Grace Presbyterian Church, Montclair, New Jersey

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Pastor's Pulse

by Paul Leggett, Pastor

Churches in the Proper Sense

August 2007

“Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.” – I Corinthians 1:1-2

“… these Communities (‘born out of the Reformation of the sixteenth century’) … cannot, according to Catholic doctrine, be called ‘Churches’ in the proper sense.” – Congregation For the Doctrine of the Faith (Roman Catholic Church) – July 10, 2007

Let me begin by saying that I have great respect for the Roman Catholic Church.  Throughout my ministry both in the United States and in Latin America I have had the pleasure of serving with Roman Catholic clergy and laypeople.  I have appreciated the strong support of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark in the Billy Graham Crusades we have had here.  The Catholic Catechism of 1994 and the joint declaration on Justification by the Roman Catholic and Lutheran Churches removed many of the obstacles to our fellowship together as brothers and sisters in Christ.  I regard Pope John Paul II as one of the leading Christian figures of our time.  Roman Catholic clergy have played key roles in the Montclair Clergy Association.  It has also been my privilege to participate in services in local Roman Catholic Churches, and to have Roman Catholic priests participate in services here at Grace Presbyterian Church.  (I even remember Father Larkin, somewhat shorter than myself, standing in our pulpit years ago during a wedding service and looking down at the top of my head and proclaiming to the congregation, “I never realized how bald your pastor is!”)  And time would fail me to tell all the Syracuse-Notre Dame stories.  More personally I remember Monsignor Timothy Shugrue, pastor of Immaculate Conception here in Montclair, taking the time in between a demanding schedule of masses to come to my twenty-fifth anniversary celebration last November.

Needless to say, I was somewhat taken aback by the statement released on July 10 by the Roman Catholic Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith stating quite clearly that “Christian communities” born out of the Reformation cannot “be called ‘Churches’ in the proper sense.” I find myself asking, what is this “proper sense?”  It is not a Biblical sense as Paul defines “church” in I Corinthians.  I cannot help but think that some voices in the Roman Catholic Church have fallen into a kind of narrow parochialism.  I’m sorry for this.

At the same time when I read that churches (or I guess in these terms “communities”) like ours “suffer from defects,” I can only agree.  No thoughtful person in the Evangelical tradition defined in the Reformation can ignore the continuing procession of Evangelical leaders and theologians into the Roman Catholic Church.  I would ask, have we as Evangelicals given up our birthright?  This certainly applies to the troubled state of our own Presbyterian Church USA as well as the Episcopal Church among others.

Martin Luther casts a long shadow.  He was not perfect but he probably understood the apostle Paul better than anyone since the end of the Apostolic Age.  Current “new perspectives” in Pauline studies have certainly aided us in having a fuller understanding of Paul’s Jewish background.  These studies, however, do not change Paul’s fundamental thesis, restated by Luther, that our salvation from start to finish belongs to God alone.  We are justified by faith apart from the works of the law (Galatians 2:16).

We need to be clear about our identity.  As Evangelicals and Presbyterians we hold to the great Reformation themes of faith alone, grace alone, Scripture alone and ultimately Christ alone. Yet the Body of Christ is one. That includes both Protestants and Roman Catholics “together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.”