The family of Feeny Galloway has established the Feeny Galloway Community Endowment Fund in recognition of Mrs. Galloway's love for Montreat and its ministry "to call all God's people to a life of discipleship." The permanent funds provided by this endowment will ensure that the unique community life of Montreat, with its Christian heritage, will be available to touch lives and strengthen family ties by supporting two important areas of ministry within the conference center: Clubs, the popular summer day camp program, and Montreat's Sunday Summer Worship Series.
Feeny Galloway's grandsons, Alexander and William Galloway, have grown up participating in the Clubs program at Montreat every summer. "It was always a treat for her to have them there with her," wrote her husband James Galloway, "and she worked hard to make sure they loved that time in Clubs. It worked. They do love Montreat." The Feeny Galloway Community Endowment Fund will assure the same life-changing Clubs experience for thousands of other young people by underwriting the cost of staffing, equipment, scholarships, and other needs.
Jane Adams Spahr, an ordained Presbyterian pastor, was found not guilty of misconduct March 3 after a trial on charges that she violated the denomination's position on same-sex marriage by performing weddings for two lesbian couples.
The Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) of Redwoods Presbytery said in a written ruling that the marriage of same-sex couples is not "outside of, or contrary to, the essentials of the Reformed faith as understood" by the presbytery. Spahr, 63, a longtime lesbian activist in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), had faced sanctions ranging from a reprimand to removal from ministry. She was exultant after the verdict. "Today the church recognized that God's love is for all, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people," Spahr said afterward. "This historic ruling means that as a minister I can exercise my conscience to marry two people who have demonstrated their commitment to love, honor and cherish one another."
The presbytery's judicial commission ruled 6-1 that Spahr was acting within her "right of conscience" in 2004 and 2005 when she performed same-sex unions for the couples. The PJC added, in its majority opinion: "We also find that the accused acted within the normative standards of Redwoods Presbytery, faithfully reporting to it her activities at reasonable intervals."
Spahr had pleaded not guilty, although she acknowledged that she'd married Annie Senechal to Sherrill Figuera on May 27, 2005, outside Guerneville, Calif., near San Francisco. Neither woman is Presbyterian. She also acknowledged marrying the other couple, Barbara Jean Douglass and Connie Valois, on Aug. 21, 2004, in Rochester, N.Y. They are affiliated with a Presbyterian church in Rochester, but are inactive.
Once every seven or eight years since the World Council of Churches was founded in 1948, there has been an "assembly" that gathers delegates of member churches, official observers from other churches and agencies, WCC staff, co-opted staff and visitors. The Ninth Assembly of the WCC convened on February 14, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, following four related, pre-assembly conferences of Christian women, youth, Indigenous peoples and persons with disabilities.
Of the nine WCC assemblies convened over 58 years, this was the first to take place in Latin America. It was also the first assembly since September 11, 2001 and the declaration of an official "war on terror." This made it the first assembly since the U.S. carried out its doctrine of pre-emptive war in the invasion of Iraq, despite the opposition of many church leaders. From an internal perspective, Porto Alegre was significant in being the first assembly since the work of the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the World Council of Churches. For a variety of reasons, then, expectations were high for decisions and actions that might emerge from the Ninth Assembly. But was the institution of such an "assembly" up to the tasks at hand?
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 Presbyterians and the "40 Days of Purpose", to provide analysis of the purpose-driven church paradigm
Michael Carey has heard the skepticism: the Purpose-Driven church approach is "too Baptist," not Presbyterian enough in its theology, caters too much to those brand-new to church and not enough to those who've been around.
But what Carey, pastor of Trinity Presbyterian in Satellite Beach, Florida, (https://www.trinitypres.net/ ) knows firsthand is this. His congregation has been following the Purpose-Driven model for eight years now, and:
-The average Sunday attendance is 700, out of 830 members -- a typical weekly attendance of close to 85 percent.
-About 500 adults attend Bible study, and 400 are committed to participating in a significant ministry at the church.
-Last year, the people of Trinity gave $2.4 million to support the church (including funds for a building program).
-And a conference in the spring of 2005 for Purpose-driven Presbyterians drew 400 people, who came from 166 congregations in 36 states.
Not every Purpose-Driven Presbyterian church can post numbers like those -- folks seem to agree that something special is going on at Trinity. But pastors from other congregations also trying this approach say they've seen it bring new life, new energy, and a new commitment to ministry at the churches they serve.
The question of whether the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) should divest in some companies doing business in Israel has been explosive -- but it does not appear as though specific recommendations proposing divestment in particular companies will be presented to this year's General Assembly.
The PC(USA)'s Mission Responsibility Through Investment Committee, at its meeting in New York in early February, made it clear that it is continuing its discussions with a handful of companies that have been identified as possible candidates for consideration for divestiture, and won't be ready to make specific recommendations regarding those firms to the General Assembly in June.
Instead, the committee will ask for more funding to continue its exploration of the issue, and would put off any specific divestment recommendations regarding Israel until the assembly in 2008.
At the same time, however, presbyteries, through overtures, are pushing the divestment question front-and-center for this assembly. Some want the PC(USA) to stick with the 2004 action, which was intended to target companies involved with Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
The overtures keep rolling in -- more than 90 ideas for the 2006 General Assembly to consider, on everything from peace in Africa to disagreements over homosexuality here at home.
Theological Task Force
Overture 81 from Philadelphia presbytery, proposes a direct amendment of the recommendations from the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The task force wants to strike a balance between national standards for the church and some local determination of when departures from those standards, as a matter of conscience, should be tolerated. It suggests that presbyteries and sessions determine when departures from the standards "constitutes a failure to adhere to the essentials of Reformed faith and polity" and are substantial enough that a person could not be ordained or installed.
But some have argued that such language amounts to an end run around the PC(USA)'s constitutional standards, which require that for a person to be ordained, that person practice fidelity if they are married or chastity if they are single.
And Philadelphia presbytery is proposing language that would have local governing bodies determine whether a particular departure "violates a direct provision of the Book of Order," which would bar the person from being ordained. That overture also states that "it shall not be deemed reasonable or responsible" for a governing body not to maintain any Book of Order standard.
Editor's note: This is the fifth in a series of stories entitled: "What is a Presbyterian Elder?"
According to the Book of Order, elders have responsibilities that are rather broadly defined: "Together with ministers of the Word and Sacrament, they exercise leadership, government and discipline and have responsibilities for the life of a particular church as well as the church at large, including ecumenical relationships. They shall serve faithfully as members of the session" (G-.0302).
(RNS) With help from a former secretary of state, an influential think tank focusing on foreign relations has launched a new initiative that will study and explain the role religion plays in foreign policy.
The Council on Foreign Relations, with offices in New York City and Washington, designed the plan to expand on its existing foreign policy and religion lectures and roundtable talks. Workshops are being developed to bring religious figures together with influential foreign policy thinkers.
The effort's advisory committee includes former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
The initiative comes at a time when religion is playing a major role in the decisions of diplomats throughout the world. Tensions rose worldwide after Danish political cartoons lampooned the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, and conflict between Shiite and Sunni Muslims is having a profound impact on U.S. foreign policy in Iraq.
(ENI) A U.S. religious freedom watchdog commission says it is "deeply concerned" about what it calls a worsening situation for religious minorities in Iran.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created in 1998 by the U.S. Congress to monitor the status of freedom of thought and of religious practice outside the United States. It provides independent policy recommendations to the U.S. government.
Michael Cromartie, the commission chairman, said the current pattern of rhetoric in Iran is similar to that heard during the early years of the Iranian revolution which, he said, ushered in years of severe human-rights violations against members of non-Islamic religious minorities, particularly the Baha'i community.
A new Presbyterian affinity group--the Committee to End Divestment Now--has organized around an effort "to correct" what they believe was a mistake made in 2004 by the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
They are seeking repeal of the resolution calling for "a process of phased selective divestment in multinational corporations operating in Israel." That repeal could occur at the 217th General Assembly this June.
The Committee to End Divestment Now (CEDN) is not a typical Presbyterian affinity group organized along traditional lines, such as conservative/liberal, according to organizers. It also has limited scope and duration. It doesn't plan to continue once General Assembly concludes.
LOUISVILLE -- The General Assembly mission budgets must be reduced by a total of $9.15 million between now and 2008, General Assembly Council (GAC) leaders announced on March 14.
A total of $2.7 million has to come out of the unrestricted 2006 budget, and $3.51 million more from the 2007-2008 mission budget. In addition, the restricted portion of the 2007-2008 budget must be reduced by $2.94 million.
The current mission budget -- unrestricted and restricted -- is $113.9 million. The GAC will vote on the budgets during its April 26-29 meeting.
Staff cuts resulting from the budget reductions will probably be announced on May 1.
This is clearly part of a longer trend in the church and probably most churches," GAC Executive Director John Detterick told the Presbyterian News Service in a March 15 interview. "Presbyterians are funding mission differently -- they are giving to their churches in larger amounts, but are more directly involved both in activity and funding."
The 2006 cuts are based on declining unrestricted giving by Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations and presbyteries. Unrestricted receipts in 2005 were $13.9 million -- $2.1 million less than the $16 million budgeted. The 2006 budget, also of $16 million, has been revised to $13.3 million
©Religion News Service
Cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a terrorist and misogynist have offended Muslims in the United States as they have Muslims worldwide. But the debate raging among Muslim-Americans on college campuses, the Internet and in Islamic media has its own unique flavor because of this country's constitutional commitment to free speech.
American Muslims are adamant in their support of exercising their First Amendment right to protest the drawings through boycotts and other peaceful means, but many are embarrassed by the torching of European embassies in the Middle East and other forms of violence that have accompanied some demonstrations.
Because the cartoons constitute what he considers hate speech, the issue is not "black and white," said Junaid Ahmad, a student at the College of William and Mary's Marshall-Wythe Law School in Williamsburg, Va., who is active in national Muslim organizations. "This is not just a matter of being for freedom of speech and against freedom of speech," Ahmad said. "The first thing we should realize is that Muslims don't accept the basic framework. The principal issue here is not freedom of speech, but the Islamophobic context in which such a caricaturing of the prophet is taking place. I think that's the issue here."
Nevertheless, Ahmad said he was against laws restricting such speech. "You can't give the state too much power. It's better to fight hate not through laws but education and community organizing and activism."
Editor's Note: The following essay is one in a series dealing with topics of interest and importance as Presbyterians prepare for the 217th General Assembly this June in Birmingham, Ala. Author Johnson explains: "The report from the General Assembly Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church provides us both the occasion and the urgency for theological dialogue within the PC(USA.) This and succeeding essays are offered as a constructive effort in that direction."
The New Testament invites us to be "rightly dividing the word of truth" (II Tim. 2:15, KJV). Sometimes it seems like the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has taken this to mean "just divide" in a win-lose strategy, winner take all. I believe the time has come to explore alternative ways to move ahead without compromising the Gospel or pursuing a win-lose approach.
The first issue to raise: Jesus Christ as the means of our salvation. Both Scripture and the Presbyterian confessions expound at length how Jesus Christ saves us from our sins and sinfulness. He is the expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world (I John 2:2.) The atoning work of Jesus Christ was accomplished by his life and ministry among people, his teachings, his death on the cross, and his resurrection. I will deal with particular theories of atonement in a later essay.
The question often put to Christ's atoning work is whether Jesus is the only means of our salvation or whether he is one means of salvation among many by which God saves sinners. This question has sharply divided Presbyterians for at least several decades. In 2001 the 213th General Assembly (meeting in Louisville, Ky.) commissioned its Office of Theology and Worship to address the issue. They produced the excellent short treatise, "Hope In The Lord Jesus Christ." Hope ably surveys the creeds and confessions of the PC(USA) and reaffirms the centrality of Jesus Christ for the Gospel, hence for Presbyterians.
LOUISVILLE -- Rick Ufford-Chase, moderator of the 216th General Assembly, is challenging the General Assembly Council to do some hard thinking and praying over the next two months about divestment -- warning that to approach the next General Assembly without a clear message about divestment would be a mistake.
Already, Ufford-Chase said, the overtures about divestiture are pouring in -- many in direct response to the action of the 2004 assembly, which voted to have the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) pursue a policy of selective, phased divestment in some companies doing business in Israel. That assembly wanted to take a stand regarding Israel's treatment of the Palestinian people, the building of the security barrier and Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
But the response was strong and largely unanticipated -- the assembly's divestment vote proved hugely controversial.
Some of the overtures say "divestment was a disaster -- we should rescind it immediately," Ufford said. Others say, "It was exactly the right thing to do." And some aim for the middle, saying "we understand the intent of divestment," and perhaps in some way we can shift it more towards positive investment in the Middle East, he said.
LOUISVILLE -- A proposal to create a new charitable corporation -- which advocates say could give Presbyterian Disaster Assistance more visibility, flexibility and accountability in responding to disasters and human suffering -- ran smack into a flock of questions and was put off.
That appears to mean the 2006 General Assembly will not be able to take action on this and that a move to create a nonprofit disaster and relief corporation would have to be put off until the next assembly, in 2008.
The council voted to postpone action on creating the corporation until its meeting April 26-29. But that would be too late, according to Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), to meet the 120-day advance deadline for presenting items of major business to this year's assembly.
During their discussion Feb. 11, several members of the General Assembly Council said they support the idea of creating the corporation, but had too many questions about how it would be structured and governed to feel comfortable moving so quickly.
"This isn't about trust. It isn't about not wanting to change," said Michael Kruse of Missouri. "It's about wanting to change and to do it well."
Kruse added: "It's a mistake to rush ahead and create possibly more havoc."
But others said that to wait is to mean the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) would not be as effective and compassionate as it could be in responding to the world's great needs.
LOUISVILLE -- Often, disagreements in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) get hashed out privately, in the corridors or behind closed doors.
At the General Assembly Council meeting Feb. 11, one blew up in public.
The exact issue being voted on had to do with the procedure the church should follow when it hires a coordinator for the work of the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy.
One underlying issue is how much freedom that committee should have -- a recognition that sometimes, recommending social policy for the denomination on issues such as abortion or the environment or war can be controversial and sometimes unpopular work. As a result, a certain amount of independence for that committee has been written into the denomination's rules.
And there is still lingering tension floating through the denomination over a controversial trip the advisory committee took to the Middle East in the fall of 2004, which included a visit with Hezbollah that drew international headlines and led to the firings of two people from the PC(USA)'s national staff.
None of that was discussed directly at this council meeting.
(RNS) Gospel singer CeCe Winans added two more trophies to her collection Feb. 8 at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards. The Detroit-born artist earned awards for best contemporary soul gospel album for "Purified," her seventh solo album, and best gospel performance for the album's first single, "Pray."
Gladys Knight and the Saints Unified Voices choir earned best gospel choir or chorus album for "One Voice."
Other gospel category winners included:
-- Best Gospel Song: "Be Blessed" by Yolanda Adams, James Harris III,
Terry Lewis & James Q. Wright
-- Best Rock Gospel Album: "Until My Heart Caves In" by Audio Adrenaline
-- Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album: "Lifesong" by Casting Crowns
-- Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album: "Rock of Ages,
Hymns & Faith" by Amy Grant
-- Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album: "Psalms Hymns & Spiritual Songs" by Donnie McClurkin
The show featured several performances by gospel artists, including the Hezekiah Walker & Love Fellowship Choir, who sang with Mariah Carey; Robert Randolph, who lent his guitar prowess to Aerosmith in a tribute to Sly Stone; and Yolanda Adams, who sang during the show's finale in a tribute to New Orleans.
Irish rock band U2 swept up five Grammys. U2 lead singer Bono, an international advocate for the poor, spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington Feb. 2.
LOUISVILLE -- At first, it may seem like legal ho-hum, not a question to ignite much passion. Should three church programs, including Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, be spun off into a separate corporation?
But for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A), there's a lot at stake in the answer including a public tussle at the General Assembly Council over what to do, and the bigger issue this discussion raises over what the PC(USA) will look like in the future.
(RNS) The Church of England has voted to pull its investments out of companies, including the U.S. machinery giant Caterpillar Inc., that it claims are profiting from Israel's "illegal occupation" of Palestinian territory.
The surprise action came Feb. 6 at the behest of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East. It was approved overwhelmingly by the Church's general synod and appears to target the 2.2 million-pound ($3.92 million) holdings it has in Caterpillar. The holdings in Caterpillar are part of the Church of England's overall share portfolio that published figures put at $1.6 billion.
(PNS) Elaine Barnett, a lifelong Presbyterian who has served the church for more than 40 years as a Christian educator, was named "Educator of the Year" by the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators (APCE) on Feb. 3 during APCE's annual conference.
Barnett, a North Carolina native, served churches as an educator in Charlotte, Chapel Hill and Monroe, N.C., and also was on the staff of Southwest Florida Presbytery. She is now an elder at First Church in Sarasota, Fla., and moderator-elect of Peace River Presbytery.
Barnett has co-authored several books on Christian education and stewardship, and has contributed to numerous Presbyterian publications. She served on the APCE cabinet from 1996 to 2002, and was its president for 2000-2001. She now serves on the Christian Educator Certification Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
LOUISVILLE -- The per capita rate for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) would rise 15 cents in 2007 and would stay at that rate in 2008, if the General Assembly approves a recommendation coming its way.
That change, if approved, would set the per capita rate at $5.72 per active member for both 2007 and 2008, compared with $5.57 per member now.
Despite that proposed increase, however, there won't be enough money to go around. Both the Office of the General Assembly and the General Assembly Council "faced the reality that major reductions would be necessary unless there was a very substantial increase in the per capita rate, which we determined would create a very real hardship for the church," a joint report to the council and to the Committee on the Office states.
So a lower rate of increase was proposed, and both the Office of the General Assembly and the council "are making major reductions in expenditures for the next two years," the report states.
The per capita budget being proposed for 2007, at $12.4 million, and for 2008, at $14.9 million, will be slightly less than the 2005-2006 budget, even with inflation and some necessary additional costs. So cuts are coming from other areas, including staffing levels, ecumenical expenses and funding for the Presbyterian Historical Society.
Editor's note: Three hundred years ago this year, the first presbytery was organized in what became the United States of America. This article is the first in a series exploring the historical overview of the Presbyterian presence in our country
Three hundred years. That's how long it has been since the first presbytery was organized by Francis Makemie (c. 1658-1708). Has anything remained the same through the years?
When reflecting on major changes in Presbyterian faith and life in America over the centuries, my thoughts focus immediately on my own ancestry. The first James Smylie landed on the Carolina Coast in the very early years of the eighteenth century. Over time these Smylies multiplied and gradually found their way to and settled in Mississippi Territory. I am descended from a John Smylie, brother of another James who made history, not the best kind of history. He wrote a pro-slavery tract in the 1830s which some contemporaries considered the "first shot" of the Civil War. Migrants from the British Isles, in the Smylies' case from Scotland and Northern Ireland, began to flow across the Atlantic in the latter part of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. They faced the challenges of settlement up and down the eastern seacoast. Clergyman and entrepreneur Francis Makemie (c.1658-1708) helped us adjust. In his A Plain and Friendly Persuasive . . . for Promoting Towns and Cohabitation (1705) he urged migrants to move, in this case, to the west and south, in order to establish towns, churches, schools, and businesses. He even suggested that people in the new world might become strong enough one day to separate from the mother country -- although he did not encourage it.
He recommended putting drunks, or "sots," in stocks until they behaved. Makemie argued with the Anglican authorities, and won the right to settle and build churches. In 1706 he organized the first presbytery in Philadelphia and began raising up "meeting houses" (dissenters could not use the term church in some places, a term reserved for Anglicans). He prepared ministers to pastor the wave after wave of immigrants who flowed into the colonies. After some debate, members of the church agreed to an Adopting Act (1729) in which they embraced the Westminster Confession and Catechisms as being "in all essential and necessary articles, good forms of sound words and systems of Christian Doctrine," leaving the Presbytery the right to settle disagreements over interpretation of the documents.
Skimming the early batches of overtures submitted to the 2006 General Assembly is sort of like watching a one-minute highlights show of the controversies of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Divestiture.
Gay ordination.
Churches withholding per capita.
Non-geographic presbyteries.
The Theological Task Force.
It's all there -- and more, in the first opportunity the church has had in two years to ask the assembly to take a stand.
But these overtures also reflect a real desire that the PC(USA) be a light of hope to a hurting world -- that it be a denomination not afraid to wade in to troubled waters in places like Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
So far, more than 60 overtures have been formally submitted, with more surely on the way. Here's some of what lies ahead.
During the Sunday morning coffee hour, the Confession of Belhar probably isn't at the top of the conversation list.
It's not in the Book of Confessions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A), so lots of Presbyterians have probably never read it.
But this confession -- adopted in 1986 in South Africa during the heart of the struggle over apartheid -- is beginning to draw renewed interest among Reformed Christians in the United States and internationally. South African churches have been urging the rest of the world to read it for years, saying it has a message Christians need to hear.
For while it was written in a particular time and place, its themes are unity, reconciliation and justice -- exactly, some contend, the issues confronting American churches in the 21st century.
So some are starting to pay closer attention to Belhar.
At Union Theological Seminary-Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, this year's Sprunt Lectures are being given by H. Russel Botman and Dirk J. Smit, two South African theologians who were involved in writing the Belhar Confession.
In 2004, the PC(USA) General Assembly, responding to a task force studying the issue of reparations, commended the Belhar Confession to the church for study and reflection. It's been posted on the PC(USA) Web site https://www.pcusa.org/theologyandworship/confession/belhar.pdf , where Joseph Small of the Office of Theology and Worship says it's receiving a respectable number of hits. (The complete text is available here in this Outlook issue.) Some study materials on Belhar should be ready for the church by this summer's assembly in Birmingham, Small said.
And in the Reformed Church in America, which began a study of the Belhar Confession in 2000, grassroots support is building to make Belhar an official confession of the RCA, according to Douglas W. Fromm, a pastor from Ridgewood, N.J., who also is the RCA's associate for ecumenical relations.
If that happens, that would mark the first time in the denomination's history the RCA had added a confession to the three sixteenth-century confessions it already claims (those being the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession and The Canons of the Synod of Dort).
Internationally, the Belhar Confession is making an impact too.
A denomination dealing with questions of diversity, theology, and culture in a country with ongoing divisions of race, economics, and social norms. Today's Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)? No, Reformed churches in the South Africa of the 1980s.
The time and situation out of which the Belhar Confession was born were evoked during the annual Sprunt Lectures at Union Theological Seminary/ PSCE in Richmond, Va., January 23-25. Speakers included two of the originators of the confession: H. Russel Botman, professor of missiology and vice rector of the theology faculty of Stellenbosch University in Matieland, South Africa; and Dirk J. Smit, professor of systematic theology on the theology faculty at Stellenbosch University. Both Botman and Smit relate to the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa. They lectured on the theme, "Not Our Own: Being Christian in Difficult Times."
The Belhar Confession is being distributed and discussed in PC(USA) circles as possibly informational and inspirational as the church struggles with current issues and efforts such as the Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church as a way to address them.
Both Smit and Botman said the Confession was written quickly and without much pre-planning as their Synod struggled with a World Alliance of Reformed Churches report coming from the recently-held Ottawa conference in 1982. They realized "we had been debating church unity for thirty, forty years; it was no longer a moment for theological debate. The truth of the gospel was at stake," said Smit. Synod representatives including Botman and Smit prepared the draft Belhar Confession in a day or so; it was sent to the churches for four years of scrutiny and discussion before being finally adopted in 1986. The two reformed groups that adopted the Confession have merged into what is now known as the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa.
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