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Middle East symposium precedes GA opening; urgency stressed

BIRMINGHAM -- Words of ecumenical understanding, reason, and balance from representatives of the three great faith groups of the Middle East challenged Presbyterians attend the pre-General Assembly "educational event" on the Middle East June 15.

A panel of speakers both presented their understandings of what is needed to address the problems in the Middle East--specifically between Palestinians and Israelis--and to respond to questions from the more than 200 persons attending.

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Sparks awarded 2006 Ernest Trice Thompson Award

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O. Benjamin Sparks III, pastor, ecumenist, dedicated Presbyterian scholar, is the recipient of the Ernest Trice Thompson Award. He received the honor June 15 in Birmingham, Ala. at the Outlook's dinner held in conjunction with the 217th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

He currently serves as pastor of Second Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Va., where he has been pastor since 1982.

 

 


Ben with Jack Haberer (left), editor-in-chief of

The Presbyterian Outlook  and (right)
William Stacy Johnson, Outlook Foundation Board chairman.

 

Correction

In the OUTLOOK issue for July 3, in the story "Sparks awarded 2006 Ernest Trice Thomson Award' recipient O. Benjamin Sparks recalls a discussion with Ernest Trice Thompson. One quotation from that story was inadvertently shortened. The last sentence should read: "This is a word to the church", Ben Sparks concluded, "at a time 'so full of peril and promise.'"

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Joan S. Gray elected Moderator of the 217th General Assembly

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Joan Gray, a pastor from Atlanta, Ga., is the new moderator-elect of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). She was elected June 15 at the beginning of the 217th PC(USA) General Assembly. She will serve a two-year term along with vice moderator-elect Robert Ervin Wilson of Huntsville, Ala.

 

Photo credit line(s) Presbyterian Outlook photo(s)

BIRMINGHAM -- The 217th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has elected as its moderator Joan S. Gray -- a pastor from Atlanta who spoke of God making a way "where there was no way" and said her experience ministering to congregations in conflict would help her build bridges in a deeply divided denomination.

Gray, 53, was elected on the third round of balloting, winning 307 votes, or 62 percent of the votes cast. She prevailed over three other candidates, all of them pastors: Deborah Block of Milwaukee, who earned 152 votes on the final ballot (31 percent); H. Timothy Halverson of Cape Coral, Fla., with 20 votes (4 percent); and Kerry Carson of Conrad, Iowa, with 19 votes (4 percent).

In the first round of balloting, Block drew the most votes -- 143 (28 percent), compared with 139 for Gray (28 percent), 113 for Halverson (22 percent), and 109 for Carson (22 percent).        

Editorials

Asking the tough ethical questions

What purposes might we anticipate from the GA forming an authoritative interpretation making such giving obligatory? Baltimore Presbytery's overture 23 would fund the larger church's service without causing undue hardship to the presbyteries in the process. They are expected to send 100% of all per capita assessments for all their member churches, and, says the overture, that obligation should be met by the churches themselves. What else might we anticipate from such a ruling?  Well, just the opposite is likely to happen.

Book Reviews

Summer reading list

Outlook Book Editor Randy Harris has asked several Presbyterians to select books for challenging and enjoyable reading during summer work and vacation times.

Voices

Pentecost to Birmingham and beyond

Grey fog hangs heavy,

                             hovers,

        like a decision that eludes grasp.

 

Rays of our burning star break through,

                     dispersing fog,

         yet, like a direction that flits finality,

                   reveals but familiar banalities.

 

Around said star,

earth orbits and rotates,

and still we speak of sunrise and sunsets ...

routines in which, unchanged, we ever move.

           Kairos, not chronos,

                               something new,

                                 to scatter shibboleths.

 

So,

we wait,

uncomfortably together,

in a room too small,

trying to contain the damage,

until descends a Time,

a gift unmanaged ...

Peace, unity, purity.

 

Michael Nelms is pastor of The Yellow Frame Church in Fredon, N.J.

Voices

The Authoritative Interpretation of 1978 still requires ‘fidelity in marriage or chastity in singleness.’

There has been quite a bit of discussion about what the Authoritative Interpretation of the 217th General Assembly (PUP as amended) really means for the Church. Soon our stated clerk, whose job it is to "preserve and defend the Constitution" of the church will issue an advisory opinion about what the Assembly did. His advisory opinion is important, because it will likely give sessions and presbyteries their first official word about whether, in his opinion,  sexually active  gays and lesbians may be ordained or installed. For now, the Office of the General Assembly has set up a page of FAQs where it asks the question, "Will gays and lesbians now be ordained," but it does not answer the question.    

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June P. Bucy, treasurer, Shenandoah Presbytery died June 28

 

June P. Bucy, treasurer, Shenandoah Presbytery and elder, Massanutten Church, died on Wednesday, June 28, 2006, at her home at Massanetta Springs, Virginia.  Her husband, the Rev. Dr. Ralph Bucy, and sons Tommy and Flynn were all with her at the time of her death. June was diagnosed with cancer in March and was under the care of hospice for several months.

 

A memorial service has been tentatively set for Saturday, July 8, 2006, 2:00pm, at Massanutten Church in Penn Laird, Va.  No other information is available at this time, but further details will be given as they become available.

 

Your prayers are greatly appreciated for Ralph and for her family at this time of great loss.

Editorials

Deer in the headlights?

So now comes the biennial (formerly annual) convention of the deer in the headlights. If past patterns hold, then 80% of the General Assembly commissioners and 95% of advisory delegates will be serving for the very first time. They will have tried to wade through enough reading to earn a graduate degree. They will feel the weight of a highly conflicted denomination. When asked upon their Birmingham arrival, "How do you feel?" the most common responses will be "bewildered," "befuddled" and "overwhelmed."

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The Trinity

Editor's Note: Responding to the General Assembly Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity, these essays attempt to give voice to the center of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) The essays seek a place where all sides can meet--without compromising the Gospel--and move forward together.


The Trinity is a fitting topic for this series. The early Christians faced a crisis concerning who Jesus Christ is in relation to God. Perceiving that the Gospel itself was at risk in this question, they redefined the moment in terms of the Trinity and rallied the whole Church around it, then and now. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) faces such a defining moment today. Perhaps now is a time to reaffirm the Trinity as the "summary of the Gospel of Jesus Christ" (report to Birmingham GA, p. 3). This essay covers (1) the Biblical origins of the Trinity, the trinitarian affirmations about (2) Jesus Christ and (3) the Spirit, and (4) the interconnections among the three "persons." 

Voices

Let us not lose our head

Because of our successful remedial complaint (Johnston et al vs. Heartland Presbytery) I have received mail from commissioners to this month's G.A asking my view on the current overture to make per capita payments mandatory. Here is my response.

 

If the proposal to force all churches to pay per capita is passed:

Voices

Where is the church on Thursday and what is it doing?

I have a mischievous habit of asking pastors the question: "What's going on with your church on Thursday afternoon?" Their predictable answer is usually some equivalent of "nothing much."

That question was provoked by the chapter title in a book I read a few years ago, Where Is the Church on Thursday Afternoon? The response of most pastors is a predictable "Christendom" answer. After all, the church is about the clergy and about properly authorized services and sacraments and the custodial care of passive members. Responders think only of the "church gathered" for its meetings and assemblies, and under the supervision of the church's duly ordained leadership.

Voices

Why Montreat matters

A few weeks ago I was discussing issues coming before the General Assembly with friends from around the country. We all agreed there were more than a few "hot topics" for the commissioners to debate. Someone brought up how amazed they were by the number of overtures petitioning the Assembly to keep the Montreat Historical Society open. There was laughter as he pointed out what an important issue it was.

I have to admit I was shocked. I thought everyone knew how special the Montreat Historical Society was, how much it meant, how important it was to inspire denominational loyalty. But I realized I was only one of two southerners in the conversation. The two of us began protesting that keeping open the Montreat Historical Society was indeed important, even crucial to the Presbyterian Church(U.S.A.). A friend then kindly said, "We don't get it. Please explain why this is important to the rest of the church. We want to understand the passion and the pain this decision is arousing." So I am writing this to try and convey why keeping the Montreat Historical Society open is important to so many people and to the future of the PC(USA).

Voices

Customer Service 101 for churches

c. 2006 Religion News Service

 

Listen up, church leaders. This parable is for you.

Dell Computer Corp. is losing a repeat customer, because their process and data requirements overwhelmed my need to buy their product.

Last week I wanted to order a $39 USB memory key. Dell's Web site required me to locate a username and password (serving their purposes, not mine). Dell's toll-free number led me into a labyrinth of voice commands. A second toll-free number landed me with a live person who insisted on creating a "profile" for me. No, I said, I simply want to make a $39 purchase.

I persevered long enough to complete my purchase. But I will think twice before making another one. No business can afford to make purchasing its products this difficult.

Voices

A prayer

Your Spirit, O Creator God,

your brooding, bright imagining Spirit,

is inviting us, cajoling us, entrancing, inducing,

yes, even seducing us, beyond life into creation,

into imagination, into all the shapes and hues,

the textures, postures, melodies of grace.

 

So let that flaming, flagrant Spirit

be afire now among us here.

Lift our imaginations through the laughter of the soul.

Restore to us our poetic vision,

that we may see this world anew

as your mighty work-in-progress,

that we may see ourselves as others see us,

that we may see you, the unseen God,

as the source and goal and heart of all delight.

 

Through these moments of welcoming,

of sustenance, of encouragement, mirth and wisdom,

move up, across, among us once again

with your Spirit of inspiration and of ecstasy.

 

We ask this in the name of the living Word,

that Word we seek and find and lose,

and then are found by.

Let us say . . . AMEN.

Voices

How do you spell relief?

As Americans brace themselves for yet another hurricane season, they might look at one congregation and its response to the Gulf Coast disaster. Perhaps it will become a blueprint for the future.

Suspended between Orlando and Daytona Beach is a small town, DeLand, Fla., home to Stetson University. Across from the campus, along a major tree-lined boulevard, is First Presbyterian Church, a congregation of 550 (Web site: www.firstpresdeland.com .)

In 2004, when hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Jeanne hit Central Florida, residents were sensitized to the pain caused by evacuations, flooding, damaged homes, and lack of electricity.  The face of suffering was personal.  Then Katrina slammed into coastal Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, touching the hearts of DeLand's people like Jim and Rachael Winter, Mississippi natives.

Book Reviews

Ordination Standards: Biblical, Theological, and Scientific Perspectives

 

North Como Presbyterian Church, Roseville, Minnesota. Lincoln, NE:  iUniverse, Inc., 2005. ISBN 0-595-34155-1. Pb., 588 pp., $46.95.

 

Congratulations to North Como Church for producing the most massive and comprehensive resource to date on the battle over ordination standards in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). It is almost beyond comprehension that a congregational task force put together the massive, Ordination Standards:  Biblical, Theological, and Scientific Perspectives. I am sure the process of working systematically through the many complex issues was rewarding for the Task Force and for the entire congregation.  That their work is now available to the whole church is a gift, but it is a gift that must be received cautiously.

Book Reviews

Confessing Christ in the 21st Century

 

by Mark Douglas. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2005. ISBN 0-7425-1432-3. Pb., 262 pp., $27.95.


Years from now, people who take their Christian faith seriously will still be reading and reflecting upon this exceptional work. Mark Douglas has written a book that will surely stand the test of time. Confessing Christ in the 21st Century is one of those rare books that will stimulate discussion and challenge thought for generations to come. The larger hope, however, is that it will serve a useful purpose for us even now. Indeed it does.

Voices

Administration and sexual time bombs

The 2006 General Assembly will be remembered as the Assembly that debated two controversial issues. The first was raised in a petition entitled "A Voice for the Local Church." The petition gave expression to a widely shared concern of congregations that recent administrative changes had fundamentally altered the nature of the Kirk, that too much power had of late been transferred from the local church and Presbytery to a few people within the Central Administration.

Uncategorized

PC(USA) membership down, financial giving up

LOUISVILLE -- Membership in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) declined by more than 2 percent in 2005, but total giving to the church increased by more than 5 percent, topping $3 billion for the first time.

According to figures released June 2 by the Office of the General Assembly, PC(USA) "communicant" membership at the end of last year totaled 2,313,662 -- a decline of 48,474 or 2.05 percent from 2004. Including 318,291 baptized but not confirmed members and 466,889 inactive members, total PC(USA) membership stands at 3.1 million.

But Presbyterians are giving to the church at record levels. "Giving to the church is up substantially in every category and at every level of the church's life," noted General Assembly Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick in a prepared statement released with the statistical report.

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Presbyterians at GA face serious issues, identifying a way forward

Some people who've been around the block a few times have a sense the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) -- which lost 48,400 members in 2005, it was just announced -- may be in a time of transition.

There will be new leadership, perhaps a new approach for sorting out the disagreements over ordaining gays and lesbians. There are questions of how a mainline Protestant denomination, declining in influence, older and less diverse than the surrounding culture, can continue to be a voice worth listening to on issues ranging from immigration to Iraq.

There's a lot at stake in Birmingham, according to some Presbyterians. They were coming to Alabama full of both pent-up anxiety and hope -- and with a sense that this assembly could be critical in shaping the future direction of the PC(USA.)

To them, things feel a little different this time around.

Uncategorized

Per capita budget increases as membership declines

BIRMINGHAM -- The General Assembly has set a per capita rate of $5.79 cents per active member for 2007 and the same rate for 2008.

That reflects an increase of seven cents per member over what had been projected coming into the assembly -- and takes into accounts new spending this assembly has authorized.

On its final morning, the 217th General Assembly also heard some bad news regarding the continuing shrinking of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Uncategorized

Abrahamic heritage explored at GA

BIRMINGHAM -- The Committee on Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations considered an overture that wanted to affirm the "common Abrahamic heritage" of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, submitted by Newton presbytery.

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Detterick responds to questions about $150M gift

BIRMINGHAM -- Questions have been raised about whether Stanley W. Anderson, a Denver businessman who's promised the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) a $150 million gift -- one of the largest private gifts ever from an individual to a denomination -- has the financial resources to deliver on the pledge.

The Denver Post, Anderson's hometown newspaper, has reported that public records show Anderson has not paid his mortgages, dental bills and fees to his homeowners' association, and that he owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to creditors (link to article).

Uncategorized

GA votes on property, other polity issues

 

BIRMINGHAM -- In a day filled with talk about Israel and Darfur, abortion and immigration, it was easy to overlook some less-flashy issues related to the internal workings of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

But the General Assembly did take time on June 21 to vote on polity issues -- including an overture raising the question of whether a congregation that wants to leave the denomination can take its property with it.

 

 

CORRECTION:

An Outlook story posted during the General Assembly in Birmingham reported that the G. A. voted 252 to 232 not to approve an overture from Stockton presbytery, which asked that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s constitution be amended to say that a congregation's property "is the sole property of that church" except when financial assistance the denomination provides creates a lien on the property.

That vote actually was the margin by which the assembly removed a comment that had been added by the assembly's Committee on Church Polity. That amendment would have said, in part, "the church is not a voluntary association of those who share the same opinions but is an organic body called into existence by God."

The assembly's vote not to approve the Stockton overture was 378-112.

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