Sermon by Rev. Don Ludwig for Sunday, July 5th, 2020, at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Beaverton, Oregon.
1 John 4:7-9; 11-12; Reading from Confession of 1967, Section 2, 9.43
July 5, 2020
On Becoming a Presbyterian
The spiritual theme this month is “Presbyterian.” That may seem odd for a spiritual theme, yet as we move toward electing a Pastor Nominating Committee and as we begin to deeply reflect on our mission as a Church—our past, present, and future—I think it will be helpful for all of us to consider what kind of Christian we are and what does it mean to be a “progressive” Presbyterian. Four years ago, someone said, “People are so shocked they find out that I am Protestant. In fact, I am a Presbyterian. And I go to church, I Love God, and I love my church.” Do you know who said that? Some of you may have guessed…… Yes, President Donald Trump. Hmmm. I have heard that groves of people thought about leaving the Presbyterian church in 2016 when they heard him say that.
I have told many people, “The Presbyterian Church saved me… Sociology and Progressive Faith liberated me… and as a result, I have become a progressive Presbyterian pastor and professor of sociology.” In today’s sermon, I want to give you some context for my journey of becoming and remaining a presbyterian. I realize that most people don’t know how to spell presbyterian nevermind understand it. And yet here I am on this twig of Christianity that has slowly been declining as a denomination over the last several decades. And here we sit on our particular twig—a liberal, progressive, Presbyterian Christian church; still connected to the trunk in the man named Jesus and the scripture we call the bible, but pretty distinct from all the other leaves and twigs in the enormous canopy that we call Christian.
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