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Victims who told their stories should be recognized as heroes says leader of inquiry

LOUISVILLE — The women who told investigators that they had been sexually abused by a Presbyterian missionary while their parents were missionaries in the Congo — and whose revelations have led the leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to say publicly that they will try to strengthen denominational policies to prevent such abuse from happening in the future — were "being asked to open a wound in front of strangers" and should be "embraced and recognized as the heroes that they are," a lawyer who led the PC(USA)'s independent committee of inquiry said Tuesday.

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Changes recommended in handling sexual abuse reports; cases were largely ignored for 40 years

LOUISVILLE — An independent committee investigating allegations of physical and sexual abuse involving the children of missionaries in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has determined there is "overwhelming" evidence that one charismatic, well-respected Presbyterian missionary sexually abused at least 22 girls and women over nearly a 40-year period, both in Africa and in the United States, from 1946 through 1985.

Book Reviews

The Sprituality of Men

Philip L. Culbertson, ed.
Fortress. 2002. 282 pp. Pb. $22. ISBN 0-8006-3447-0

— review by J. David Wiseman, Cary, N.C.

A story is told of several Americans traveling in Africa, who had hired a native guide to lead them up a mountain. As they climbed, the guide stopped for rest more frequently than the hikers desired. Growing impatient, one hiker finally posed the question, "Why are we stopping so often?" The wise guide responded, "We need to give our souls time to catch up with our bodies."

Editorials

Reinventing Theological Education II

As stated in this column last week, the 10 theological seminaries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) collectively are arguably the most important set of institutions beyond the congregation, with which they have a symbiotic relationship. To the extent that the Presbyterian tradition depends on learned ministers and educated lay people, derived from a deeply ingrained commitment to serving God with the mind, the seminaries are indispensable.

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GAC calls for prayer, peace over war in Iraq; narrowly rejects paper on role of news service

LOUISVILLE — The General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) approved a statement Saturday, Sept. 28, regarding Iraq — calling for prayer and asking national leaders "to speak in ways that encourage peace, rather than war."

It also narrowly turned down a proposal from the News Advisory Council to clarify the role of the Presbyterian News Service — a proposal that some cautioned could give denominational leaders more leeway to try to "spin" the coverage the news service provides.

Voices

Covenant Network Board Adopts Statment on Constitutional Observance

Meeting in Chicago this week, the Board of Directors of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians discussed current actions within the Presbyterian Church and adopted the following statement:

"The Covenant Network of Presbyterians is committed to working for the removal of G-6.0106b from the Book of Order.

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Council will apologize to victims of sexual abuse by missionaries

LOUISVILLE — A committee investigating sexual abuse that Presbyterian missionaries allegedly committed against children in Africa from 1945 to 1978 has reported back — and leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) plan to send a letter of apology to those who endured the abuse and to set up a work group to consider what steps to take next.

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Financial picture not rosy for PC(USA)

LOUISVILLE — The General Assembly Council's Mission Support Services Committee received an update Thursday on the financial picture of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for the year so far — and there is some cause for concern.

Receipts are down about 7 percent for the year through August, although it's too soon to tell if that picture will hold, said Joey Bailey, the PC(USA) deputy for mission support services.

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Council will consider statement on Iraq

LOUISVILLE — The General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is considering whether to make a statement about the possibility of U.S. military action against Iraq.

The council is considering whether to make an interim statement — a formal statement the council can make on important issues between meetings of the General Assembly — or to issue a pastoral letter, to summarize General Assembly policy statements regarding Iraq, or not to say anything at all.

Voices

Some Room for Further Exploration

It is not surprising that my first reaction on reading "A Future for Our Seminaries" was to say, "Of course, that’s right; our seminaries are doing a good job." The intensive work that C. Ellis Nelson, Bob Lynn and I did (along with Larry Jones, the "outsider" who was dean of Howard University Divinity School) as consultants for part of the major study mentioned by Nelson, opened up avenues of thought that could extend over a lifetime. Here I choose only to quarrel a bit with one of his recommendations, and then to mention five areas which we need to explore further.

Voices

A Promising Point of Departure

Anthropologist Mary Catherine Bateson wrote several years ago, "Men and women confronting change are never fully prepared for the demands of the moment." But "they are strengthened to meet uncertainty if they can claim a history of improvisation and a habit of reflection."

Voices

A Future for our Seminaries

Presidents of Presbyterian seminaries are often asked, "How is the seminary getting along?" The answer most presidents give includes two observations. The..

Voices

Is the Church’s Call for Younger Seminarians Realisitic?

Yes — if demographers’ forecasts of significantly increasing enrollment at all levels of the education system over the next decade are accurate.

According to the Condition of Education 2001 report by the Education Department’s National Center of Education Statistics, full-time, four-year undergraduate enrollments will grow faster than part-time and two-year college enrollments during the next decade. The report also forecasts college enrollment of women will continue to outpace that of men during the next 10 years.

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Issues run the gamut as international listening teams visit the PC(USA)

The idea seemed pretty straightforward: take 10 "listening" teams, each with one Muslim and one Christian from another country, and send them around the United States for about two weeks, talking with as many Presbyterians along the way as they could jam into the schedule. Hope that what comes out is a better understanding of relations between Muslims and Christians, and perhaps a desire by Presbyterians in the pews to know more about the Islamic world.

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GAC will review role of Presbyterian News Service

The General Assembly Council will be asked at its Sept. 25-29 meeting in Louisville to review the role of the Presbyterian News Service, and to consider how the denomination’s news service should approach the reporting of controversial stories.

The discussion has been provoked, in part, because there are differing opinions about what the news service should do — how much editorial freedom it should have, or how much it should reflect official church policy — and how well it’s been doing its job.

Book Reviews

Pursuing Peace

By Albert N. Wells
Rainbow. 2002. 264 pp. Pb. $14.95.ISBN 1-56825-082-7

— reviewed by Albert C. Winn, Winston-Salem, N.C.

The year 2002 does not appear to be a good time for publishing a book on the pursuit of peace. But Al Wells has done it, despite the widespread approval of national policies of war and retaliation which has followed the horrendous breach of peace on Sept. 11, 2001. On the cover of this book, the subtitle "It’s the Thing to Do" is altered by an insertion that makes it read, "It’s still the Thing to Do."

Editorials

Who is Our Neighbor?

As suggested in this column last week, we have an obligation to reach out to those Christian brothers and sisters in our own fold who for whatever reason have become distant or estranged — either by our action, or theirs, or by both — before we go to the Table of our Lord.

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Philadelphia Presbytery NCDs offer a glimpse of the PC(USA)’s future

When some folks think Presbyterian, they think "frozen chosen," a collection of mostly well-to-do, well-buttoned-up, well-intentioned white people. But the General Assembly’s recent decision to go ahead with the Mission Initiative — a five-year campaign to raise $40 million from big donors for international mission work and new church development in the United States — is a sign that the vision can extend well beyond that, and that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) can, if it’s willing, nurture a more diverse, more creative, more open-ended definition of the church of the future.

Editorials

Going to the Altar

The claim has recently been made in this space that God has given the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) a moment of grace, following years of intense warfare, in which we have an opportunity to rethink who we are called to be and what God is calling us Presbyterians to do in the new century — to rekindle our commitment to Jesus Christ and to reinvigorate our mission to the world for which he died.

Outlook Features

Post-9/11 spiritual revival may be lagging, but people are reviewing their priorities

It’s been a distressing, violent year since hijacked planes plunged into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. The months since then have brought a whole crop of pain around the world — suicide bombings in the Middle East, retaliation in Palestinian villages, war in Afghanistan, Hindus and Muslims attacking one another in India, a Russian plane filled with children falling from the sky, to name just a few. And, in the United States, economic news so bad that almost everyone knows someone who’s lost a job.

Book Reviews

Ichabod Toward Home: The Journey of God’s Glory

By Walter Brueggemann
Eerdmans. 2002. 150 pp. Pb. $15.ISBN 0-8028-3930-4

— reviewed by James K. Mead, Orange City, Iowa

Every preacher and teacher — and everyone who listens to sermons and lessons — cares about the theme Walter Brueggemann addresses in Ichabod Toward Home, based on his 2001 Stone Lectures at Princeton Seminary. Using the Ark Narrative in 1 Samuel 4-6 to explore what the church does when it stands before a biblical text, Brueggemann contends that the story of the ark’s capture, exile and return offers an alternative vision of the church’s proclamation and life in the world.

Voices

Keep Hoping and Pray

The tragedies occurring in Pakistan have devastated Christians around the world. Pakistani Christians are at risk in our hospitals, our schools and..

Voices

A Big Yearning for a Little Heresy

I have always had a strong desire to be tried for heresy.  Heretics are exciting people while orthodoxy such as mine is completely unremarkable and rather dull.  I am not so daring as to want to be convicted of heresy but to be charged with heresy would be a great delight.  I assume that every physician longs to get sick so he can diagnose himself. 

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