My hope & vision for the church

Why I Am Standing for Moderator of the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)?

I am posting this from my web site: www.carlmazza.org. It’s a bit long, and maybe more than most want to know!

Setting down my vision, and a "platform" as such has been a challenging job, indeed. I have tried to be candid in expressing the essentials, but this is also a road which is made as we journey together. I would love to hear from you... your own hopes and vision, and discussion around mine!

Since this is the long version... you can always skim to the bottom for the “bottom line.”

It was through Presbyterian Mission that I was introduced to a living God, and to the loving community of faith of the Presbyterian Church. My first exposure to Presbyterians was as a troubled teenager, homeless with my family, angry and alienated. A group of young people, their youth leader, and a dedicated pastor befriended me - their witness and love and introduced me to a warm and vibrant personal faith in God through Jesus Christ. I owe to these persons, and to the church which nurtured all of us, a great debt of love. In my ministry I have tried to return to the church, and to others who are experiencing alienation and homeless, the same blessing of hope which was extended to me in my need. I feel a strong call to stand for Moderator so that I can share this passion of my ministry with the church that I love. I can offer a unique perspective on the importance of mission and evangelism - it is a deeply rooted part of my heart and my personal journey with the Lord.

Presbyterians are people of strong faith, opinion, and personal commitment. This same zeal and passion which is our hallmark is also that which can alienate us from one another. The world needs us desperately because it needs to know the life we have found in Christ, and the redeeming power of it. It is the good news which calls us together as the church. We hold in our hands the power to bless the world. The energy of this calling is far more intense than anything that could divide us. We are the agent of the most significant force for change ever known.

In my 27 years of ministry with Meeting Ground, I have learned the powerful dynamic that God calls us to witness in loving community. This means, not that we are all the same, but that we stand together in our diversity and use it as a powerful advantage to accomplish our purposes. I have also learned that this is a fragile accomplishment at times, and that wishful thinking is not enough to create a strong unity. I don't have all the answers to achieving reconciliation or resolution of differences, but I have learned that often in our helplessness we can find grace to come together -- in ways we don't fully understand, in love. We have faith that God will give us the courage to risk – to form new and potent transforming relationships with all, and to be authentic and candid in our dialogue and action.

At Meeting Ground we experience this amazing grace in action. To do our work, we must bring together churches and individuals from widely diverse faith perspectives - conservative, liberal, evangelical, radical - moving beyond "labels" in the desire to do our mission, for which we all yearn deeply. I want to do all I can to promote the peace, unity, and purity of the church by inspiring and encouraging our growing, grassroots desire to be missional - especially to those among us and in our world who are homeless, living on the margins, outcast and yearning for that love, hope, and justice which only comes through the passion of a committed community of faith.

I believe our Presbyterian Church, while not the largest of denominations, is unique because of its strong historic service to the Gospel and to the need to witness and evangelize with power, persistence, and passion. I feel we are poised on the edge of a "new thing," thirsting to say yes to a fresh moving of the Spirit to renew this commitment in creative and energetic new ways.
If the church loses this heart, and seeks its redemption elsewhere, it will fail in its calling. We are at a crossroad as a denomination. God is calling us to radical transformation, which must begin with the creation of sacred space among us in which honest, authentic, and open relationships and dialogue can take place. We seek this unity for a purpose: as salt of the earth. It is not only our beloved church that stands at a crossroad, it is our world.

Presbyterians have a rich and unique tradition. We are a people of faith, hope, and love. Yet, we are also a people whose median age is 58 years for members and elders, and the trend continues to move older. Almost all members (97%), elders (96%), pastors (93%), and specialized clergy (90%) are white. Our racial-ethnic makeup has changed little in the last three decades. Yet, our society is changing rapidly, and while we desire to be present with the world in our life and witness, it is clear that we have a long way to go. We are challenged at this time in our history to "lose our life in order to save it."

We must be candid in our understanding of ourselves. We cannot substitute personal piety for failure to do justice; or claim an institutional purity which silences those who wish to be candid and honest in seeking to be faithful and true to God and themselves. We must accept the grace to work for the unity that empowers us for mission. It is the Gospel to which we are called, not to religion.

My expectations and hope for myself and the church in my service as Moderator:

- Serving together with all to be faithful and energetic in meeting with all, listening carefully to all, and praying with all for the peace, unity, and purity of our church. I will encourage sacred space, a place of safety and togetherness to speak in whole terms that which is on our hearts – our most sincere beliefs and longings.

- Serving together with all to encourage us to move beyond a dutiful toleration and forbearance of our deepest differences, toward a willingness to unite in love around those things which are essential and precious to us all – even our life and commitment to Jesus and the deep desire we share for authoritative evangelism and world-transforming mission.

- Serving together with all to challenge our ways of being a church, emphasizing the need for candid, authentic, and sincere building of relationships and seeking communion among us as a people.

- Serving together with all to challenge us to put all forms, traditions, and ways on the table, and to take what is best and meaningful as the basis of for new ways of being church and doing mission.

If I am elected Moderator, this is how I envision the church to be different at the end of two years:

More diverse: particularly extending the boundaries of our community to be more inclusive of persons who struggle at the margins of society: persons who have experienced homelessness, persons struggling to survive on low-incomes, those who are dispossessed or alienated from church and society.

More unified in being missional: extending the boundaries of what we mean by "parish" and "community" - focusing on creative and energizing mission, redemptive service that makes a difference in the lives of persons who are hurting, commitment to a more just society in economics, environment, social dignity, and equality of rights - including the right to housing, education, healthcare, and the right to live with dignity by one's own means.

More committed to creative mission, based on justice: mission that brings the gospel and the power alive in a mutuality of service. One that includes those being served in service, and gives to all equally the power to be givers as well as receivers. Mission that is focused on building community and relationships, not simply providing goods and services. Mission that transforms the church as well as the lives of all persons involved.

More radical in its message: moving forward to our roots - to the person of Jesus, the power of the Gospel, and our unity in these.