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Down the middle

The 217th General Assembly was a "down the middle" Assembly. It elected a moderator who seemed moderate and open-minded. It approved the report of the Theological Task Force (TTF) on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church (for short, "PUP Report"), which most regard as offering more leeway for the ordination of gay and lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) church members. But it resolutely refused to consider amending the Book of Order to delete the prohibition in G-6.01206b; it refused even to keep these overtures alive by referring them to the next General Assembly.

The key recommendation of the PUP Report was Number 5, in which the Task Force called on the 2006 General Assembly to adopt an authoritative interpretation ("AI" for short) of G-6.0108b. This AI acknowledges formally that 8b has already established the legitimacy of "departures" ("scruples" in the language of the Adopting Act) from adherence to the letter of the Constitution, as long as they are not violations of the "essential and necessary" features of Reformed faith, practice, and polity.

Leaving the PC(USA): What Are The Facts?

Recent discussions in many quarters are focused on congregations and presbyteries considering removing themselves from the denomination. Questions about dissolution and secession or expressions of grave concern about future relationships with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have arisen largely in response to the Report of the Task Force For the Peace, Unity, and Purity (PUP) and possible responses to it by the General Assembly meeting in Birmingham. 

The clearest expressions of concern came from presbyteries and congregations, and also from coalitions of Presbyterians not officially connected with the PC(USA), governing bodies and groups that opposed the recommendations, usually  from a conservative evangelical perspective. The Presbyterian Coalition, for example, indicated in a statement released on October 10, 2005, that the PUP report, "... if adopted, will undermine the church's purity and exacerbate the denomination's disunity. Indeed, it will promote schism by permitting the disregard of clear standards of Scripture and the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)." The Coalition will meet in Atlanta with the recently formed Presbyterian Global Fellowship after the General Assembly, presumably to make common plans about direction in a post-Task-Force-Report church. In its mission statement the latter says that it considers the PC(USA) to be in a deep crisis, an inward looking organization that is "an aging, dying, visionless denomination."

New Wineskins meeting opens to call for action; new association, possible denomination, proposed

TULSA -- They've come from all over the country, fired up, Presbyterians wanting answers for a church many of them think has jumped off the cliff.

"Why are we here?" asked New Wineskins co-moderator Dean Weaver July 19 during the opening session of the Wineskins' second national convocation.

They are here, he replied, because "everything has changed" in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). "We are here because everything has changed, but God has not."

And the church, he said, "is not a denomination."

Around the globe, Christianity is exploding in faithfulness, fervor, and numbers, Weaver said -- and Presbyterians want to be part of that. But the PC(USA)'s General Assembly did things in June that have caused the Presbyterian Lay Committee's board of directors to say the assembly has "broken covenant and invited schism" and taken a "plunge into apostasy" -- things the Lay Committee contends cannot be fixed from within.

Weaver said one online blogger announced recently: "Enough is enough, and we are going to take action."

PC(USA) mission personnel, partners in Middle East reported safe

LOUISVILLE, Ky.--Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission workers and ecumenical partners in the Middle East have not suffered physical harm from the violence that is gripping Lebanon and Israel.

 "All our mission workers, partners and other colleagues are reported safe," said Victor Makari, the PC(USA)'s area coordinator for the Middle East, on Tuesday. "This includes pastors in southern Lebanon very close to the border with Israel. All our colleagues (in Lebanon) are stuck in their homes, some sleeping in hallways away from windows and outside walls."

The violence between Israel and Hezbollah, which began July 12, has claimed the lives of 210 Lebanese and 24 Israelis as of Tuesday, according to media reports.

Discovering together what is “acceptable and faithful”

BIRMINGHAM -- Now that the General Assembly has blown through town, what does the map of the Presbyterian world look like?

First, for a lot of Presbyterians, things look exactly the same. The world did not end because a General Assembly met for a week in Alabama. Presbyterians still bow their heads to ask God's blessing and work to make the world a better place, as they have done for generations. And perhaps those faithful Presbyterians carrying on without pause may help to balance out those who can't sleep for thinking about what the assembly just did.

For the insomniacs, the reality is settling in something like this.

It will take time -- months, maybe longer -- for the repercussions of the assembly's decisions to echo through the church.

Some say the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has handed presbyteries and sessions a loophole for ordaining sexually-active gays and lesbians, others aren't so sure. It's likely the Presbyterian church courts will play a role in sorting it out.

And in the meantime, Presbyterians will have to figure out what being faithful means for them. Some pastors and congregations are scouring their consciences about whether to leave the PC(USA), although many conservatives are counseling people not to run for the exits.

“The Presbyterian Panel” survey, like the Assembly, supports PUP

"The Presbyterian Panel," the denomination's ongoing study of a representative sample of Presbyterians, was surveyed just before the General Assembly about some big issues before the church, especially the report of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church (PUP). The results of that survey were not tabulated nor analyzed until after the Assembly. We can now get a first look at how members, elders, pastors, and specialized clergy (those not serving congregations) think about PUP.

The PUP report began with a traditional theological foundation, and the survey shows that the church agrees. In response to basic claims, taken directly from the PUP report, overwhelming majorities of members, elders, and pastors -- more than 90 percent -- agree, "my faith is in the God of Israel who raised Jesus Christ bodily from the dead." Likewise, more than 80 percent of each group agrees, "Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through him." Most specialized clergy, always the most liberal group of the four, also agreed with both traditional claims, though at a lower level (84 percent and 64 percent, respectively). Above 80 percent of each group believe that the Bible is the true Word of God, reaching more than 90 percent among pastors.

Outlook interview: To depart or to divide?

Editor's Note: Little did they know. Having served on the Session of the Southminster Church in South Daytona Beach, Fla., Linda Davis was none too proud when her young adult son, Lloyd, was ordained and installed as elder on the church's Session. The 1990's were approaching. These were booming days in the life of the church in which Lloyd had been confirmed and married--to a bride he had met there in second grade Sunday School. Little did he or Linda know that, on the encouragement of the pastor and a few elders, the Session would soon initiate a process of investigation into the possibility of withdrawing from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Such an action was allowed in the Articles of Agreement (Article 13) that guided the reunion of the northern and southern streams of the church. That process split the church and nearly split their family.   

General Assembly receives Trinity report

BIRMINGHAM -- The General Assembly has voted 282-212 to receive a report on the nature of the Trinity, after an attempt to send the report back for more study and work was defeated by a close vote -- 227 to 240.

Those votes reflect a debate in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) over language in the report -- and particularly over what words are acceptable to use to describe the Trinity.

Wagner to Middle East Caucus: be bridges and prophets

BIRMINGHAM - The Christian faith stands against an implacable empire of complex networks--governments, militaries, multi-national corporations, media--and it must stand firm and strong, Chicago professor and Middle East specialist Donald Wagner told the National Middle East Presbyterian Caucus at its General Assembly dinner Sunday night.

The amalgam of secular political, economic, and social forces joined in mutual self-interest with Christian Zionism contributes especially to the deteriorating situation in Israel and Palestine, he said, citing his impressions from a recent trip to Israel and the West Bank. Christian Zionists portray Jesus as an imperial crusader,  "180 degrees opposite the gospel of love for the poor," he pointed out. He called on churches and caucus members not only to be bridges, but also to be prophets in this situation.

General Assembly approves Theological Task Force PUP report

BIRMINGHAM -- Now the question is: What happens next?

A closely divided General Assembly has voted to try something new -- to try an approach of balancing freedom of conscience while applying national ordination standards that some say has the chance to bring healing to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and others say could help break the denomination apart.

Assembly approves new divestment statement, softens language

BIRMINGHAM -- With remarkably little debate, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted 403 to 91 to approve a new statement on Presbyterian investment in Israel.

The statement -- which some supporters described as a careful compromise -- acknowledges the "hurt and misunderstanding" the General Assembly caused in 2004 by its actions on divestment.

Midnight GA session on social justice needs

BIRMINGHAM -- Ann Philbrick, moderator of the General Assembly committee on Social Justice Issues, invited the commissioners to take a late-night trip around the world on the assembly's final evening-- paying attention to concerns ranging from immigration to torture to globalization.

It was late, after midnight by the end, and the commissioners were weary -- but the matters before them were of the kind that matter deeply, night or day.

Montreat history office to close

BIRMINGHAM -- Supporters of the Presbyterian Historical Society office at Montreat, N.C, fought until the end -- but did not prevail.

The General Assembly voted 348-147 on June 21 to approve a plan to close the history office at Montreat, a move that some argued was financially necessary, but others said would be stripping the denomination of an important piece of its heritage.

In the fall of 2005, the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly voted to close the office at Montreat. The plan, as it evolved, was to consolidate the holdings at the Presbyterian Historical Society office in Philadelphia and at Columbia Theological Seminary in Georgia.

Late term abortion statement adopted by GA commissioners

BIRMINGHAM -- The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted 402-74-5 to approve a statement on the post viability and later-term abortions after amended it by adding portions of a previously adopted position in 2003.

The original overture was proposed by Redstone (Pa.) Presbytery to the GA's Health Issues Committee.