The Presbytery of Chicago votes unanimously … Say, what? Okay, every presbytery casts unanimous votes sometimes. To approve the docket. To seat guest elders as corresponding members. To increase minimum terms of call for teaching elders. To adjourn. But the Presbytery of Chicago is far from single-minded on matters of theological controversy, of the intersections of faith and culture, of relationships with other belief systems. And few issues press those matters more in these days than those of relationships between Christianity and other religions. Nevertheless, on June 18, the Presbytery of Chicago reviewed a covenant forged in partnership with the region’s Muslim community. And their teaching and ruling elder delegates supported the covenant unanimously. Unanimously.
On Oct. 12, leaders of the presbytery and of the Muslim community gathered for a formal covenant signing ceremony, to hear brief speeches, to share hopes for a peacemaking future and simply to bask in the moment. (Click here for the Outlook’s coverage of the dinner.)
Due to a scheduling conflict, Dirk Ficca had to miss the signing ceremony, but his presence was felt. As chair of the presbytery’s task force that developed the covenant with leaders of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, Ficca played a key role – and this evening signaled a fresh restart to his lifelong pursuit of understanding, recon-ciliation and partnership among religious groups.
Little could he have anticipated on July 29, 2000, when rising to the podium at the PC(USA)’s Peacemaking Conference, that his words would ping off the walls of American Presbyterianism like an old-fashioned pinball machine. The then-executive director of the Council of the Parliament of World Religions popped the rhetorical question “What’s the big deal about Jesus?” as a hook to invite the peacemakers to consider giving greater emphasis to Jesus’ teachings and to soften the Jesus-only edginess in our religious rhetoric. But that kindled a firestorm from Presbyterian sea to shining sea.
The 2002 General Assembly voted by a 98-percent margin to approve “Hope in the Lord Jesus Christ,” a study document developed by the PC(USA)’s Office of Theology and Worship, and to affirm that Presbyterians believe that Jesus is the only way of salvation, while acknowledg-ing that God alone determines to whom Jesus’ saving grace has been or will be extended. It quieted the waters his speech stirred.
But halfway between the speech of 2000 and the assembly of 2002 came September 11, 2001 — and Ficca’s determination to promote healthful, respectful relationships among religious groups never waned. That determination didn’t wane when tensions arouse after 9/11 between Chicago’s 400,000 Muslims and the rest of the city. That determination didn’t wane when subsequent general assemblies’ periodic criticisms of the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians unleashed outcries from the Chicago area’s 300,000 Jews.
And that determination helped forge a plan for the presbytery to engage in bilateral dialogues and mission partnerships with both of these counterpart faith groups. The resulting covenant with the Muslim community — unprecedented anywhere — signals a breakthrough that hopefully will be followed by similar results from the presbytery-Jewish community building efforts.
The covenant does not ask either faith group to compromise its convictions about God, sin, salvation, good works, eternity, etc. It does affirm some beliefs held in common, such as, God is the creator and sustainer of the world, and responding faithfully to God requires us to commit to serve God’s creation. It adds that our faiths obligate us to strive together for the common good: the care of the earth for the generations to come, the pursuit of justice for all, and the protection of our rights to practice and express our faiths as best we can.
Sounds like words once expressed four years ago by Prince Hassan, a devout Muslim scholar in Amman, Jordan: “Religions do not dialogue. They believe what they believe. But religious people can and must dialogue to serve the greater good.”
The Christians and Muslims in Chicago have come together to give voice to and put muscle into those kinds of convictions. If they can take steps to act on these good intentions, the city will be better served and, perhaps, ripples will roll from there across our land to set in motion better ways to live in community together. God bless them for taking such initiatives. May their determination never wane.
