Working Together

I do not like chaos. Anybody who has known me for more than five seconds would acknowledge this fact about me. If it can be organized, I will organize it. If I can add a spreadsheet to clarify the information, I will. If I can identify all the possible pitfalls before they happen and address them, I am going to do that. So, it felt very awkward to arrive at the Winter Presbytery Meeting of the Three Oklahoma Presbyteries without the mission project 100% laid out before we started. The material for the 72 disaster clean-up buckets was still on the pallets on which they arrived. 

Despite my feelings, it was a strategic decision. The chaos of organizing all of the buckets, cleaners, gloves, trash bags, sponges, scrubbers, and more would be a fantastic exercise for the group. It would be team-building for them to problem-solve how to organize the items, unpack them, and then start the main mission project of putting all the items into the buckets. Commissioners from the three presbyteries would have to work together and communicate effectively to complete the project. That was exactly what happened. Over the course of my ministry, I have participated in that project many times. This was the best we have ever done it. 

As theological and mind-centric as we may be as Presbyterians, ministry is most often done in the tangible world. It is embodied. It is rarely solo work, either. We do ministry together. I can conceive of a world in which Jesus does all the ministry himself. He is God after all. However, that was never the plan. Christ’s ministry - in fact, all of God’s interaction in the Old and New Testaments - bears witness to a shared model of ministry. Individuals and whole people are called, equipped, and sent to do ministry. The chaos this can cause is not a flaw in the ministry model; it is the start of all of us working together to find a better way to be the church. 

As the three Oklahoma Presbyteries continue our work to create a new Oklahoma Presbytery, I know the work will be (at times) chaotic and messy. The creative process often is. It will also be a time for us to come together to learn how to be the church in a new way. The messiness can lead to an ordered, wonderful future that God has in store for us.I was heartened to see the disaster clean-up bucket project go so well. My hope is that all the big and little projects we will soon face will go as well. 

Blessings,

Rev. Tim Blodgett

General PresbyterEastern Oklahoma Presbytery