“We could miss the work of the Spirit,” says Rev. Dr. Chip Hardwick
by Beth Waltemath | Presbyterian News Service
Rev. Dr. Chip Hardwick preaches during the opening service of the regional meeting of immigrant leaders of the Covenant Synod. (Photos by Beth Waltemath)
According to the Rev. Dr. Chip Hardwick, one of the top five questions asked when you Google “Why are Presbyterians like this?” is “Why are Presbyterians called the ‘frozen elect?'” Hardwick, executive director of the Synod of the Covenant, preached at a regional gathering of new immigrant congregations and church leaders in Cincinnati over the weekend. Hardwick brought greetings on behalf of the synod, which includes 650 churches and 85,000 Presbyterians covering most of Ohio and all of Michigan, to a group that included the worship team of the Korean Central Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati and other regional leaders, as well as immigrant leaders from California and Georgia.
“I think the reason we’ve probably become rigid, at least in white churches, is that if you put motion-sensing lights in a Presbyterian nave, they may never come on during a service there. That may not be enough movement to generate life,” Hardwick said. He attributed the rigidity of white Presbyterian churches in part to a habit of control and what he called “the decent and orderly disorder.”
Hardwick looked to the Bible for examples of God doing the unexpected and disrupting the order of things. His selected passages focused on the story of Pentecost in Acts 2 and the story of Moses in Numbers 11 commissioning 70 elders into the tent of meeting. But in the Numbers account, it is the two additional elders who remained in the camp, Eldad and Medad, who receive the Spirit and prophesy in the camp.
A musician from the Korean Central Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati plays an inspiring arrangement of “Blessed Assurance” on the violin.
“The Holy Spirit is supposed to raise up 70 people, but the Holy Spirit raises up 72 people,” Hardwick said of the Numbers story, which indicated that “not one but two additional elders of the Spirit come who do what they do not expect.” Hardwick called Joshua and another opponent of the prophecy of Eldad and Medad “great Presbyterians.”
“Wait, wait. The Holy Spirit is doing something. Stop, stop, stop. Keep it under control,” Hardwick said, mimicking their reactions. “Presbyterians are great at thinking that we can predict exactly what God is going to do and when God is going to do it,” he said.
When prophesying God’s will for people, the ability to observe, listen, and understand is more important than the ability to predict and project. In the story of Pentecost, Hardwick saw the power of the Spirit not only in the ability of Peter and the disciples to speak to the crowds in many languages, but also in listening to the many voices that spoke to them. According to Hardwick, “God gave Peter and the disciples the power to understand the languages that were coming back and to learn from the people who were there from all over the world.”
“We have to admit that the Holy Spirit is just as active in immigrant communities and can teach us what is going on in our established churches as well,” Hardwick said. “If we just imagine that God works in very specific ways and at very specific times and that we can control them, then we have a decent and orderly disorder.” Hardwick concluded by warning that “we could miss this work of the Spirit.”
Rev. Lindsay Armstrong and the Accents! team of Rev. Rafael Viana, Sam Kim and Gad Mpoyo introduce themselves during the opening service.
“The Inspire! events have three goals,” said Rev. Gad Mpoyo, Eastern Region Associate for 1001 New Worshiping Communities. “To celebrate the creativity, resilience and commitment of new immigrant churches; to reflect on best practices for bringing new immigrant congregations and the established church into mutually beneficial relationships; and to develop a renewed, shared sense of hope and direction for a vibrant church future.” Mpoyo co-leads the Inspire! events with Rev. Lindsay Armstrong, executive director of the New Church Development Commission, Rev. Rafael Viana, organizing pastor of Casa Brasil Church, and Rev. Sam Kim, coordinator of transnational ministry at Columbia Theological Seminary. In each region, they invite local ministers and worship teams to lead and provide space for participants to share stories from their context in what they call “Ignite!” moments. Rev. Natarsha P. Sanders, intercultural leadership development and recruitment officer for the PC(USA), also attended and preached at the closing worship service.
The events attract new immigrant church leaders, presbytery leaders, local churches hosting new immigrant church leaders, and anyone who wants to meet and build relationships with new immigrant church leaders. Through a partnership with the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Financial Aid for Service, $500 travel stipends are available to participants. Another regional meeting is planned for the Stony Point Center in New York, scheduled for November 11 and 12.
For Armstrong, who has been part of the planning team since the first national meeting in Atlanta, the Holy Spirit is at work and is not easy to miss. Armstrong said, “The Inspire! regional meetings are gaining momentum.”
