“I can’t imagine anything better for our congregation than to hear from you.” With those words last fall, Rabbi Lucy H.F. Dinner of Raleigh’s Temple Beth Or responded to a letter from Arthur (Art) Ross III, pastor of Raleigh’s White Memorial Church.
Abraham went, and his children followed.
Forty-five “Children of Abraham”— 14 Jews, 15 Christians, 15 Muslims, and one Unitarian-Universalist participated in an interfaith pilgrimage to the Holy Land, February 10-21, 2005, sponsored by the Wilshire Center Interfaith Council of Los Angeles. The pilgrims were led by Rabbi Stephen Julius Stein of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple;
The PC(USA)’s Divestment Policy is a protest of thirty-eight years of Israel’s illegal military occupation in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza. The policy is not anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, or anti-Semitic. Its purpose is to promote the end of the occupation.
Presbyterian and Davidson Colleges have been much in the news in the New South states of South and North Carolina respectively. Leslie Scanlon's article delineates the issue at Presbyterian for the OUTLOOK. We covered the controversial proposal one year ago this month (the June 7th issue). That proposal led to the appointment of a commission to study these matters, chaired by Allen McSween of 4th Presbyterian in Greenville, SC. Since religion is big news everywhere, the secular press has given this college conflict extensive coverage.
In the meantime, this past February, Davidson's trustees amended its statement of purpose (see Rob Spach's Oped piece for the Charlotte Observer, which defends the action) to allow (not recruit but allow) 20% of its trustees be of faiths other than Christian, or of no faith. That action has provoked dismay and heated criticism, even though there are by now scores, if not hundreds, of Davidson alumni/ae who are persons of other faiths.
Davidson College’s Board of Trustees recently decided that people who are not active members of a Christian church may serve on that board. Some have criticized this as a move away from our Christian heritage. I would like to offer a different interpretation, as I see the change as a forward-looking expression of how we want our particular understanding of Christian faith to be embodied.
Saturday night, the night before Easter, about 45 of us gathered in the dusk in the narthex outside the sanctuary doors. We settled ourselves and began to gather our hearts for worship - a new service - a kind of modified Easter Vigil for us to try. The sanctuary doors opened to reveal a path of light - tiny votive candles perched on the side of each pew - making a pathway of light through the dim and dark sanctuary.
“Do you not know?” Paul asks the Romans, and then twice firmly announces, “we know,” “we know.” The language hints that something has been misplaced.
We know—unless we have forgotten. We know—unless we assume it didn’t apply in this case or under these particular circumstances. We know—unless we haven’t calculated the fullest consequences of what we have come to know. We know—unless, of course, we don’t know at all.
I am a Presbyterian Jedi. At least that is what some seem to think. Last year I was elected to the Presbyterian Jedi Council (aka General Assembly Council.) I am now “in the know” and the fate of the denomination is in my hands. Depending on whom you ask, I could be either Obi-Wan Kenobi or Darth Vader. Either way, I get the same questions. Membership is declining and there is financial difficulty. What am I going to do to save the denomination?
I've always been suspicious of dividing things in two. Some of my earliest memories are of wanting the whole thing, but being told that my older brother and I had to divide it up. Cake. Candy bars. That last hamburger, sitting on the grill, begging to be eaten. Even Kleenex. Kleenex? Yes, we used them a half tissue at a time. After all, I was raised by the generation that sacrificed through the Great Depression. I would insist on the whole thing. Then I'd hear those dreaded words: "Boys, you're going to have to divide it in two!"
My childhood selfishness aside, church life in the early 21st century is regrettably full of false dichotomies. And at San Francisco Theological Seminary, we are learning to resist and reject false choices that would require us to embrace only one side of a complex reality. Instead, our goal is to put our arms around the whole big mess that is life in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Liberal or conservative? Yes! We are all both, albeit in different ways and on different subjects. Small church or large church? Yes! God's purposes for service to the world require both, and everything in between. Traditional or contemporary? Yes! Faithfulness requires the best of both. Reformed or ecumenical? Yes! Each requires the other. Theoretical, spiritual, or practical? Yes! Pastoral preparation cannot be comprehensive without all three aspects of formation for ministry, and others as well.
What is your presbytery, session, or congregation doing to prepare for September 15? That day is not on any ecclesiastical calendar. Many congregations are in "start-up" mode after summer vacation. Christian Education and Stewardship dominate the attention of the local church.
However, as far as the PC(USA) is concerned, this is the day the Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity will release its report for consideration, discernment, and conversation. This early release date affords the church in sessions, presbyteries, and church school classes ample time for open, free discussion before the 217th General Assembly meeting in June, 2006, in Birmingham, Ala. That assembly will be asked to act on its recommendations.
"We hope to keep discovering who Jesus is calling us to be as we meet together in the same denomination – and we intend to keep learning, and growing in faith by God’s grace. We will meet again next year and continue our dialogue. We encourage you to do the same."
As the PCUSA Theological Task Force (TTF) on Peace, Unity, and Purity prepares its final report (to be distributed in September), we in the Presbytery of the James have made concerted efforts to be in conversation with each other regarding their work. We formed four theological reflection groups (and are in the process of starting four more), each of which represented a broad theological spectrum.
“I am newly ordained yet already pessimistic about the future of this denomination. I am 30 years old and already tired by the same old arguments and voting trends. I am a Presbyterian who is ashamed that outsiders best know our denomination because of intense bickering rather than our proclamation of the gospel.
“I am not naïve enough to believe that simply talking to one another will smooth the splinters of our denomination. Yet I have confidence that the church of Jesus Christ still belongs to God—and not to a “group” or a “side” or a “network.” And I believe it is our job as leaders in the church to take the time to listen to where God might be leading us.”
The debate in the United States Senate over the "nuclear option" and the filibuster rule, whose centerfold is a Presbyterian from Nashville, Tenn., reminds me of the destructive experience of majoritarian rule that bedevils the amendment process for the Book of Order. One of the benevolent consequences of biennial assemblies is that we will be required to vote on those tedious changes less frequently.
Some of us remember when it took two-thirds of the presbyteries to change the constitution. The amendments that came forward for action had much greater depth and substance. Now we have a book that, except for the theological principles of governance, deserves (and I suspect receives) little respect. That is why in officer training we spend most of our time on the basics, especially Chapters I -- VII, X, and only those parts of XIV that apply to the election, examination, and ordination of officers.
AUGSBURG
We are pleased to share the news of a new Bible study – No Experience Necessary. This study is accessible for people new to Bible study yet full of fresh insights for those more experienced. The author is Kelly Fryer, author of the bestselling Reclaiming the “L” Word. Kelly has a passion—and a gift—for empowering people to pick up the Bible and read it for themselves.
When we ask who has the final authority to direct the Christian Education program in a Presbyterian church the answer is straightforward and simple. The session, as the ruling body of the congregation, has the responsibility to develop the church school and the educational program in each congregation (G-10.0102 f; W-6.2005).
Across the country Presbyterians are seeking out new ways for adults to study the Bible. Small groups are meeting on weekdays so they have more time for study than is available during the Sunday school hour. Interest is high in deep study of Scriptures that leads to increased understanding and faith formation. Adults are willing to find time in their busy schedules to participate in such small group experiences.
In an era when there are more than 150 different publishers and distributors of children’s curricula alone, finding the resources that are best for your congregation can be challenging. The following four-step process, however, will help you make an informed decision and provide your teachers with good materials to support their ministries of faith formation.
Like other areas of the church’s life in the post-modern era, Adult Education faces a number of challenges and opportunities. Gone are the days when the majority of adults attended highly organized Sunday morning Church Schools centered on denominationally produced curriculum.
When Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 39, quietly strode toward Nazi prison gallows as the Second World War neared its end, he could hardly have known that 60 years later, his life, memory and legacy would remain the subject of keen debate and fascination — not to mention outright reverence.
It is a pleasure to welcome Randy Harris as Book Editor of the OUTLOOK. As you see from his bio he brings a great love of reading and an appreciation of books in many fields to this position, to this new venture.
We are grateful for the excellent work of Lillian McCulloch Taylor of North Carolina, who served as book editor for more than fifteen years. When Lillian came on board, the OUTLOOK still maintained "The Outlook Book Service," which was a true distribution source for curriculum, pastoral resources, and books. Like many of you, I can remember when one could receive orders from the Book Service faster than from any other Presbyterian enterprise. When Lillian began, her responsibility was multifold including promotion, reviews of resources.
If The Left Behind series of novels were not enough to disfigure the Christian faith in the public square, now we have the television series Revelations, an obvious effort to cash in on the fears and heresies of American life. These entertainments are fed by dispensationalists and pre-millenialists who have swirled into public influence in the last decade. They present a fantastic, anti-biblical view of how believers are invited by the Jesus of the Gospels to wait for his return when he shall come in glory to judge both the living and the dead.
Perhaps more pointedly than anywhere in Scripture, Matthew's gospel calls the church not to investigate apocalyptic events to discern when Christ will return, but to be obedient here and now. In the parable of the Last Judgment, where no one is left behind, we are divided into sheep and goats, and then Jesus tells us why. We have done the right thing (or the wrong thing) to him, as he is represented in real, historical time by his brothers and sisters, his "little ones" who were hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, and in prison. Some interpreters understand this to mean that the nations (gentiles or outsiders) will be judged by how they have treated members of the church. Other interpreters claim that this is a call to universal human obedience, and that all people of all religious persuasions will be judged (and received or rejected) by these criteria.
Pentecost Meditation on Joel 2:23-39
Frequently in the morning, after I’ve walked the dog, I’ll come in, get a cup of coffee and sit down on the kitchen floor; and then, when my wife joins me, I’ll ask her what she dreamed about. Most of the time, Ann says she can’t remember. But I remember what I dream about; and I enjoy relating the vivid things that come to me in my sleep. (Well, some of them, at any rate. A few I keep to myself.)
Editor’s Note: This challenge was issued on the blog of Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase as part of a focus on the ministry of accompaniment in tense situations. The blog address can be accessed through the PC(USA) website (www.pcusa.org) or directly at www.what-I-see.blogspot.com.
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