$150 million donation to PC(USA) announced; Questions arise

Compiled from several Outlook reports

A Denver businessman announced June 15 a $150 million gift to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) -- saying he is tired of watching the continuing decline of the denomination he loves and challenging Presbyterians "to reverse all negative trends. We can grow." Then on June 21 questions arose regarding his ability to fulfill that pledge.

The money from the new Loaves and Fishes Church Growth Fund would be used for grants to presbyteries -- from $250,000 to $1 million apiece. Presbyteries would have to apply for the funds and match part of it. The money would be used for church growth, mission work and theological education.

Presbyterian Women told God at work in chaos

LOUISVILLE -- Former General Assembly moderator Susan Andrews, during the opening plenary of Presbyterian Women's Churchwide Gathering July 7, spoke of God being at work in the chaotic places -- in the messiness, in the disorder, in so many Bible stories where people were curious or defiant or reckless or brave.

With Mary, God spoke "out of the turbulent confusion of a maiden's womb," Andrews said. In his ministry Jesus entered chaos joyfully, creatively -- turning water into wine, healing the sick, welcoming questions, bringing new hope out of the "chaos of crucifixion."

Jesus, she said, "was recreating the cosmos."

Hernandez shares stories of immigrant crisis;
exhorts PW gathering to speak out against injustice

LOUISVILLE -- At Manos de Cristo, a Presbyterian social service agency in Austin, Texas, 1,500 children come each summer for a back-to-school program. They are given clothes and school supplies, treated to some fun, introduced to stories from the Bible. The organizers hope to plant "a small seed that will grow and one day lead to complete transformation," said Lydia Hernandez, a Presbyterian minister who's the agency's executive director.

That's what Hernandez hopes for Presbyterians everywhere too: complete transformation.

Robins encourages PW gathering to “value diverse spiritualities”

LOUISVILLE -- Diversity is one of the daily themes of Presbyterian Women's 2006 Gathering, meeting July 7 to 11 in Kentucky. But how Christians -- who teach that faith in Jesus Christ is central to salvation -- should interact with those of other religious traditions is not something on which all Presbyterians agree.

Kikanza Nuri Robins, a Presbyterian minister from California, https://www.kikanzanurirobins.com  spoke from her own personal experience during the morning plenary session on July 8 -- and she encouraged the 3,000 women at this gathering to bring to the table those from other religious traditions and to value diverse spiritualities.

Robins, an organizational development consultant, is the author of the 2007-2008 Bible Study for Horizons on the gospel of Luke. She also has been a consultant to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s national staff on issues of cultural proficiency.

Advisory Opinion: Discernment in Examining Bodies

Since the 217th General Assembly adopted the Authoritative Interpretation proposed by the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church, the Stated Clerk's Office has been asked by many Presbyterians to issue an Advisory Opinion (Standing Rule M.2.b.2).

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Joan S. Gray elected Moderator of the 217th General Assembly

Joan Gray, a pastor from Atlanta, Ga., is the new moderator-elect of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). She was elected June 15 at the beginning of the 217^th PC(USA) General Assembly. She will serve a two-year term along with vice moderator-elect Robert Ervin Wilson of Huntsville, Ala.

Photo credit line(s) Presbyterian Outlook photo(s)

BIRMINGHAM -- The 217^th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has elected as its moderator Joan S. Gray -- a pastor from Atlanta who spoke of God making a way "where there was no way" and said her experience ministering to congregations in conflict would help her build bridges in a deeply divided denomination.

Gray, 53, was elected on the third round of balloting, winning 307 votes, or 62 percent of the votes cast. She prevailed over three other candidates, all of them pastors: Deborah Block of Milwaukee, who earned 152 votes on the final ballot (31 percent); H. Timothy Halverson of Cape Coral, Fla., with 20 votes (4 percent); and Kerry Carson of Conrad, Iowa, with 19 votes (4 percent).

In the first round of balloting, Block drew the most votes -- 143 (28 percent), compared with 139 for Gray (28 percent), 113 for Halverson (22 percent), and 109 for Carson (22 percent).        

“A more excellent way:” TF Pre-assembly event June 15

BIRMINGHAM -- Consider it a last chance before the big event for the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to make its case.

The morning of June 15, just before the General Assembly was to open for business, about 300 Presbyterians gathered for a three-hour "pre-assembly event" -- a chance to meet the 20 members of the task force; to ask questions; to hear a last pitch.

Middle East symposium precedes GA opening; urgency stressed

BIRMINGHAM -- Words of ecumenical understanding, reason, and balance from representatives of the three great faith groups of the Middle East challenged Presbyterians attend the pre-General Assembly "educational event" on the Middle East June 15.

A panel of speakers both presented their understandings of what is needed to address the problems in the Middle East--specifically between Palestinians and Israelis--and to respond to questions from the more than 200 persons attending.

Sparks awarded 2006 Ernest Trice Thompson Award

O. Benjamin Sparks III, pastor, ecumenist, dedicated Presbyterian scholar, is the recipient of the Ernest Trice Thompson Award. He received the honor June 15 in Birmingham, Ala. at the Outlook's dinner held in conjunction with the 217^th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

He currently serves as pastor of Second Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Va., where he has been pastor since 1982.

Ben with Jack Haberer (left), editor-in-chief of

The Presbyterian Outlook  and (right)
William Stacy Johnson, Outlook Foundation Board chairman.

Correction

In the OUTLOOK issue for July 3, in the story "Sparks awarded 2006 Ernest Trice Thomson Award' recipient O. Benjamin Sparks recalls a discussion with Ernest Trice Thompson. One quotation from that story was inadvertently shortened. The last sentence should read: "This is a word to the church", Ben Sparks concluded, "at a time 'so full of peril and promise.'"

June P. Bucy, treasurer, Shenandoah Presbytery died June 28

June P. Bucy, treasurer, Shenandoah Presbytery and elder, Massanutten Church, died on Wednesday, June 28, 2006, at her home at Massanetta Springs, Virginia.  Her husband, the Rev. Dr. Ralph Bucy, and sons Tommy and Flynn were all with her at the time of her death. June was diagnosed with cancer in March and was under the care of hospice for several months.

A memorial service has been tentatively set for Saturday, July 8, 2006, 2:00pm, at Massanutten Church in Penn Laird, Va.  No other information is available at this time, but further details will be given as they become available.

Your prayers are greatly appreciated for Ralph and for her family at this time of great loss.

PC(USA) membership down, financial giving up

LOUISVILLE -- Membership in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) declined by more than 2 percent in 2005, but total giving to the church increased by more than 5 percent, topping $3 billion for the first time.

According to figures released June 2 by the Office of the General Assembly, PC(USA) "communicant" membership at the end of last year totaled 2,313,662 -- a decline of 48,474 or 2.05 percent from 2004. Including 318,291 baptized but not confirmed members and 466,889 inactive members, total PC(USA) membership stands at 3.1 million.

But Presbyterians are giving to the church at record levels. "Giving to the church is up substantially in every category and at every level of the church's life," noted General Assembly Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick in a prepared statement released with the statistical report.

Presbyterians at GA face serious issues, identifying a way forward

Some people who've been around the block a few times have a sense the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) -- which lost 48,400 members in 2005, it was just announced -- may be in a time of transition.

There will be new leadership, perhaps a new approach for sorting out the disagreements over ordaining gays and lesbians. There are questions of how a mainline Protestant denomination, declining in influence, older and less diverse than the surrounding culture, can continue to be a voice worth listening to on issues ranging from immigration to Iraq.

There's a lot at stake in Birmingham, according to some Presbyterians. They were coming to Alabama full of both pent-up anxiety and hope -- and with a sense that this assembly could be critical in shaping the future direction of the PC(USA.)

To them, things feel a little different this time around.

The Trinity

Editor's Note: Responding to the General Assembly Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity, these essays attempt to give voice to the center of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) The essays seek a place where all sides can meet--without compromising the Gospel--and move forward together.

The Trinity is a fitting topic for this series. The early Christians faced a crisis concerning who Jesus Christ is in relation to God. Perceiving that the Gospel itself was at risk in this question, they redefined the moment in terms of the Trinity and rallied the whole Church around it, then and now. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) faces such a defining moment today. Perhaps now is a time to reaffirm the Trinity as the "summary of the Gospel of Jesus Christ" (report to Birmingham GA, p. 3). This essay covers (1) the Biblical origins of the Trinity, the trinitarian affirmations about (2) Jesus Christ and (3) the Spirit, and (4) the interconnections among the three "persons."