By Maureen Wright

The Leadership Team is moving closer to a proposed vision and plan for the Presbytery of West Virginia. The team will meet with Emily Swanson of Holy Cow! Consulting this week to work with a draft of the plan. The plan is the result of the Presbytery survey that began last fall. Both targeted and open gatherings with Ms. Swanson and members of the Leadership Team followed. The focus of the Leadership Team’s discernment work in 2024 includes a retreat with work sessions led by Ms. Swanson and a series of online meetings. The vision and plan will be shared with the Presbytery, which will culminate in the Presbytery voting on the recommendation to approve the plan and a timeline for implementation. The plan will mark a significant shift in the Presbytery’s transition.

This shift includes opportunities for both grief and grace. Grief is defined by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary as “deep and poignant distress caused by, or as if caused by, bereavement.” An integral aspect of grief is loss or sorrow. According to the Cleveland Clinic’s website, “grief is the experience of coping with loss. Most of us think of grief as happening in the painful period following the death of a loved one. But grief can accompany any event that disrupts or challenges our sense of normalcy or ourselves.” Many of you are familiar with Elizabeth Kubler Ross and her work on the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Dr. Kubler-Ross’ stages of grief can be very helpful, but it is important to note that the stages are not linear nor intended to imply that all who grieve experience every stage. “Many use these stages to understand grief across multiple types of loss” (Cleveland Clinic website). Grief is not just a personal experience; it can be experienced by a system or entity, like a church or presbytery. It is important that as we think about shifting to a new vision and plan of what it means to be the Presbytery of West Virginia that we acknowledge our grief over what the Presbytery of West Virginia has been in the past.

The biblical story of the Israelites may help us to think about our grief. Exodus 16: 2-15 is a helpful text as we think about acknowledging our grief. This passage is part of the story of the Israelites fleeing from Egypt and wandering in the wilderness. These specific verses start with the whole congregation complaining; one could say the congregation is grumbling or whining. They are looking back at the “glory days” in Egypt. In Egypt, the Israelites had their fill of bread and meat. In their grief, they are looking back – perhaps even with more fondness than reality. Using the lens of grief, the Israelites are crying out to Moses and Aaron, sharing their loss and grief.

As we prepare to name and claim who God is calling us to be and what God is calling us to do, it is important to name and claim what we have been, to talk about and share what the Presbytery of West Virginia has been – our congregations (both past and present), the mission in which we have engaged, the committees that have led our work, the staff who have served (both past and present), our work of nurturing emerging leaders, our meetings together, and more. I am sure that like the Israelites it is easy to look back at the “glory days” of the Presbytery of West Virginia. It is important that we acknowledge our grief. It is important to say that the work of grief is difficult. Our sinfulness leads us to hold tight to our denial and anger of what the Presbytery of West Virginia is no more. We may be tempted to bargain so that the Presbytery can return to “eating our fill,” what it has been in the past. We may be tempted to speak only of what is no more in the Presbytery, sinking into a depression that sees nothing ahead for the Presbytery. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’ stages of grief are a way of saying that grief is a process. We need to name and claim that it is time to let go of what has been because we cannot hold that which is emerging when our hands and arms are full of what has been.

Letting go allows us to turn to God’s grace. Some describe grace as that which brings delight, joy, happiness, or good fortune (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, Harper & Row, pp. 357). The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Presbyterian Mission Agency page on What We Believe: Grace offers the following definition: “Grace is defined as favor, blessing, or goodwill offered by one who does not need to do so. It is unearned and undeserved favor. In our sinful condition as humans, undeserving as we are of God’s love, it is God’s goodwill and favor reaching out to redeem us” (Grace to You by Ethan Raath). 2 Corinthians 9:8 tell us of the power of the grace being offered to us. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (English Standard Version).

As we prepare to shift in our transition, we need to look to that which God is calling us to be and do. We need to open our arms, our eyes, our ears, our hearts, our whole being as God’s people called to be the Presbytery of West Virginia and fully grasp the grace that God is offering.