Unexpected unity part 1: Presbyterianism
“All revivals are preceded by three features. Extraordinary prayer, unexpected unity... and heightened expectation.” Dr. Stuart Piggin, Australian Christian Historian.
In the spirit of unity, CATCH has reached out to several denominational leaders around Aotearoa to share with us what’s special about the place they call ‘home’. We kick off this week with Dr. Rev Malcolm Gordon, a Presbyterian Minister from First Church in Dunedin.
Like any family, there are aspects of Presbyterianism that drives me mad. We can be wordy and dry and stuck in our ways. But I have also come to appreciate enough that I have decided to stick around.
The Presbyterian movement sprang out of the Reformation of the 16th century. Presbyterians are basically the Scottish followers of John Calvin, who, along with Luther and others, revolutionised the way faith was experienced and understood. So, as a Presbyterian, I’m a Reformed Christian. But rather than a reformation that simply took place 500 years ago, I like to think of being reformed as a posture rather than a position.
Being reformed doesn’t mean I parrot whatever John Calvin said on a given issue. Being reformed means I learn a way of being in response to God and in response to the world. It means I believe God is still active, that Christ is still speaking, that the Spirit is still working. It means I am reformed and reforming.
The need for reform was not satisfied in the 16th century. It is ongoing. So being reformed means I embrace humility because I might need to change my mind as the revelation of God grows in my life. It doesn’t mean I doggedly hold onto viewpoints because that’s what being faithful looks like. Being faithful is about being agile and responsive, as well as grounded and persevering. I like that blend.
One thing I do hold onto from John Calvin is when he said ‘creation is the theatre of God’s glory.’ The Christian is not satisfied with life contained inside the Church. Nor are we twiddling our thumbs until we get to heaven. This place and this time matters to God. We are to be curious about where God might be working and creative in how we might partner with God’s concern in the wider world.
You see this in the Presbyterian impulse to open schools and universities and hospitals as enthusiastically as they built churches. Here in Dunedin, they opened public schools for boys and girls about 40 years before they built Presbyterian schools. God was interested in the world, and so God’s people shared that interest. God wanted people to flourish, and so Presbyterians have taken seriously the invitation to see mission as being about the whole person, and the whole community, not a disembodied, disconnected spirituality.
Some of my favourite ‘Pressies’ are people like Rutherford Waddell, who is said to have preached New Zealand’s most famous sermon: ‘The sin of cheapness.’ In it, he railed against the criminally low wages being paid by factory owners to female seamstresses – he even named and shamed some Presbyterian elders who were guilty of this (I see you Mr Ross and Mr Glendining). Waddell’s sermon led to an investigation by the local newspaper and the truth came out. Waddell was an energiser bunny of a man, he collaborated with the community of seamstresses to form the Dunedin Tailoress’ Union, New Zealand’s first women’s union. This movement led to improved conditions for some of societies most vulnerable women. His parish ran the first, free public library in Dunedin, a free kindergarten, and in later years he went on to work for prison reform. He advocated changes to divorce law, so that women could more easily leave abusive relationships. I reckon he was a legend.
Another legend was his mate James Gibb, who was the minister of First Church, where I now serve. Gibb was tried for heresy in 1890 for challenging the then conventional belief that unbaptised infants went to hell, after his wife
suffered a miscarriage. Many women attended the trial, grateful to Gibb for speaking out against such a hideous doctrine. However, because women could not be ordained as ministers or elders at this point, none were allowed to speak. So they took to shuffling their feet and their handbags, creating such a ruckus, the trial had to be adjourned. Well played, ladies. Well played.
Gibb was an enthusiastic supporter of New Zealand’s involvement in World War One, encouraging the young men in his Bible Class to volunteer. However, when he saw them return, broken, and the horrific numbers that did not return at all, he became a vocal pacifist. Before the war was over, he railed against it, calling on the government to find another way to resolve the conflict. He had changed his mind. I think this is a much-overlooked virtue for people of faith.
And this broad concern for the world is still part of our DNA. This is why I’m a Presbyterian – because the whole world matters to God, not just the church. And because I’m allowed to change my mind, because God is still at work, and that’s a pretty important Variable to take into consideration. As Augustine said, ‘O God who changes not, but who changes everything.’
Rev. Dr. Malcolm Gordon
Malcolm is a Presbyterian minister, planting a new faith community called ‘The Common,’ based at First Church in Dunedin. He is a songwriter and recently completed his doctorate at Otago Uni on the spirituality of suffering. He has one wife, Vanessa, and they have three children.