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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
