RED churches

The 2011 school year at Westminster Seminary California is officially underway, which also means that R.eformed E.ccelsiastical D.ialogue is the newest student club on campus. We held our first meeting of the year on September 14th in the chapel with Dr. Julius Kim speaking about the unique role a grassroots movement like RED can play in cultivating a more unified church among the NAPARC member churches. The following is a synopsis of his monologue:

Dr. Kim employed the analogy of red and white blood cells toward a way of understanding both the polemical and apologetic (white), as well as the charitable and ecumenical (red) side of the Reformed denominations. Both types of cells are needed for a healthy body, one defends against rogue cells, while the other carries life-giving oxygen to the furthest extents of your body. But too many white blood cells breeds leukemia and your body destroys itself from the inside out, while too many red blood cells leads to HIV, leaving it open to disease and compromise. The perfect balance is needed to maintain your immunity against disease and the vitality of the body. So it goes with the church, as history can attest.

How does this analogy further what we’re about at RED? For one, RED’s ethos is captured with the hyphenated term “winsome-tenacity.” We want to strongly defend and promote the confessionally reformed tradition, which NAPARC churches inherit and indwell, while at the same time, working toward greater unity at the local church level as NAPARC churches cooperate in the Great Commission.

Dr. Kim wrapped up his monologue with the recounting of how Presbyterian missions began in Korea at the turn of the 19th century. (You may see his post from last spring for a more detailed summary here.) In short, the Presbyterian denominations from the United States, Canada, and Australia worked together to advance the kingdom of God through the gospel ministry. A “general assembly” was called after enough missionaries from the respective churches were on the ground in Korea and the Korean Presbyterian Church was born. This is an example for us and serves as a gentle reminder to all NAPARC churches that our Lord prayed for unity in his High Priestly Prayer even as He and the Father are one. May we be ever mindful and conscientious of our historic differences, but let us never forget that we are one “holy catholic church” according to our creed and confession.