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Durable faith in a challenging world

c. 2006 Religion News Service

As Mideast violence spiraled and power grabs dominated American politics, I told 100 teenage leaders of National Episcopal Happening they would need a "tough faith for a tough world."

By "tough faith," I didn't mean bullying religiosity or moral perfectionism. I meant a durable faith, with enough depth to handle a complex and challenging world, without turning mean, nostalgic or escapist.

Everything is changing. Economic competition is global. Capital and jobs flow easily across borders. U.S. teenagers will compete directly with Asians and Europeans. They won't be able to coast or to assume any continuities of privilege. The race will go to those who are prepared, not to those skilled mainly in television, video games and soccer.

Where do we go from here?

We all agree on two things: we did have the 217th General Assembly, and the Report of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church was adopted as amended.

Having been a member of the Task Force, I'm not surprised by the wide range of reactions to the Report and its Recommendations, since some version of most concerns was and is held by one or another of us on the Task Force. Of deepest concern to me are the doomsday prophecies that some have advanced in contesting the adoption of the authoritative interpretation of G-6.0108. Such prophecies can become self-fulfilling.

As always, participants in or witnesses to the same event have widely different perceptions of its meaning, ranging from negative to positive, based mostly upon the fears or hopes of what might happen in the future.

The ancient metaphor is operative: is the glass half-full or half-empty?

Though stumbling, mainline churches still have value

Churches often have names that link them to their past, their founders, their history. Some of those names may mean little to the casual viewer of sign boards hung on the side of buildings. Signs bear such names as Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopal or perhaps more modestly, Disciples.

Here, I am speaking of religious denominations that may have arisen out of an experience no longer our own. Some arose out of the conversion of one person, such as John Wesley, who had a life-changing experience and made the world "his parish." My own Presbyterian communion has a form of government that empowers lay people and has no bishops. A church I regularly attend has bishops, but also empowers laity. And so it goes.

Curly, scissors, and Harry

Was it inevitable? 

Media attention to the General Assembly's action on "The Trinity: God's Love Overflowing" focused almost exclusively on the paper's discussion of language used to speak of the Triune God. This tight focus was further restricted to one or two examples extracted from a selection of biblical and traditional images for God. 

An editorial cartoon suggested that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was replacing "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" with language as silly as "rock, paper, scissors." 

A nationally syndicated columnist seemed to think "Larry, Curly, and Moe" was a cute way to characterize her claim that the church considered "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost" to be "patriarchal leftovers."

Creative changes in international mission

International mission by our denomination is ever renewing. Our national offices have encouraged creative new ways to connect people, congregations, and presbyteries more directly in responding to Christ's call to mission. I am encouraged that congregations show a growing interest in being involved.

Creativity comes from various sources and dynamics.

Working with synods, presbyteries, and congregations has been fruitful, although most of these have been preoccupied with a spectrum of concerns. They typically are not primarily focused on international mission. The creative ferment has also come from interacting with organizations and networks in the denomination dedicated to specific types of mission. Some of these organizations have been more vocal and concerned about the decline in the denomination's mission workforce and funding for international mission than have the governing bodies. Now, with the GAC shifting to devote more of its time and attention to meeting the needs of congregations and middle governing bodies, there are concerns that there might be a void into which others need to step to help the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) maintain a large and vital role in Christ's mission around the world. A number organizations and networks have announced initiatives this summer that appear to relate to that perceived need, even while the new GAC leadership and structure are busy working on how to rise to the same occasion.

Got hope?

With just six years of combined parish ministry experience, two young clergywomen ventured from the East Tennessee valley to the mountains of Montreat for the Hope for the Church Conference. Although many twenty and thirty-something's are labeled with a strong aversion to anything institutional, such a label fails to fit either of us. Through our ordination vows, we have promised our lives to God's work through the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Buoyed by our experience sharing pews with some of the most seasoned leaders, we offer a glimpse of our hope for the denomination.

 First, our hope resides in Scripture. Scripture gifts us with a narrative history of salvation revealing that God has always fulfilled God's promises. Abraham and Sarah, venturing into the unknown to follow God, were granted a child, as promised, and became a blessing to the nations. The Israelites grieved their exile, yet were ultimately delivered from aimless wandering by a faithful God. And after the crucifixion, when it seemed as if darkness had overtaken the world, God once more broke in to make all things new with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  

Envisioning the Presbyterian Church (USA)

© John L. Williams. Used by permission.

Where there is no vision, the people perish, (Proverbs 29:18a KJV)

"On life-support," opined a minister when asked about the state of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). "In need of hospice care," said another. These opinions envision the Church on its deathbed awaiting palliative drugs and last rites. I would argue that such a vision is neither faithful to God's promises nor consistent with the PC(USA)'s present realities.

This article is my alternative to prophecies of the PC(USA)'s imminent death. Following a summary of my perspective, it identifies God-given resources available to the PC(USA). It then focuses on major challenges confronting the PC(USA) and concludes with my personal vision statement.

The Bible reading us on the Sunday Morning After

There was no escape. On the Sunday morning following the adjournment of the 217th General Assembly, the Word of the Lord brought some comforting and challenging words into our life together. Thanks be to God. 

In the lectionary readings for that Twelfth Sunday of not-so-Ordinary Time the psalmist sang, "How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!" even as some Presbyterians in the pew were experiencing an unpleasant disconnection and all Presbyterians were newly aware of how very hard it is to live together in unity. 

The Gospel reading from the evangelist Mark told the story about Jesus and the disciples in the boat on a stormy sea, winds blowing, waves beating and swamping the boat. We heard Jesus calming the waters and chastising the disciples for their lack of faith. 

A new Connectionalism

I'll save you the trouble -- we ought to split the church.

There, I've said it so you don't have to even though you wanted to say it, but you just couldn't bring yourself to do it. Never mind, no need to thank me.

Before you naysayers get all worked up, just sit back and think what this means for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Finally, you and your side can go and do what you know the church ought to have done all along. That is, if only those pesky ________ (fill in the name of your least favorite advocacy group) were not around any more. Now, with them gone, you and yours will have free rein!

Of course, there are a few loose ends. We'll have to settle who'll get what: Foundation funds, seminaries, pension assets, and so forth, but that shouldn't be too big a deal. Surely, we can come up with some kind of equitable formula, based on the number of people who go with what part of the split. Giving up some assets in order to get what we think God wants is a small price to pay, after all!

Aging mainline Jesus freak

It's been almost 11 years since Paul Swedlund died; but it seems like only a few hours ago.

Maybe that's because his last words to me make more sense now than then.

Before he fell off a Colorado mountain on 17 August 1994, his 48 years were tempered by surviving the Vietnam War as a riverboat captain, abandoning financial gain as a marketable executive for Mobil when called by Jesus to pastoral ministry, enduring friendship with another Paul and me, and switching from the UCC to PC(USA) at my urging.

Actually, he grew up in our franchise and only left because he didn't feel required to learn Hebrew for urban ministry; and he returned after Kansas City's Northminster Church took my advice and called him, presbytery's gatekeepers aka COM forgave the ecclesiastical detour, and he spent about a decade living happily ever after as a reborn Presbyterian until our Lord's last call.

Why Stay in the PCUSA? An Ecumenical Perspective

In 2017 we Protestants mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation that Martin Luther launched and that John Calvin did so much to advance. It is an auspicious time to reflect on the state of Protestantism as a whole as we near this historic milestone. What does it mean to be "protestant" today? Who or what are we protesting against? Is it part of our ecclesiastical DNA to always be protesting something?

Obviously it was our mother, the Roman Catholic Church, our Reformation forbears so vigorously protested against. And with good reason -- Luther alone came up with 95. One of the chief causes of enduring division was the doctrine of justification. Protestants generally patted themselves on the back for being "grace oriented" while caricaturing the Catholics as "works oriented". I grew up around Southern Baptists in the Deep South where Catholics were not even considered Christian. The Presbyterians I knew seemed to be a bit more gracious as we considered them "almost Christian."

Should I stay or should I go?

It had been one week since the gavel was laid down at the General Assembly in Birmingham, Ala. My energy level had rebounded--it can be tough work as an "observer." But, I was finding it more difficult to bounce back emotionally and vocationally from GA. After hours of debates in committee, debates on the floor, asking whether or not the minority should become the majority report, trying to figure out LES (the electronic report system) and hearing countless people refer to the decline of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and threats of leaving, I was left wondering isn't there more to life than this? Is there a place to start over fresh? Is staying in this denomination worth it?