A gathering in Chicago

"With all humility and gentleness . . . making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit":

"There is one Lord, one faith one baptism, one God and Creator of all";

"equipping the saints . . . building up the body of Christ until all of us come to the unity of faith . . . to maturity . . . not tossed by every wind of doctrine";

"speaking the truth in love . . .."

We did not come to engage in systematic Bible study; rather, we pursued a form of lectio divina, a sharing of what the text "says" to us as a group of church leaders gathered in a retreat. We focused on two points emerging from the text: how we as 12 people together respond to the author's words in our interrelationships, and how this text might speak to our larger church and its tensions. Since we were not asked to prepare for the meeting by studying the text beforehand, it was clearly not intended to be a rigorous study to find common meaning in the text. But in sharing, we did discover new and inviting meaning in the text, and our discussion was meaningful, personal, insightful and helpful in understanding one another.

I experienced two significant epiphanies during the retreat. There was great hurt expressed by some of the evangelicals as a result of actions taken at or rhetoric raised at General Assembly. I was generally surprised to hear some of the stories of events I had witnessed and celebrated, as they were told from a very different perspective. What I saw as wonderful examples of God's Spirit at work, others saw as the wounding of their spirit. As I talked with these friends I gained a deeper appreciation and understanding of the sense of theological and social diversity that exists within our church. I can hope that these conservative friends heard the stories of our pain and saw things in a new light as well.

The second learning was the common affirmation of the church in mission. While mission is a very broad term encompassing a wide variety of opportunities, we did see some great possibilities for the church's engagement in mission. There was an exciting note of hope in our conversation with the realization that if we could focus together on our outreach, be it evangelism or the establishment of just economics and peace, it might help us lift our eyes beyond the issue (or issues) that threaten to divide us.

And all this came from talking. The Layman quoted one participant as saying, "I don't think talk is going to solve our problem and this is all talk." Respectfully, I would disagree: Talk may be the most valuable asset we have in these difficult times. The more opportunities we have to talk together, the more hope we have that we might be able to move forward, together, in God's time and by God's lead.

Thank you, Clif and John -- with a special appreciation for the work of Sharon Youngs for her able support and assistance -- for this opportunity and for the invitation to the Witherspoon Society to participate.