The new Archbishop of Canterbury, His Grace Rowan Williams, is a highly intelligent man. In his most recent book , Lost Icons he discusses the function of "play" in Western society. "Games," he writes, "are unproductive." By this he means that the purpose of a game is not to manufacture a product. Its goal is not "competition for limited goods."
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is entering a critical period in its history: life-and-death decisions must be made. The future shape and form of our denomination, its very existence, is in the balance. The PC(USA) will not cease to exist altogether. We know that because there is enough strength for some remnant to last indefinitely, as witnessed by smaller Presbyterian bodies that continue to endure with limited numbers.
Last week in this space we began the New Year with a reflection on the biblical and theological concept of the time between the times, that is, between the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and his second coming, as promised in Scripture. The question raised was whether there will be a Presbyterian Church as we know it 30, 40, 50 years from now, and in connection with that question, what God's will for this church in terms of its life and mission might be.
The church has just celebrated Advent and Christmas and now looks toward Easter and Pentecost.
In terms of the triune God's grand plan of salvation, we who belong to Christ are living in the time between the times, between the already and the not yet. We know, by faith, that Christ stands at the beginning and ending of all that is, with the Father and the Holy Spirit. In the meantime God's glorious plans for the creation are unfolding inexorably in human history.
More specifically, God's raising of Jesus from the dead is the center of history, and the beginning of the end of history. As we speak of the time between the times, more properly we are speaking of the time between God's self-revelation in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the inauguration of the kingdom of God (coupled with the extension of the Incarnation, the birth of the church at Pentecost) and Christ's second coming, which will bring to conclusion God's plans for the whole creation.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), like all parts of the universal church of Jesus Christ on Earth, lives in this time between the times, as historically understood. And yet there are an infinite number of far more limited times between the times in the life of the Christian Church down through the ages.
The first decade of the 21st century is just such a time for the Presbyterian Church, a critical time in which life-and-death decisions will need to be made.
This more limited understanding of the time between the times, in the first decade of the 21st century, has at least two facets:
(1) the time between old age and death for the denomination if current trends continue; and
(2) the time between the situation of theological/confessional uncertainty in which we find ourselves today, and a clear affirmation — by most of the Presbyterian Church's ordained leadership — of the foundational convictions of the historic Christian movement.
The latter includes reaffirmation by the ordained leadership of the church of biblically and theologically rooted views of human sexuality, which are the norms according to which the community lives its life together in the world. Widely divergent views on this topic have been the occasion of enormous internal turmoil for several years.
To address the first issue: the time between now and the prospective death of the Presbyterian Church, the question must be raised as to whether this be inevitable, 30, 40, 50 years from now, as suggested by some?
Having a poor visual memory is a source of considerable regret to me. Art historians stir a profound awe in me because they need to know everything that any expert knows and in addition apply it to what they have seen. On the three occasions in my life when I was in some danger of committing the sin of pride, I picked up Charles Cuttler's great book, Northern Painting from Pucelle to Bruegel and committed the sin of envy instead.
We’ve been examining the concept of real presence in this column, and its significance to our understanding of the nature and work of the triune God. God is really present, truly present, in every place all the time. And if that be true, as Christians profess it to be true, then life cannot be lived as if it were not true.
What do you do with the tinsel on the Christmas tree after Christmas? Save it for next year? Decorate birthday gifts? Throw it away?
I still have the handmade Santa Claus that I fashioned out of poster board, and then colored with red crayon (Santa’s suit), with black crayon (Santa’s belt and one boot) and with brown crayon (Santa’s other boot) plus a clump of fluffy cotton glued on for his straggly beard. Santa has hung around on the family Yule tree every year since I was in the first grade.
Once again we approach Christmas. Yet particularly this year, people all over the world are struggling with fear and anxiety: fear of a possible war in the Middle East and its unpredictable consequences far beyond the region; fear of deadly terrorist attacks like those that occurred in Bali or in Moscow recently; fear of loss of livelihood and destitution, as in Argentina; fear of a long-drawn-out illness and death among those living with AIDS, especially in sub-Saharan Africa;
Being a keen observer of the human condition, and a sometimes participant in it, I think it is fair to say that most new mothers love their new babies. When our first child arrived, Margaret exclaimed in wonderment to the attending physician, "I thought all newborns were ugly; my daughter is beautiful!" Nature knows that a baby without a mother's love is in for big trouble. Even government knows.
"Make them stop! Make them stop!" That's my younger daughter's advice to the people in our town who fired up their Christmas lights and decorations, even put up their trees, well before Thanksgiving.
"Don't they know they're rushing the season?" my older daughter asked.
The 214th General Assembly (2002) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) approved 13 amendments to the Book of Order and recommended them to the presbyteries for their affirmative or negative votes.
A majority of the 173 presbyteries must approve an amendment for it to pass. The votes are to be reported to the 215th General Assembly (2003), and all those approved will take effect at that time.
If passed by a majority of presbyteries, Amendment A will create a pathway for certified directors of Christian education (DCE) to become associate pastors (AP) of the Word and Sacrament, and in specified situations to continue to function in their present locations. The following points are lodged against the approval of this amendment.
Is the triune God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — truly present in the world God made and for which Christ died on the cross? That is the question being raised in this space during this season of Advent leading toward Christmas.
The point made in the previous column was that much of what we observe about the life of today's church — modern, acculturated, well-to-do, self-satisfied — would lead the impartial observer to question whether we modern Christians truly believe that God is really present.
Amendment 02-A has five components, each of which seeks to strengthen educational ministry within the PC(USA) by requiring a new competency level from those who answer calls as pastors and associate pastors serving in the role of educator. The first three amendments in this group are attempts to raise standards of educational ministry in the church for persons who feel called to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament with a specialty in education.
Even in the midst of an impassioned discussion regarding our understanding of the nature and practice of ministry, the Presbyterian Church, U.S. A. can be grateful that God is calling us to wrestle seriously with such issues. The question of how to vote on Amendment A challenges each of us to probe deeply our assumptions and expectations of roles and titles commonly used in our denomination. My own prayerful - and difficult - probing of the issues surrounding this amendment and my attitudes regarding those issues, has led me to speak in favor of the proposal set before us.
As one of the members of the Task Force on the Educational Design for the Ordination of Certified Christian Educators, I must take exception to some of the interpretations of the effect of the overtures, and to some of the arguments, offered in the front-page assessment article by Bill Lancaster (Jan. 13-20). Allow me to be specific:
The summaries and responses below are in rebuttal to the con positions presented in the "Assessing the Amendments To the Constitution" article from the Jan. 13-20, 2003 Presbyterian Outlook.
Together the amendments of 02-A.1-5 and 02-C.1-5 provide both theological and institutional clarity on Christian educators in our church today.
Advent/Christmas means nothing if it does not mean the real presence of the triune God with and for God’s people and the world. Incarnation, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, is real presence. The church of Jesus throughout the world, past, present, future, is the real presence of the body of Christ in God’s created order. The Holy Spirit, the awesome personal power of God in us and in all that God has made, is the real presence.
Shall we ordain practicing homosexuals? The way the question is being posed leaves only two possible answers: yes or no. The form of the question has turned the inquiry from seeking more complex resolutions and has pushed us into looking for the solution in the wrong place.
It seems to me that when we strip all extraneous issues from the discussions, the matter grounds to a single question: Is a person born with a sexual preference?
The ultimate result of the Presbyterian Church opening itself to its Lord and the work of the Holy Spirit in the matter of building community will be what a recent General Assembly paper called "Building Community Among Strangers."
The paper eventually approved by the General Assembly in 1999 had a long and conflicted history, but what was produced was finally affirmed by most.
The year 2002 marks the 10th anniversary of the publication of The Presbyterian Presence: The Twentieth Century Experience. The seven volumes, plus study guide, were published by Westminster John Knox Press between 1990 and 1992.
The original initiative from the Lilly Endowment was to commission a series of case studies of mainstream Protestant denominations that were experiencing precipitate decline at the end of the 20th century.
Ten years ago, our nation’s President was George H. W. Bush.
Ten years later, the family is the same, but the middle initials have changed. Ten years ago, we were making demands of Saddam Hussein. Ten years later, we are making demands of Saddam Hussein. Ten years ago, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was struggling over biblical hermeneutics and human sexuality. Ten years later . . . well, you get the idea by now.
We’ve been discussing at some length in this column the need at this time for Presbyterians and the Presbyterian Church to recover the wellsprings of faith and to experience the rebuilding of community under Jesus Christ its Head, and by means of the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit.
How often do you recall final exam questions — or your answers? A decade has passed since I first sat in a classroom furiously composing a response to this question for "Presbyterian Heritage," a course taken in my middler year at Louisville Seminary.Describe the current trajectory of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) as you see it and evaluate that trajectory based on what you consider the distinctive marks of the Presbyterian tradition.
The current directed study on Reformed Theology for certification of Christian educators in our church refers readers to "‘The Presbyterian Predicament’ [by] Coalter, Mulder, Weeks (A six-volume set of the history . . . )." The actual title of the seven-volume set — they wrote another book later — was "The Presbyterian Presence in the 20th Century," but the mistake in thinking of our study as the "Presbyterian Predicament" is both a common one and a telling one.
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