Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

vision,"Our Church's Urgent TaskItem 3 of the Report of the Foreign MissionsBoard to Synod in 1953 read as follows :"That Synod appoint a special committee of theministers and elders to examine the Biblical andcreedal bases of the Church's task and to seekguiding principles from God's Word to enable ourChurch to fulfill in the best possible way her obabroad."ligations at home and"The Biblical and Creedal Bases"The Biblical and creedal foundations of theCovenanter Church's task need no revision nor, inthis Synod, do they need defending. The Church believes the Bible to be the Word of God, and all ourcreedal standards to be "agreeable unto, and foundedupon the Scriptures." A profound belief in the Bibleand in our historic creeds and covenants has been theguiding principle of our people through the whole ofour history. Our achievements, because of these beliefs, may be far greater than we know: the outreach of our Kingdom message will yet bring anabundant harvest.The Confession of Faith and the two Catechismslay before us the great doctrines of grace as taughtin the Bible. The Declaration and Testimony of theReformed Presbyterian Church in North Americadevelops in detail the basic doctrinal and moralteachings found in the Confession of Faith with respect to definite issues in America. The Covenant of1871 and the short covenant renewed in 1954 promiseour Mediatorial King full, cheerful obedience to allthe words which God has spoken.We find, therefore, no need in this report todiscuss further the Biblical and creedal bases undergirdingour Covenanter Church's task in theworld. Rather, our need is to examine ourselves anewin the light of God's Word and by His mercy andstrength to seek to be faithful. Paul's statement, "Iwas not disobedient to the heavenlyshouldbe our goal of thought and action as we face togetherthe crisis in our church.The Covenanter Church's Recurring ProblemThe charge given to your committee seems toimply failure. It might even reveal a latent sense ofdefeatism. It is very humiliating for us to face asteady decrease in the membership of our church,since we believe ourselves to possess a full and adequate system of Bible Truth. "Why are we losingground if our doctrines are true?" is asked.It is the opinion of this committee that thechurch (speaking numerically and financially) is losing ground, not because of the high Scriptural teachings in our "Biblical and creedal bases of theChurch's task," but rather as a result of four chiefcauses :1. Spiritual declension and sin in our ministry andlaymembers which stands between us and God's(Isaiah 59:1,2). This is seen in lack ofblessingchurch discipline.2. Confusing in doctrine and an alarming departure246from the intelligent and willing love of the systemof Bible theologycontained in the WestminsterStandards, and their application to American problems in the Declaration and Testimony.3. A neglect of, or bewildered failure in, the field ofpersonal and congregational evangelism.4. A certain lack of efficient methods to meet newconditions brought about bysocial and economicchanges in America and the world, circumstancesover which we have no control but which oughtto be met by more effective Biblical methodssuited to the modern sinner's needs and prejudices.On the whole, neither our ministers nor our laymen seem to be able successfully to carry on regularevangelistic efforts in their communities which winenough new converts from the world to build up theircongregations, and to keep the congregation dynamicin its growth in the faith and its witness for theTruth. Perhaps the training in the past has emphasized a high tone of pulpit work, and emphasizedthe important duty of seeking national reformationby the Christian Amendment or by civic reformssuch as temperance.Added to our own shortcomings there are alsocircumstances which must be recognized as havinghad a serious effect on our church's loss of membership. Some of these outward circumstances are: theImmigration Law of 1924, cutting off a large inflowof Old World Covenanter stock which kept many ofour eastern congregations up to full strength ; wholesale migration of our people during the two WorldWars and the great economic depression ; the mingof our rural peoples with their neighbors in farmlingorganizations and modern educational programs ; thebroadening and questioning influence of modern education which weakens their intellectual assent toBiblical Christianity and leads them to rebellionagainst old ecclesiastical controls ; the great damagedone by liberalism as preached from many radio pulpits, or from popular books and magazines, seminaries and colleges, tending to create the attitude thatthe Gospel no longer carries weight. New, modernistic ideas about God and man unconsciously impressour people daily and cannot but weaken their loyaltyto an absolute Standard of Truth without which ourCovenanter system can never exist.When one surveys these pressures of today,temptations which former generations of Covenanters knew nothing about ; and when we think of theeconomic changes in the nation which have brokendown so many of our formerly strong rural congregations, diminishing our membership and cuttingdown ourincome, surely it is not possible to view thefuture of our church without deep concern. "Who is>sufficient for these things?" The Apostle answeredhis ownquestion, "Our sufficiency is of God."What Can We Do About It?There is no difficulty in describing these gloomyfacts. Nor is it beyond human wisdom to diagnoseCOVENANTER WITNESS