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Voices

The rites and relationships of baptism, the Lord’s Supper

Among the theological questions before the 217th General Assembly will be those in the draft Pastoral letter and list of five sacramental practices recommended by the Sacraments Study Group for a two-year period of discernment in congregations. 

This group was convened by the General Assembly Office of Theology and Worship to address several referrals from previous assemblies having to do with the formula of invitation to the Lord's Supper. Most of these overtures suggested ways of altering the language used in the invitation so that explicit mention of baptism as a requirement for admission to the table would be removed. Apparently, in many congregations, such references to the requirement of prior baptism were seen as barriers to outreach and the welcoming of newcomers to the church. 

 

Voices

Finding a theology of ordination and vocation in baptism

This coming June, the 217th General Assembly will be considering the long-awaited report of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church (PUP). Some left-of-center and right-of-center groups in the church view the report as inadequate in addressing the hot issues before the church, particularly the question of ordination. To be sure, the PUP report affirms some key themes in the Reformed understanding of ordination and vocation, such as mutual self-giving and service, as well as the communal and covenantal nature of God's call upon the Church and those called to serve in ordained leadership (pp. 19-20, Final Report of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church). Even so, the PUP Task Force expresses a great disappointment:

... Scripture does not provide a thoroughly developed theology of ordination, and a theology of ordination has not been clearly and consistently articulated in the development of Reformed and Presbyterian doctrine. (lines 565-567, Final Report)

Voices

Never say “Never”… or “Always”:Continuing the conversation on “The Trinity: God’s Love Overflowing”

When I attended a gathering in Pasadena five years ago to discuss the doctrine of the Trinity, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Charles Wiley and others from the Office of Theology and Worship were holding a series of forums around the country in response to an action of the 2000 General Assembly that a group be constituted to study the doctrine of the Trinity in the theology, life and worship of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). I was intrigued by the idea that the Assembly had called for a theological discussion. Before the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity and before "Hope in the Lord Jesus Christ," the Trinity Task Force (now a "Work Group") was the first time a theological committee had been formed at the GA level since reunion in 1983.

Voices

Reflection on “The Trinity: God’s Love Overflowing”

The task force on the Trinity rightly comments (line 71) that the doctrine of the Trinity is "widely neglected or poorly understood in many of our congregations." This central doctrine of the Christian faith seems optional to some Presbyterians, peripheral to others, and irrelevant to the faith and life of many others. For some ministerial candidates, the doctrine of the Trinity does not appear on their carefully crafted statements of faith presented to their presbyteries. The task force rightly concludes, after observing this reality in our church, that "the doctrine of the Trinity is crucial to our faith, worship and service" and it prays that "Presbyterians will once again find that the doctrine of the Trinity is good and joyful news!" (lines 72-74). 

Uncategorized

The biennial PC(USA) calendar: A leaders’ assessment

When moderator Rick Ufford-Chase called the 217th General Assembly to order on June 15 in Birmingham,  it seemed both familiar and a little strange.

It's been two years since the last assembly met -- a big change for a denomination that's held annual national meetings since kingdom come. So what are people saying about how well every-other-year assemblies are working?

For starters, it may be too soon to tell. John Detterick, retiring executive director of the General Assembly Council, said in an interview:

Voices

The corporate takeover of the mainline church

I am recovering from a devastating downsizing of our national offices in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) We have just gone through a drastic restructuring familiar to many people who live in the corporate world. And this downsizing was done with all the corporate tools available to this mindset. The exception was the worship services we held as a community of faith, but even those services were tainted with corporate residue.

Uncategorized

The Book of Confessions: Questions for reflection and indigestion

How well do you know and understand the documents in the Book of Confessions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)?

Although all officers make ordination promises to receive and adopt the essential tenets of the Reformed faith as expressed in the confessions and vow to be guided continually by them, most elders and deacons only have a limited concept of what the ten historic statements of faith really say.    

The questions below are designed to help any church board, committee, or presbytery begin a review of the purpose and content of the Book of Confessions to remind our members what the significance of our vows is. Perhaps they can be used after a general introduction so that everyone starts on the same page.

 

Book Reviews

Theology for Liberal Presbyterians and Other Endangered Species

 

by Douglas F. Ottati. Louisville: Geneva Press, 2006. ISBN 0-664-50289-X.  Pb., 116 pp. $17.95. 

 

Some book titles provide no clue to what lies within. Douglas Ottati's latest book is as advertised: theology for liberal Presbyterians (and other endangered species). I take issue with the title only in the sense that I think the book is not just "for" liberal Presbyterians. What Ottati has to offer can enrich the quality of theological reflection and discourse regardless of one's perceived and preferred label. 

Book Reviews

Presbyterians Being Reformed: Reflections on What the Church Needs Today

edited by Robert H. Bullock Jr.  Louisville: Geneva Press, 2006.  ISBN 0664502792.  Pb., 133 pp., $17.95.

 

While I understand the logic of doing so, I rarely seek a second opinion on a medical matter. When I find a doctor whose insights I trust, I typically embrace his or her observations and insights.  

Truth be told, I often do the same in other areas of my life. When drawing conclusions about issues before the church, I tend to listen to persons whose opinions I trust (since they generally mirror my own), and having had my own point of view affirmed, I enjoy the sweet satisfaction reserved for those who are confident of being right.

Movie Reviews

Preaching, Teaching, Saving & Dunking

"An Inconvenient Truth" is an hour and a half of preaching. That is, it is Al Gore preaching to us about the impending crisis of global warming. Mr. Gore has all the current statistics displayed by all the latest technologies, and he's shown speaking before packed-to-overflowing houses of attentive and empathetic listeners, appealingly designed to emphasize youth and include several minorities. (This is the kind of congregation we would all love to have on Sunday mornings.) There's no hymn singing, though, and no praying, just clear-eyed, somber warnings about the impending disasters, complete with dire predictions of floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, drought, and other natural disasters (see Matthew 24:7).  

Editorials

Leaders lead

Another leader taking leave? In recent weeks we have said sad farewells to church giants who have joined the church triumphant. This time we bid farewell to one who heads to a blissful retirement at 7,000 feet in New Mexico's mountains. As he comes to the end of his second four-year term as executive director of the General Assembly Council, John Detterick took a few moments to reflect on his tenure.

Uncategorized

Efforts to save Montreat historical office falling short …so far

BIRMINGHAM -- The General Assembly Procedures Committee turned back concerted efforts to overturn the plan of the Committee on the General Assembly to close the office of the Presbyterian Historical Society at Montreat, N.C.

COGA's recommendation, to move the historical materials presently housed in Montreat to the central facility in Philadelphia, will be considered for final action by the whole General Assembly on June 21. 

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Peacemaking committee recommends new wording of divestment directions

BIRMINGHAM - After hours of listening, discussing, praying and parsing individual words, the Peacemaking and International Issues Committee affirmed Sunday night their recommendation to the 217th General Assembly to replace the wording to the 216th General Assembly related to a phased process that might lead to divesting from certain corporations doing business in Israel.

After discussing the 41 overtures the committee received on this topic and ideas of merging parts of overtures together, the committee appointed an 11-person subcommittee to draft its own statement, which is being forwarded to the General Assembly.

Uncategorized

Assembly refers overtures concerning ordination of educators for further study

For years now, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has debated the question of whether Christian educators should be ordained -- with some contending that the work of teaching is significant enough in the church and important enough in cultivating disciples that it should be considered as an ordained office.

But the assembly has repeatedly declined to do so, and this year is no exception.

On June 19, the assembly referred two overtures on ordaining educators to the PC(USA)'s Office for Theology and Worship for more study -- one that would have created an office of "educating elder" and a second to establish a "minister of Christian education."

Those will now be considered as part of an ongoing study on the relationship between baptism and the ministry of all church members, whether they are ordained or not.

Uncategorized

GA seeks further study on Colombia situation

BIRMINGHAM -- Study vs. action -- that was the question.

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) struggled on June 19 with the question of how fiercely to speak up against oppression in Colombia -- and how strongly to advocate for particular changes in U.S. policies in the region.

The shadow of the divestment debate -- in which the assembly in 2004 took a controversial position in favor of phased, selective investment in some companies doing business in Israel -- hung a little over this discussion, although not spoken of explicitly.

Uncategorized

GA backgrounder: Abortion overtures seek further restrictions

(PNS) Issues surrounding abortion have been on the agenda of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly almost every year since 1983, when that year's Assembly established the church's first basic policy on abortion. That policy supported a woman's right to choose with virtually no reservations.

Over the years, pro-life Presbyterians have persuaded Assemblies to modify the church's policy on several occasions, most substantially in 1992.

Uncategorized

GA backgrounder: Abortion overtures seek further restrictions

(PNS) Issues surrounding abortion have been on the agenda of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly almost every year since 1983, when that year's Assembly established the church's first basic policy on abortion. That policy supported a woman's right to choose with virtually no reservations.

Over the years, pro-life Presbyterians have persuaded Assemblies to modify the church's policy on several occasions, most substantially in 1992.

Uncategorized

Peace, Unity, Purity Report adopted in committee as opponents try to delay implementation

BIRMINGHAM -- Here's a question the General Assembly will very likely be asked to consider: Should the presbyteries be given more time -- basically a "season of discernment" -- to consider the report of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the PC(USA)? Should the vote be put off for two years, until the next assembly meets in 2008?

Or should this General Assembly vote June 20 on the task force report -- deciding now whether the task force has recommended a better way for a divided PC(USA) to handle its disagreements?

Uncategorized

Abortion-related resource funding overture disapproved by Health Comm.

BIRMINGHAM -- The 217th General Assembly Health Committee on June 17 voted to recommend to the General Assembly disapproval of Overture 10-02 from the Presbytery of Beaver-Butler. The proposal asked that no funds of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) be used to support any advocacy either for or against abortion.

The overture had the concurrence of Shenango presbytery.

Jim Powers, elder of the Beaver-Butler Presbytery and overture advocate, called their proposal an even-handed, balanced approach to making sure no PC(USA) monies were used for pro-or anti-abortion support such as information materials. Presbyterians who think their contributions are going to fund a position antithetical to their own cease giving to the denomination, according to Powers.  Adoption of their overture would likely result in some donors reestablishing their giving to the PC(USA), he indicated.

Uncategorized

Ecumenical Committee urges study of WARC papers Nyomi calls for renewal and unity

BIRMINGHAM -- Setri Nyomi repeated several themes in his remarks to the Assembly's Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Committee during its deliberations here.

Economic justice. Engagement with the world. Spiritual renewal.

Nyomi, the general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), was drawing from a list of concerns raised by that body during its 24th conference two years ago in Accra, Ghana, where delegates from its 218-member churches committed to challenge the economic order that is further dividing the world's rich and poor and squelches "fullness of life" as proclaimed in the gospels.

Uncategorized

Abortion-related resource funding overture disapproved by Health Comm.

BIRMINGHAM -- The 217th General Assembly Health Committee on June 17 voted to recommend to the General Assembly disapproval of Overture 10-02 from the Presbytery of Beaver-Butler. The proposal asked that no funds of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) be used to support any advocacy either for or against abortion.

The overture had the concurrence of Shenango presbytery.

Jim Powers, elder of the Beaver-Butler Presbytery and overture advocate, called their proposal an even-handed, balanced approach to making sure no PC(USA) monies were used for pro-or anti-abortion support such as information materials. Presbyterians who think their contributions are going to fund a position antithetical to their own cease giving to the denomination, according to Powers.  Adoption of their overture would likely result in some donors reestablishing their giving to the PC(USA), he indicated.

Uncategorized

Abortion-related resource funding overture disapproved by Health Comm.

BIRMINGHAM -- The 217th General Assembly Health Committee on June 17 voted to recommend to the General Assembly disapproval of Overture 10-02 from the Presbytery of Beaver-Butler. The proposal asked that no funds of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) be used to support any advocacy either for or against abortion.

The overture had the concurrence of Shenango presbytery.

Jim Powers, elder of the Beaver-Butler Presbytery and overture advocate, called their proposal an even-handed, balanced approach to making sure no PC(USA) monies were used for pro-or anti-abortion support such as information materials. Presbyterians who think their contributions are going to fund a position antithetical to their own cease giving to the denomination, according to Powers.  Adoption of their overture would likely result in some donors reestablishing their giving to the PC(USA), he indicated.

Uncategorized

Abortion-related resource funding overture disapproved by Health Comm.

BIRMINGHAM -- The 217th General Assembly Health Committee on June 17 voted to recommend to the General Assembly disapproval of Overture 10-02 from the Presbytery of Beaver-Butler. The proposal asked that no funds of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) be used to support any advocacy either for or against abortion.

The overture had the concurrence of Shenango presbytery.

Jim Powers, elder of the Beaver-Butler Presbytery and overture advocate, called their proposal an even-handed, balanced approach to making sure no PC(USA) monies were used for pro-or anti-abortion support such as information materials. Presbyterians who think their contributions are going to fund a position antithetical to their own cease giving to the denomination, according to Powers.  Adoption of their overture would likely result in some donors reestablishing their giving to the PC(USA), he indicated.

Uncategorized

Polity committee rejects overtures curbing frivolous lawsuit complaints; requests study

BIRMINGHAM -- The Committee on Church Polity on Saturday disapproved four overtures stemming from what several speakers and committee members described as an untenable number of frivolous accusations against leaders in the church.

But it requested that the Office of the General Assembly study the inappropriate use of the judicial process and report back to the 218Th General Assembly in 2008, and it urged individuals and governing bodies to pursue actions against church members filing such accusations falsely or in bad faith.

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