The elephant - what the task force should say about ordaining gays and
lesbians - is clearly on folks' minds. Some task force members say they
appreciate the work they've done to build trust among themselves, but it's
approaching time to start poking the elephant - to begin confronting their
differences over ordination.
Others say it's valuable, at least a little while longer, to keep laying the
groundwork, to worship together and let the Holy Spirit guide them as a
community, to share their expertise and build up a common basis of
knowledge from which to stake out their positions. Much of their meeting in
Dallas on Feb. 20-22 was spent discussing the shared historic understandings
in the Presbyterian tradition about how the Bible should be interpreted and
understood, and, led by John Wilkinson, a pastor from Rochester, N.Y., the
role of the confessions in the life of the church.
The task force did begin to test that territory - by studying two theologians'
differing views of what the 1st chapter of Romans has to say about
homosexual behavior and sin. Those theologians - Richard B. Hays and
William C. Placher - reach different conclusions. But the task force used their
writings mostly to explore how each had approached the interpretation of
Scripture and how that approach fit in to the Presbyterian tradition, and to see
if they could learn any lessons from those approaches to Biblical
interpretation for their own work. They moved into that territory tentatively
but deliberately, like explorers taking their first steps onto a seemingly frozen
lake, hoping the ice is solid enough that they won't fall through, and that their
arguments won't sizzle enough to melt the place where they've chosen to stand.
And the task force continues to struggle with the question of "product," both
what it should say on controversial subjects and what resources it can offer
the broader church, perhaps by providing an example that other groups –
maybe adult Sunday school classes in congregations or small discussion
groups in presbyteries - could follow to talk productively and with grace about
homosexuality and controversial matters (many churches, for example, are
struggling to find a theological way to talk about a possible war with Iraq in
congregations where people's views about whether the U.S. should go to war
vary widely).
The task force has not yet touched the elephant. They haven't even come
close.
But Mark Achtemeier, a task force member who teaches systematic theology
at the University of Dubuque Seminary, did present a list of "proposed goals,"
just ideas for discussion at this point, nothing that's been agreed upon, that
the task force might want to consider. The list included a range of possible
outcomes - from actually reaching consensus on what to say about ordaining
gays and lesbians to setting boundaries for the debate (defining "where the
truth is not") to focusing debate on the right questions to providing resources
so people could muster the best arguments possible and "raise the level and
caliber of the debate," as Achtemeier wrote. That sets the stage for the idea
that if the task force does not reach full consensus on the gay ordination issue,
it might still be seen as having contributed something of value for the
PC(USA).
There continues to be questioning at these meetings of whether the task force
is getting to wherever it's going fast enough.
There is continuing confusion about what it's supposed to produce, in addition
to whatever written report it might make. Some members have talked of
videos and PowerPoint presentations and Web-site postings - providing for
the denomination to use as it will some of the resources on U.S. demographics
and the forces shaping denominations and particular passages of the Bible that
the task force has used.
And Vicky Curtiss, a pastor from Iowa, has spoken repeatedly of trying to
find a way for the task force to model for congregations and presbyteries the
kind of theological exploration they've had, the techniques they've used –
including "mutual invitation" to encourage quieter members to speak more –
to build a sense of trust and community in a diverse group. The task force has
authorized the production of a video, perhaps to be shown to interested people
at this summer's General Assembly, in which Frances Taylor Gench, a New
Testament scholar, will present Bible study material and Curtiss will describe
some of the techniques, other than straight up-and-down voting, the task force
has used or wants to consider.
There continues to be, however, some concern about whether the task force –
which is due to report back to the church before the General Assembly in
2006 - is moving fast enough. For example, Mike Loudon, a pastor from
Florida, said he loves talking about the Bible and theology, but where they're
going is, to him, "all a big dark cloud."
Barbara Everitt Bryant, an elder from Michigan, said "I'm less optimistic than
I'd like to be" about the task force being able to accomplish all it's been told to
do in the time it's been given.
And Joe Coalter, the acting president of Louisville Seminary, said "I am still
uncomfortable with delaying overly much working towards some
conclusions." While trust and consensus are important, Coalter said, he
doesn't think that struggle over significant differences, even if that means that
voices get raised in the process, "is a bad thing."
But Barbara Wheeler, president of Auburn Seminary in New York, argued
that the discussion of identity - the give-and-take about who Presbyterians are,
of what they believe and why - is central, and that "we're not going to produce
an articulate report of any kind unless we speak very clearly about who we are
as a community of faith . . . I see this as directly relevant, not something we're
doing while we wait to get to the real stuff. This is the real stuff."
