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Covid, community and the Code
Covid, community and the Code
Donald Watts offers his thoughts on the Church emerging from Covid and the importance of unity, and highlights how the republishing of PCI’s constitution has the potential to draw the Church together.
Unexpected phone calls are not always welcome but it is always good to have a chat with Sarah, the editor of the Presbyterian Herald. “Do you think you could write something positive about the Church coming out from the restrictions of Covid?” she asked. “Something to encourage our readers. Oh, and you might like to say a bit about what’s behind the republishing of the Code as well.” I don’t remember ever having heard the words ‘positive’, ‘encourage’ and ‘the Code’ used together before, so it was a challenge I really couldn’t refuse.
There is no doubt that the response to the pandemic has had a dramatic and damaging effect on the life of the church. The patterns of church life, which many of us had enjoyed from childhood, were suddenly shattered – no possibility for organisations to meet, no more socialising over cups of tea, but more fundamentally no opportunity to be with people when they were ill or weak and no coming together for worship. It seemed as though the church as we knew and loved it could hardly continue, and yet it did! Which actually shouldn’t surprise us at all because we are the church of Jesus Christ and our security is in him. We can have confidence because the victory of the church is not something that we work for, to be secured in the future; it does not depend on our programmes and strategies, but has already been won in the death and resurrection of our Lord.
Which is not to minimise the fact that the experience of the pandemic was traumatic for many people and some do feel let down by the church. At a time when people needed to find comfort and feel the support of others around them, church members were being told to stay apart. That was difficult in what is, after all, a community of believers. Now possibilities are opening up again for the church to restore a sense of being together, so we must surely work hard to offer truly supportive care. We also need to restore within the church the centrality of worship.
I suppose what stunned believers most in the response to Covid was that we couldn’t, for a time, meet for worship. Personally, I think that was the right decision, but it was very challenging. The church exists to worship God; that is the heart of our being. Without worship who are we? The Shorter Catechism tells us that our “chief end is to glorify God” and that truth is most fully expressed when we worship together. However, the Bible is also quite clear that when we are faithful, good can come out of a disastrous situation. I like to remember Joseph’s words when, on the death of their father, his brothers assumed Joseph would punish them. Instead he said, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20). I am not, in case there is any misunderstanding, implying that Covid was in any way sent by God – so far as I can judge, it was caused by human carelessness – but in God’s generosity good can come out of evil. The experience of the last few years gives us the opportunity to reset our priorities as a Church and to consider what is really important for the kingdom of God.
The church will never again be the same as we once knew it, of that there is little doubt, but does that indicate a problem or an opportunity? Before rushing to bring back everything we once knew and made us feel comfortable, surely it is important to pause and reflect on where God may be leading us. As one who was relieved to no longer have responsibility in a congregation during the period of the pandemic, I gratefully pay tribute to those who did rise to that challenge. It can’t have been easy, yet there were many imaginative ways found to retain some sense of community in worship and to keep contact with people. While some of those initiatives are no longer necessary, many of the lessons and skills learnt will strengthen the life of the church as we move ahead.
God has a time for everything. Reflection is important, but not for too long! Now is the time for the church to get into gear again and for all of us to be involved. I think of it as a bit like riding a bike. So long as you’re moving forward it’s fairly easy to keep upright, but if you slow down, almost to a stop, keeping balance becomes challenging. The church, for reasons outside its control, has slowed down and perhaps begun to wobble a bit. Now it’s important to get going again.
A number of people have remarked to me that there seemed to be a better spirit abroad at the most recent General Assembly and that is probably true, although I do have to enter a note of caution. Most of the more tendentious issues have been ‘postponed’ to the next Assembly. ‘Interim’ reports can be very useful at times. However, I like to think there may have been another reason. Because the ‘big beasts’, otherwise known as Councils, did not have very substantial decisions for the Assembly to consider, delegates heard more from the fringes. I was excited by the church planting that is going on and the new build progressing at Maynooth; I was challenged by work being done to better integrate those with particular needs into congregational life and worship; as always, I was humbled by the accounts from our visiting friends of the life of partner Churches overseas. It was a reminder that if we only look to the General Assembly as a barometer of the health of our Church we can have quite a distorted view. The encouraging life of the Church is in our congregations, who too often feel ignored.
If Covid was a defining moment in the life of the church, and I’m sure historians will see it as such, it would be wrong to imagine we did not face critical issues before then. The pandemic may have exacerbated some of our problems, but it didn’t cause them. In my view the fundamental issue we face in our denomination is a lack of trust in one another, which finally brings me to the republishing of the Code. Immediately let me make it clear that, while the panel involved in the republishing has been a happy and cohesive one, I am here expressing only my own personal views.
For many years it has been recognised that the Code, as we know it, is a confusing book for any of us to find our way around. Some of the language is difficult and indeed at times can seem not entirely consistent. A degree of tradition comes into how we read the Code, which requires an understanding of institutional memory. That can make it a very remote text for those not steeped in it. Many give up and others just find it a source of fun. Wisely, some years ago, the General Assembly decided we should try to produce a more accessible version, not changing its meaning but making it more readily understandable. That is what the panel has tried to do.
While the text of the Code is important, I would suggest that if we are to significantly impact the life of the Church not only the wording of the Code but our attitude to it needs to change. Too often it can be used as a law-book to keep people in check, especially of course those with whom we disagree. In fact, the word ‘law’ doesn’t appear in the Code and while ‘lawful’ is used occasionally it normally refers to the civil law. What the Code does claim to be is: “The book of the Constitution and Government of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.” A constitution is written to positively express what is central to the life of an organisation, or nation, or Church. It is intended to hold people together not force them apart. I’ve been taken aback recently by a number of people, some quite experienced ministers, who have asked me in all seriousness, “Am I allowed to say that?” Of course, the Code sets down parameters within which we must work, but its primary purpose is to draw us together and protect our relationships, not separate us and cause fear.
As we begin to move forward again as a denomination, this is the time God has given us to reassess our priorities and establish how we may move forward supporting one another, as a family of God’s people. Perhaps the republished Code will enable us to see better how to work through differences, with respect for other opinions than our own. This is a time of new beginnings so let’s not waste it.
Dr Donald Watts is a former Clerk of the General Assembly.
