Friends:

1. The Six Great Ends of the Church are the way the Presbyterian Church’s Book of Order lists the things we hold to be the motivating forces behind why we have churches in the first place. Over a period of nearly 200 years, Presbyterians searched the scriptures, studied the way the church grew over the millennia and how it prospered when it prospered and, in 1910, came up with these six ends (goals, as we might now say):

• The Proclamation of the Gospel for the Salvation of Humankind
• The Shelter, Nurture, and Spiritual Fellowship of the Children of God (with a sermon by Dr. Felecia Douglass)
• The Maintenance of Divine Worship
• The Preservation of the Truth
• The Promotion of Social Righteousness
• The Exhibition of the Kingdom of God to the World

I am excited to do this deep dive into these goals because this is why we do the things we do as a church. After researching these topics I feel like I understand my job better, and I think it will help you understand our life together and our commission as a church better as well.

 

2. The Six Great Ends of the Church keep us from getting hung up on one particular aspect of being the church. Instead of only paying attention to a part of church life that appeals especially to us, the Six Great Ends reminds us to care about all of these things all of the time if we are to be the church Christ calls us to be. Anything less means that our life together has become something less than church.

 

3. Studying the Six Great Ends causes us to remember that the task of the church is too great for any one person to do faithfully and well. To do all of these things calls all of us to use the Spiritual Gifts we have been given AND to support others in using the gifts they have that we may not possess.