On the Road Again/ Or Lefsa in Hastings

It was the last day of the Pastors School at Hastings College. I was sitting at breakfast and I commented that right when we didn't think they had any more culinary tricks up their sleeve they offer Belgium waffles. What's next Swedish pancakes? And I was surprised to find out that two of my table mates were from Minnesota and not only knew what Swedish pancakes were but also were very familiar with Lefsa (a potatoe based flat bread cooked in Norwegian households). We ate Lefsa each Christmas at my grandmother's. It's neat to have a little bit of personal history come alive even as we are learning about our Presbyterian history at the Pastor's School.
In our Presbyterians and American Culture class we were talking about how we, 21st Century Presbyterians, can hold our denomination together when we disagree on some of the polity issues of our day. We learned in our Presbyterian History how the denomination split over the issues of slavery, missions and clergy credentials. One of the suggestions was to make more strict boundaries, perhaps subscription to a single common confession rather than a whole book of confessions. I would argue that the key to holding our church together is not to build more stringent boundaries but to better understand and communicate the center of our faith. The ananolgy would be the difference between a bird cage (boundaries) that holds the birds of one type in or a bird feeder (center) that attracts a variety of birds.
The Reformed and Presbyterian tradition has a rich and wonderful heritage and a vibrant life giving center. I have just started reading John Calvin, Reformer for the 21st Century by William Stacy Johnson. In today's reading I was reading about the catchwords of the reformation "Grace Alone, Christ Alone, Faith Alone". Grace alone reminds us that we are not justified by our own works but by the Triune God who is for us, with us in Christ and among us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ alone reminds us that this grace of God is "made real in Jesus Christ and brought to bear concretely in human experience by the power of the Holy Spirit."(Johnson, p. 26) We receive this grace by faith through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the center of our faith and it is a faith that is made stronger not big bigger and better fences to divide us from the outside world but by more clarity about the wonderful bread of life we receive from Christ at the center of the faith community.
I will be sad to leave my many new friends (this is a picture from 2006 but several of the participants including me, top left, are the same). But I am looking forward to seeing my brother John and his family, stopping by Jacobs Well Christian Community (where Timothy Keel, author of Intuitive Leadership is pastor) and seeing my new grand baby Evan and his brothers, Ashton and Ethan and of course my wife Joan. Let our center define us and our faith in Christ unite us.