When a piece of furniture has occupied the same place in the living room for decades, it’s hard to remember you put it up against the opposite wall when you first moved in. Some eighty years on, it’s hard for us to remember that the present shape of the OPC was dictated neither by holy writ nor by careful planning: the way we do Church is contingent on countless choices which were all conditioned by historic circumstance. Yes, we’ve always done it this way. But the careful observer notes our is not the only faithful tradition, and others do things differently.
So imagine another OPC, in which the average urban or suburban congregation numbers well over a hundred members, with a pulpit from which several men preach on a regular basis. (In rural areas, imagine congregations yoked into a circuit with a shared session and pastoral staff.) Instead of resources spread thin and ministry opportunities missed, imagine resources so concentrated that a surplus builds and ministry opportunities can even be sought out. Imagine not wondering whether your congregation will be around in another ten years, but instead knowing where your children will be baptized and your funeral service held.
It’s not the OPC’s past, nor is it our present. But it wouldn’t be a bad future.
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