The basics of faith

Society has evolved, and newly elected moderator of the Presbyterian Church in TT, Rev Joy Abdul-Mohan, is eager for the institution she will now lead to adapt to these realities while still remaining true to its mission.

“We must maintain the basics of the faith but we have to remember, Jesus was a risk taker who challenged the status quo. The fact that he did that, we now have to find ways of doing the same. He wasn’t just a preacher for the soul but he challenged the authorities,” Abdul-Mohan told WMN in an interview at her office in San Fernando on Thursday.

Religious institutions are facing a crisis of faith around the world, and TT is no exception. Presbyterian congregations have been dwindling over the last two decades, she said, and the church has had to try to figure out how to stem that loss, and encourage people to come back.

A big part of that is “servant leadership,” something she sees as the hallmark of her 30-year career as a pastor. (She was ordained as a minister on January 22, 1989.) And it’s what she wants to encourage throughout the church during her initial two-year tenure as moderator.

“Christ was a sacrificial servant. I think for a little while we (the church) became a bit complacent – more about talk rather than walking the talk. To raise (our) profile is to ensure your leaders are effective, compassionate and caring. The church itself has been fairly conservative, in the background, unlike maybe the Catholic Church because that’s part of the nature of the church,” she said.

There have been some outspoken moderators in the past, she acknowledged, like her mentor, Rev Cyril Paul, now deceased, who first encouraged her to be a minister of God; Rev Daniel Teelucksingh, a former independent senator; and Rev Elvis Elahie, who wrote a handbook published through the church’s training institute, St Andrew’s Theological College, on values education.

To really make its impact felt, though, she believes the church needs to go out into communities and listen to what the people want and need, and try to address those issues.

“(The challenge) is how to create a space for people of different categories – who see things differently, more radically than conservatives. The way to become relevant is to identify the needs of these categories and as a church,” she said. She’s already made suggestions to the different boards in the church that, instead of spending so much time in meetings, set aside one day to host forums in the different primary regions of the church, and hear the voices of the people. “So, to be relevant is to see the actual needs in the context of each individual and each community, hear their voices and build on it – whether it be young people, teenage pregnancy, human sexuality. Target schools and families who need but are not necessarily provided with that kind of guidance. Otherwise the whole country will lack stability,” she said.

She acknowledged the dichotomy between younger, more progressive points of view that could probably clash with older, more conservative ones. But the most important thing, she said, while the church strives for that balance between old and new, is to maintain the basics of the faith – sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and God’s love.

“Jesus didn’t come to destroy the law but to maintain it, so he created a balance of liberation. Liberation of the mind was most important and the heart. And in doing so, you are less judgemental. There are laws that you have to abide (by) but sometimes you have to challenge that. Sustainability of the institution means we have to look beyond the conservativism that some of us may have been brought up in.”

Part of that balance is youth versus elders. “There are youths who are radical and forward thinking but sometimes we have to respect that. We have to listen to reason and experience. We must create a balance to see what young people might want and see as the needs of their generation. Young people also need to have the respect for adults who would have the experience but adults must give young people that opportunity.”

Despite the conflicts and challenges, she believes there is still a role for Presbyterianism and organised religion in society. “Having religion and a church presupposes there is goodness that we can engage in character formation. That’s what we promote – the goodness and love of God, the goodness of character, and respect human beings. Criminals’ only form of “goodness” is where they take from others for their own happiness. Religion – and Presbyterianism – teaches selflessness.”

There needs to be more collaboration among religions, though. “It’s important is to network now with other stakeholders, not just in terms of Christian faith but the whole religious community. I think that’s lacking. There was a time when the Inter-Religious Organisation was more vocal, where there was a sort of unity in diversity. Rather than every community doing its own thing we must be more united and I think we can help each other and (maximise impact).”

Abdul-Mohan is also the vice-chair of the children’s charity, Rapid Fire Kids. Raising the profile of the church, she said, is about partnering with other religions and organisations like charities to promote doing good, collectively not competitively.

Becoming moderator was not necessarily Abdul-Mohan’s goal, but given her outspokenness, charm and gregariousness, it seems like destiny. She was elected unopposed and unanimously among her peers, and will be officially installed next month.

“It’s in my DNA,” she said. Her family has long been involved in their home church, St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Princes Town. Her grandfather’s brother was also a minister, and her father was a teacher and principal of a Presbyterian primary school, as well as an active member of the church board.

“My aspiration was always based on my call as a minister, to be a servant minister, a pastor to people to bring comfort give guidance and to ensure that when preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ you also look after the needs of people.”

She’s also never second-guessed her decision. “My focus was never financial remuneration because if it was, I would have been elsewhere. My first call was to be a teacher like my dad, but I never second guessed my vocation which was spiritually designed for me.”

She got her start when Rev Paul came to preach at her home church, with a bit of sore throat. As an avid youth leader who often conducted services, the church elders recommended her to him as an assistant. “He was impressed. And he was very encouraging and supportive. He told me after, ‘you will be a leader.’”

She didn’t want to just be a “pulpit minister” but wanted to go out into communities and meet the people she was preaching to – something that helped her when, in her early days as a minister, she encountered some older and stubborn men who had concerns about a woman serving them communion (the Christian tradition of serving bread and wine as a symbol of the body of Christ). “I didn’t challenge them, I just sat and listened to them. We had a discourse. Eventually they came around, and, before they passed away, had even requested that I serve them communion.”

Her responsibility then, is to the people, something she’s mindful of. Jesus had a social gospel, she said, where he looked after the spiritual and physical needs of the body, mind and soul. So, that’s also her aim, and what she feels is the duty of a pastor.

“Becoming moderator is not one of prestige, power or personality but principle and purpose ­– servant leadership. And that will help raise the profile of the church ensuring our leaders are well-trained and know their purpose.”