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Addressing the issues

My next few editorials will respond to recent news stories and guest viewpoints that have received no editorial treatment.

This week I will address the Jan. 31 meeting of Western North Carolina Presbyterian at which the ministry of Parker Williamson was not revalidated. This was reported in the Feb. 23 issue of The Outlook and the February issue of the Layman. I want also to respond to reader reaction to the Jan. 26 Outlook editorial, "Ministry of Fear."

‘Righteous Judgment’ and Biblical Preaching

I read with great interest the article by James Goodloe ("Righteous Judgment") and the endorsing letter by Eddie Soto. Though the term is never used, I assume that both are being critical of "Lectionary Preaching."

Both are correct when they say that lectio continua (preaching through a book of the Bible "in course," chapter by chapter) was used back to the earliest days of the church, and that the reformers, especially the Genevan reformers, urged pastors to preach through books of the Bible.

Mid-Atlantic Synod PJC puts Wililiamson decsion on hold

Parker T. Williamson has won some time. The Permanent Judicial Commission of the Mid-Atlantic Synod has granted a stay of enforcement of a decision by Western North Carolina Presbytery involving Williamson.

What’s at dispute in the case is whether and on what terms Williamson can remain a member of Western North Carolina Presbytery.

Rold of ‘The Outlook’ Editor

have been a member of the Outlook Foundation Board of Directors almost longer than I can remember. It came with the territory; it came very soon after I moved to Richmond in 1982 to become pastor of Second church. I think it was assumed that I would serve on the board because of The Outlook’s long history with this congregation. One of our predecessor journals was brought to Richmond in 1856 by the first pastor of this church, Moses Drury Hoge, and most of the ministers of Second church since 1938 had served on the board as well.

Lent and Limits

In some parts of the country we have endured a long, cold winter and the blizzards are still coming (after several weeks of sub-zero weather). Many people are sick of it and feel like they are caught in a frozen trap.

Some of this normal depression will pass, of course, when spring comes; when we get rid of the ice, the heavy coats and gloves, the constant aggravation of getting into a freezing car. Then we will feel better again.

An Examined Faith: The Grace of Self Doubt

By James M. Gustafson
Augsburg Fortress. 2004. 128 pp. $15.

— Review by Ralph D. Bucy, Harrisonburg, Va.

From the cowardice that dares not face new truth
From the laziness that is contented with half-truth
From the arrogance that thinks it knows all truth
Good Lord, deliver us. (p. vii)

Former ‘Outlook’ publisher James S. Brown Sr. dies

James S. Brown Sr., 91, former publisher of The Outlook and general manager of the Outlook Book Service, died Wednesday, March 10, in Richmond, Va. A memorial service was held Saturday, March 13, at Tuckahoe Presbyterian Church in Richmond.

A Texas native, Brown came to The Outlook in 1947 to assist his brother, the late Outlook editor Aubrey Brown, by managing the business side of the operation. Prior to that, James Brown had been working with a Texas City oil refinery and narrowly escaped death in the disastrous explosion of 1947.

Alpha doesn’t fit ‘Presbyterian ethos’ but there’s no ‘major’ conflict says report

This is the magic of the Alpha evangelization program: a guy like John Goodwin, a management consultant from Vancouver, Canada, says, "I came to the Lord through Alpha, and had no intention of doing such a thing." Goodwin, a 65-year-old management consultant, had not gone to church for 35 years when, in 1998, he decided to give an Alpha course a try — in large part because a woman he was dating (and who is now his wife) was involved in the church and asked him to go.

A cure the ‘evangelism allergy’?

John Zimmerman, a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) pastor from Washington state, saw firsthand how Alpha can transform a congregation when he served as an interim pastor about two years ago of a historic downtown church in Vancouver, B.C. That church, a Baptist congregation, had a long-term pastor who retired, and attendance dropped off by about 180 within a few months after he left. But then the Alpha programs the church had been offering took off — and Zimmerman was amazed at what happened next.

A ‘beta’ version of Alpha

Marcia Mount Shoop, an associate pastor at a big church in the Chicago suburbs, likes the idea of having an evangelistic outreach for people who are seeking to know more about God and Christianity. But when she went to an Alpha conference, "I had some theological problems with some of the curriculum — some of the content I felt was not appropriate for the Reformed tradition, it doesn’t reflect what we believe," Mount Shoop said.

Moving Forward

I am both humbled and daunted by the confidence the search committee and board of the Presbyterian Outlook Foundation has shown by naming me editor. Standing on the shoulders of Aubrey Brown (1943-1978) George Hunt (1978-1988) and Robert Bullock (1988–2003) reminds me of the awesome responsibility that attaches to this position. The PC(USA), the denominations that birthed and nourished us into existence, the Reformed and Presbyterian family of churches in the United States, and even the holy universal church owe these past three editors an immense debt of gratitude, as do our readers.

A New Strategy

In response to declining membership, a strategy report of a major presbytery several years ago emphasized new church development. Although anticipated, it was still rather disconcerting. How many commercial enterprises would respond to falling sales by opening new franchises? Instead, if they hoped to survive, they would concentrate on product improvement.

Second Thoughts on ‘The Passion’

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
— Exodus 20:4–6 (ESV)

Task force begins discussion of ordination, starting with biblical, historical background

DALLAS – Yes, they finally started talking about ordination.

No, they didn’t answer the big essay question: should the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ordain gays and lesbians (although there are no shortage of folks willing to volunteer the answer on that one.) That kind of discussion – what the PC(USA) should do about its disagreements over theology and ordination – is expected to be on the table when the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the PC(USA) meets again in August. And, after more than two years of work, some of them seem eager to get to it.

Who Can Lead?

DALLAS – What are the qualifications for being a church leader?

The third and fifth chapters of 1 Timothy provide what New Testament scholar Frances Taylor Gench described as "a catalog of virtues" expected of such people – written with the recognition that the world is watching, that for some, how church leaders behave is one of the standards they use to judge whether the faith is real.

Sparks named ‘Outlook’ editor

Meeting in Richmond on Feb. 10-11, the board of directors of the Presbyterian Outlook Foundation elected O. Benjamin Sparks its interim editor effective Feb. 20.

Sparks will serve in a part-time, limited capacity and without compensation while he remains pastor of Second Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Va. During his tenure as editor he will give overall direction to The Outlook in theological, editorial and ecclesiastical matters, setting the tone and direction of the paper.

Task force approves ‘preliminary affirmations’ that Jesus is the peace, unity and purity of the church

DALLAS — Jesus Christ himself is the peace, unity and purity of the church.

That’s the essence of a preliminary report that the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) plans to submit this summer to the 216th General Assembly.

Moderator Andrews challenges theological task force to ask church to converse across lines of division

DALLAS — Susan Andrews finds reasons for hope almost everywhere she goes in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) But she also sees "a big cloud" hanging over the denomination, and says "there is a fear, a mistrust, an anxiety, an anger" and a complete avoidance of direct and loving discussion of the key issues dividing the church.

The Line in the Sand?

Does your board have a line in the sand when it comes to personal, professional, ethical or administrative behavior of church members and officers? How long will you permit unruly or fractious actions by one or two individuals to disrupt the important work of the congregation? What do you do if one of the church's officers clearly violates his or her ordination vows?

Setting budget priorities: Looking for lines while driving down the road in a thick fog

LOUISVILLE — It’s hard being forced to choose.

In the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), is evangelism more important than social justice?

Does spirituality matter more than leadership?

And how do you get from that kind of big-picture talk to cutting $8 million from the budget by early May? Who exactly will lose their jobs? And what programs will be shoved aside?

Detterick says council’s work on mission plan represents a ‘new day’ for the PC(USA)

LOUISVILLE — John Detterick, executive director of the General Assembly Council, on Feb. 14 called it a "new day," a "new chapter in the life of the General Assembly Council," because of the work the council has done to create a Mission Work Plan to shape the budget for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for 2005 and 2006.

Final draft of ‘Trinity’ paper to be on PC(USA) Web site in late February

LOUISVILLE — The final draft of a new paper on the doctrine of the Trinity will be available for review and comment on the Web site of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) by late February — a report that both affirms the historic use of the language "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" and suggests other language that can be used too.

Administrative fee proposal returns

LOUISVILLE — People yipped so loudly when the idea was presented last September that it was pulled from consideration. The response was clear: some people thought it was a terrible idea, unwise and unfair, for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to impose an administrative fee of up to 5 percent on restricted gifts to the denomination — money that individuals and congregations give with strings attached, requiring that the money be spent to fund specific things.

Third round of budget, job cuts looms as council considers plan

LOUISVILLE – Here’s the game plan: put together a new, two-year budget for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that’s built on a big vision and big hopes for a new way of doing things.

Whether the will exists to say that some of what the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) traditionally has done won’t be done anymore, in order to make way for more important and even new things, still has not been determined.

216th GA to receive per capita option

LOUISVILLE – What per capita rate will the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) set for 2005 and 2006? Well, that all depends.

The proposal on the table is to offer the General Assembly two options for a per capita rate, and to let the Assembly decide.

The first option would set a rate of $5.46 per active member for 2005 – five cents less than the rate for this year – then to raise it to $5.56, a boost of 10 cents per member from the current rate, for 2006.

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