and casts no slur on his fellowman,
who despises a vile man
but honors those who fear the Lord,
who keeps his oath
even when it hurts,
who lends his money without usury
and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things
will never be shaken.
I dream of a church where the congregation is actually committed to and genuinely acting to end all forms of segregation. Until we actually insert ourselves into the unfamiliar and make ourselves the minority in our surroundings in whatever way is needed, I don’t think we will be closer to achieving the “Beloved Community.”
I dream of a church that refuses to be anchored by its pews and walls, that is intentional about justice, being neighborly and loving everyone.
I dream of a church that creatively explores ways for people like my sister, who has a severe intellectual disability, to fully participate in Sunday worship. A church body that earnestly seeks to broaden and deepen the communicative mediums of worship, pushing for alternative discourses such as body-performance, spectacle, and ritual as opposed to the dominance of the pulpit and written liturgy. Because if we continue to covet a spiritual-intellectualism garbed in sophisticated prose and an arsenal of fancy synonyms, then I assure you, my sister won’t ever have the chance to enjoy the worship.
I dream of a church that practices its understanding that love of God and love of neighbor necessarily includes acting in God’s Name not only toward a person, but to entire neighborhoods; not only to a soul, but to an embodied child of God; not only to a prisoner, but to the prison system, and the like understanding that love is not a private act, but is also social.
I also dream of a church that is viable everyday, not only on Sunday (and possibly Wednesday evening)
I dream of a church that celebrates and honors the body, in recognition of the good and beautiful nature of an embodied creation. I dream of a connectional church that cultivates enduring relationships between people who worship in different communities, denominations, and faith traditions. I dream of a church that is safe for children, a true sanctuary for our youth. I dream of a church that practices models of shared leadership, and that strives to always flatten the hierarchies of power that can develop so easily between the “pastor” and “the people.” May it be so.
Thank you for this article. When I saw #dreamPCUSA #dreamUMC etc on twitter on honestly had no idea what this what about. I thought it might be a political movement and perhaps it is… but not in the way that the two party conventions have currently been talking about politics. No instead it’s the politics of the church and the thought to dream that God’s creation can be something more than we currently live in. It’s more like Martin Luther King Jr’s speech ‘I have a dream!’ I dream that we can live into the body of Christ and see each other regardless of our political affiliations as sisters and brothers.
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Thank you all for sharing your dreams! It’s so cool all the different dreams we’re getting to hear about through Dream PC(USA).