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Helping the next generation of ministers

c. 2006 Religion News Service

When Amanda Adams was growing up, she considered a number of professions: doctor, nurse, writer, teacher, psychologist and bareback rider.

She eventually became a Presbyterian minister because it includes all the things she wants. "Ministry," said Adams, 26, "is an extraordinary balancing act between what we do every day -- the mundane paperwork and meetings, sitting at people's beds when they're ill -- and personal time, time for our own devotions."

Adams and two other young ministers arrived at First Church in Ann Arbor, Mich., last September, committed to two-year residencies. They're part of the Transition-Into-Ministry Program funded by the Lilly Endowment.

The Virtue of Mark’s “Little People”: Part Three

I have been trying to show that, while Mark aims in his Gospel to call people into, and cultivate in them, mature discipleship -- that is, discipleship that faithfully joins the confession of one's life to the confession of one's lips -- it's the "little people" in his narrative, and not (ironically) the disciples, who model this trust in Jesus as the Son of God. The initial picture of such faith, up through the appearance of Bartimaeus in the narrative, is a steady stream of "little people" who stop at nothing to get themselves and beloved others into Jesus' presence. They ask of and expect from him the impossible, and prostrate themselves worshipfully before him. This picture changes, however, as the last of Mark's "little people" appear and disappear in the passion narrative concluding his Gospel.

Local option, ordination standards, and those who want it all!

A current television commercial shows two men fishing on a dock. One asks the other, "What are you going for?" The camera then pans back to show a vast array of fishing poles lining the dock as the other guy answers, "I want it all."* This thinking may well serve as an apt metaphor for the two sides in the debate over ordination standards within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Both sides seem dissatisfied because no one "got it all" at the last General Assembly. Even more ironic, by looking at the General Assembly's actions on most issues, it appears the more conservative side of the church gained considerable ground, yet now acts the most dissatisfied. The General Assembly strengthened its position opposing late-term abortion, back-peddled and apologized on divestment regarding Israel, only "received" the Trinity Report, and reaffirmed the "fidelity and chastity" clause. Yet, when one reads material from some of the more conservative groups within the church, one would think the liberal element really won the day.  

Hearing silent voices

Editor's Note: The author worked in Xela, Guatemala, from August 20 through September 3, volunteering with the Highland Support Project of Richmond, Va. The following thoughts stem from two separate interviews with a former guerrilla fighter and the president of a Presbyterian women's organization.

Before arriving in Guatemala, I knew that the country's recent history was horrific: over thirty-six years, a quarter of a million citizens lost their lives, including more than four hundred villages wiped off the face of existence in the "scorched earth" policy of ethnic cleansing.  Over the previous semester, I had studied John Calvin's doctrine of total depravity at Union-PSCE; after a few minutes of testimony with a veteran guerilla, I had gained an education. 

How one congregation seeks to be fueled by love

When I was a youngster, there was an ongoing argument about the "professionalization" of the Olympics. Americans carped that we sent amateurs to compete against professional athletes from Eastern Europe, whose full-time work was their athletic pursuit.

That complaint has largely died down, of course, now that Americans now send highly paid professionals to Olympic events. In popular usage, amateur often means "second rate" while professional means "excellent." Both, though, are superficial understandings of the words. "Amateur" comes from a Latin word that means doing something "for love."

Remembering thanks

Editor's Note: For the past few issues, the Outlook has highlighted the ministries of church pastors. Here Presbyterian pastors recall members' expressions of thanks. Also in this issue, we publish individual expressions of appreciation from churches to their pastors.

Unexpectedly a member stopped into my office a few weeks ago carrying a large, professionally framed photograph of a beach sunset. She said that the minute she saw it she thought of me. Looking at the photo of the beach scene, with a somewhat broken wind fence in the foreground and a rainbow in the background, I asked, "Why?" She replied, "Because you often break down barriers and think out of the box. Or, it could have something to do with mending fences. But for sure, the rainbow in the background is for God's Hope you remind us to remember." -- Lisa Rzepka, associate pastor, Providence Church, Fairfax, Va. 

In appreciation

Editor's Note: For the past few issues, the Outlook has highlighted the ministries of church pastors. Here we publish individual expressions of appreciation from churches to their pastors. Also in this issue, Presbyterian pastors recall members' expressions of thanks.

Arkansas

We love you, Clare Kelley, and are so fortunate to be able to share you. First Presbyterian, Eureka springs and Holiday Island Presbyterian Churches, Ark.

California

The Rev. Sandy Tice: First Presbyterian of San Bernardino, Calif., loves you and looks forward to many years together.

Thank you, Interim Pastor Jeff Cheifetz, a skilled and dedicated pastor, a gifted peacemaker and caregiver. The Session and members of Old First Presbyterian Church, San Francisco.

When departures relate to practice

Editor's note: This article was written in response to "What the amended PUP report actually means" by Clark D. Cowden, which appeared in the September 4 Outlook issue.

Much has been written about General Assembly's new Authoritative Interpretation of Section G-6.0108 of the Book of Order. Among other things, that Authoritative Interpretation provides that sessions and presbyteries, in conducting their examinations, must determine whether a candidate for ordained office "has departed from scriptural and constitutional standards for fitness for office" and "whether any departure constitutes a failure to adhere to the essentials of Reformed faith and polity."  Chief among the questions being debated is whether a candidate or officer-elect can declare a scruple with respect to matters not only of belief, but also of practice. The answer is clearly "yes."

The Virtue of Mark’s “Little People”: Part Two

I have been suggesting that, while Mark's Gospel aims to bring disciples into ever more full and mature faith -- to turn them into those who faithfully confess Jesus to be God's Son, both with their lips and with their lives -- the irony is that disciples do not model faith in his Gospel. It's "little people" who do. It's a "little person," in the form of an unnamed, Roman soldier presiding over his execution, who models the faithful confession of one's lips. Similarly, it's a whole string of "little people," making mostly cameo appearances in the narrative, who model the faithful confession of one's life.

In the Gospel accounts, some of these "little people" have names, but most remain nameless. Only two can be imagined moving among polite society. Quite a few are women. Their number could comprise all the human characters who are not Jesus and who are neither family, nor opponents, nor disciples of Jesus. At a minimum, they include a leper (1:40-45), friends of a paralytic (2:1-12), Jairus and a woman with a hemorrhage (5:21-43), a Syro-Phoenician mother (7:24-30), a half-believing father (9:14-29), blind Bartimaeus (10:46-52), a sympathetic scribe (12:28-34), a poor widow (12:41-44), Simon of Cyrene (15:22), and the women at the cross and tomb (15:40-41, 47; 16:1-8).

Calling

Both less and more than family and good friends,

still you belong there at the high moments and the low,

included in the laughter and the tears, all

   the embraces,

words and gestures of delight and consolation,

across the years even participating in remembering,

noting the absences, the gaps among the circled chairs,

the ones who couldn't make it for whatever reason,   

   glad or sad.

One woman’s Calling

Editor's Note: This text was originally a plenary speech by Charlotte Johnstone at the 2006 Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women. Additional "Dispatches" appear in each issue of Horizons, the magazine for Presbyterian Women. It is reprinted here by permission of the publisher, Presbyterian Women.

There is a young woman at Forbearance Church who is about to take a major step in her life. She is following others who, in the past 50 years, have paved the way for her. I want you to care about her--because she may enter your lives someday, somewhere.

Ministry means planning … and adjusting

Editor's Note: This article is based on the second chapter of the author's book: Azure Wind: Lessons for Ministry from Under Sail.

I am a planner. I have learned to think ahead, to anticipate, to consider various options and possibilities and to make choices that meet a goal. I've planned programs, workshops, meetings, fund-raisers, and construction projects. When I began planning for my sabbatical, I brought those same skills to the table.

For eighteen months I had been working toward a sabbatical that was to include an active adventure--sailing--and a reflective experiences--reading and writing. I wanted to do this with friends and family and I knew that I would have to organize and plan for this moment with great care. I looked up charts and measured miles and averaged boat speeds, based on the reading I was doing.