THE new Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland has called on the denomination to recognise that it no longer has a privileged position in society and must earn respect in order to be heard.
The Rev Dr Roy Patton says the way forward is for Christians to avoid appearing “superior” and hypocritical and instead have lives that are “rooted” in “honesty and integrity”.
Rev Patton was speaking last night at the opening session of the Presbyterian Church’s General Assembly in Belfast, where he was installed as Moderator in succession to Dr Ivan Patterson.
The new Moderator posed a key question to an audience of 1,000 people, including Belfast’s Lord Mayor Niall O Donnghaile and the Lord Lieutenant for Belfast, Dame Mary Peters.
“How and what are we going to say to a society which is increasingly secular and often opposed to Christian values and lifestyle?” he asked.
Significant shifts have taken place in society so that the church “no longer is central to the community in the way it used to be. Where once the Christian voice held sway, it is now only one among many voices”, he said,
But he insisted that the church’s response “is not one of panic”, adding that Presbyterians know “that God is still on his throne – that the gospel still remains God’s answer to human need”.
However, he also had a stiff warning for members of his church.
“Too often we give the impression that we are better than others, more moral, superior kind of people. And sadly the greatest stumbling blocks to people finding faith in Christ are the lives of those who claim to follow him. We resent being called hypocrites and of course people may make such a charge in order to hide behind it, but nevertheless we need to acknowledge how we have failed to be true followers of Jesus.”
If anyone will take the time to listen to Presbyterians, he said, “it will happen only if we have faced the truth about ourselves; when they see that the words we say are rooted in the honesty and integrity of our lives; when we acknowledge the truth about ourselves then we encourage others to do the same”.
Outgoing Moderator Dr Patterson said he had met people from many parts of society during his year in office.
“Often the conversations were positive, about how the church could have a relevant contribution to make. That was true with industrialists, academics, politicians and the PSNI,” he said.
n The News Letter will have daily coverage of the General Assembly in our editions on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
It will be streamed online at www.presbyterianireland.org/assembly and can be followed on twitter@pciassembly.