Those of us who teach in areas of the Reformed tradition will be familiar with the work of Donald McKim. This new book is slim and accessible; pitched as much as introduction for more general readers as for students in the academy. The chapters started life as presentations to Presbyterian lay and clergy conferences across the United States. Throughout, McKim's focus is deeply theological and profoundly practical: ‘What does it mean to be part of the people of God, the body of Christ, and the community of the Holy Spirit?’ (p. ix).
The book's structure, as its author graciously acknowledges, reflects something of its origins as individual presentations in different contexts. That gives it a less coherent feel overall. These are snapshots expressed in the colours of a very personal account. It is no less significant and valuable, but readers will need to look elsewhere, not least in McKim's other works, for a systematic ecclesiology. The first two chapters explore being called to follow Jesus and the church being reformed according to God's word. Then come three meditations upon aspects of the creeds: belief in the Holy Ghost; the Holy Catholic Church; the Communion of Saints. A final chapter imagines the church as it might become.
I found McKim's reflections offering much from small starting points. The gospel narratives of call pitch us into the challenges of the radical immediacy of Jesus’ demands; that taking hold of the whole of our lives. Discipleship is revealed as the deeply personal yielding of our agendas to the demands of following Christ together. And this following carries us boldly into the future rather than into the past. Throughout Calvin, Barth, Bonhoeffer and others play their part to bolster and extend the argument.
The second chapter opens with a brief framing of the classic Reformed motto of the church reformed and being reformed. McKim stresses the action of God revealed in scripture in this process; the church never reforms itself but tries to pay ever closer heed to the Spirit speaking in and through the Word. Nothing here is particularly exceptional, and there is the danger that the slogan sits far back from the messy reality of coaxing change and reform amongst us. But the threads are woven tightly and passionately and I can imagine this chapter evoking and provoking much discussion in seminar rooms and church meetings.
The next three reflections shine Reformed light upon creedal words. The Holy Spirit is appreciated as the one in whom scripture is inspired as written, read and lived out. We are taken through some important aspects of Calvin on the way, and the turn to preaching is thoughtful. Holiness and catholicity take us to important reflections upon the combination of goodness and sinfulness that exists across the church, and Calvin's understanding of their intermingling is drawn out in conversation with the Roman Catholic perspectives of Hans Küng on sanctification. The chapter on the Communion of Saints has a different feel, being a more systematic working through of Barth's writing on holiness. It offers a useful summary but with less of the direct attention to living out the consequences that previous chapters suggest.
The book ends by imaging the church. We are taken into explorations of providence, of the ongoing presence of Christ and of the power of the Spirit. It is a summing up and call to faithfulness. Throughout the book, uneven though it inevitably is, we encounter the sharp questions and rich resources the Reformed perspective can offer at its best. We read an author himself passionately caught up in that tradition as home and school of faith. This small text will be a refreshing set of starting points for many.
