Ordination: One Certified Christian Educator’s journey

On October 1 2003, I wrote a letter to the Candidates Committee of the church I serve as a Director of Christian Education, and of which I am a member, inviting them to join me in a journey. It contained an application for enrollment as an inquirer in the preparation for ministry process in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and the usual transcripts, one from an undergraduate school in Nova Scotia, Canada, and one from the Presbyterian School of Christian Education, now Union-PSCE. I had served in educational ministry for twenty-three years, nineteen of them as a Certified Christian Educator, and it was time.

It wasn't time to stop doing what I was doing, or to change my focus from educational ministry to another kind of ministry, or to be more than I am, or to be someone I'm not, or to "sell out" as someone suggested I was doing. It was time for me to again affirm that the call to educational ministry in the church is a call from God, a call accompanied by spiritual gifts, a call to ministry "understood not in terms of power but of service, after the manner of the servant ministry of Jesus Christ" (G-14.0103). It was time to invite my church, my presbytery and my denomination to explore the question of what to do with a Certified Christian Educator with a master's degree from an accredited theological institution who sought to be considered for ordination to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament.

Educators: The other ordination issue

The question of ordination once again looms large on the horizon. For those of us who are Christian educators, our passionate focus rests on two overtures (12-01 and 12-02) that advocate for a fourth ordained office within the Presbyterian Church (U. S. A.)  In this article I will (a) give historical and present reasons for a fourth ordained office; (b) summarize the similarities and differences between the two proposals.

The Authoritative Interpretation of 1978 still requires ‘fidelity in marriage or chastity in singleness.’

There has been quite a bit of discussion about what the Authoritative Interpretation of the 217^th General Assembly (PUP as amended) really means for the Church. Soon our stated clerk, whose job it is to "preserve and defend the Constitution" of the church will issue an advisory opinion about what the Assembly did. His advisory opinion is important, because it will likely give sessions and presbyteries their first official word about whether, in his opinion,  sexually active  gays and lesbians may be ordained or installed. For now, the Office of the General Assembly has set up a page of FAQs where it asks the question, "Will gays and lesbians now be ordained," but it does not answer the question.    

Why Montreat matters

A few weeks ago I was discussing issues coming before the General Assembly with friends from around the country. We all agreed there were more than a few "hot topics" for the commissioners to debate. Someone brought up how amazed they were by the number of overtures petitioning the Assembly to keep the Montreat Historical Society open. There was laughter as he pointed out what an important issue it was.

I have to admit I was shocked. I thought everyone knew how special the Montreat Historical Society was, how much it meant, how important it was to inspire denominational loyalty. But I realized I was only one of two southerners in the conversation. The two of us began protesting that keeping open the Montreat Historical Society was indeed important, even crucial to the Presbyterian Church(U.S.A.). A friend then kindly said, "We don't get it. Please explain why this is important to the rest of the church. We want to understand the passion and the pain this decision is arousing." So I am writing this to try and convey why keeping the Montreat Historical Society open is important to so many people and to the future of the PC(USA).

Administration and sexual time bombs

The 2006 General Assembly will be remembered as the Assembly that debated two controversial issues. The first was raised in a petition entitled "A Voice for the Local Church." The petition gave expression to a widely shared concern of congregations that recent administrative changes had fundamentally altered the nature of the Kirk, that too much power had of late been transferred from the local church and Presbytery to a few people within the Central Administration.

Let us not lose our head

Because of our successful remedial complaint (Johnston et al vs. Heartland Presbytery) I have received mail from commissioners to this month's G.A asking my view on the current overture to make per capita payments mandatory. Here is my response.

If the proposal to force all churches to pay per capita is passed:

Customer Service 101 for churches

c. 2006 Religion News Service

Listen up, church leaders. This parable is for you.

Dell Computer Corp. is losing a repeat customer, because their process and data requirements overwhelmed my need to buy their product.

Last week I wanted to order a $39 USB memory key. Dell's Web site required me to locate a username and password (serving their purposes, not mine). Dell's toll-free number led me into a labyrinth of voice commands. A second toll-free number landed me with a live person who insisted on creating a "profile" for me. No, I said, I simply want to make a $39 purchase.

I persevered long enough to complete my purchase. But I will think twice before making another one. No business can afford to make purchasing its products this difficult.

Where is the church on Thursday and what is it doing?

I have a mischievous habit of asking pastors the question: "What's going on with your church on Thursday afternoon?" Their predictable answer is usually some equivalent of "nothing much."

That question was provoked by the chapter title in a book I read a few years ago, Where Is the Church on Thursday Afternoon? The response of most pastors is a predictable "Christendom" answer. After all, the church is about the clergy and about properly authorized services and sacraments and the custodial care of passive members. Responders think only of the "church gathered" for its meetings and assemblies, and under the supervision of the church's duly ordained leadership.

A prayer

Your Spirit, O Creator God,

your brooding, bright imagining Spirit,

is inviting us, cajoling us, entrancing, inducing,

yes, even seducing us, beyond life into creation,

into imagination, into all the shapes and hues,

the textures, postures, melodies of grace.

So let that flaming, flagrant Spirit

be afire now among us here.

Lift our imaginations through the laughter of the soul.

Restore to us our poetic vision,

that we may see this world anew

as your mighty work-in-progress,

that we may see ourselves as others see us,

that we may see you, the unseen God,

as the source and goal and heart of all delight.

Through these moments of welcoming,

of sustenance, of encouragement, mirth and wisdom,

move up, across, among us once again

with your Spirit of inspiration and of ecstasy.

We ask this in the name of the living Word,

that Word we seek and find and lose,

and then are found by.

Let us say . . . AMEN.

How do you spell relief?

As Americans brace themselves for yet another hurricane season, they might look at one congregation and its response to the Gulf Coast disaster. Perhaps it will become a blueprint for the future.

Suspended between Orlando and Daytona Beach is a small town, DeLand, Fla., home to Stetson University. Across from the campus, along a major tree-lined boulevard, is First Presbyterian Church, a congregation of 550 (Web site: www.firstpresdeland.com .)

In 2004, when hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Jeanne hit Central Florida, residents were sensitized to the pain caused by evacuations, flooding, damaged homes, and lack of electricity.  The face of suffering was personal.  Then Katrina slammed into coastal Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, touching the hearts of DeLand's people like Jim and Rachael Winter, Mississippi natives.