When our daughter was five she began to have more than the usual difficulty going to sleep at night. She cried when we put her to bed, used all of the "tricks" we'd learned to ignore for staying awake, and frequently woke up during the night calling out to us or weeping. After several days of this behavior that was exhausting all of us, I decided it was time to talk. We walked home from kindergarten and stopped at the park.
"Do you know why you're afraid at night?" I asked.
"Yes," she said softly.
"Can you tell me about it?"
"I can tell you what I wish," was her answer.
"What do you wish?"
"You won't get mad?" she asked, turning her tear-filled eyes toward my face.
"I won't get mad. I promise."
"Mommy, could we please not watch the news at breakfast any more?"
It took my brain a few seconds to process this request, but I managed to say, "Well, of course! We don't even have to have the TV on in the mornings. Would that help?"
"I think so," she said with the most incredible look of relief on her face.
I'm a news junkie. Many of us are, and the media encourages us to believe that the most significant thing we can do in a crisis is to know everything there is to know. But the news has been scary for a long time: terrorists, plane crashes, war, a tsunami, hurricanes are just pieces of what children have learned about in the last five years. As families and as church we have a responsibility for offering help and hope for our children in frightening times. All of us, our children included, need to be reminded regularly of our certainty that God is present comforting us, loving us, suffering with us, and that God can be trusted never to leave us, even, perhaps especially, when things we cannot explain happen.
(PNS) Nearly 20 overtures about how the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) should deal with the conflict in Israel and Palestine will be considered by this summer's 217th General Assembly.
The majority call for the GA to rescind the process of phased, selective divestment of PC(USA) stock in multinational corporations whose business practices contribute to violence in Israel and Palestine -- a process launched by a decision of the 216th GA (2004).
Those measures would suspend the process now under way in which the Mission Responsibility Through Investment Committee (MRTI) is "engaging" such companies in an effort to get them to change their business practices.
The PC(USA) Board of Pensions and the Presbyterian Foundation oversee a multi-billion-dollar portfolio of investments on the denomination's behalf; only a very small fraction is at play in Israel/Palestine.
The portfolio includes stock in five corporations -- Caterpillar Inc., Citigroup, ITT Industries, Motorola and United Technologies -- now being "engaged" by MRTI in the phased, selective divestment process.
The GA deadline for overtures with financial implications was April 17; for those with no financial implications it is May 1.
The Sunday School bulletin board quietly announces "Joseph: A Life of Changes" but down the hall there is nothing quiet about what the elementary children are doing!
In the Drama Room, three kindergarteners are dressed like Egyptian royalty while others, dressed like nomads, stand waiting for their bags to be filled with grain (or is that sand?). In the Art Room, excited first graders stare intently as oil-based paint, in a variety of colors, is swirled by a teacher who is telling the story of Joseph and how, like the paint, Joseph's life was constantly changing -- all under the direction of God's hand! Occasionally the teacher pauses to invite a child to lay a piece of paper on the paint and lift it gently so that everyone can marvel at the unique artwork with "oohs and ahhs." In the Theater Room, third graders settle into their seats, popcorn in hand, to view a popular video that follows the life of Joseph. In the Game Room, a group of eager fourth graders are wildly ringing their buzzers as they "chime in" with their answers in a rousing game of "Jeopardy" where the questions (in the form of answers of course) all come from the biblical account of Joseph's life. In another corner of the room stands a "Wheel of Fortune" board with this unit's memory verse waiting to be revealed. In the Kitchen, creative fifth grade "cooks" are stirring together their "Twelve Tribe Trail Mix" as they begin to learn about Joseph's family tree and the lineage it would foster. And in the Computer Room, sixth graders are navigating their way to Egypt using a computer game designed by one of the youth of the church.
The story of Jesus and the children is the passage often cited as one key biblical foundation for child advocacy. This is a story beloved by curriculum developers and by artists who illustrate Bible stories for children. There are many winsome paintings that depict beautiful laughing children, hair shining with cleanliness and spotless clothing. Such illustrations are attractive, but I've often wondered if we don't do an injustice to the power behind the narrative when we show the children in this way.
So I was struck with the way Joyce Ann Mercer explores that story in Mark's gospel. In her book, Welcoming the Children: A Theology of Childhood1, Mercer examines specific stories from Mark's gospel to address the question of how children appear in Mark's telling of the story. Child advocates most often use the story of Jesus welcoming the children from Matthew or Luke. But in focusing on Mark's account instead (Mark 10:13-16), Mercer helps us to examine the place of children in the context of a culture dominated by the oppressive rule of the Roman Empire. The farming peasant population of that time was crushed under the weight of economic privation. Family structures, and in particular women and children, were under enormous economic pressure. So it's likely that the children in Mark's account were street children who may have straggled after Jesus from place to place, children that Mercer calls "other people's children."
In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah (2 Samuel 11:1a-TNIV).
Welcome to Eastertide, a season to enjoy Easter's afterglow, to anticipate Pentecost's empowerment, and to go off to war.
'Tis the season to prepare for General Assembly.
The spring of 2005--the first GA off year--afforded Presbyterians the luxury of focusing their attention on Jesus' resurrection and the Holy Spirit's outpouring. This year such reflections could be drowned out by saber rattling and megaphone shouting. The 217th war, er, uh, meeting of the GA looms on the Alabama horizon--just three months away.
Looking at the Book of Order, Earl S. Johnson Jr. outlines the role of the session — a board of elders that guides a Presbyterian church.
Almost thirty years ago when I was a seminary student, I preached at chapel services at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. I remember those beginner sermons, because in preparing them I wrestled with two Scriptures that have subsequently become life verses for me. Maybe these Scriptures also speak to you, and perhaps they even speak to our denomination.
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.
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..
In the March 29, 1944 edition of The Presbyterian of the South, editors E.T. Thompson and Aubrey Brown announced that the magazine was changing its name to The Presbyterian Outlook. They explained:
We choose this name because it describes our purpose and hope--to give the Presbyterian outlook on evangelism, stewardship, missions (at home and abroad), education, worship, morals and life; the Presbyterian outlook on the problems of the individual, the home, the Church, the nation (especially our problems here in the South), and the world; the Presbyterian outlook on things past, things present, and on the things which are still to come.
We have been and we shall remain Presbyterian.
We shall endeavor, with God's help, to present a helpful, constructive, Presbyterian, thoroughly Christian outlook on all matters which properly concern us--as Christians and as Presbyterians.
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.
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.
(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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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: The challenge of true compassion by Tim Filston
For my first Homiletics sermon at Westminster Theological Seminary my text was Paul's challenge to the elders of the church, in Acts 20:28-31: Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he has bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, grievous wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number persons will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!
At the time I preached that sermon, I was sure that the current meaning of "wolves" was "Protestant Liberals," who had explained away much of the text of Holy Scripture. After decades of historical research, I have not changed that opinion. However, I have learned that religious wolves come in many shapes and sizes. Left to ourselves, acting without the restraining or inspiring grace of God's Spirit, any of us can tear and divide the flock. A great hymn, "The Church's One Foundation," describes it:
Though with a scornful wonder
This world sees her oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder,
By heresies distressed ...
When Luther wrote his first commentary on Galatians (1519), he was concerned to confront both heresy and schism. He knew that the leadership of the church was riddled by sexual antinomianism and other deadly sins, and that it was involved in theological heresy that had corrupted its center in Rome.
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."
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
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 editorial combines with two other articles, Presbyterians and the "40 Days of Purpose" and Purpose-Driven and Presbyterian: One new paradigm at work, to provide analysis of the purpose-driven church paradigm
Many Reformed Christians shook their heads in dismay when Robert Schuller's book, Self-Esteem: The New Reformation (Word Books, 1982), made its way into print.
How could he possibly think that attaining a good self-concept could replace the gospel's drama of sin ... forgiveness ... redemption, they wondered.
How could categories drawn from pop psychology supplant terms used in holy Scripture, they protested.
The reformation he helped launch has been one not of theology but of methodology. That reformation commenced when he formed a church by visiting hundreds of Garden Grove, Calif., homes, asking folks, "Do you go to church?" and "If not, why not?" Based upon their responses, he shaped his drive-in church's liturgy around people's expressed desires rather than adhere to some of the classical traditions of the Reformed churches. In the process he jettisoned the language of Zion and replaced it with terms whose meanings were self-evident to secular people. He shortened or eliminated parts of worship perceived to be boring. In the process, communication effectiveness took precedence over confessional precision and biblical exposition.
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