by Rev. Hank K. Yordon
SOUTHBURY (07/01/1956) -- These are excerpts from a sermon delivered at the Federated Church of Southbury, Connecticut on July 1, 1956, following the General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches meeting in Omaha, where the merger was voted.
II Corinthians 5:14
For the love of Christ
constrains us, because we are convinced
that one has died for all; therefore all have
died. And he died for all that those who live
might live no longer for themselves but for
him who for their sake died and was raised.
There was something different about the session on Saturday. An outsider might not have noticed. Men continued to disagree. The opponents to the merger exercised every parliamentary maneuver to postpone the inevitable. They still felt the hurt and pain and fear of losing what seemed to them to be the precious rights of our Congregational heritage, but there wasn’t the bitterness of the day before. The Holy Spirit had entered in. The majority was still impatient, but they resisted all attempts to cut off debate. Men had their say. There was still tension. There was still struggle. But it was a struggle in love. The Spirit was there… When the vote was taken, 1,304 in favor of the union, 179 opposed, we didn’t cheer. We prayed. There was no rejoicing. There was a humble faith that God in His mercy would bring great things from what we had done. There was a confident hope that we had been led by the Holy Spirit. There was a love, which reached out to those few who in conscience would withdraw and walk another way. There was gladness for what we believed to be a mighty thing for the cause of Christ. There was sadness and concern for those we had hurt who couldn’t agree with what we had done.
In the early years of this movement towards union of separated church bodies, men thought it would be a very simple process. There will be as much pain and hurt in union as there was in the original separation… It hurts to give up the practices and privileges which come down out of the past. But it is a scandal to be separated by anything that is not essentially of Jesus Christ. The scandalously divided state of Christianity is a constant reminder of how far we are from living and moving and having our being in Him. The wounds must be healed. And what happened in Omaha is a word to all our denominations of how painful that process will be.
What is this merger going to mean in the life of our churches? Hear the words of our text. “For the love of Christ constrains us, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” To live something has to die. This merger when consummated means that something will die in Congregationalism. Something will also have to die in the Evangelical and Reformed tradition. They will have to surrender all of the checks and balances and legislated authority of church courts and assemblies. They will have to give up that Presbyterian form of church government which is the basis for much of our nation’s constitution and governmental organization. Something which is cherished by our new brethren is going to die.
And for us, Congregationalism will die to the extent that the inter-relatedness of the local church, association, conference and General Synod, will be described in black and white. We haven’t liked things in black and white. There is something precious in the confusion and anarchy of a Congregational meeting. The lack of order testifies to the fact that Christ must be with us to get anything done.
What can I say to those of us who have seen in this union the first great step towards the Oneness of Christ’s Churches? This is a great step. Other unions have taken place, but this is the first between two denominations with differing backgrounds and polities. One is from Europe. The other is from England. One is Presbyterian, the other Congregational. We are proving to the great denominations that it can be done. To those of us who approve this union has something died? Very little had died for me. I believe that this union is going to bring back a form of Congregationalism which was predominant in Connecticut during the last century. The orderly practices of this church which prevailed 150 years ago are those in which I think I will be most at home. I am giving up very little that is precious for me. I see practical advantages in financial savings in denominational publications and programs. I see the coming of a theology which is closer to my own than that of many of my present fellow ministers. To those of us who are giving up very little that is precious, are we willing to die? Search your hearts. Are you willing to let go the most precious things in your church life if Christ asks them of you? Are you willing to give up life itself for Him who died? For all? Are you willing to let everything go except your hold on Christ himself ? You cannot live unless you die.
