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Retired missionary-surgeon Paul S. Crane, 86, dies

Paul Shields Crane, 86, prominent retired missionary-surgeon, died June 12 at his home in Black Mountain, N.C. of congestive heart failure. He was also diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

A renaissance man, Crane was a respected linguist who translated for U.S. presidents on three occasions, helped develop a medical treatment for a debilitating parasite, assisted in establishing universities in Korea and served as both a teacher and a surgeon in Korea for more than 20 years.

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PC(USA) divestment stance: presbyteries, churches react

You know the old saying: sometimes the journey is at least as interesting as the destination.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) set sail last summer -- with little warning and a not-very-clear itinerary -- towards the idea of possibly divesting in some companies doing business in Israel, as a way of expressing concern about Israel's treatment of the Palestinian people.

Already, it's been a bumpy, exciting ride, and there's still a long way to go.

Who knows what decisions involving divestiture the 2006 General Assembly might be asked to consider, or what the mood of the church will be, with a bucket of other sizzling issues on the table as well?

And who has a clue what twists and turns politics in the Middle East may take before then?

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Austin Colloquium examines divestment

 

Presbyterian and Jewish congregants gathered in Shelton Chapel at Austin Seminary on March 30 in an effort to further open the lines of communication between the two communities. The gathering was the President's Colloquium, "A Difficult Friendship: Divestment, Dialogue, and Hope."

Two speakers addressed the challenges and opportunities facing Presbyterians and Jews in the wake of the divestiture vote last summer at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly: the Reverend Joseph D. Small III, associate director for the PC(USA) Congregational Ministries Division and coordinator for the Office of Theology and Worship/Spiritual Formation, and Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor, director of Interfaith Affairs for the Anti-Defamation League.

According to the PC(USA) website, "The 216th General Assembly approved several measures opposing the Israeli occupation of Palestine ... including a call for the corporate witness office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to begin gathering data to support a selective divestment of holdings in multinational corporations doing business in Israel/Palestine."

Editorials

Divestment dialogue:good for the church

What has the church learned from the explosive response to our actions last summer in Richmond on divestment? Granted this is not everyone's concern, yet by its action -- intentionally or not -- the General Assembly opened the door to widespread public discussion in every place where Jews and Christians have significant contact. We both initiated and contributed to a dialogue that has been sadly lacking in American political life. The General Assembly took heat for these and subsequent actions, one of which resulted in the firing of folk in the Louisville office.

Voices

“Minimum Salary”

Text: John 16:16-33

One of the best commentaries on the Gospel of John is Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, a novel which also has a good deal to say about theological education. I want to begin by quoting at length a passage from that novel that has to do with a novice priest who has recently graduated from a theological school of sorts and who is struggling to discern the particular shape of God’s call upon his life.

Voices

The Children of Abraham: An interfaith pilgrimage to the Holy Land

Abraham went, and his children followed.

Forty-five “Children of Abraham”— 14 Jews, 15 Christians, 15 Muslims, and one Unitarian-Universalist participated in an interfaith pilgrimage to the Holy Land, February 10-21, 2005, sponsored by the Wilshire Center Interfaith Council of Los Angeles. The pilgrims were led by Rabbi Stephen Julius Stein of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple;

Voices

Why I support the PC(USA) selective divestment policy

The PC(USA)’s Divestment Policy is a protest of thirty-eight years of Israel’s illegal military occupation in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza. The policy is not anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, or anti-Semitic. Its purpose is to promote the end of the occupation.

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Jesuit colleges to use endowments to support social agenda

 Jesuit educators, known for their dual emphasis on academics and social justice, are gearing up to set a new standard for the way colleges wield clout on Wall Street.

Under a proposal rolled out for chief financial officers recently in Cincinnati, the nation's 28 Jesuit colleges and universities would use their billions of dollars in investments to push a collective, Roman Catholic social agenda. Participating colleges would build endowment wealth and advocate for the poor simultaneously by demanding corporate policies that defend human rights, reduce predatory lending practices and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa.

The endowments of the nation's 28 Jesuit colleges and universities are valued at approximately $6.4 billion in aggregate.

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Presbyterian College report: Living “the ecology of church-relatedness”

Continuing to explore the question of what it means to be a Presbyterian-related college, a commission at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina has recommended some changes in policy for the school -- changes that the commission hopes will strike a balance between educating students in the Christian tradition and preparing them to live and work in a multicultural world.

The proposed changes follow a controversy last year about whether Presbyterian College should drop a longstanding requirement that students must take at least two Bible classes -- one in Old Testament and one in New Testament. That prompted a flurry of discussion about what it means to be a distinctively Christian college and one that's related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). A 30-member commission was created to study the matter further.

Editorials

Institutional courage and integrity

Presbyterian and Davidson Colleges have been much in the news in the New South states of South and North Carolina respectively. Leslie Scanlon's article delineates the issue at Presbyterian for the OUTLOOK. We covered the controversial proposal one year ago this month (the June 7th issue). That proposal led to the appointment of a commission to study these matters, chaired by Allen McSween of 4th Presbyterian in Greenville, SC. Since religion is big news everywhere, the secular press has given this college conflict extensive coverage.

In the meantime, this past February, Davidson's trustees amended its statement of purpose (see Rob Spach's Oped piece for the Charlotte Observer, which defends the action) to allow (not recruit but allow) 20% of its trustees be of faiths other than Christian, or of no faith. That action has provoked dismay and heated criticism, even though there are by now scores, if not hundreds, of Davidson alumni/ae who are persons of other faiths.

Voices

Davidson’s decision and Reformed tradition

Davidson College’s Board of Trustees recently decided that people who are not active members of a Christian church may serve on that board. Some have criticized this as a move away from our Christian heritage. I would like to offer a different interpretation, as I see the change as a forward-looking expression of how we want our particular understanding of Christian faith to be embodied.

Voices

When we were yet speechless

Saturday night, the night before Easter, about 45 of us gathered in the dusk in the narthex outside the sanctuary doors. We settled ourselves and began to gather our hearts for worship - a new service - a kind of modified Easter Vigil for us to try. The sanctuary doors opened to reveal a path of light - tiny votive candles perched on the side of each pew - making a pathway of light through the dim and dark sanctuary.

Voices

Ordinary time: Romans 6:1-11

“Do you not know?” Paul asks the Romans, and then twice firmly announces, “we know,” “we know.” The language hints that something has been misplaced.

We know—unless we have forgotten. We know—unless we assume it didn’t apply in this case or under these particular circumstances. We know—unless we haven’t calculated the fullest consequences of what we have come to know. We know—unless, of course, we don’t know at all.

Voices

Respiratory Filure in PC(USA)

I am a Presbyterian Jedi. At least that is what some seem to think. Last year I was elected to the Presbyterian Jedi Council (aka General Assembly Council.) I am now “in the know” and the fate of the denomination is in my hands. Depending on whom you ask, I could be either Obi-Wan Kenobi or Darth Vader. Either way, I get the same questions. Membership is declining and there is financial difficulty. What am I going to do to save the denomination?

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Pastor, educator, ecumenist: Henry Sloan Coffin (1877-1954)

It has been just over 50 years since Henry Sloane Coffin died. This milestone offers an occasion to take the measure of this noted pastor, educator, and ecumenist.

Coffin was born into a prominent New York City family, the son of a lawyer and a Scottish mother. He learned the Westminster Shorter Catechism when a youngster and developed a deep respect for the ministry at home and at the Fifth Avenue Church where the family worshipped.

Book Reviews

Back to the Well: Women’s Encounters with Jesus

by Francis Taylor Gench, (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 2004).

In this recent book by the author of Hebrews and James in the Westminster Bible Companion series, Francis Taylor Gench provides a sparkling discussion of six gospel encounters between women and Jesus. This book offers fresh readings of familiar stories by allowing a range of scholarly voices, especially feminist voices, to raise key questions and new perspectives about the meaning of the narratives in their ancient and contemporary settings.

The book begins with Matthew's story of the Canaanite woman (or the Syro-Phoenician woman, as Mark refers to her) and Jesus. This story is notable for being the only one in the gospels in which Jesus, who is portrayed in an unflattering light, receives instruction rather than gives it! Gench notes the persistence and ingenuity inherent in Matthew's presentation of the woman who changed Jesus' mind regarding his mission to the Gentiles.

Movie Reviews

Kingdom of Heaven

Yes, it's the Crusades, and the Church can't help but come off badly: you'll save your immortal soul if you'll go kill some infidels?

But for those who love the Church, it's worse than that: early on, the parish priest goes to the blacksmith's shop to assure the young recent widower that his wife is surely in Hell because she committed suicide (after the death of her baby). Not only that, the "helpful" priest reminds the grieving blacksmith that his wife's head was severed prior to burial, so she's in Hell headless, as well. This gruesome representative of the Church doesn't promise the young blacksmith that going on the Crusade will deliver his wife from Hell, but does try the "save your own soul" appeal. We hardly want to blame the enraged blacksmith for applying his rage to the incredibly insensitive priest.

Movie Reviews

A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

British humor: an ordinary bloke gets to tour the galaxies with hyperspace intergalactic travel, and all he can think about is that he can't get a good cup of tea anywhere.

Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) wakes up one morning in his ramshackle house in the country, only to discover that the wrecking crew has arrived to level his modest home, because they're going to build a bypass there. He lies in front of a bulldozer in his bathrobe to protest. The construction supervisor tells him that it's a useless gesture, because the decision's already been made. In the meantime, his friend Ford Prefect (Mos Def) scurries toward him, anxious to get him to the nearest pub to drink a couple of quick pints before the world ends. Yes, Mr. Prefect, it turns out, is an alien, and he's planning to beam up to the spaceship via his thumb ring before the world explodes. You see, the planet Earth, also, has been scheduled for demolition in order to make way for a highway in space.

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U.S. megachurches more numerous, says Hartford Institute study

New research shows 50 percent more megachurches in the United States than previously thought.

Initial analysis of a cooperative project to survey all megachurches in the United States by Scott Thumma of Hartford (Conn.) Seminary's Hartford Institute for Religion Research, and Dave Travis and Warren Bird of Leadership Network, uncovered at least 1,200 Protestant churches that claim more than 2,000 weekly worship attendees.

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2005 Worship Renewal grants includes Presbyterian churches

The latest project of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship suggests it's as important to give as to receive.

After receiving renewed funding from Indiana-based Lilly Endowment Inc., the Institute has announced its 2005 recipients of Worship Renewal Grants. It is awarding almost $700,000 to 54 churches and organizations, using the support of its Lilly Endowment grant to give funds to congregations and other Christian organizations for projects they design to enrich and transform worship.

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Seminaries hold baccalaureate services, commencement ceremonies for 2004-5

The 2005 graduates of seminaries affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) held a variety of events in spring 2005 related to honoring students and awarding degrees. These included:

Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Commencement exercise was held at University Church, Austin, Texas, on Sunday, May 22 at 2:30 p.m. The Reverend Dr. David G. McKechnie gave the commencement address. He is pastor of Grace Church in Houston, Texas, an Austin Seminary trustee and former candidate for moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), 216th General Assembly.

Editorials

Whole leaders for the whole Church

I've always been suspicious of dividing things in two. Some of my earliest memories are of wanting the whole thing, but being told that my older brother and I had to divide it up. Cake. Candy bars. That last hamburger, sitting on the grill, begging to be eaten. Even Kleenex. Kleenex? Yes, we used them a half tissue at a time. After all, I was raised by the generation that sacrificed through the Great Depression. I would insist on the whole thing. Then I'd hear those dreaded words: "Boys, you're going to have to divide it in two!"

My childhood selfishness aside, church life in the early 21st century is regrettably full of false dichotomies. And at San Francisco Theological Seminary, we are learning to resist and reject false choices that would require us to embrace only one side of a complex reality. Instead, our goal is to put our arms around the whole big mess that is life in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Liberal or conservative? Yes! We are all both, albeit in different ways and on different subjects. Small church or large church? Yes! God's purposes for service to the world require both, and everything in between. Traditional or contemporary? Yes! Faithfulness requires the best of both. Reformed or ecumenical? Yes! Each requires the other. Theoretical, spiritual, or practical? Yes! Pastoral preparation cannot be comprehensive without all three aspects of formation for ministry, and others as well.

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