Ecclesia Reformata, Semper Reformanda

When I was in my early 20s, finishing my undergraduate work at Coastal Carolina University  and pondering a call to ministry in the denomination of which I was a member at the time, the Presbyterian Church (USA), I often heard the phrase "A Reformed church always reforming." To be honest, I wasn't that impressed with the phrase and actually was a bit prejudiced against it because it invariably seemed to be used by revisionists to justify their newest theological fad -- thus making the faith of the Church a nose of wax rather than something once for all delivered to the saints (see Jude 3). 

I was reminded of that recently when reading an open letter by Mrs. Penn Hagood, Senior Warden of St. Philip's Church in Charleston regarding a series of "open conversations" held by the Rt' Rev'd  Gladstone B. "Skip" Adams III, Provisional Bishop of the Episcopal Church in South Carolina. As an aside, while not the prime focus of this post, I strongly encourage you to read Mrs. Hagood's letter, especially if you have read the official reports of those meetings -- I believe her account is far more accurate.  In her letter she mentions a remark that I missed by the Very Rev'd Sam Candler, Dean of the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, Georgia, at the most recent General Convention of The Episcopal Church in regards to "expansive language" liturgies that will address God in new ways (namely avoiding the male imagery that has been traditionally [and Scripturally] used to refer to the Persons of the Godhead). Dean Candler remarked, "The church is always reforming. Our prayer is always reforming. I'm excited to be a part of that."

Well, I didn't like the slogan used by Presbyterian revisionists and I don't much care for it when used by Episcopal revisionists either.

But what a difference 25 or so years, seminary, and some reading makes. You see, the slogan has a long history and curiously it gets severely truncated most of the times it's used today. It first appears in a 1674 devotional by  Jodocus van Lodenstein, a Dutch Reformed pietist. The full quotation is 'The church is reformed and always being reformed according to the Word of God." Far from being a nose of wax, what van Lodenstein was actually championing was a constant Berean spirit (see Acts 17:11-12) whereby the church is taken back to the Scriptures and those things out of accord with God's Word are reformed and brought into conformity therewith.

It's a good slogan and a great concept, one expressed well in the Prayer for The Church found in the Book of Common Prayer:
O GRACIOUS Father, we humbly beseech thee for thy holy Catholic Church; that thou wouldst be pleased to fill it with all truth, in all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in anything it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, establish it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of him who died and rose again, and ever liveth to make intercession for us, Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord. Amen.

By God's grace may the Church always reform itself under the guidance of the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit who inspired them, but if I never hear von Lodenstein's quote mangled again it won't be too soon. 

Pray and Let Your Voice be Heard for Andrew Brunson

by Charles A. Collins, Jr.

(Published in the July 2018 edition of the Carolina Compass section of the Charleston Mercury .)

     If he has not been released by July 1 the Rev'd Dr. Andrew C. Brunson, a missionary of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Turkey, will have been imprisoned in that country for 632 days. Dr. Brunson, who grew up as the son of an Associate Reformed Presbyterian missionary family that served in Mexico, Pakistan, and Russia and whose father also taught at Montreat College in North Carolina, is a graduate of Wheaton College who received the Master of Arts from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, the Master of Divinity from Erskine Theological Seminary, and later competed the Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Aberdeen and has served as a missionary in Turkey since 1993, first under the auspices of World Witness, the Foreign Missions Board of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church and later with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. He and his wife Norine, who was originally arrested with him but was released after thirteen days, raised their three children there and at the time of his arrest had applied for permanent resident status; he was serving as the Pastor of the Izmir Resurrection Church, a small congregation in Turkey's third-largest city. He has also been involved with theological education in that country.

     So what gives? Why has the missionary pastor of a small congregation been detained for so long by the Turkish government in a country that, while overwhelmingly Muslim, is officially secularized and is a longstanding member of NATO? His detention is part of a much larger purge following an attempted July 2106 failed coup d'état in which an estimated 160,000 Turkish military personnel, civil servants, and private citizens have been detained. Specifically he has been accused of being related to the Gülen movement, which has been alleged to have played a role in the coup.

    For his part, Dr. Brunson has denied any connection to to movement, stating “I am not a member of an Islamic movement. I have never seen any member of FETO (the Gülen movement) in my life.” In April he had a court appearance that was attended by Ambassador Sam Brownback, the United States' Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, and Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) (Dr. Brunson's hometown is Black Mountain, North Carolina) in which he stated in Turkish that “I have been praying for Turkey for 25 years. I wouldn't do anything against Turkey.” If convicted, he faces the possibility of a sentence ranging anywhere from 35 years to life. Both the Ambassador and the Senator expressed their belief (in Ambassador Brownback's case shared by the Trump Administration) in Dr. Brunson's innocence. The charges against him are based on accusations from two unnamed sources and evidence reportedly procured from his telephone.

     The Turkish government has repeatedly offered to free Dr. Brunson in exchange for the extradition of Fethullah Gülen, for whom the movement is named, who current resides in Pennsylvania and has lived in the United States since 1999. That offer raises serious doubts about whether there is any validity in the charges or if the missionary is being used by the Turkish government as a political pawn.

Andrew Brunson's next scheduled court appearance is on July 18. What can readers do to assist him?

–First and foremost, lift him and his family up the the Lord in prayer.

– If one is led, contact your Senators and Congressmen and ask them to support Dr. ```````` Brunson's release.

– The American Center for Law andJustice has been active in working for his release

and has prepared a petiton to that end. It may be accessed and signed at:

https://aclj.org/persecuted-church/free-american-pastor-andrew-brunso

-- Finally, readers can keep apprised of the latest developments in the case by following the online resource developed by his mission board at:

https://epc.org/news/freepastorandrew/

     
     Hopefully, by God's grace, Andrew Brunson will soon be reunited with his family and a free man.

The Rev'd Charles A. Collins, Jr. is an Anglican priest currently serving as a hospice chaplain in the Charleston area. He may be contacted at drew.collins [at] gmail.com