The Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) announced on March 10 the members of teams that will work over the next few months to write draft sections — possible approaches that the task force will consider for inclusion in its final report to the denomination.
The task force will vote on its report to the denomination on August 24 and 25, in a meeting in Chicago added to its schedule specifically to take that vote. The report is to be presented to the church by September 15.
The work of the drafting teams will be discussed at the next task force meeting in Dallas on July 18 to 21, with the first day of that meeting likely in closed session.
At first, on March 8, the task force issued a news release giving the names of the people on each writing team — but keeping secret which team was writing on which subject. Two days later, after taking criticism, the task force issued another news release — this time revealing which writing teams were responsible for which subjects, and removing the name from one team of Gradye Parsons, an Office of the General Assembly staff person who works with the task force and has been allowed to sit in on the closed-door sessions.
As divulged in the March 10 news release, the writing teams are as follows:
TEAM 1: Will review and summarize themes from study sessions and draft papers on theological issues. Members: Scott Anderson, Frances Taylor Gench, William Stacy Johnson, Jong Hyeong Lee, Lonnie Oliver and Barbara Wheeler.
TEAM 2: Will review and summarize themes from study sessions and papers on ordination, sexuality, and other controversial issues. Members: Mike Loudon, Sarah Sanderson-Doughty and John Wilkinson.
TEAM 3: Will review and summarize study sessions and papers on polity, process, and decision-making. Members: Mark Achtemeier, Joe Coalter, Vicky Curtiss and John Wilkinson.
TEAM 4: Will frame conclusions and possible recommendations from the task force. This team will do its work after the task force has reviewed the draft sections from the other teams. Members: Jack Haberer, William Stacy Johnson, and Martha Sadongei.
RESOURCE/COMMUNICATION TEAM: Will continue its ongoing work. Members: Scott Anderson, Barbara Everitt Bryant, Mary Ellen Lawson, Joan Merritt, and José Luis Torres-Milà n.
Task force co-moderator Gary Demarest said as the task force concluded its last meeting in Dallas on March 4 that the task force has made no decisions, but does have a sense of direction.
Demarest has stressed repeatedly that the task force has carefully followed the rules established for it by the General Assembly, which limits closed-door sessions to sharing on ‘sensitive theological matters.’ But that seems, in this case, to have included such things as consulting calendars to pick a date in August and deciding who will take the lead in writing which sections of the report.
The task force’s report will be translated into Spanish and Korean by the August meeting. Presumably, discussing the report in July and voting in August also could give the task force an opportunity to test-drive some ideas it’s considering – to see how the church responds – in the month between the July discussions and the August vote.
Reports from the earlier sessions of the Task Force meeting in March are also posted on the Web site.
Church confessions–when, what, why–
Explored by PC(USA) Task Force
March 4, 2005
Task Force deliberates on nature of church questions, divisions
March 3, 2005
