40 years ago — September 5, 1977 As a young minister in the slums of London in the ‘30s, I felt it my duty to take to speaking in the open air. I hated it, but I felt it cowardly to stay indoors, “preaching to the converted,” while the Fascists and the Communists were holding forth at the street corner within shouting distance of the church; the Fascists fomenting hatred against the Jews and the Communists exploiting the (legitimate) grievances of the poor. Obviously, I was at a disadvantage, since nothing starts the adrenalin flowing like a good hater playing on the emotions of fear and resentment. But I learned one valuable lesson: Never to be afraid of questions. I have heard them all, and in some cases I have asked them myself! An equally valuable lesson was that it’s a hollow victory to score debating points. A clever answer may tickle the mind, but it does little to satisfy the yearnings of the soul. From the column “From my study window” by W.B.J. Martin … [Read more...]

30 years ago — Sept 7-14, 1987 Marking the bicentennial of the Constitution of the United States, Presbyterians were called to remember the Synod of 1787’s confessional changes reflecting the new political situation and its significance to define relations between religious and political institutions. “The Founders of the nation agreed that … ‘no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.’” Chapter XXIII of the Westminster Confession on the Civil Magistrate had been amended to deny them “the right to assume to themselves the administration of Word and sacraments, the power of the Keys of the Kingdom, or to interfere in matters of faith.” Presbyterians affirmed “it was the duty of the magistrate to protect the Church, without giving preference to any denomination of Christians; to protect ministers in the discharge of duties; to protect the person and good name of all their people ‘in such an effectual manner as … [Read more...]

20 years ago — July 7-14, 1997 The Book of Confessions expressed “in different ways and at various times, the … primary Reformed principles … : grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone. … It may be abused by us or be used by us as it was intended. We can abuse the Book of Confessions if we forget that it is a ‘subordinate’ standard in the church, always subject to the authority of Jesus Christ, as the Scriptures bear witness to him, and subordinate to Scripture… . We can abuse the Book of Confessions if we forget that confessions report a particular faith statement from a specific moment in history and can be amended from time to time. As Presbyterians we have proclaimed ourselves to be open to the creative work of the Holy Spirit, Reformed and always ready to be reformed by God… . The confessions provide standards of faith and doctrine but they are not the primary or only standards.” The Book of Confessions can be abused if we go to the other extreme and see them as … [Read more...]

10 years ago — June 25, 2007 We “began with prayer, study and reading. We read together a wide range of resources on polity, theology and mission.” This is how the committee commissioned by the General Assembly to create a revised Form of Government began their work. “We have sought to create a missional polity that places the particular congregation at the forefront of the church’s witness, because the congregation is the place where the church engages the world. ... What we propose is a Form of Government that seeks to describe rather than proscribe, that seeks to define function rather than mandate structure. What we propose is a Form of Government that, rather than saying to the church, ‘Don’t do this,’ instead says, ‘Feed my sheep. Proclaim my Word. Go out into the world and make disciples of all.’ … The Form of Government we propose is written for a church in pilgrimage. The church it contemplates is not the church of the past, nor has it arrived at the future God yet holds … [Read more...]

Ever since the eighteenth century modern man has believed in a progressive history in which future consequences were both the real test of a right action and also the primary motive for it. We made a God out of history, and usually had no other God. Now we live in a period of history in which we must find the test of right action in something other than future consequences because we do not know the future certainly enough. … We had forgotten that each moment of life, each task, each duty, each event and responsibility has its own intrinsic worth and does not depend altogether on tomorrow. … The whole historical enterprise is more hazardous than we had believed. History does not move as simply as we thought toward some kind of world community. People do not become better merely because they grow older; and that is true of the life of mankind as well as of individuals. … True religion must be more concerned with qualitative depth of every moment and be less distracted by future hopes … [Read more...]

60 years ago — May 27, 1957 The American people haven chosen to develop a free and universal public school system. “Memories of unpleasant experiences of ecclesiastical domination of education in Europe and the growth of the Sunday school as a new and experimental institution of Christian education were among the many forces which prompted the body politic to draw the blueprint for a school system compatible with a pluralistic culture. Our public school structure is the result. The same constitutional guarantee protecting the church from any tyranny which would stifle freedom of belief and worship was inseparably mixed into the very mortar of this structure and also insured every child and every parent against imposition of sectarian dogmas in the classroom. … Adherents of the Reformed tradition believe that ‘cloistered living,’ implying a withdrawal from direct participation in the social milieu, is incompatible with the Calvinistic tradition and intent, and that distinct advantage … [Read more...]