When I was ordained in September 1977 to the office of Minister of Word and Sacrament in what is now the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), there were 92,792 members among 194 churches in Allegheny County. Now there are 137 churches with 28,518 members.

When Holly Lott and her congregation leave — as she wrote in this space last week (“ ‘Reform’ That Deforms, Sept. 9 Weekend Perspectives”) — there will be fewer. This so terribly grieves me.

I will be left — I, definitely a progressive Christian who embraces God’s covenant with us reflected in same-sex marriage, God’s respect for a woman’s discernment to become a mother or not, and Jesus’ wisdom in the greatness of a child (Luke 9:48). So, yes, the PCUSA will become more progressive by her going. And this grieves me, too.

What I trust worries us all is the fact that not just the PCUSA and the church in America are dividing this way. We all see how society is splitting into camps with different news sources and even claims about what’s real. It’s clear to me that the difference between Ms. Lott and me reflects this tension across our country.

I agree completely with Ms. Lott that the PCUSA “exists to bring good news of Jesus Christ to all his children.” I expect she would be surprised to know that I do not think the church is meant to be progressive or, I would add, conservative. The Presbyterian Church of my ancestors was founded in order to hold differing views like mine and Ms. Lott’s together. When we fail to live out Jesus’ desire “that they may be one” (John 17:11), it saddens me and, more importantly, wounds Christ.

The Reformed Church came to be in response to the violence of the Christian conflicts in Europe 600 years ago. Our core values reflect a way to live together with disagreement, in church or in society, rather than bashing one another over them. This way is simple on the surface but, obviously, difficult for people to practice.

Reflecting God’s love for all, here is the foundation — let’s say our core value —  for harmony in the PCUSA and anywhere, really: “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.”

What this means is, we agree that Jesus is our Lord and Savior — declaring this is the only requirement for membership in a PCUSA church. This is an essential upon which we need to agree. When Presbyterians like Ms. Lott judge my confession of faith in Christ to be unworthy of fellowship, it grieves me.

I do question how conservative Christians live out their faith; I do not judge the sincerity of their confession. How we live out our lives in Christ and how we interpret Scripture (and we all do) are non-essentials. We are free to follow the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that gives us different gifts and different perspectives. Conservatives bring a rootedness in tradition that is valuable to the church. Progressives like me bring an ear to God’s still small voice that calls us to the unknown. This is also valuable to the church.

And, of course, in all things: charity, the old word — the 1 Corinthians 13, King James Version, word — for love. I confess before God and my neighbor my failure in charity every time a conservative church has walked away from Pittsburgh Presbytery. I know they have felt, like Ms. Lott, that they need to go. I hope they confess this failure in love, too. Too bad our falling short is something we can agree upon.

I do have some things to say to conservatives as they go, offered in the spirit of “in all things, charity.”

Another core piece of wisdom that I cherish in the Reformed tradition is this: There is no escaping culture. This is one reason the Reformed tradition worldwide is the World Communion of Reformed Churches rather than a Vatican. Each Reformed denomination, like the PCUSA, is embedded in the community (the culture) in which it lives and serves.

Conservatives who leave the PCUSA are still, like me, in the American culture. There will be young people in their new denomination who discover that their sexual orientation is gay and who will yearn to integrate their sexuality with their faith in Jesus Christ. Experience has proven that old rules will not help most of them.

There will continue to be destitute women who love the children they have already and bring before Jesus their desperation at the prospect of children they know they cannot care for. Planned Parenthood is dedicated to helping these women work through their choices. Rigid rules will not help them.

There is no escaping the cultural dynamics that have been driving for decades the hollowing out of the PCUSA and other mainline denominations. Research is beginning to show that American conservative churches are succumbing to these same pressures. As reported in the Post-Gazette recently, data reveals the “shrinking ranks of white evangelicals, who until recently had been viewed as immune to decline.”

Christians through the ages have sometimes dealt with the tension between culture and the church by fleeing. The Amish presence in Pennsylvania offers a good example of how that usually works out.

It seems to me, right now, that fearful conservative Christians are taking a different tack, by allying with the Republican Party, trying to use political power to maintain Christian cultural privilege.

What these Christians are doing is crucifying Jesus again by aligning with the Wall Street rich, the climate deniers, the fascist marchers in Charlottesville and a verifiable misogynist xenophobic con man.

Shame, shame, shame on us. Shame on conservative Christians for turning a church into a political faction and on progressives like me for being too weak to stop it.

Our young people, inside the church and out, watch this. No wonder they insist that they are spiritual, not religious.

Why would they want to associate themselves with a group that judges the LGBTQ among them, that says one thing — love your neighbor — but does the opposite — protecting our own prerogatives rather than welcoming the stranger?

God is reforming the church — is doing a new thing — whether we are part of it or not. If we want to be part of God’s work, as I do, I suggest following our children rather than spurning them, especially the young people in the PCUSA.

The youth in the PCUSA bring amazing energy, intelligence, imagination and love to being faithful to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, in 21st-century America. Remember, Isaiah did prophesy, “And a little child shall lead them (Isaiah 11:6).”

The Rev. Janet Edwards is a minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), active at the Community House Presbyterian Church on the North Side. She lives in Squirrel Hill.

First Published: September 17, 2017, 12:23 p.m.