Forty years ago, the Presbyterian Church — in both its principal branches, the United Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. and the Presbyterian Church, U.S. — was busy marshaling its accumulated spiritual and material resources in addressing major structural issues of justice in American society which had been long neglected.
LOUISVILLE — Whether the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is in a time of crisis — theological, constitutional or just plain lethargy, with some people ready to post explanations of their views onto the front doors of church institutions while others pull the blankets up to their ears in delicious slumber every Sunday morning, effectively unconscious to the Presbyterian church — is a matter of debate.
LOUISVILLE — John M. Mulder, 56, president of Louisiville Seminary for 21 years, has resigned due to health concerns.
Meeting in Louisville Saturday (Oct. 26), the seminary's board of trustees "determined his resignation is in the best interest of the seminary and is effective immediately," according to a seminary news release.
Dear 214th General Assembly Commissioners:
It has come to our attention that there is an effort being made to reconvene the 214th General Assembly for the purpose of dealing with what some consider to be a constitutional crisis in the PC(USA). It seemed appropriate for us, both having stood for the office of Moderator of this past Assembly, to remind our fellow commissioners of the theme of our Assembly.
In 1895, Henry Van Dyke, pastor of the Brick church, New York City, wrote The Story of the Other Wise Man, which is still in print and still a favorite at Christmastime. It is about a Persian, Artaban by name, who follows the Christ star. Because he stops on his pilgrimage to assist the needy, he misses meeting the three Magi in Bethlehem. He continues his quest after the Christ for 33 years, ministering to others with gifts originally meant for the Christ-child. Finally he comes to Golgotha. There he hears Christ's words: 'Inasmuch as thou hast done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, thou hast done it unto me' (Matthew 25:40).
In this story, translated into many languages, Van Dyke, another wise man, continues to touch our lives. In addition to being a pastor, Van Dyke was a popular writer, professor and diplomat, who deserves notice on Nov. 10, his 150th birthday.
By Diogenes Allen
Church. 2002. 134 pp. Pb. $13.95.
ISBN 0-89869-352-7
— reviewed by Ed White, Washington, D.C.
This book recounts Diogenes Allen’s search for the providence of God. He begins by describing the shock of witnessing the overwhelming poverty in India in 1955: “I was not prepared for the horror of seeing people dying in the street” (p. 3).
It is time for Presbyterians to remember and to recover the wellsprings of their faith, the fountainhead of God’s grace which suffuses the life of each Christian, of the church and even the world, though the world knows it not.
Those wellsprings are a constant source of faith, hope and love, and they are always there, but it is easy to forget that they are there; easy to ignore them; easy to turn from them in the struggles of everyday life.
Note — Since this story was posted on Oct. 21, we have received an e-mail from Alex Metherell, whom we attempted to reach last week but did not receive a reply. His response is as follows:
"Your report gives the impression that we have the 50 signatures needed to call the special meeting of the 214th General Assembly. In fact, we have 25 signatures (13 elders and 12 ministers) representing 19 presbyteries and 11 synods. All of these came from the e-mailing I made to about 70 commissioners. We still need to get another 12 elder commissioners and 13 minister commissioners. I have now sent out via regular mail a call to all 554 commissioners," wrote Metherell.
You may have missed it, but here in the Empire State a woman in Brooklyn has started a mini-revolution. On Sunday, June 2, a front-page story in the New York Times headlined: "The Elderly Man and the Sea? Test Sanitizes Literary Texts." Jeanne Heifetz, who is the mother of a high school senior, had inspected 10 high school statewide Regents English exams from the past three years and found that a large number of passages from well-known authors had been sanitized of any reference to race, religion, ethnicity, sex, nudity, alcohol and even the mildest profanity.
GUATEMALA CITY — Rocked by 36 years of civil war which took at least 200,000 lives, this Central American nation continues to struggle with the haunting memories of that conflict and the poverty and crime which have followed.
It’s a precarious peace. Most of those who committed atrocities during the war have gone unpunished. Some who have pushed for justice have paid with their own lives.
"Constitutional crisis." Those two words roll off the tongue as easily as "Just do it" or "the real thing." These days, "constitutional crisis" seems to be rolling off more Presbyterian tongues than the other expressions. Have we fallen into a constitutional crisis? Is the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on the verge of exploding for a lack of constitutional cohesion?
News release from Presbyterians for Renewal
A few weeks ago, members of the Board of Presbyterians for Renewal learned that some General Assembly commissioners are urging their comrades to reconvene the 214th General Assembly to address what they term a "constitutional crisis." We have carefully analyzed the commissioners’ rationale and the possible outcomes of such a meeting, and we believe a called Assembly at this time would be inopportune and perhaps misunderstood.
The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) is telling commissioners to the 214th General Assembly (2002) that the PC(USA) is not in a constitutional crisis and there is no need to recall the Assembly, which met last June in Columbus, Ohio, into special session.
The Board of Directors of Presbyterians for Renewal, meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, Sept. 28, 2002, issued the following statement:
We believe in and intend to follow faithfully Jesus Christ as Lord of all, and the will of God as revealed in the Holy Scripture.
LOUISVILLE — With a change to biennial assemblies on the horizon for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — the 2002 General Assembly voted for the denomination to start holding its annual policy-setting meeting every other year, beginning in 2006 — some new ground rules have to take effect.
And the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly is recommending that, when the change takes effect:
By Walter Brueggemann, William C. Placher and Brian K. Blount
WJKP. 2002. 80 pp. Pb. $9.95. ISBN 0-664-22485-7
— review by David W. A. Taylor, Cary, N.C.
This little book of 80 pages is an immensely useful resource for interpreting the Scripture within the cultural context of our time. These three biblical scholars of unimpeachable reputation take the Bible with utmost seriousness, yet not as fundamentalists. They insist that we must struggle with Scripture if its word is to be “a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.”
Following the advice of this past General Assembly, the next time a feuding family comes into my office seeking pastoral counseling, I guess I should tell them, "Meet less often!" Sounds like absurd, bad advice when spoken to a feuding family, doesn’t it? It is equally bad counsel when spoken by the GA to a denomination which is an extended, feuding family system.
ORLANDO — One of the best lines to come out of the Presbyterian Coalition's national gathering Oct. 3-5 came from Jerry Andrews, a pastor from Chicago, saying that as a Coalition leader "I have preened and postured and posed for you" and "almost perfected the art of whining," but now "the days of whine and poses are over."
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
LOUISVILLE — Still committed to the idea of publishing its own curriculum, written specifically for Presbyterians, the Congregational Ministries Division of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is preparing to roll out its new product, called "We Believe," in January.
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