September: the month when children go back to school and when church school classes for all ages start again. School teachers know that you do not begin the first day of class with new material, but that you go back and review material already covered. For us too, as we enter another season in the life of the church, it is good to review some material already covered.

“In the beginning…” So begins the famous opening to the book of Genesis (a word which means “origins,” as in the English word “genealogical”). The first line is a statement asserted without any compulsion to offer other proof: “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth.” How it occurred, out of what materials, in what geological timeframe–none of those questions is addressed or felt to be a particular matter of concern. All that is important is the establishment of two actors in the grand drama of life–a creator, God, and a created stage for life consisting of heavens and earth.

Immediately, those few words cause people to part company. One group moves to the other side of the room, self-identifying themselves with a variety of titles: skeptic, scientist, rationalist, atheist, doubter…and then they insist that all that exists can be explained in non-religious terms. The universe has always been, or at least emerged on its own after the Big Bang. Human life evolved from simple life-forms. Human emotions and so-called spiritual inclinations (be they altruistic virtues or creative visions or instinctual, sacrificial love) are just the byproduct of hormones and genetic impulses. Smaller and smaller the conversational focus becomes, moving away from talk of heaven and hunkering down in lectures on genomes and pheromones and natural (“No God needed”) selection.

The other group self-identifies with their own variety of titles: believer, person of faith, trusting soul, churchgoer, religious philosopher…and in their own way, simply insists that all that exists cannot be explained in non-religious terms. While the other group talks about evolution and science and reason; this group nods approvingly and adds in talk about wonder, surprise and hope that is stronger than death. And the place where the scales tip in the direction of belief vs. doubt is that spot when we ask the question: Why? Why is there something instead of nothing? What is the “why” behind an atheistic, impersonal, chance-driven creation?

There is no “why” without God. But by going back once more to Genesis 1 and saying quietly to ourselves, “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,” then a “Why” and a “Wherefore” emerges. It takes the shape of love, of hope, of a yearning guided toward a promised completion–all of which we humbly attribute to God and then happily spend a lifetime exploring what it means to say “Yes” to that beginning phrase in the book of Genesis.

It’s September. Time to review, to remember our foundations of faith, and then to continue the lesson plan set before us.

A recent issue of Presbyterians Today offered a snapshot of what it means to be a Presbyterian. In the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), there are currently 2.1 million members who belong to 10,700 congregations. The highest concentration of Presbyterians is in Pennsylvania (over 215,000 members). Nationally, the average weekly worship attendance is 1.1 million, or just over half the available members. Over $3 billion is given to church congregations each year, with the median household contribution (2007 data) being $2,520 or about 3% of after-tax income. Areas of concern are the fact that half of all Presbyterian congregations have fewer than 100 members, and the denomination has lost over 60,000 members each of the last several years. Areas of pride include the 296 mission co-workers and volunteers who serve the Presbyterian Church in more than 50 countries, including our own member, Chenoa Stock, who has just completed three years in Sri Lanka and is off to an assignment in South America.

Similar statistics can be cited regarding ELPC. We are a church whose rich history dates back to 1819. We ended 2009 with 659 active and affiliate members, plus another 126 Friends of ELPC; and the ratio of female to male members is about 2:1. Each week, we average just under 400 people in attendance at our Sunday and Wednesday (Taizé) worship services. For 2010, 229 pledges were received, with a median pledge amount of $2,328. While we want the number of pledges to increase, the amount pledged by our congregation has increased by 84% since 2004. Other areas of pride include the recently completed Vacation Church School, which averaged 74 children per day in the week-long program.

Statistics are one way to talk about churches, but at best they only offer facts for quick comparison. No statistic can capture the true spirit of a congregation: the way that people minister to and pray for one another, the nurture of mind and body provided by worship and education, the life-giving choices made each day as a direct expression of one’s faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is where so much
begins. From it flows programs (whose volunteers hours we can compile), worship (whose attendance numbers we can record), and mission (whose charitable contributions we can track). But more importantly, from faith also flows prayer (whose impact we never know for the Spirit intercedes for us in countless ways), hope (whose trajectory can never be traced for it extends far beyond us into future generations), and love (whose depth cannot be measured for it is the foundation of who we are and everything good that emerges from us). For the time being, let us set the numbers aside. When we walk by faith, act with humility, and love with generosity, everything will add up to the glory of God.