O Lamb of God! O Lamb of God! O Lamb of God!
With the slaying of the paschal lambs,
you died upon a tree.
Your sheep scattered
and hid in darkness
weeping.
It was over.
Three days those who loved him
huddled,
their hearts trembling,
their faces swollen from tears.
They would no longer see Jesus.
He himself had said from the cross,
It is finished.
They felt finished, too.
Our Christian symbols seem, at times, not quite appropriate to the meaning that they bear. For instance, take the Easter lily, white..
Say "megachurch" and "small country church" and just think of the comparisons those words conjure up. Let the "Six Flags over Jesus" jokes start now.
But new research has found that many of the ideas folks have about megachurches don't match the realities. Among the misconceptions: that most megachurches are nondenominational; that they're too "seeker-friendly" and not serious enough about theology; that they're all huge and all alike.
The stereotypes are easy to slide into. But both the megachurch researchers and people involved with some of the largest Presbyterian churches say there is much that congregations of all sizes can learn from the megachurch experience.
That's not a one-way street. Other studies have found that small congregations have real strengths too and much to offer -- for example, in terms of helping people grow spiritually and involving people in congregational life. The Research Services office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) says about six in 10 Presbyterian churches have an average worship attendance of fewer than 100 people.
But for those willing to put aside their preconceptions and pay attention, the growth of the nation's largest churches can say a lot about the role of church in today's culture. And growth is evident. The number of congregations of more than 2,000 members increased by nearly 50 percent between 2000 and 2005.
While relatively few American megachurches come from mainline denominations, some do -- and that includes Presbyterian congregations from Florida to Washington state.
Leaders from some of those congregations say people do tote around a wheelbarrow of misconceptions about big churches. They also say some of what works for them could work for congregations of any size -- and that they can learn valuable lessons from smaller, more intimate churches too.
Here's a glimpse inside a few Presbyterian megachurches -- all big, but all different.
One need watch only a few episodes of "Law & Order" or "CSI" to know that the wheels of justice roll on bumpy roads. Many an omniscient viewer has shouted the right answers at celluloid investigators, detectives, and prosecutors while the actors have painstakingly dragged through the evidence to build a case that can hold up in court. In TV World, justice usually does get served--about three minutes before the end of the show.
In the real world, those wheels roll on even bumpier roads. Many a crime victim discovers that the local gendarmes don't have the time or the will to pursue the evidence. Or, if they do, the prosecutor responds with a shrug, "We have no case." Screaming at those officers of the law can be even more counter productive than shouting at a TV.
Judging by this editor's e-mail inbox, many Presbyterians are shouting at their ecclesiastical TVs these days. Some are lifting up their voices in jubilation, others in anger. They all have been watching the same program, the recent ruling of the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbytery of Redwoods in response to the presbytery's case against the Rev. Dr. Jane Adams Spahr. Charged with performing same-sex marriages in violation of the Constitution, she acknowledged before the court that she had indeed officiated such services. However, the PJC acquitted her, stating that the constitutional definition of marriage between a man and woman need not bind the conscience of a minister. Only constitutional prohibitions need be obeyed, they said. Definitions need not be.
The sound of Hosannas still sings in our ears!
The laughter of the crowd,
so excited,
so filled with passion,
so uncommonly joyous,
for it is the Messiah who rides the donkey
just as Zechariah had said:
"Shout loud, O daughter Jerusalem!
Lo, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey ...
and he shall command peace to the nations!"
Palm branches waving,
coats thrown on the ground in front of him,
this One who comes in the name of God,
this Jesus who comes to save.
Oh, how we love a parade!
Oh, how we love this Jesus!
What then happened?
What did he do?
What did he say
to cause such wrath?
What strange stories:
a hungry Jesus curses a fig tree
because it bears no fruit.
Where, O Israel, is the fruit of your faith?
Where are those who have kept covenant?
Where are those who have walked with God
in justice and mercy and humility?
c. 2006 Religion News Service
John D. Barrow, a British cosmologist and astronomer whose work has helped scientists and theologians find common understanding about the nature of life and the universe, was named the winner of the 2006 Templeton Prize on March 15.
The prize -- officially called the Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries About Spiritual Realities -- was founded in 1972 by philanthropist and global financier Sir John Templeton and is perhaps the most prestigious award in the field of religion.
At $1.4 million, the award is the largest annual monetary prize given to an individual.
Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace, by Miroslav Volf. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006. ISBN: 0-310-26574-6. Pb., 247 pages, $12.99.
Read this book; it will strengthen your Lenten preaching. Free of Charge is the Archbishop of Canterbury's "Official 2006 Lent Book." In the Forward, Archbishop Rowan Williams says, "This is a book about worshipping the true God and letting the true God act in us." Volf captures the essence of his book in a more engaging way in the Postlude, a conversation with a skeptic who questions all Volf's assumptions, even his view of God. Volf responds, "I don't mean to insult you, but I wrote this book mainly for myself and maybe for folks like me, not for you. Most books I write, I write for myself as a spiritual exercise almost. And to tell the truth, my biggest problem is not with the arguments that may pull the rug from beneath the whole Christian way of life. In a sense my biggest problem is not an argument at all." (p.229)
Volf and the skeptic continue the dialogue. Volf says, "I am what we Christians used to call a 'sinner,' though we are now a bit embarrassed by the term." (p.230) "In the book, I argue, among other things, that we should embrace our enemies as Christ has embraced us. Well, an 'enemy'- a small one -- arose in my life after I wrote the book, and I sensed in myself the propensity to return in kind and exclude rather than forgive and embrace. And then I heard myself saying, 'But you argued in your book ...' It was like an academic version of the still small voice my wonderful and godly mother so often speaks about."
"Did that help?" the skeptic asked.
"It did! It reminded me that I was failing, that I wasn't true to God and to myself. It helped me resolve to act differently, to love my 'enemy.'" (p. 232)
It's like the moth that keeps darting through the room -- flickering at the periphery of things, always moving on, hard to see clearly. But there's a growing sense in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that property issues -- and particularly the question of whether a church that wants to leave the denomination can take its property with it -- are worth keeping an eye on.
The property question is being debated openly in the PC(USA) and in other denominations as well -- most noticeably in the Episcopal Church. Some congregations, furious about the denomination's decision to consecrate V. Gene Robinson as an openly gay bishop in 2003, say they've withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the Episcopal Church in the United States, in some cases have affiliated with conservative Anglican bishops in Africa.
Some of the congregations that leave are determined to take their property with them. They've hired lawyers and initiated legal challenges to the idea that congregations hold their property "in trust" for the denomination -- challenges that in certain cases have been successful.
(Editor's Note: This is the second portion of a recent interview with Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick on topics ranging from ecumenical concerns to issues facing the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) at the General Assembly coming in June. The first installment ran in the March 27 issue.)
Ecumenical issues, continued
Outlook: Tell us about your visit with the pope (Pope Benedict XVI).
Cliff Kirkpatrick: I got added respect--they called me "Your Excellency" there. I don't get that around here! This really has been several months period of a sense of blessing that we are moving to a greater sense of Christian unity. ... When this pope was elected, I, among others, had some real concerns that the Roman Catholic Church was selecting a pope that might not move us forward in the cause of Christian unity. There are still obviously major differences we and other churches have. But I have been struck with the energy Pope Benedict has taken toward wanting to grow Christian unity. I went obviously in my role as president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches--the body that relates to the Vatican. I had a good conversation with the pope about a mutual commitment to moving forward in Christian unity, to building on three rounds of dialogue we have already had with the Catholic Church. ... I was fascinated by the interest both with the pope and with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, which is the group we work with most closely, on how we might together commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Calvin's 500th birthday is in 2009. Luther's 95 Theses 500th anniversary is in 2017. And they were very interested to see if together Protestant and Catholic Churches might do an assessment of where we have come together and where we are still apart. As they see it, some of this recent work on justification by faith, the Catholic claiming of the role of Scripture--many of those things Catholics would see as their appropriation of some of the gifts of the Reformation. I think they would hope we would appropriate more of the gifts of the historic Episcopate. We had a fruitful time both theologically and practically where the celebration of the Reformation could be seen as something that divides us is a time to do an assessment of where we have come together, to find those common points that do reflect the steps we need to take on the path back to Christian unity without, at the same time, setting aside some of the deep convictions that are at the heart of who we are, growing out of the Reformation.
by Wes Avram. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2005. ISBN 1587430886. Pb., 156 pp., $14.99.
In the first of the sermonic essays in this collection, Wes Avram recounts a story from a physician's memoirs about a young man who lost his leg to bone cancer. The young man went through long and difficult therapy to learn to live without his leg. During his physical therapy, the doctor sometimes asked the young man to draw a picture of how he was feeling. On one occasion he drew a picture of a cracked vase, depicting his feeling of being broken right at the center of his being. As the years went on, the young man gradually accepted his new life and learned to find joy again. Much later, the doctor met the patient again, and had an opportunity to pull out of his files the old picture of the cracked vase. The former patient took the picture back and said, "This isn't finished." He added something to the drawing. "'Now it's complete,' he said and turned it back to the doctor. He had drawn rays of light shining from inside the vase. He said, 'Now I know that the crack is where the light shows through.'" [p. 31]
A new Presbyterian affinity group--the Committee to End Divestment Now (CEDN)--has organized around an effort "to correct" what they believe was a mistake made in 2004 by the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
They are seeking repeal of the resolution calling for "a process of phased selective divestment in multinational corporations operating in Israel." That repeal could occur at the 217th General Assembly this June.
The family of Feeny Galloway has established the Feeny Galloway Community Endowment Fund in recognition of Mrs. Galloway's love for Montreat and its ministry "to call all God's people to a life of discipleship." The permanent funds provided by this endowment will ensure that the unique community life of Montreat, with its Christian heritage, will be available to touch lives and strengthen family ties by supporting two important areas of ministry within the conference center: Clubs, the popular summer day camp program, and Montreat's Sunday Summer Worship Series.
Feeny Galloway's grandsons, Alexander and William Galloway, have grown up participating in the Clubs program at Montreat every summer. "It was always a treat for her to have them there with her," wrote her husband James Galloway, "and she worked hard to make sure they loved that time in Clubs. It worked. They do love Montreat." The Feeny Galloway Community Endowment Fund will assure the same life-changing Clubs experience for thousands of other young people by underwriting the cost of staffing, equipment, scholarships, and other needs.
Also featured in the Outlook forum this issue: Deep problems by Barry Ensign-George
More than fifty years ago, historian Lefferts Loetscher in his classic The Broadening Church (1954) argued that American Presbyterianism contained two elements: one stressing "precise theological formulation" and "orderly and authoritarian church government," the other placing "more emphasis upon spontaneity, vital impulse, and adaptability." "It has been the good fortune and the hardship of the Presbyterian Church," Loetscher noted wryly, "to have had ... these two elements in dialectical tension within itself from the beginning."
The tension was apparent as American Presbyterians cobbled themselves together first in a presbytery (1706) and then a synod (1716). Initially these bodies had no official creed, but by the 1720s, some were calling for mandatory subscription to the Westminster Confession. "Now a church without a confession, what is it like?" asked one proponent of subscription, and he replied that such a church was "in a very defenseless condition, as a city without walls" liable to infiltration by heresy and error. By contrast, opponents feared that required subscription was "a bold invasion of Christ's royal power" and noted the "glaring contradiction" of requiring ministers to adhere to a document which itself declared: "God alone is the Lord of the conscience."
Also featured in the Outlook forum this issue: How Presbyterians dealt with conflict in the past by James H. Moorhead
Due to space constraints the original version of this essay was shortened for the print version of the Outlook. The following is the complete, full-length version. --Editor
The long-awaited Report of the Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity (TFPUP) is in hand. Thanks and assessments have been offered. We've invested a great deal in this effort: good people who were called in recognition of their capacity for such work, thousands of dollars gathering them and broadcasting their work, precious time for their work. Clearly they have had a powerful experience, calling us now to follow the principles that guided them, seeking similar experiences for ourselves.
Of course, the TFPUP Report does more. It proposes actual changes to the structure of our life together. And it is here that incisive questions need to be asked. The Report includes some deep problems. Specifically, the Report's recommendations 1) do not recover historic Presbyterian practices, 2) propose a form of local option without explaining how we'll deal with the implications, 3) propose a major change to our life together without putting that change before the presbyteries. It is important that these problems be recognized and addressed. In what follows I will consider these three key problems in the Report's proposals, particularly in its Recommendation 5 (Rec. 5 for short). Other problems have been identified by others among us. They also bear careful consideration.
As I was preparing this review of David Kelsey's provocative treatment of redemption, none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California, was already bandying about the word in the media. Explaining his refusal to commute the death sentence of Stanley "Tookie" Williams, the governor-cum-theologian said, "[Williams'] redemption may not be complete."
It is clear that the governor was operating under a certain definition of redemption, clearly popular in our hyper-individualistic culture, bathed as we are in self-help. In our cultural milieu, redemption is a human act of will, something that Mr. Williams ought to be able to "do," and, barring that redemptive accomplishment, he somehow forfeits his right to live. Lest any in the faith community believe that this understanding is remotely Christian, Kelsey's book comes along and reminds us that redemption is not a self-help project or a human project at all; redemption is a gift of grace, an act of God, and we are simply invited to live into this redemptive space in response.
Broken covenant. Broken covenant. Broken covenant.
Over and over and over again.
Faithless faithless faithless.
Jeremiah, O Jeremiah,
I've seen how Rembrandt painted you:
your head in your hands, eyes downcast,
shoulders slumped.
God has been in covenant with faithless people.
But in exile they pray for forgiveness,
reminding God who God is:
a God of covenant love
a God of mercy.
They promise to repent.
Jane Adams Spahr, an ordained Presbyterian pastor, was found not guilty of misconduct March 3 after a trial on charges that she violated the denomination's position on same-sex marriage by performing weddings for two lesbian couples.
The Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) of Redwoods Presbytery said in a written ruling that the marriage of same-sex couples is not "outside of, or contrary to, the essentials of the Reformed faith as understood" by the presbytery. Spahr, 63, a longtime lesbian activist in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), had faced sanctions ranging from a reprimand to removal from ministry. She was exultant after the verdict. "Today the church recognized that God's love is for all, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people," Spahr said afterward. "This historic ruling means that as a minister I can exercise my conscience to marry two people who have demonstrated their commitment to love, honor and cherish one another."
The presbytery's judicial commission ruled 6-1 that Spahr was acting within her "right of conscience" in 2004 and 2005 when she performed same-sex unions for the couples. The PJC added, in its majority opinion: "We also find that the accused acted within the normative standards of Redwoods Presbytery, faithfully reporting to it her activities at reasonable intervals."
Spahr had pleaded not guilty, although she acknowledged that she'd married Annie Senechal to Sherrill Figuera on May 27, 2005, outside Guerneville, Calif., near San Francisco. Neither woman is Presbyterian. She also acknowledged marrying the other couple, Barbara Jean Douglass and Connie Valois, on Aug. 21, 2004, in Rochester, N.Y. They are affiliated with a Presbyterian church in Rochester, but are inactive.
Once every seven or eight years since the World Council of Churches was founded in 1948, there has been an "assembly" that gathers delegates of member churches, official observers from other churches and agencies, WCC staff, co-opted staff and visitors. The Ninth Assembly of the WCC convened on February 14, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, following four related, pre-assembly conferences of Christian women, youth, Indigenous peoples and persons with disabilities.
Of the nine WCC assemblies convened over 58 years, this was the first to take place in Latin America. It was also the first assembly since September 11, 2001 and the declaration of an official "war on terror." This made it the first assembly since the U.S. carried out its doctrine of pre-emptive war in the invasion of Iraq, despite the opposition of many church leaders. From an internal perspective, Porto Alegre was significant in being the first assembly since the work of the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the World Council of Churches. For a variety of reasons, then, expectations were high for decisions and actions that might emerge from the Ninth Assembly. But was the institution of such an "assembly" up to the tasks at hand?
Like it or not, the stated clerk is the Presbyterian Church's lead ecumenical officer.
Like it or not, the present stated clerk is a self-avowed ecumaniac. He works hard for Christianity-wide unity.
Like it or not, the World Council of Churches, on whose executive committee Stated Clerk Cliff Kirkpatrick has just completed a six-year term, provides the PC(USA) its most expansive network of ecumenical relationships.
Like it or not, the recently concluded meeting of the WCC presented a picture of great unity. And it provided a platform for others to cry out their contempt for American Christians.
Like it or not, we need to deal with that.
The Advisory Committee on the Constitution recently issued its formal advice regarding the report of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) -- and has concluded that what the task force is recommending "is clear and within the power of the General Assembly to approve if it chooses."
That leaves the assembly, which will meet in Birmingham in June, free to decide what it wants to do about the task force report, which so far already has inspired both strong support and intense criticism.
The ACC traced in its advice the history of Presbyterian decision-making regarding the ordination of gays and lesbians. The denomination's constitution limits ordination to those who practice fidelity if they are married or chastity if they are single.
The task force is recommending that those national ordination standards remain in place, but asks the assembly to issue a new authoritative interpretation that would allow local governing bodies to determine whether departures from those standards would violate essentials of Reformed polity and faith, or should be permitted.
A council of churches, of course, is not what we need. This is admitted implicitly in all the talk about "the ecumenical movement" when supporters of the World Council of Churches (WCC) congregate for a conference, or a symposium, or -- once every seven years or so -- a WCC assembly. What we really need is neither a council of churches nor any manner of super-church, but a movement of disciples capable of following Jesus without continually tripping over one another.
But a council of churches is what we have. The World Council was created during the first half of the twentieth century by members of an array of prior movements: the Student Christian Movement, the student volunteer movement for missions, the Faith and Order movement (concerned over theological differences), the Life and Work movement (for social action and diaconal ministries), a movement for international peace through friendship among the churches, as well as assorted educational networks descended from the Sunday School movement. The WCC regularly updates its historical "river map" showing how these streams mingled over the decades, one confluence followed by another joining of tributaries, combining into -- of all things -- a council of churches.
Also featured in the Outlook forum this issue: Unity and Purity by Richard Lovelace
Mae West said, "I used to be Snow White, but I drifted."
Isn't that the way we usually make compromises--we just drift a bit? We make an assumption that just seems right and worry about consequences later. Here's one: My private pursuit of happiness is no one's business. Many Americans believe that as long as we stay out of each other's lane and obey the traffic laws, then what happens inside my car should not concern you. Yet, on the contrary, what happens inside the car affects how we relate to traffic. Still, the prevailing assumption is that private freedom trumps common values. Many within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have been chasing this trend.
This drift towards the priority of the private has been gradual but steady. And like the frog in the kettle that cannot detect the temperature rising, our common doctrinal values are slowly getting cooked. There is such confusion about doctrine that many people in the church deflect time-tested, biblical truth, thinking that they are being more Presbyterian by doing so. Some think that exchanging our confessional point of reference for the Spirit of the Age is what it means to be the "church reformed and always reforming."
Editor's note: This is the fifth in a series of stories entitled: "What is a Presbyterian Elder?"
According to the Book of Order, elders have responsibilities that are rather broadly defined: "Together with ministers of the Word and Sacrament, they exercise leadership, government and discipline and have responsibilities for the life of a particular church as well as the church at large, including ecumenical relationships. They shall serve faithfully as members of the session" (G-.0302).
(ENI) A U.S. religious freedom watchdog commission says it is "deeply concerned" about what it calls a worsening situation for religious minorities in Iran.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created in 1998 by the U.S. Congress to monitor the status of freedom of thought and of religious practice outside the United States. It provides independent policy recommendations to the U.S. government.
Michael Cromartie, the commission chairman, said the current pattern of rhetoric in Iran is similar to that heard during the early years of the Iranian revolution which, he said, ushered in years of severe human-rights violations against members of non-Islamic religious minorities, particularly the Baha'i community.
© Copyright 2026 The Presbyterian Outlook. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Statement. Website by Web Publisher PRO