October 5, 2017 My dear Friends: One of the things that I enjoyed when I was working on my dissertation (sixteen years ago!) was combing through old Presbyterian newspapers and magazines. It occurred to me how vital they were in communicating news, but more communicating a sense of identity and belonging. Imagine being an older Presbyterian woman near Staunton, Virginia, around 1853. How would you stay connected to what was happening in the world? Through the Central Presbyterian—where you not only received news, but commentary on that news from a Presbyterian and Reformed perspective by pastor-theologians like Moses Hoge or Robert Lewis Dabney. There were also missionary reports and pastoral transitions (as well as advertising for soap and stoves and other things). One had a Presbyterian sensibility because one’s identity was reinforced through those newspapers and magazines. Of course, we are a long way from those days—both in terms of denominational identity and in how news is delivered. But I, for one, miss those older days for the way our forefathers and foremothers thought being Presbyterian was important—not as important as being Christian, but important none the less. All of this was one of many reasons why I wrote On Being Presbyterian (twelve years ago!) and why I was so eager to teach that material again here at IPC. I hope that as you have viewed the teaching—either live or video—and read and discussed the book and videos, you have been led into a deeper appreciation of why we are Presbyterian. None of this is meant to be “sectarian”—rather, it is simply a recognition that one has to go into one of the rooms off the hallway of “mere Christianity” (to use C. S. Lewis’s image). As we go into and live in that Presbyterian room, we don’t ignore the fact that there are other rooms, which represent other Protestant and even Christian traditions that read the Bible slightly differently than we do. Likewise, we don’t believe that we are right about every single jot and tittle—our own confession of faith has built into it the admission that it could err, and our book of church order has a process for amending our doctrinal statement, which is a recognition that error could be present. But to me, being Presbyterian remains a way of viewing Scripture, confession, church, worship, and mission “Gospelly” (if I can make up a word), and so a hopeful stance as we trust God to use us for his glory. All to say, I’m glad that we are together at Independent Presbyterian Church, seeing how God will shape us as new people to partner with him in shaping a new Memphis. In the grip of God’s grace,
Rev. Sean Michael Lucas, PhD Senior Pastor Independent Presbyterian Church Memphis, TN