Voices

Elders on the loose

Both ministers and elders are, in our polity, presbyters and have taken solemn vows that differ only as to function. In governing bodies, we proclaim the parity of presbyters, and make this a main feature of our church's life.

When the idea of limited terms became a reality in the church, two situations arose. Some elders served with distinction and had no desire to be placed on a ready list. A congregation I served made the decision that one particularly long-term and honored elder would be placed in a special category and made an elder for life.

The other situation is that many elders are elected, serve, and then cease to serve while retaining ordination without any relationship to a governing body.

The rotary system is good in intent. Its adoption may have created a situation not expected.

Let's look at the office of Minister of Word and Sacrament. First, and foremost, he or she is a presbyter who must be a member of a presbytery. If a minister ceases to be related to a presbytery, he or she may be allowed to lay aside the office.

Hope Weed

Our Christian symbols seem, at times, not quite appropriate to the meaning that they bear. For instance, take the Easter lily, white..

In life and in death we belong to God

Editor's Note: This sermon was preached at the memorial service for James E. Andrews, former stated clerk, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) at Oakhurst Church, in Decatur, Ga., on March 12 by current PC(USA) Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick.

Scripture: Romans 8: 28-39

Jim Andrews was always at his best at General Assemblies. He could do amazing things there.

I will never forget the Phoenix Assembly in 1984 when Jim was elected stated clerk of the newly reunited Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Jim was masterful in the way he reached out and connected with the commissioners and advisory delegates. What convinced me that he was a master at this was when the Youth Advisory delegates gave Jim teddy bears because they thought he was "so cuddly!" I had thought of Jim as many things: a statesperson for the church, an architect of Presbyterian reunion, an ecumenist, a "drum major" for social justice, an able Constitutional interpreter -- but never "cuddly!"  He had an amazing ability to connect with people when critical issues of the church were at stake -- and I knew that he had done that with the youth at that Assembly -- even if it did lead them to what seemed a strange conclusion to me.

A vision for the GAC

Thank you for your recent editorial about the General Assembly Council recommendation to restructure its internal organization. Through this effort we seek to create a flexible, responsive system for discerning the guidance of the Spirit as we coordinate the mission activities of the General Assembly.

You have correctly sensed several of the shortcomings of the current model: unfunded program initiatives, trying to be all things to all people, and an internal structure that encourages Council members to become specialists rather than to envision the broad scope of ministries we enable. These issues were among those that led the Council over the past several years to focus energies on self-assessment, conversations with middle governing bodies, and ultimately to clarify the basic function of the Council, along with the role of staff.

Just as we do

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?

WCC and global Christianity: Stated Clerk explores ecumenist role

(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.

We would see Jesus

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.

WCC: Opinion and observations

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.

Presbyterians and the “40 Days of Purpose”

Editors Note:  In its ongoing effort to support effective local church ministry and mission, the Outlook invites its readers to consider alternative models of church ministry being developed in sister churches around the denomination.  This analysis of the 40 Days of Purpose combines with two other articles, A new Reformation? and Purpose-Driven and Presbyterian: One new paradigm at work, to provide analysis of the purpose-driven church paradigm

In the spring of 2004, Covenant Church in San Antonio, Texas, joined the international throng of congregations to employ Rick Warren's "40 Days of Purpose" campaign. Our session read and discussed Warren's book, The Purpose-Driven Life, and formed the steering committee for our campaign. After paying the licensing fee, we received all the necessary resources and materials required to conduct a campaign for our congregation according to Warren's protocol.

The campaign, which invites the participation of every church member, consists of a variety of interrelated events and experiences. The most important is the reading of The Purpose-Driven Life, which is organized into 40 daily readings. Other elements include: weekly small group discussions of the readings, large group "catalytic" events such as kick-off celebrations, templates for coordination of worship services and sermons, a mission and ministry fair, and a closing celebration.

While we did not utilize all of the components of the campaign, most notably the sermon notes and outlines, we did add some distinctively Presbyterian flavors to our version of "40 Days of Purpose." For our adult Sunday church school classes, we adapted lessons from the curriculum resource The Great Ends of the Church by Joseph Small [©1997 Congregational Ministries Publishing, Presbyterian Church (USA), Louisville Ky.] It corresponds to the five purposes of The Purpose-Driven Life. The language and order are different, however, so we ordered the Great Ends according to the order of the purposes:

Worship -- The Maintenance Of Divine Worship

Fellowship -- The Shelter, Nurture, and Spiritual Fellowship of the Children of God

Discipleship -- The Preservation of the truth

Ministry -- The Promotion of Social Righteousness

Evangelism -- The Proclamation of the Gospel for the Salvation of Humankind

As Evangelicals, It’s Time We Focus on Our Own Sins

c. 2006 Religion News Service

When I attended the 'The Hand of God in U.S. Politics' seminar recently at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the attendees seemed alarmed about the power of 'the religious right.' As the panelists and attendees voiced their concern, I sat quietly wondering, 'How is it that when the world thinks of American evangelicals, it thinks primarily of political issues instead of our love for others or our loyalty to Jesus?'

It occurred to me that the misconception may be our own fault. Could it be that we have gone 'off message'? It seems that the only message many people associate with the church is a message of condemnation. After 9-11, some church leaders began pointing their fingers in blame at national social sins as the reason for what

They seemed to believe was God's judgment. Again, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we heard some Christians suggesting it was God's judgment.

But could it be that God is less concerned about the sin of the world than he is about the sin within the church?

Suffering and rejoicing together

If one member suffers, all suffer together ... (I Cor. 12:26.)

There are certainly many parts of the church hurting at this time. I am particularly aware of the Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS) and its facility in Montreat. I served as the moderator of the task forced charged with the responsibility of exploring the future direction for the PHS operations.

My first trip to Montreat was in 1970, one of the first Youth Conferences. Several members of our youth group approached the session to ask permission to raise money in order to attend the youth conference in Montreat. This was highly unusual in a PCUS church that strictly adhered to a unified budget. Our youth director took me to the PHS facility because our session had sent its records there that summer to be copied. She showed me the minutes where my name had been recorded. I was impressed that our church's records could be found in Montreat. But I was more impressed with Lookout Mountain, and the coffee house (this was the 70's) in Upper Anderson Auditorium, and the worship services. Even so, I caught a glimpse of our connectional church.

We begin to see

Through the Lenten window

the loudspeaker blares "Repent and Believe."

We light our candle and try to see through the darkness.

The loudspeaker won't stop:

Repent and believe. Repent and believe. Repent

   and believe.

On and on and on and on.

In the distance through the noise

Jesus is speaking.

Suffer. Rejection. Death. Rise in three days.

Peter's voice now through the loudspeaker,

over the voice of Jesus.

"God forbid it, Lord. This must never happen to you."

Then the One who had earlier called Peter the Rock

on whom he would build his Church,

now calls Peter Satan! Get behind me, Satan!

Peter, a stumbling block, worldly, not godly.

Peter who had followed Jesus immediately,

   fiercely, faithfully,

Peter who knew Jesus, Peter who called Jesus the Messiah,

This Peter was now a stumbling block to the One whom he

   so fervently loved!

Repent and believe! Repent and believe!

No other gods

Our church school teacher tried to dilute the story,

but I had a picture of Jesus with the whip in his hand

The whip was snapping ... I could almost hear it. ...

The moneychangers cowered against the whip's threat;

Tables were overturned.

Some of the men were up and running.

The cows and sheep were scattering.

Doves were scrambling in their cages.

Coins were rolling and flying through the air.

The face of Jesus showed fury!

Cows and sheep and doves sold for sacrifices,

Roman money changed into the Tyrian shekels

required for the annual head tax

that went into the temple treasury.

In other words, it was church business.

But Jesus thought otherwise:

God's house was being desecrated.

He drove the moneychangers out of the temple.

But that was then

and that was that.

Except of course.

they did tear down the temple ...

Jesus' temple

and he did rebuild it three days later.

Crucifixion. Resurrection.

Then the disciples understood

that the Church was the Body of Jesus.

What if ID Is true?

I am a scientist. I am also a Christian. As a scientist, I believe in the laws of nature that govern much -- some might say all -- of what happens. As a Christian, I affirm that God designed and created the universe and its natural laws, although Scripture is vague about the details. In this sense, I believe in God's intelligent design. That is theology, not science.

However the proponents of "Intelligent Design" (ID) claim something different. ID is proposed as a scientifically valid alternative to Darwinian natural selection. It holds that "certain features in the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection" (definition from the Discovery Institute web site). ID is attractive to many religious people because it appears to offer a scientific basis for William Paley's "watch found on the beach" design argument for God. However, trust in ID may be premature.

U.S. District Court Judge John E. Jones III, in his decision in Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District, et al., wrote: "After a searching review of the record and applicable case law, we find that while ID arguments may be true, a proposition on which the Court takes no position, ID is not science" (p.64). Most scientists agree. As commonly understood, an acceptable scientific explanation may use only empirically established universal principles ("laws of nature"). "Design" as understood by ID does not satisfy this criterion. ID proponents argue that science should be redefined to permit non-natural causes for certain kinds of phenomena, which they claim can be identified empirically by normal scientific methods.

Don’t teach religion in science classes

The recent ruling by federal Judge John E. Jones III that it is unconstitutional for public schools in Dover, Pa., to offer intelligent design as a scientifically valid alternative to evolution is a graphic reminder that our schools are the most visible battlegrounds in today's culture wars.

The divisive struggles deciding our nation's future are being fought at thousands of up-close-and-personal public school board meetings. At such bitter sessions, board members argue with one another and with an audience of often-angry parents.

In October 2004, the Dover school board voted to make certain that "students will be made aware of gaps/problems in Darwin's theory and of other theories of evolution including, but not limited to, intelligent design." The clear aim was to present intelligent design (or ID) as a scientific explanation for the creation of the world and the human family.

Although ID adherents rarely mention God, most of them are theologically conservative Christians and frequently speak of their faith in creationism -- the belief that the biblical account of creation found in Genesis is scientifically accurate.

c. 2005 Religion News Service

Why Belhar? Why now?

Martin Luther reminded us we live in a world "with devils filled that threaten to undo us." This line from his hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God, is a powerful image of the forces that seek to pull us apart. In our church, in our nation and around the world, hostilities and hatreds thrive and the peace and unity for which we yearn seem far away.

Does the church have a word to speak into this racial and political strife? In many times of crisis, the church has borne witness to the life-giving power of the gospel in living that takes up the cross of Christ. It has also borne witness in its confessions. One of those confessions has come to us from the suffering experienced by those in the Dutch Reformed Mission Church during the time of apartheid in South Africa -- the Belhar Confession.

So, before answering the questions why Belhar and why now, it might be better to first ask, "What is Belhar?" In response to the oppression of apartheid in South Africa, the Dutch Reformed Mission Church proposed this confession of the Christian faith in a synodical meeting in the town of Belhar in 1982 and adopted it in 1986. It was not only a stance against the injustices of apartheid, it also provided a theological rationale for a way forward in its aftermath. The process of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, which focused on restorative justice rather than punishment, owes much of its motive power to the Belhar Confession.

There is now, in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and in the larger church, a renewed interest in the Belhar Confession. The Reformed Church in America, one of our Formula of Agreement partner churches, is currently considering whether it should be included among their confessional documents.

Is the “Big Lie” no big deal?

It's official. Fibbing is OK if it serves a higher purpose. Oprah said so.*

The queen of all media tossed this ethical grenade recently when she called CNN's Larry King to defend his guest, James Frey, author of mega-best-seller A Million Little Pieces. Frey's memoir of addiction and recovery was featured on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" when it was anointed the October selection of the world's most powerful book club.

The champagne went flat in January when The Smoking Gun, a Web site devoted to investigative reporting, posted a damning story with the tantalizing tagline "The Man Who Conned Oprah." What followed was an old-school piece of "gotcha!" journalism that showed how Frey had embellished and, in some cases, fabricated significant events in the account of his life. Frey admitted to King he had taken dramatic license but said he stood by "the essential truth" of his life. As King was about to sign off, Winfrey phoned to say the report outing Frey was "much ado about nothing."

What mattered, Winfrey said, was that millions of people struggling with their own monkey-on-the-back habits had read Frey's book and felt better. In a nation addicted to feeling good, she implied, swallowing a little pill of deception is a small price to pay.

Winfrey's take on lying is not new -- Machiavelli said it first when he wrote, "the end justifies the means," the greatest rationalization for bad acts ever -- and it appears plenty of Americans agree.

The ordination of women

I had just a short time with Courtney, a six-year-old girl who helped me clean up after church school. In a quick fifteen minutes, I needed to finish the job and put on my preaching robe to lead the worship service. I made small talk with her as we gathered the magazine pages and put the glue sticks away. Her parents did not attend the rural church in South Louisiana, but she visited regularly with a friend. I did not know her well, so I was in the middle of asking her those generic grown-up questions. I finished inquiring about her favorite subject in school and moved on to, "Courtney, what do you want to do when you grow up?" I expected the same answers that I usually hear: an astronaut, a ballerina or a teacher.

Courtney stopped. A smile began in the corner of her mouth that told me she was bursting with the news. "I want to be...um. I want to do what you do. I want to be a pastor."

"You do?" My excitement brimmed so that I was the one bursting. We stood in a tiny classroom in a country church, but it felt like Courtney and I had passed by a huge milestone and changed history. It caused me to look back to see the long stretch behind us and made me resolve to finish the road ahead. 

I grew up in the seventies, when little girls were told that they could do anything. I clearly remember when I was Courtney's age and my grade school teacher informed me that I could become the president of the United States, if I wanted to. But I did not want to be president; I, like Courtney, wanted to be in the ministry. Of course, during that time women struggled to have it all and I saw glass ceilings shatter every day in boardrooms, on the Supreme Court, and in Congress. Yet I had never seen a woman pastor before, so I could not conceive of leading a congregation. I did not know that it was an option.  

Political agenda, threats spoiled realm of marshmallows and ‘Kum Ba Yah’

Special to The Tampa Tribune, used by permission

Editor's note: Derek Maul, a Presbyterian free-lance writer who has written for the Presbyterian News Service and Presbyterians Today magazine, wrote this piece shortly after a church camp supported by Peace River and Tampa Bay presbyteries was forced by threats of violence to cancel a leadership event for Muslim youth (see news story on page 6.)  -- Jerry L. Van Marter, coordinator of Presbyterian News Service.

TAMPA, FLA. -- (PNS) My friends run a church camp. You remember church camp? Campfires, marshmallows, best friends, starlit nights. "Kum Ba Yah," holding hands, cookouts, rain every day.

Church camp. You know, the place that's all about people coming together, prayer, hugs, surmounting barriers, spiritual breakthroughs, learning to listen to God. It's about as far away from politics as you can get. Or at least it should be.

Last week my friends had their lives and their children threatened and their patriotism questioned. They had to close the church camp and take their children to a safe place. They had to make other arrangements for a group of -- this is ironic -- international students, visitors from overseas celebrating Christmas and learning about America.

So why did my friends and their guests have to leave in such a hurry? Because their safety and their lives were threatened by Americans who wanted to carry a political agenda into the realm of marshmallows and "Kum Ba Yah."

Is the Presbyterian Church (USA) Anti-Semitic?

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has received intense criticism since July of 2004 when it passed a resolution calling for "phased selective divestment" from companies that are profiting from the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza in Israel/Palestine. Most of this criticism has accused the church of being anti-Semitic. Anti-Semitism is a problem throughout the United States and throughout the world, so the question of whether the PC(USA) is contributing to such an evil needs to be taken seriously. Yet some of the harshest criticism has come not from outside the church but from within it.

One Presbyterian minister who has been outspoken about the PC(USA)'s actions wrote what many other pastors have expressed from their pulpits, "We are profoundly disturbed by our leaders and by the delegates who favored these anti-Israel, anti-Semitic actions." (https://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0 /module/displaystory/story_id/23583/edition_id/468/format/html/displaystory.html ) In an e-mail correspondence, one pastor went so far as to say, "The Presbyterian church must come to terms with the fact that it is an unrepentant denomination of anti-Semitism and hubris in its pronouncements." Ouch.

Yet even if most critics within the church aren't willing to go as far as this pastor, many more are concerned that while the church may be well intentioned, our actions may yet be perceived to be anti-Semitic. Those of us who are involved in Jewish-Presbyterian dialogs find this criticism puts us in a bit of a pickle because, while we are attempting to accurately represent the church's position, such criticism certainly lends credence to the expressed concerns of our Jewish partners. So the question that begs to be addressed is what might it mean for the PC(USA) or the actions of the church to be anti-Semitic?