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Changes recommended to accommodate move to biennial General Assemblies

LOUISVILLE — With a change to biennial assemblies on the horizon for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — the 2002 General Assembly voted for the denomination to start holding its annual policy-setting meeting every other year, beginning in 2006 — some new ground rules have to take effect.

And the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly is recommending that, when the change takes effect:

Voices

PFR Board Speaks on Church Discipline

The Board of Directors of Presbyterians for Renewal, meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, Sept. 28, 2002, issued the following statement:

We believe in and intend to follow faithfully Jesus Christ as Lord of all, and the will of God as revealed in the Holy Scripture.

Voices

Meeting less often is not better

Following the advice of this past General Assembly, the next time a feuding family comes into my office seeking pastoral counseling, I guess I should tell them, "Meet less often!" Sounds like absurd, bad advice when spoken to a feuding family, doesn’t it? It is equally bad counsel when spoken by the GA to a denomination which is an extended, feuding family system.

Book Reviews

Struggling with Scripture

By Walter Brueggemann, William C. Placher and Brian K. Blount
WJKP. 2002. 80 pp. Pb. $9.95. ISBN 0-664-22485-7

— review by David W. A. Taylor, Cary, N.C.

This little book of 80 pages is an immensely useful resource for interpreting the Scripture within the cultural context of our time. These three biblical scholars of unimpeachable reputation take the Bible with utmost seriousness, yet not as fundamentalists. They insist that we must struggle with Scripture if its word is to be “a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.”

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Coalition gathering talks of fixing the PC(USA) – a ‘broken organization’ – with ‘radical reform’

ORLANDO — One of the best lines to come out of the Presbyterian Coalition's national gathering Oct. 3-5 came from Jerry Andrews, a pastor from Chicago, saying that as a Coalition leader "I have preened and postured and posed for you" and "almost perfected the art of whining," but now "the days of whine and poses are over."

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Changes recommended in handling sexual abuse reports; cases were largely ignored for 40 years

LOUISVILLE — An independent committee investigating allegations of physical and sexual abuse involving the children of missionaries in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has determined there is "overwhelming" evidence that one charismatic, well-respected Presbyterian missionary sexually abused at least 22 girls and women over nearly a 40-year period, both in Africa and in the United States, from 1946 through 1985.

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Victims who told their stories should be recognized as heroes says leader of inquiry

LOUISVILLE — The women who told investigators that they had been sexually abused by a Presbyterian missionary while their parents were missionaries in the Congo — and whose revelations have led the leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to say publicly that they will try to strengthen denominational policies to prevent such abuse from happening in the future — were "being asked to open a wound in front of strangers" and should be "embraced and recognized as the heroes that they are," a lawyer who led the PC(USA)'s independent committee of inquiry said Tuesday.

Book Reviews

The Sprituality of Men

Philip L. Culbertson, ed.
Fortress. 2002. 282 pp. Pb. $22. ISBN 0-8006-3447-0

— review by J. David Wiseman, Cary, N.C.

A story is told of several Americans traveling in Africa, who had hired a native guide to lead them up a mountain. As they climbed, the guide stopped for rest more frequently than the hikers desired. Growing impatient, one hiker finally posed the question, "Why are we stopping so often?" The wise guide responded, "We need to give our souls time to catch up with our bodies."

Editorials

Reinventing Theological Education II

As stated in this column last week, the 10 theological seminaries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) collectively are arguably the most important set of institutions beyond the congregation, with which they have a symbiotic relationship. To the extent that the Presbyterian tradition depends on learned ministers and educated lay people, derived from a deeply ingrained commitment to serving God with the mind, the seminaries are indispensable.

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GAC calls for prayer, peace over war in Iraq; narrowly rejects paper on role of news service

LOUISVILLE — The General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) approved a statement Saturday, Sept. 28, regarding Iraq — calling for prayer and asking national leaders "to speak in ways that encourage peace, rather than war."

It also narrowly turned down a proposal from the News Advisory Council to clarify the role of the Presbyterian News Service — a proposal that some cautioned could give denominational leaders more leeway to try to "spin" the coverage the news service provides.

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‘We Believe’ curriculum to debut at APCE meeting in Denver in January

LOUISVILLE — Still committed to the idea of publishing its own curriculum, written specifically for Presbyterians, the Congregational Ministries Division of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is preparing to roll out its new product, called "We Believe," in January.

Voices

Covenant Network Board Adopts Statment on Constitutional Observance

Meeting in Chicago this week, the Board of Directors of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians discussed current actions within the Presbyterian Church and adopted the following statement:

"The Covenant Network of Presbyterians is committed to working for the removal of G-6.0106b from the Book of Order.

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Council will apologize to victims of sexual abuse by missionaries

LOUISVILLE — A committee investigating sexual abuse that Presbyterian missionaries allegedly committed against children in Africa from 1945 to 1978 has reported back — and leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) plan to send a letter of apology to those who endured the abuse and to set up a work group to consider what steps to take next.

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Financial picture not rosy for PC(USA)

LOUISVILLE — The General Assembly Council's Mission Support Services Committee received an update Thursday on the financial picture of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for the year so far — and there is some cause for concern.

Receipts are down about 7 percent for the year through August, although it's too soon to tell if that picture will hold, said Joey Bailey, the PC(USA) deputy for mission support services.

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Council will consider statement on Iraq

LOUISVILLE — The General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is considering whether to make a statement about the possibility of U.S. military action against Iraq.

The council is considering whether to make an interim statement — a formal statement the council can make on important issues between meetings of the General Assembly — or to issue a pastoral letter, to summarize General Assembly policy statements regarding Iraq, or not to say anything at all.

Voices

Some Room for Further Exploration

It is not surprising that my first reaction on reading "A Future for Our Seminaries" was to say, "Of course, that’s right; our seminaries are doing a good job." The intensive work that C. Ellis Nelson, Bob Lynn and I did (along with Larry Jones, the "outsider" who was dean of Howard University Divinity School) as consultants for part of the major study mentioned by Nelson, opened up avenues of thought that could extend over a lifetime. Here I choose only to quarrel a bit with one of his recommendations, and then to mention five areas which we need to explore further.

Voices

A Promising Point of Departure

Anthropologist Mary Catherine Bateson wrote several years ago, "Men and women confronting change are never fully prepared for the demands of the moment." But "they are strengthened to meet uncertainty if they can claim a history of improvisation and a habit of reflection."

Voices

A Future for our Seminaries

Presidents of Presbyterian seminaries are often asked, "How is the seminary getting along?" The answer most presidents give includes two observations. The..

Voices

Is the Church’s Call for Younger Seminarians Realisitic?

Yes — if demographers’ forecasts of significantly increasing enrollment at all levels of the education system over the next decade are accurate.

According to the Condition of Education 2001 report by the Education Department’s National Center of Education Statistics, full-time, four-year undergraduate enrollments will grow faster than part-time and two-year college enrollments during the next decade. The report also forecasts college enrollment of women will continue to outpace that of men during the next 10 years.

Editorials

Reinventing Theological Education

The Presbyterian Outlook is pleased once again to present the list of those Presbyterian graduates from theological institutions across the country, and to honor them as many begin careers in ministry. And all of us join General Assembly Moderator Fahed Abu-Akel in best wishes to each of our graduates.

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Issues run the gamut as international listening teams visit the PC(USA)

The idea seemed pretty straightforward: take 10 "listening" teams, each with one Muslim and one Christian from another country, and send them around the United States for about two weeks, talking with as many Presbyterians along the way as they could jam into the schedule. Hope that what comes out is a better understanding of relations between Muslims and Christians, and perhaps a desire by Presbyterians in the pews to know more about the Islamic world.

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GAC will review role of Presbyterian News Service

The General Assembly Council will be asked at its Sept. 25-29 meeting in Louisville to review the role of the Presbyterian News Service, and to consider how the denomination’s news service should approach the reporting of controversial stories.

The discussion has been provoked, in part, because there are differing opinions about what the news service should do — how much editorial freedom it should have, or how much it should reflect official church policy — and how well it’s been doing its job.

Editorials

Who is Our Neighbor?

As suggested in this column last week, we have an obligation to reach out to those Christian brothers and sisters in our own fold who for whatever reason have become distant or estranged — either by our action, or theirs, or by both — before we go to the Table of our Lord.

Book Reviews

Pursuing Peace

By Albert N. Wells
Rainbow. 2002. 264 pp. Pb. $14.95.ISBN 1-56825-082-7

— reviewed by Albert C. Winn, Winston-Salem, N.C.

The year 2002 does not appear to be a good time for publishing a book on the pursuit of peace. But Al Wells has done it, despite the widespread approval of national policies of war and retaliation which has followed the horrendous breach of peace on Sept. 11, 2001. On the cover of this book, the subtitle "It’s the Thing to Do" is altered by an insertion that makes it read, "It’s still the Thing to Do."

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Philadelphia Presbytery NCDs offer a glimpse of the PC(USA)’s future

When some folks think Presbyterian, they think "frozen chosen," a collection of mostly well-to-do, well-buttoned-up, well-intentioned white people. But the General Assembly’s recent decision to go ahead with the Mission Initiative — a five-year campaign to raise $40 million from big donors for international mission work and new church development in the United States — is a sign that the vision can extend well beyond that, and that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) can, if it’s willing, nurture a more diverse, more creative, more open-ended definition of the church of the future.