April 12-23 Blue Ridge Assembly

Posting Date 1/9/05

Synods Determine the Character and Direction of Our Church

Likely as many of you, I hadn’t thought much about how important it is to be aware of the agendas in upcoming Synods. Frankly, I really didn’t know much about this process, what it is, what it does, nor who attends them. I took it on faith that Leaders of a Church and elected representatives of that Church would make no rulings nor pronouncements that were not in keeping and consistent with the basic Statements of Faith common to all Christians. If anybody were to tell me that the Ground of the Unity was to be discussed it never would have occurred to me that the essential truths of Christianity, as expressed in the Ground of the Unity, was up for negotiation. At best, I would have believed those truths to be so self-evident, so unassailable, so necessary for the integrity of the Church, and so universally understood as to be immune to question. I would have believed that it might be “tweaked” in it’s trivial details, at most.

I would have been wrong. Disastrously so.

Our Church is at a point of crisis. I don’t believe that statement is an exaggeration. Our very basic core beliefs and convictions as Christians is under assault. There are those who work to render the essential message and salvation of the Christian Church meaningless. Their tool for doing so is the Synod and the Resolutions adopted at the Synod.

Christian Churches everywhere subscribe to the essential truths expressed in our Ground of the Unity. Those truths are, and have always been, that of the Triune God of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That Jesus was born of Mary, was the Son of God come amongst us to establish a New Covenant. That he was crucified, died, and rose again. That he is the sole salvation and The Way. This has been universally attested to by all Christians and is an essential truth expressed in the Ground of the Unity. Amazingly, alarmingly, that conviction and statement of Truth is under assault. There are those who wish to render it a “maybe” rather than the essential belief and Statement of Faith. The Synods are the platform they are using, and revisions to the Ground of the Unity under the guise of making it “all inclusive” is the disingenuous argument for doing so.

This assault on our core values, our core convictions, our unifying Statement of Faith, and the rock bottom basis of authority for the Christian Church must NOT stand unchallenged. If we allow, through inattention or apathy, this heretical agenda to be moved forward nothing less than the eventual demise of our beloved Moravian Church will result. If we allow the authority and purpose for our Church to be rendered baseless and it’s essential Truth be made non-truth what other result could occur? Why attend a Church which refutes the essential Truth of Jesus Christ as our Salvation?

I cannot stress the importance of the upcoming Synods. I cannot stress how important it is to elect delegates who subscribe fully and completely to the Essential Truths of our Faith. Moreover, I cannot stress too strongly how important it is to DEMAND a voice in these proceedings and to hold our Leaders and delegates accountable to the Truth of Jesus Christ as our Lord, the Son of God, and our sole salvation.

We have the disturbing precedents before us: Resolution 6, Resolution 54, the Truman Dunn statement, Rev Bob Sawyer’s statements in affirmation of the above as well as affirming the World Council of Church’s agenda of “universality”. If you have not read the links regarding these issues and Resolutions you MUST DO SO. If they do not cause you to become alarmed and concerned at the invasion of secular agendas and dilution of the Word and instructions contained in the New Testament - the assault on the most basic of Truths for all Christians......nothing will.

The Synod is the means for accomplishing the assault. The Leaders and delegates to the Synod are those moving the agenda either in misplaced pandering to secular pressures, in a mistaken belief it will swell the congregational numbers, or in some other cynical and disingenuous strategy hidden from us.

Get informed and get involved. Ensure delegates sent to Synod conform to the Essential Truths. Rebuff this secular attempt to render our Christian Faith and Christian Church as “just another choice among many”. It is one thing to respect other religions and keep them free from persecution or denigration as our basic Christian Love and U.S. Constitution requires. It is quite another to say that all religions are equal and their commonalities should be incorporated into One World Religion with the differences (such as the belief Jesus was the Son of God and is the Sole Salvation) eliminated for “inclusivity” and “sensitivity” and universal understanding. That IS the ultimate agenda. Adopting such an agenda will destroy the Christian Church.......OUR Church. Not only will it ultimately be meaningless to say you are a Moravian. It will ultimately be meaningless to say you are a Christian.

By web team
www.Moravians.org