It's not that we don't have our doubts. Ossified church structures and never-ending ordination-standards battles aren't exactly encouraging. While there are signs of God's renewing work in many congregations, the state of the PC(USA) as a whole often seems dismal.

Thus we have been tempted at times to lay aside our PFR moniker for a new identity, say maybe PFBS (Presbyterians For Blaming Someone), PFBL (Presbyterians For Bashing Louisville), or PFPW (Presbyterians For Parting Ways). There are plenty in our church whose pursuits would support such names. But God has given us a different name, and with the name a calling: Presbyterians For Renewal.

How might we live up to our name? First by recognizing that we ourselves are in perpetual need of his renewing work. When our focus is fixed only upon the sad state of our church and the errors of our opponents, then we are ready candidates for spiritual petrification. Difficult battles and harsh words inevitably harden hearts, even if we're on the "right" side of the issues. So if we're to be of any use to God in his renewing work, it will only be as he does his heart-softening work in us.

We can also live up to our name by remembering that the renewal we're for is God's work. He alone renews. Then what do we do? We promote ways of pursuing the Christian life that posture us in readiness for his renewing work. That's what we're up to with the youth conferences, Wee Kirks, congregational renewals, NPWL Bible studies, and many other PFR endeavors.

Those are the sorts of endeavors that first come to mind when one thinks of renewal. But we live up to our name in yet another way: by working in the various issues arenas of our church's life to foster faithfulness to God's Word. This pursuit of renewal is also written right into our name; we are Presbyterians For Renewal.

That means we remain vested in the connectional system of our church, that we stay in dialogue with our opponents on ordination issues, and that we invest time and money in these pursuits. We believe that in a Presbyterian church, renewal cannot have its full effect apart from our polity. In other words, the winds of the Spirit may blow mightily with refreshment, but if that renewal does not find expression in the very structures of our common life, it will have no lasting impact. Moreover, those structures are the embodied faith statement of our church. They must be true to God's Word if we are to have promise of demonstrating his renewing work in our common life and ministries.

That's why in addition to the various renewal endeavors, we count our PFR Issues Ministry to be about renewal as well. Indeed, we are expanding our Issues Ministry. As we pursue renewal through this ministry, we will do so not to bash Louisville, nor to part ways. Our hope is to be used by God to foster his renewal in the whole of his church. And yes, we believe that even in the rough and tumble of the various issues debates, his Spirit can be about a renewing work.

When that work happens, it will be a work within us, as well as within the church at large. It's our calling, our identity. And it's a statement of faith--not in ourselves and our own clever schemes, but in the One who can help us live up to our name!

Keith Hill is senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Douglasville, Georgia, and chairs the PFR Issues Ministry team of the PFR board of directors.