I learned recently that my friends at Marietta's First Presbyterian Church up the street will soon begin the process of seeking another senior minister. The very capable man who had led them for the past few years has resigned to follow the call of the Spirit to another position, I hear, and now the work of finding a replacement begins.

While I am far from an expert on Presbyterian polity, I know that they don't rush this process. While the resident United Methodist bishop can name my replacement with a simple phone call in a matter of minutes, the Presbyterians take longer, even a year or more, to match the needs of a congregation with the skills of a particular minister. If the past is any indicator, they will invite to the pulpit an interim minister who will serve until a permanent replacement is "called." Like all churches, they try to "get it right" in transitional moments like this.

Some friends around town have mentioned the change among the Presbyterians to me. They have teased me about perhaps getting new members for our church from "over there." One friend even said, "We guessed at lunch today just how many new members your church is going to get from this change." Perhaps, then, some response from me is appropriate. Perhaps I need to get involved in this, to set a figure, a goal, on the number of new members the Methodists hope to get from the Presbyterians. I have labored long and hard over the figure, even prayed about it, and I have a target goal in mind. The number is zero. None. Not one.

And for a couple of reasons, really. First, the members there are Presbyterian and they are not our targets. That denomination has a rich history dating into the 16th century and the Protestant Reformation, and has carried well the banner of Christ and the Christian cause. The church in this town is interwoven into the history of the city and the county, dating back some 175 years. Of course, changes come and sometimes people change churches. I know that. My own family, three generations back, changed from the Presbyterian denomination to the Methodist cause largely because of the effective preaching of the great evangelist Sam P. Jones.

But there is no more fundamentally wrong with the Presbyterian Church than is wrong with any of our large denominations. We all need to be closer to the "the street," to the real hurts and needs of our people We all need to be more faithful to our roots. But the Presbyterian Church is a good church and the people there are good people. They are not targets for a hostile takeover.

Second, this town needs its various denominations and we need for the denominational churches to remain strong. Of course we believe that Christ created one church, one "holy, Catholic (universal) church," but there are subtle differences among us. Our various denominations give us space for our slight differences of interpretation and expression of our faith. Those slight differences profoundly impact the textures and very fabric of our public lives. And while we might well converse at length about a particular interpretation of Scripture or a specific social principle, there is far more that unites the various denominations of Christianity than divides us.

So we pray for our brothers and sisters up on Church Street. They will meet this challenge of new leadership with great strength, fervent faith and quiet humility, and they will do it while remaining intact. And let us not forget for a minute that we of the faith are all on the same side. We are a family. We speak of God as "Father," of the "Mother" church, and of one another as "brother" and "sister." We are theirs and they are ours.

Dr. Sam R. Matthews is senior minister First United Methodist Church in Marietta.