We are all healed in Jesus.
Early on Saturday, October 11 I was making breakfast for our sons, pancakes and scrambled eggs, as usual on a Saturday morning. While cooking I was chatting with both of them as they were sitting at our kitchen table waiting for food. My wife, Kris, came into the kitchen in her bathrobe, fresh out of her morning shower. With a bright smile on her face and in her voice, she said loudly to all of us, “Stop everything; We need to pray. I am done with my tamoxifen. Thank God.” With great ceremony, she slowly pulled open the cabinet which holds our kitchen garbage can, held her hand up high for a moment, and dropped her empty pill bottle into the garbage.
For five years, 60 months, every single day, my wife has dutifully taken her tamoxifen pill. Tamoxifen is a form a chemo-therapy routinely prescribed now as part of the treatment plan for breast cancer. In the summer of 2003, my Kris was diagnosed with breast cancer. Our lives were immediately all tossed up in the air and we landed upside down, bewildered, dizzy and very confused. Her surgery at UPMC’s Magee Women’s hospital in Pittsburgh went “perfectly”; that was the word her surgeon used when he first came out to talk with me in the waiting room. Immediately after surgery eight weeks of outpatient radiation therapy were prescribed. For those weeks, sometimes alone, sometimes with me, sometimes with other friends, Kris made the trip to the hospital for her radiation therapy. And for every Monday, Wednesday and Friday of those eight weeks the church I was serving delivered a full dinner to our home. I challenge you, in your churches, to match that kind of pastoral care.
On the advice of her doctor, after the radiation therapy, Kris started taking tamoxifen for the recommended five years. This past July she went back for her regular appointment with her oncologist. He reviewed her recent mammogram, examined her, then he gave her a big hug and told her that she had “graduated.” She does not need to see her oncologist any more; she is cancer free. Now that last tamoxifen pill is gone also, we are profoundly grateful.
In 2003, when this journey with cancer started, our three sons that year were ages 15, 11 and 3. I remember praying, hard and deep prayers, which I never shared with Kris. I prayed, “Lord, please just give Kris a few more years so we can get these boys a little older before I must take care of them by myself.” Although we always received encouragement, good news and hope, there was always a dark prayer lingering in my heart, expecting that soon cancer would win this fight. But here we are five years later. The empty pill bottle is in the garbage, my dear Kris is cancer free, and we rejoice in the abundant blessings that have been showered on our family.
Everyone responds to these kinds of traumas in life differently. Of course, many, many people do not have the good news which we have had. But everyone can be a part of God’s healing presence. Healing comes from our God in many different ways. I know the journey through breast cancer is very difficult for the women involved. But it is in very significant ways also very difficult for the men, for the husbands and the fathers, and for the children. Of course, it is not our bodies that are involved, but it is our lives. Pastors and church people know all this. Our pastoral care in these situations may be the most important thing we do in the church.
What does it feel like to be healed? What does it feel like to be blessed? By grace, I have had the privilege of walking next to a remarkable woman who has taught me about such things. Healing is always plural. Healing is always shared. Kris is healed, the landmark five year point has been passed. Today’s medical definition of being healed of cancer is real, wonderfully, truly, fabulously real for us. Kris dropped the empty pill bottle in the garbage. So I wanted to share this simple and yet important word with you all from my wife. She believes, as I do also in a new way now, that we are all healed in Jesus Christ.
After dropping the empty pill bottle in the garbage and after Kris led our family in a prayer of thanksgiving, we stood around for a moment chatting, reflecting and eating breakfast. Our now 17 year old son, Michael, asked his mom. “So what does it feel like to have had cancer?” Without hesitation Kris responded, “It has all been a great blessing. We are all healed in Jesus.” Thanks be to God.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Pretending to be a Missionary
Pretending to be a Missionary.
The young person is stellar and active. The congregation rejoices in having such a gifted young person in their midst. Years of Sunday school classes, Christmas pageants, Palm Sunday processionals, praise worship services and youth group activities roll by. Graduation from high school is celebrated and the young person is off to a prominent university to study, learn and grow. The young person always reconnects with the congregation during Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, and now and again during summer time vacations. The congregation learns of the gifted young person’s graduation from the university with an outstanding degree and a minor course of study in Spanish, or Chinese, or African studies. Soon the letters start arriving at the homes of leading church members. The young person is seeking support so they may spend two weeks or twelve months in a far off, foreign land serving as a missionary. These days such short term mission service is typically connected with some para-church mission organization that specializes in such opportunities for young people. Of course, leading church members who have watched this young person grow up in their church are eager to send $100 to support the cause. One of the active Elders pushes such support even higher and asks the session to support the effort. Soon this young person’s noble journey of discovery serving on a short term mission experience is one of the mission causes of their home congregation. The young person’s photograph standing in the midst of a group of children in some far off land is posted on the church’s bulletin board. Everyone is happy supporting this young person as part of the mission work of the congregation. Indeed, this work is appreciated by all.
I tell this story in a sort of generic sense because I know many Presbyterians can fill in the details. This is a story that can be replicated countless times across the congregations in our church. I can easily tell this same story in a very personal sense about our own son who is now 20 years old. Although his life is on track with purposeful plans and direction, he also loves to pretend to be a missionary. Indeed, the church he grew up in is always eager to support his missionary endeavors. Already he has been to Malawi, to Peru doing evangelism to an unreached people, and this month the letters will be sent out seeking support for his scheduled trip to Uganda where he will be involved with a short-term ministry to children. Let us be clear. Our young people and their short term mission experiences, which we love to support in our churches, are not about mission service. These experiences are about the personal, spiritual and emotional development of these young people whom, indeed, we should support and nurture. These experiences, especially in support of young people we know and love in our own congregations, are important and worthy. But we should not confuse these experiences with mission work. Pretending to be a missionary for a week or a year is not the same thing as long-term, sustained, professional mission service. Within the push and pull for resources within our congregations it would be more correct to name our support for our young people doing mission trips as Christian education, rather that mission work.
Here comes the rub. Especially within our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) our commitment to long term, sustained mission service is suffering because of the redirection of our attention and resources toward supporting short-term mission experiences. Indeed we have taken our eye off the prize when it comes to our church’s mission service. It may be convincingly argued that the greatest legacy and the most important heritage in our American Presbyterian tradition is our world mission work. Presbyterians were at the forefront of the world mission movement 150 years ago, and this work defines our worldview and theological foundations more than anything else. In my opinion, this legacy of world mission is so powerful in our church that it is, itself, the source of the new energy to do mission trips and seek out short term mission experiences. But this energy has exploded in some unhealthy ways. In previous generations of Presbyterians this deep calling to be engaged in world mission was expressed through a robust commitment to recruiting, equipping, and sending out long-term professional missionaries on behalf of the whole church. These career missionaries were the servants of our church serving the larger world. We still have in place through our World Mission office a comprehensive infrastructure to support, equip and send out long term missionaries on our behalf. But we have recently allowed this long term commitment to fall off because of our lack of a mature and deep theological understanding of mission.
An analogy is appropriate here. Within the life of our church we have created a very comprehensive infrastructure of pastoral support and evaluation through the work of each Presbytery’s Committee on Ministry. We have a very sophisticated understanding of the relationship between a pastor and a congregation which we test, discern, evaluate and equip. We do not allow any person in the church, or walking in off the street, to preach in our pulpits, celebrate our sacraments or moderate our session meetings. We have a sophisticated, theologically grounded and a highly functioning polity for sanctioning and supporting the relationship of a pastor and congregation. All of our churches expect this of themselves, of their pastors and of our presbyteries. The Presbyterian Church is very good at this kind of theologically grounded polity. In our churches we are deeply committed to the vision of the called, theologically rooted and equipped pastor whose relationship with a congregation is very carefully discerned and evaluated. We must have the same commitment in our world mission work. For a church that has such high expectations for our pastors, why are we not expecting the same thing of our missionaries? But it seems as if we allow anyone to pretend to be a missionary. Indeed they are often sent out with our blessing and financial support, and quite often a very poor grounding in any theology of mission. Why have we allowed our world mission work to be taken over by our obsession with short-term, unequipped, unconnected enthusiasm which often functions without language and cultural training? This enthusiasm is seldom equipped to understand what God may be doing in and through a different culture.
What should we do?
· Renew our commitment to long-term, sustained, professional missionaries who are trained and equipped by the church and sent out on behalf of the whole church. Support Presbyterian world mission.
· Develop a holistic theology of mission which moves beyond the American arrogance which presumes we can fix the world’s problems, and expects everyone in the world to “do church” just like us.
· Encourage and support our young people in their own spiritual development by encouraging mission trips and experiences in different Christian cultures. But this support must be more than financial. We must provide our young people with a robust Christian education that seeks to discern what God is doing in the world, and especially in people, cultures and churches very different from our own. We must, by word and deed, help our children to be global Christians.
· Do not do it alone. Connect people together, connect churches together and strive to create bridges across cultural divides.
The young person is stellar and active. The congregation rejoices in having such a gifted young person in their midst. Years of Sunday school classes, Christmas pageants, Palm Sunday processionals, praise worship services and youth group activities roll by. Graduation from high school is celebrated and the young person is off to a prominent university to study, learn and grow. The young person always reconnects with the congregation during Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, and now and again during summer time vacations. The congregation learns of the gifted young person’s graduation from the university with an outstanding degree and a minor course of study in Spanish, or Chinese, or African studies. Soon the letters start arriving at the homes of leading church members. The young person is seeking support so they may spend two weeks or twelve months in a far off, foreign land serving as a missionary. These days such short term mission service is typically connected with some para-church mission organization that specializes in such opportunities for young people. Of course, leading church members who have watched this young person grow up in their church are eager to send $100 to support the cause. One of the active Elders pushes such support even higher and asks the session to support the effort. Soon this young person’s noble journey of discovery serving on a short term mission experience is one of the mission causes of their home congregation. The young person’s photograph standing in the midst of a group of children in some far off land is posted on the church’s bulletin board. Everyone is happy supporting this young person as part of the mission work of the congregation. Indeed, this work is appreciated by all.
I tell this story in a sort of generic sense because I know many Presbyterians can fill in the details. This is a story that can be replicated countless times across the congregations in our church. I can easily tell this same story in a very personal sense about our own son who is now 20 years old. Although his life is on track with purposeful plans and direction, he also loves to pretend to be a missionary. Indeed, the church he grew up in is always eager to support his missionary endeavors. Already he has been to Malawi, to Peru doing evangelism to an unreached people, and this month the letters will be sent out seeking support for his scheduled trip to Uganda where he will be involved with a short-term ministry to children. Let us be clear. Our young people and their short term mission experiences, which we love to support in our churches, are not about mission service. These experiences are about the personal, spiritual and emotional development of these young people whom, indeed, we should support and nurture. These experiences, especially in support of young people we know and love in our own congregations, are important and worthy. But we should not confuse these experiences with mission work. Pretending to be a missionary for a week or a year is not the same thing as long-term, sustained, professional mission service. Within the push and pull for resources within our congregations it would be more correct to name our support for our young people doing mission trips as Christian education, rather that mission work.
Here comes the rub. Especially within our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) our commitment to long term, sustained mission service is suffering because of the redirection of our attention and resources toward supporting short-term mission experiences. Indeed we have taken our eye off the prize when it comes to our church’s mission service. It may be convincingly argued that the greatest legacy and the most important heritage in our American Presbyterian tradition is our world mission work. Presbyterians were at the forefront of the world mission movement 150 years ago, and this work defines our worldview and theological foundations more than anything else. In my opinion, this legacy of world mission is so powerful in our church that it is, itself, the source of the new energy to do mission trips and seek out short term mission experiences. But this energy has exploded in some unhealthy ways. In previous generations of Presbyterians this deep calling to be engaged in world mission was expressed through a robust commitment to recruiting, equipping, and sending out long-term professional missionaries on behalf of the whole church. These career missionaries were the servants of our church serving the larger world. We still have in place through our World Mission office a comprehensive infrastructure to support, equip and send out long term missionaries on our behalf. But we have recently allowed this long term commitment to fall off because of our lack of a mature and deep theological understanding of mission.
An analogy is appropriate here. Within the life of our church we have created a very comprehensive infrastructure of pastoral support and evaluation through the work of each Presbytery’s Committee on Ministry. We have a very sophisticated understanding of the relationship between a pastor and a congregation which we test, discern, evaluate and equip. We do not allow any person in the church, or walking in off the street, to preach in our pulpits, celebrate our sacraments or moderate our session meetings. We have a sophisticated, theologically grounded and a highly functioning polity for sanctioning and supporting the relationship of a pastor and congregation. All of our churches expect this of themselves, of their pastors and of our presbyteries. The Presbyterian Church is very good at this kind of theologically grounded polity. In our churches we are deeply committed to the vision of the called, theologically rooted and equipped pastor whose relationship with a congregation is very carefully discerned and evaluated. We must have the same commitment in our world mission work. For a church that has such high expectations for our pastors, why are we not expecting the same thing of our missionaries? But it seems as if we allow anyone to pretend to be a missionary. Indeed they are often sent out with our blessing and financial support, and quite often a very poor grounding in any theology of mission. Why have we allowed our world mission work to be taken over by our obsession with short-term, unequipped, unconnected enthusiasm which often functions without language and cultural training? This enthusiasm is seldom equipped to understand what God may be doing in and through a different culture.
What should we do?
· Renew our commitment to long-term, sustained, professional missionaries who are trained and equipped by the church and sent out on behalf of the whole church. Support Presbyterian world mission.
· Develop a holistic theology of mission which moves beyond the American arrogance which presumes we can fix the world’s problems, and expects everyone in the world to “do church” just like us.
· Encourage and support our young people in their own spiritual development by encouraging mission trips and experiences in different Christian cultures. But this support must be more than financial. We must provide our young people with a robust Christian education that seeks to discern what God is doing in the world, and especially in people, cultures and churches very different from our own. We must, by word and deed, help our children to be global Christians.
· Do not do it alone. Connect people together, connect churches together and strive to create bridges across cultural divides.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Mission Networks in the PC(USA)
Did you know that the Presbyterian Church in Madagascar has more members than our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)? Did you know that we have a close working partnership with two different Presbyterian Churches in Ghana: the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ghana? Did you know about the efforts of American Presbyterians to establish relations with the emerging house churches, many of which include people with a Reformed and Presbyterian background, in all the “stan” countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan)? Did you know there are new efforts to connect our church with the peacebuilding efforts which have been bearing fruit in Ireland for many years, through the work of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland? Did you know about the longstanding effort of American Presbyterians to stand with our brothers and sisters in Columbia against the violence in that nation? Our Columbia Mission Network, in a powerful ministry of compassion, has provided for the General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Columbia when he, his wife and young children needed to leave Columbia because of the death threats received in response to their Christian witness? Did you know that because of the influence and support of American Presbyterians, the Presbyterian Church in Honduras, after years of effort, has finally had their legal petitions with the government, which is dominated by Roman Catholic officials, approved. Now the Presbyterian Church has official standing as a religious organization in Honduras. This means, for the first time, that the Presbyterian congregations in Honduras are able to legally own their church buildings and property. Given the lack of social infrastructure in Haiti, do you know about the incessantly difficult work which American Presbyterians are doing to bring a long-term, sustainable, mission effort to that poor country? Did you know, after generations of conflict and war, the church is emerging with amazing life and vitality in Vietnam and Laos and that American Presbyterians are partnering with those congregations? All of this work is being carried and supported by the burgeoning, new Mission Networks of our Church.
There are now thirty three Mission Networks in our church working closely with our World Mission office and spanning the globe. Do you know about this new movement in Presbyterian World Mission? We were all together for what was only the second official gathering of Mission Networks for several, strategic days in September. Hosted by Hunter Farrell, the Director of World Mission and all of the Mission Area Coordinators from around the world, each one of our mission networks participated in this gathering. The energy, vision and commitment of the more than sixty people gathered at our Mission Network conference was remarkable. The images and stories of mission work from around the world breathes life into this dry definition of Mission Networks taken from our World Mission website:
“Mission Networks bring together Presbyterians from around the United States who share a common international mission focus. World Mission Networks facilitate building and maintaining healthy partnerships, and provide a place for representatives of various PC(USA) partnerships to share information and coordinate their efforts. Each Mission Network centers around a specific country, people group or program area of ministry, and is composed of Presbyterians who represent international mission partnerships established through their synods, presbyteries, congregations, or other PC(USA) entities.”
The Mission Network movement is clearly the way forward in Presbyterian World Mission. This movement responds to the fact that the locus for World Mission has undeniably shifted to our congregations and presbyteries, who are doing mission on their own by sending out short term mission teams. The Mission Network movement is an effort to harness and connect those congregational efforts. When we learn some of the horror stories of poorly planned and unconnected mission trips the importance of our Mission Networks is clear. When we learn of two different Presbyterian congregations bringing large, medical mission teams to the same foreign medical clinic the same week, we understand the important of Mission Networks. We learn of the small, Presbyterian Church in a nation in Africa that could not handle the repeated requests from different American congregations to host their mission trips. Thus the different American teams were asked to paint the same wall in the same public school four weeks in a row and we see the need for Mission Networks. When we learn about the social scientific research of Dr. Robert Priest at Trinity Evangelical Seminary about short term mission trips we see the need for Mission Networks. Dr. Priest’s research concludes that short term mission trips have very little long term transformative power in the lives of participants if these experiences are not surrounded by very intentional support, reflection and nurture both before and particularly after the experience.
The Mission Network movement is an effort to connect all the enthusiasm and passion for mission, which is expressed in congregations doing mission trips, with the Presbyterian Church’s historic commitment to deep, long-term, sustainable mission work with Christian partners around the world. Mission Networks connect the long-term, mature, sustainable model of mission which grounds the work of our professional mission co-workers with the short-term, local, enthusiasm of mission trips. Most important, the Mission Networks may be the best connection between our congregations and the World Mission office. There is a new spirit of collaboration, partnership and mutually blowing through our General Assembly, and particularly embodied in the new team, under the leadership of Dr. Hunter Farrell, now assembled to lead the World Mission office. This spirit is very evident in the growth and support given to our Mission Networks. We have received and we stand in a glorious heritage of Presbyterian world mission. Get involved! Support World Mission!
There are now thirty three Mission Networks in our church working closely with our World Mission office and spanning the globe. Do you know about this new movement in Presbyterian World Mission? We were all together for what was only the second official gathering of Mission Networks for several, strategic days in September. Hosted by Hunter Farrell, the Director of World Mission and all of the Mission Area Coordinators from around the world, each one of our mission networks participated in this gathering. The energy, vision and commitment of the more than sixty people gathered at our Mission Network conference was remarkable. The images and stories of mission work from around the world breathes life into this dry definition of Mission Networks taken from our World Mission website:
“Mission Networks bring together Presbyterians from around the United States who share a common international mission focus. World Mission Networks facilitate building and maintaining healthy partnerships, and provide a place for representatives of various PC(USA) partnerships to share information and coordinate their efforts. Each Mission Network centers around a specific country, people group or program area of ministry, and is composed of Presbyterians who represent international mission partnerships established through their synods, presbyteries, congregations, or other PC(USA) entities.”
The Mission Network movement is clearly the way forward in Presbyterian World Mission. This movement responds to the fact that the locus for World Mission has undeniably shifted to our congregations and presbyteries, who are doing mission on their own by sending out short term mission teams. The Mission Network movement is an effort to harness and connect those congregational efforts. When we learn some of the horror stories of poorly planned and unconnected mission trips the importance of our Mission Networks is clear. When we learn of two different Presbyterian congregations bringing large, medical mission teams to the same foreign medical clinic the same week, we understand the important of Mission Networks. We learn of the small, Presbyterian Church in a nation in Africa that could not handle the repeated requests from different American congregations to host their mission trips. Thus the different American teams were asked to paint the same wall in the same public school four weeks in a row and we see the need for Mission Networks. When we learn about the social scientific research of Dr. Robert Priest at Trinity Evangelical Seminary about short term mission trips we see the need for Mission Networks. Dr. Priest’s research concludes that short term mission trips have very little long term transformative power in the lives of participants if these experiences are not surrounded by very intentional support, reflection and nurture both before and particularly after the experience.
The Mission Network movement is an effort to connect all the enthusiasm and passion for mission, which is expressed in congregations doing mission trips, with the Presbyterian Church’s historic commitment to deep, long-term, sustainable mission work with Christian partners around the world. Mission Networks connect the long-term, mature, sustainable model of mission which grounds the work of our professional mission co-workers with the short-term, local, enthusiasm of mission trips. Most important, the Mission Networks may be the best connection between our congregations and the World Mission office. There is a new spirit of collaboration, partnership and mutually blowing through our General Assembly, and particularly embodied in the new team, under the leadership of Dr. Hunter Farrell, now assembled to lead the World Mission office. This spirit is very evident in the growth and support given to our Mission Networks. We have received and we stand in a glorious heritage of Presbyterian world mission. Get involved! Support World Mission!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Report to the Presbytery September 23, 2008
What do you want to talk about? G.A.C. or O.G.A.?
What do you want to talk about? When we speak of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) it is very important for us to remember that there are several different conversations going on at the same time. These different conversations often have nothing to do with one another.
What do you want to talk about? On one hand we can talk about the work of the Office of the General Assembly. But, in fact, I would much prefer to talk about the work of the General Assembly Council. What I want us to remember again is that when we are talking about the work of the General Assembly we must be very clear about the distinction between the Office of the General Assembly and the General Assembly Council. These two entities are very distinct, with different purposes, different sources of funding, and completely different staff.
My concern is that when we talk casually about the General Assembly, in our congregations, what we typically mean is the Office of the General Assembly. The Office of the General Assembly is funded almost totally by our Per Capita assessment, it is led by the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, now the newly elected Gradye Parsons, and it is responsible for the polity side of the church. The Office of the General Assembly includes the Stated Clerk’s office, the Permanent Judicial Commission, and is fully responsible for the biennial meeting of the General Assembly. Any time we are talking about polity including the Book of Order and the Book of Confessions we are talking within the purview of the Office of the General Assembly. Indeed, we must again have conversations here at our Presbytery about polity, and about proposed changes to our Book of Order. I understand that these conversations are very important. We must carry them out with prayerful discernment.
But, my friends, I want to talk about something else. I want to talk about the work of the General Assembly Council. This is a very different conversation. The General Assembly Council, now under the leadership of Executive Director Linda Valentine, is the mission and program side of the General Assembly. Although we do not talk about it nearly as much, the General Assembly Council is significantly larger than the Office of the General Assembly. The General Assembly Council is funded by our mission giving and our special offerings. The General Assembly Council includes Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and the Presbyterian Hunger Program. The General Assembly Council also includes the Office of Theology and Worship, which creates excellent theological resources for our church. The largest piece of the General Assembly Council is our work in World Mission. The General Assembly Council’s office of World Mission recruits, trains, funds and supports our more than 200 full-time, professional mission co-workers around the world. Let’s talk about that work!
This is my request and my plea. Many of you, I know, on both sides of the debate, have concerns and deep questions about the conversations we are having about polity and the Book of Order. We will continue those conversations here at our presbytery as we consider the latest proposals. Please do not allow any frustrations you may have with our conversations about polity to distract from or frustrate your support for our world mission. They are very different conversations, representing very different entities within the church. More over, I have this crazy idea that if we can shift the conversation a little bit, and talk more, and learn more, and commit ourselves more to our work in world mission, on the General Assembly Council side of the church, it may help us find our way forward through our very difficult polity conversation. What do you want to talk about? We must continue our conversation about polity, but let us also remember this very important conversation and commitment to world mission.
Note: For more information about the General Assembly Council please see their website at www.pcusa.org/gac. World Mission also has a website at www.pcusa.org/worldmission. The Office of the General Assembly also has a website at www.pcusa.org/oga.
What do you want to talk about? When we speak of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) it is very important for us to remember that there are several different conversations going on at the same time. These different conversations often have nothing to do with one another.
What do you want to talk about? On one hand we can talk about the work of the Office of the General Assembly. But, in fact, I would much prefer to talk about the work of the General Assembly Council. What I want us to remember again is that when we are talking about the work of the General Assembly we must be very clear about the distinction between the Office of the General Assembly and the General Assembly Council. These two entities are very distinct, with different purposes, different sources of funding, and completely different staff.
My concern is that when we talk casually about the General Assembly, in our congregations, what we typically mean is the Office of the General Assembly. The Office of the General Assembly is funded almost totally by our Per Capita assessment, it is led by the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, now the newly elected Gradye Parsons, and it is responsible for the polity side of the church. The Office of the General Assembly includes the Stated Clerk’s office, the Permanent Judicial Commission, and is fully responsible for the biennial meeting of the General Assembly. Any time we are talking about polity including the Book of Order and the Book of Confessions we are talking within the purview of the Office of the General Assembly. Indeed, we must again have conversations here at our Presbytery about polity, and about proposed changes to our Book of Order. I understand that these conversations are very important. We must carry them out with prayerful discernment.
But, my friends, I want to talk about something else. I want to talk about the work of the General Assembly Council. This is a very different conversation. The General Assembly Council, now under the leadership of Executive Director Linda Valentine, is the mission and program side of the General Assembly. Although we do not talk about it nearly as much, the General Assembly Council is significantly larger than the Office of the General Assembly. The General Assembly Council is funded by our mission giving and our special offerings. The General Assembly Council includes Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and the Presbyterian Hunger Program. The General Assembly Council also includes the Office of Theology and Worship, which creates excellent theological resources for our church. The largest piece of the General Assembly Council is our work in World Mission. The General Assembly Council’s office of World Mission recruits, trains, funds and supports our more than 200 full-time, professional mission co-workers around the world. Let’s talk about that work!
This is my request and my plea. Many of you, I know, on both sides of the debate, have concerns and deep questions about the conversations we are having about polity and the Book of Order. We will continue those conversations here at our presbytery as we consider the latest proposals. Please do not allow any frustrations you may have with our conversations about polity to distract from or frustrate your support for our world mission. They are very different conversations, representing very different entities within the church. More over, I have this crazy idea that if we can shift the conversation a little bit, and talk more, and learn more, and commit ourselves more to our work in world mission, on the General Assembly Council side of the church, it may help us find our way forward through our very difficult polity conversation. What do you want to talk about? We must continue our conversation about polity, but let us also remember this very important conversation and commitment to world mission.
Note: For more information about the General Assembly Council please see their website at www.pcusa.org/gac. World Mission also has a website at www.pcusa.org/worldmission. The Office of the General Assembly also has a website at www.pcusa.org/oga.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Support World Mission
A Report from Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
The jet ways which off board each jet at Toncontin International airport lead everyone to a long walkway. At the end of this walkway a pair of escalators direct everyone down to the immigration desks, baggage claim and customs. Like the whole airport, this hallway is always immaculately clean, it’s polished floor glistening and bright. The outside wall of this long walkway is glass from floor to ceiling. Like the whole facility, the glass is sparkling clean. I am delighted to return to Tegucigalpa, Honduras; a place I have learned to love. Walking along this walkway, shaking off the fatigue of the long jet rides which started early in the morning in Baltimore, I breathe in the joy and satisfaction of being here again. My body enjoys the opportunity to stretch, loosen and walk after being cramped up in an airplane for the last hours. My eyes and mind are lifted up and out through the windows and far beyond to the exquisitely beautiful horizon. The jagged peaks of Tegucigalpa’s famous mountains, which are all around in all their lush green, rise up and out of the urban sprawl and touch a beautiful sky. Strolling along this walkway is a moment of spiritual transition. Now having arrived, my mind can cast aside all the details of travel. The obsession with flight schedules, making connections in Houston, and constant concerns about delays, changes, or cancellations are now all gone. Now I am here and turn to the purposes I have in mind for these few precious days in Honduras.
Our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been doing world mission for a very long time. Our heritage of world mission is deep, long and remarkable. One of the purposes of my ministry now is to understand, celebrate and support our work in world mission. Our world mission work is where my heart is; increasing this is where my passion and energy are leading me. As we have always done, the church must again rally and unite around our world mission work. This is now one of my deepest convictions. This is a conviction which has been building, growing, developing and maturing for many years. The congregations where I have served as pastor were always blessed, renewed and vitalized by strong mission programs and generous mission giving. I believe our mission work is a vital piece, maybe the vital piece, toward the future peace, purity and unity of the church. This quick, three day trip to Honduras is an expression of my continuing education. I am here again to learn how the Presbyterian Church does world mission. I want to learn with my feet on the ground, talking with the people, understanding the decision-making, beginning to discern the challenges which must be faced, and learning this process. What does our world mission work look like in our world today?
On this trip I have the opportunity to learn with the experts. Along with Kathy Wells, the Director of Christian education in our Mechanicsburg Church; we are along for the ride as our world mission people do their work. We are here with Stan Devoogd, the area coordinator for Mexico and Central America. Stan is one of six area coordinators who work with the General Assembly Council and oversee our world mission. We are joined by our mission co-worker Tracey King, the regional liaison for Central America. Tracey’s office is in Managua, Nicaragua and she is responsible for relationships with all our mission partners, supporting our mission co-workers, and relationships with other U.S. Presbyterians working in the area. Specifically, Kathy and I have joined Stan and Tracey on this quick trip to Honduras to talk with our mission partners, and begin creating plans for a potential new PCUSA mission co-worker position in Honduras.
I have learned about the structure which we now have in place in our world mission office. Hunter Farrell is the director of world mission, and works directly with Linda Valentine, the executive director of the General Assembly Council. Hunter is the voice and vision of world mission today. (Hunter will be with us for the April 2009 meeting of the Presbytery of Carlisle.) Hunter is supported by the six area coordinators, like Stan, who each oversee our mission work in a particular area of the world. The six areas each have several regional liaisons, like Tracey. Together these world mission staff people are responsible for recruiting, supporting, encouraging and connecting the 200 mission co-workers who are serving in world mission for the PCUSA.
The single most important feature of our world mission work today is its collegiality. We do mission in partnership with other churches, ecumenical partners and all varieties of Christian mission organizations all over the world. Thus our mission co-workers are always serving at the invitation of local Christian organizations, schools, hospitals or churches. This commitment to collegiality with Christian brothers and sisters in every nation expresses deep theological commitments about what we believe about world mission today.
Our task here in Honduras is to talk with our Christian partners, to understand their ministries, and to explore ways we may work together. In Honduras, like most nations today, we have several different Christian partners. In Honduras, our Presbyterian Church has had a long partnership with Heifer Project International with whom our PCUSA mission co-workers, Tim and Gloria Wheeler, are now serving. (For this trip, we are staying in the Wheeler’s home even while Tim and Gloria are in the United States doing mission itineration. The Wheelers will be in our Presbytery in October.) We met with the Heifer Project staff all afternoon on Friday in their office. We had a wonderful discussion of their model of community development. This work is commendable, and I encourage your support. Our Second Carlisle Church has a close relationship with the Wheelers, and has been doing mission trips with the Wheelers every year. Please talk with Rev. Jennifer McKenna about their work. I particularly encourage your support of Heifer’s alternative Christian gift program.
Most important, our world mission staff has been in a continuing conversation with the Presbyterian Church of Honduras. We are exploring ways that our churches may work together and join in mutual mission. Thus we met all day with the executive board, “el junta,” of the Presbyterian Church of Honduras. Stan and Tracey led us through a three point agenda around which we worked for almost five hours. Of course, in the relaxed Latin American style, we also had a lengthy time of Bible study, shared prayer, numerous coffee breaks, a long, leisurely lunch and a lot of cordial conversation, especially since my Honduran friends keep pushing me to speak Spanish. We did spend considerable time on these questions: In what ways are the PCUSA and PC Honduras cooperating and working together now?; What would the PC Honduras propose as the responsibilities and objectives of a potential mission co-worker working with them?; How would the PC Honduras define the qualifications and personal qualities they would like in a mission co-worker? These leaders from the PC Honduras were very clear and very articulate in their appreciation for the partnership with our PCUSA. Their objectives for a potential mission co-worker working serving with them are also very clear: leadership development. They need help in the administrative organization of their Presbytery. (The PC Honduras now has one presbytery which includes all of their 20 congregations.) They need help in the theological and spiritual support of their pastors. They need help in the equipping of their Sunday school teachers and the strengthening of their ministries of Christian education. Clearly these are gifts and skills the PCUSA can bring to Honduras when the right person is called, recruited, and funded.
As I reflect on that long day of conversation with my friends in the PC Honduras, I rejoice both in my opportunity to be involved in these conversations and the beautiful work our church is doing in world mission. At this meeting we were truly brothers and sisters working together to build Christ’s church. This experience was a true embodiment of mutuality in mission and partnership. I am convinced that if our PC USA can find the will and way for growing world mission, and providing a mission co-worker to work with the PC Honduras, we will be doing a very worthy and good ministry. I plea for your generous support for our work in world mission, and specifically for this new mission co-worker position to serve the Presbyterian Church of Honduras.
The jet ways which off board each jet at Toncontin International airport lead everyone to a long walkway. At the end of this walkway a pair of escalators direct everyone down to the immigration desks, baggage claim and customs. Like the whole airport, this hallway is always immaculately clean, it’s polished floor glistening and bright. The outside wall of this long walkway is glass from floor to ceiling. Like the whole facility, the glass is sparkling clean. I am delighted to return to Tegucigalpa, Honduras; a place I have learned to love. Walking along this walkway, shaking off the fatigue of the long jet rides which started early in the morning in Baltimore, I breathe in the joy and satisfaction of being here again. My body enjoys the opportunity to stretch, loosen and walk after being cramped up in an airplane for the last hours. My eyes and mind are lifted up and out through the windows and far beyond to the exquisitely beautiful horizon. The jagged peaks of Tegucigalpa’s famous mountains, which are all around in all their lush green, rise up and out of the urban sprawl and touch a beautiful sky. Strolling along this walkway is a moment of spiritual transition. Now having arrived, my mind can cast aside all the details of travel. The obsession with flight schedules, making connections in Houston, and constant concerns about delays, changes, or cancellations are now all gone. Now I am here and turn to the purposes I have in mind for these few precious days in Honduras.
Our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been doing world mission for a very long time. Our heritage of world mission is deep, long and remarkable. One of the purposes of my ministry now is to understand, celebrate and support our work in world mission. Our world mission work is where my heart is; increasing this is where my passion and energy are leading me. As we have always done, the church must again rally and unite around our world mission work. This is now one of my deepest convictions. This is a conviction which has been building, growing, developing and maturing for many years. The congregations where I have served as pastor were always blessed, renewed and vitalized by strong mission programs and generous mission giving. I believe our mission work is a vital piece, maybe the vital piece, toward the future peace, purity and unity of the church. This quick, three day trip to Honduras is an expression of my continuing education. I am here again to learn how the Presbyterian Church does world mission. I want to learn with my feet on the ground, talking with the people, understanding the decision-making, beginning to discern the challenges which must be faced, and learning this process. What does our world mission work look like in our world today?
On this trip I have the opportunity to learn with the experts. Along with Kathy Wells, the Director of Christian education in our Mechanicsburg Church; we are along for the ride as our world mission people do their work. We are here with Stan Devoogd, the area coordinator for Mexico and Central America. Stan is one of six area coordinators who work with the General Assembly Council and oversee our world mission. We are joined by our mission co-worker Tracey King, the regional liaison for Central America. Tracey’s office is in Managua, Nicaragua and she is responsible for relationships with all our mission partners, supporting our mission co-workers, and relationships with other U.S. Presbyterians working in the area. Specifically, Kathy and I have joined Stan and Tracey on this quick trip to Honduras to talk with our mission partners, and begin creating plans for a potential new PCUSA mission co-worker position in Honduras.
I have learned about the structure which we now have in place in our world mission office. Hunter Farrell is the director of world mission, and works directly with Linda Valentine, the executive director of the General Assembly Council. Hunter is the voice and vision of world mission today. (Hunter will be with us for the April 2009 meeting of the Presbytery of Carlisle.) Hunter is supported by the six area coordinators, like Stan, who each oversee our mission work in a particular area of the world. The six areas each have several regional liaisons, like Tracey. Together these world mission staff people are responsible for recruiting, supporting, encouraging and connecting the 200 mission co-workers who are serving in world mission for the PCUSA.
The single most important feature of our world mission work today is its collegiality. We do mission in partnership with other churches, ecumenical partners and all varieties of Christian mission organizations all over the world. Thus our mission co-workers are always serving at the invitation of local Christian organizations, schools, hospitals or churches. This commitment to collegiality with Christian brothers and sisters in every nation expresses deep theological commitments about what we believe about world mission today.
Our task here in Honduras is to talk with our Christian partners, to understand their ministries, and to explore ways we may work together. In Honduras, like most nations today, we have several different Christian partners. In Honduras, our Presbyterian Church has had a long partnership with Heifer Project International with whom our PCUSA mission co-workers, Tim and Gloria Wheeler, are now serving. (For this trip, we are staying in the Wheeler’s home even while Tim and Gloria are in the United States doing mission itineration. The Wheelers will be in our Presbytery in October.) We met with the Heifer Project staff all afternoon on Friday in their office. We had a wonderful discussion of their model of community development. This work is commendable, and I encourage your support. Our Second Carlisle Church has a close relationship with the Wheelers, and has been doing mission trips with the Wheelers every year. Please talk with Rev. Jennifer McKenna about their work. I particularly encourage your support of Heifer’s alternative Christian gift program.
Most important, our world mission staff has been in a continuing conversation with the Presbyterian Church of Honduras. We are exploring ways that our churches may work together and join in mutual mission. Thus we met all day with the executive board, “el junta,” of the Presbyterian Church of Honduras. Stan and Tracey led us through a three point agenda around which we worked for almost five hours. Of course, in the relaxed Latin American style, we also had a lengthy time of Bible study, shared prayer, numerous coffee breaks, a long, leisurely lunch and a lot of cordial conversation, especially since my Honduran friends keep pushing me to speak Spanish. We did spend considerable time on these questions: In what ways are the PCUSA and PC Honduras cooperating and working together now?; What would the PC Honduras propose as the responsibilities and objectives of a potential mission co-worker working with them?; How would the PC Honduras define the qualifications and personal qualities they would like in a mission co-worker? These leaders from the PC Honduras were very clear and very articulate in their appreciation for the partnership with our PCUSA. Their objectives for a potential mission co-worker working serving with them are also very clear: leadership development. They need help in the administrative organization of their Presbytery. (The PC Honduras now has one presbytery which includes all of their 20 congregations.) They need help in the theological and spiritual support of their pastors. They need help in the equipping of their Sunday school teachers and the strengthening of their ministries of Christian education. Clearly these are gifts and skills the PCUSA can bring to Honduras when the right person is called, recruited, and funded.
As I reflect on that long day of conversation with my friends in the PC Honduras, I rejoice both in my opportunity to be involved in these conversations and the beautiful work our church is doing in world mission. At this meeting we were truly brothers and sisters working together to build Christ’s church. This experience was a true embodiment of mutuality in mission and partnership. I am convinced that if our PC USA can find the will and way for growing world mission, and providing a mission co-worker to work with the PC Honduras, we will be doing a very worthy and good ministry. I plea for your generous support for our work in world mission, and specifically for this new mission co-worker position to serve the Presbyterian Church of Honduras.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Camp Krislund update
July 2008
Dear Presbyterian brothers and sisters,
We write to express our grateful appreciation for the generous support which many of our congregations have already pledged toward our Funding the Future Campaign at Camp Krislund and your participation in Krislund’s Summer Camp program. We also write to offer this brief status report.
As we write this letter the most important and faithful expression of the Camp’s ministry is in full swing: our summer camping program. Krislund Summer Camp is again this year a vital program. Because of the financial stress on the regular program budget, Steve Cort has taken on the extra responsibility of serving as the Summer Camp’s program director. We appreciate his devotion and commitment to the summer program. Under his leadership a team of counselors, junior counselors, adventure coordinators, kitchen staff, life guard and nurses have been gathered to serve the almost 700 young people who will come to Camp. Of these campers, many are on full scholarships.
At the same time our plans for the future growth of the camp are underway in response to your generous support of our Funding the Future Capital Campaign. Your financial support for this effort has been remarkable. We are very grateful for the Coordinating Teams in each presbytery, the many campaign advocates in our churches, and the many elders who have responded to our presentations and solicitations at your session meetings. Thus far 94 of our congregations and many individuals have pledged more than $1.8 million to the Funding the Future Campaign. Of course, the Campaign continues.
In proper stewardship of these abundant gifts, we have already taken significant steps to address the most pressing financial need of the Camp, but the least glamorous aspect of our campaign. We have paid more than $460,000 toward our land debt. We expect that our commercial land debt with NorthWest Savings Bank will be completely paid this year! This is the first major component of our campaign. Gifts from our Funding the Future Campaign are not intended to pay off our other significant land debt which is held by the Synod of the Trinity. Our presbyteries will hear more about the restructuring of our Synod loan as these plans develop.
Under the leadership of our Director of Development and Maintenance Kent Rishell, we have accomplished a remarkable amount of legal and administrative infrastructure work in preparation for new construction at Krislund. We have received authorization and permits from both Centre County and the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection for our proposed construction. This allows us, first of all, to move forward with the two major infrastructure demands of any new construction: water and sanitation. With an estimated cost of $170,000, we expect the Camp’s new water system to be installed this fall. After satisfying stringent environmental regulations, our new well has been drilled and the system is ready to be installed. This new water system will completely replace the old system and will be large enough to include any and all of our future new construction. The next step, to be accomplished in 2009, is the installation of our new sanitation system. This is an additional system which is necessary to support all our new construction. Our current, state-of-the-art, natural sanitation system will still be used as it is now, but it cannot be expanded to include any new construction.
Of course, any project the size and scope of our Funding the Future Campaign will face obstacles and challenges. Our biggest challenge thus far has been the concept of new adult housing at the Camp. This, we know, is the most exciting and visible element of our campaign. Our new adult housing will allow us to move our Camp’s ministry and mission into bold new directions reaching many more people all year long. But the concept of one large adult lodge attached to the back of the existing retreat center has proved untenable because of construction and environmental-impact costs created by its sweeping design. Thus we have formed a Design and Construction Team to consider other options for adult housing at the camp. (Please call Mark if you are interested in joining the work of this team.) Conceptually, this team has decided to take a step back and consider again any and all options for adult, year-round housing at the Camp given our theological vision of ministry, the restraints of the legal and environmental regulations and the financial constraints of the Funding the Future Campaign. This effort will move forward with careful discernment.
As our Funding the Future Campaign has developed we sadly learned that our creative plans for an “omni building” can not be included within our current campaign. Thus our plan for this multi-purpose building which will support our Summer Camp program and also offer flexible, indoor recreational opportunities all year remains a dream. Given the success of our Funding the Future Campaign we hope there will be energy and enthusiasm to move forward with this dream in the future.
Our plans, hopes and dreams for our beloved Camp Krislund are bold and big. We have appreciated your generosity and support. We hope all our congregations will join us in creating a camp and conference center that in all its ministry and mission loudly proclaims the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sincerely,
Presbytery of Carlisle Presbytery of Huntingdon Presbytery of Northumberland
Executive Presbyter General Presbyter Executive Presbyter
Mark Englund-Krieger Joy Kaufmann William Knudsen
Dear Presbyterian brothers and sisters,
We write to express our grateful appreciation for the generous support which many of our congregations have already pledged toward our Funding the Future Campaign at Camp Krislund and your participation in Krislund’s Summer Camp program. We also write to offer this brief status report.
As we write this letter the most important and faithful expression of the Camp’s ministry is in full swing: our summer camping program. Krislund Summer Camp is again this year a vital program. Because of the financial stress on the regular program budget, Steve Cort has taken on the extra responsibility of serving as the Summer Camp’s program director. We appreciate his devotion and commitment to the summer program. Under his leadership a team of counselors, junior counselors, adventure coordinators, kitchen staff, life guard and nurses have been gathered to serve the almost 700 young people who will come to Camp. Of these campers, many are on full scholarships.
At the same time our plans for the future growth of the camp are underway in response to your generous support of our Funding the Future Capital Campaign. Your financial support for this effort has been remarkable. We are very grateful for the Coordinating Teams in each presbytery, the many campaign advocates in our churches, and the many elders who have responded to our presentations and solicitations at your session meetings. Thus far 94 of our congregations and many individuals have pledged more than $1.8 million to the Funding the Future Campaign. Of course, the Campaign continues.
In proper stewardship of these abundant gifts, we have already taken significant steps to address the most pressing financial need of the Camp, but the least glamorous aspect of our campaign. We have paid more than $460,000 toward our land debt. We expect that our commercial land debt with NorthWest Savings Bank will be completely paid this year! This is the first major component of our campaign. Gifts from our Funding the Future Campaign are not intended to pay off our other significant land debt which is held by the Synod of the Trinity. Our presbyteries will hear more about the restructuring of our Synod loan as these plans develop.
Under the leadership of our Director of Development and Maintenance Kent Rishell, we have accomplished a remarkable amount of legal and administrative infrastructure work in preparation for new construction at Krislund. We have received authorization and permits from both Centre County and the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection for our proposed construction. This allows us, first of all, to move forward with the two major infrastructure demands of any new construction: water and sanitation. With an estimated cost of $170,000, we expect the Camp’s new water system to be installed this fall. After satisfying stringent environmental regulations, our new well has been drilled and the system is ready to be installed. This new water system will completely replace the old system and will be large enough to include any and all of our future new construction. The next step, to be accomplished in 2009, is the installation of our new sanitation system. This is an additional system which is necessary to support all our new construction. Our current, state-of-the-art, natural sanitation system will still be used as it is now, but it cannot be expanded to include any new construction.
Of course, any project the size and scope of our Funding the Future Campaign will face obstacles and challenges. Our biggest challenge thus far has been the concept of new adult housing at the Camp. This, we know, is the most exciting and visible element of our campaign. Our new adult housing will allow us to move our Camp’s ministry and mission into bold new directions reaching many more people all year long. But the concept of one large adult lodge attached to the back of the existing retreat center has proved untenable because of construction and environmental-impact costs created by its sweeping design. Thus we have formed a Design and Construction Team to consider other options for adult housing at the camp. (Please call Mark if you are interested in joining the work of this team.) Conceptually, this team has decided to take a step back and consider again any and all options for adult, year-round housing at the Camp given our theological vision of ministry, the restraints of the legal and environmental regulations and the financial constraints of the Funding the Future Campaign. This effort will move forward with careful discernment.
As our Funding the Future Campaign has developed we sadly learned that our creative plans for an “omni building” can not be included within our current campaign. Thus our plan for this multi-purpose building which will support our Summer Camp program and also offer flexible, indoor recreational opportunities all year remains a dream. Given the success of our Funding the Future Campaign we hope there will be energy and enthusiasm to move forward with this dream in the future.
Our plans, hopes and dreams for our beloved Camp Krislund are bold and big. We have appreciated your generosity and support. We hope all our congregations will join us in creating a camp and conference center that in all its ministry and mission loudly proclaims the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sincerely,
Presbytery of Carlisle Presbytery of Huntingdon Presbytery of Northumberland
Executive Presbyter General Presbyter Executive Presbyter
Mark Englund-Krieger Joy Kaufmann William Knudsen
Friday, July 18, 2008
Response to Newsweek, "What He Believes"
To Newsweek magazine;
I appreciate your effort to understand the faith of Barack Obama, but as usual your view of Christianity is simplistic and narrow. Newsweek magazine, along with almost all the dominant public media today, refuses to acknowledge the rich diversity and multiple expressions of Christian faith in America today. You seem only interested in measuring and evaluating Obama’s faith through the lens of evangelical Christianity. By that measure, his journey of faith seems unique and different. But since Obama came to faith and was baptized in the United Church of Christ would it not be more appropriate to see him as standing within the long tradition of mainline Protestantism in America? The tradition of mainline Protestantism is as old as our nation itself and must be distinguished in important but subtle ways from modern evangelical theology. Mainline Protestantism today still represents a huge swath of American Christianity including such classic denominations as the United Church of Christ (and its antecedents), my own Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Lutherans, the Methodists, the Episcopalians and the American Baptists. Of course, we share the same Christian faith with our evangelical brothers and sisters, but the differences in worldview, patterns of faith development and spiritual culture are significant. These differences are especially important when discussing the religious faith of Abraham Lincoln. The Christian faith of the society in which Lincoln lived was dominated by the mainline Protestant churches. Much of Lincoln’s reflection on and response to religious faith can only be properly understood against the backdrop of mainline Protestantism. The same week Lincoln was in Gettysburg to offer his “Address”, he attended worship in the town’s Presbyterian Church. Our Gettysburg Presbyterian Church still marks the pew where he sat. (Decades later, this is the same church where the Eisenhower family was very active.) Since your reporters and researchers seem committed to following every footstep that Obama has walked, it would be convenient for you to walk across the quadrangle from the Law School to the Divinity School at the University of Chicago, chat with the faculty there, and educate yourselves about the fullness of American Christianity today. Barack Obama is right at home in our tradition of mainline American Protestantism, and we are proud to claim him. By the way, John McCain seems very comfortable in our tradition as well, and we are also proud to claim him.
I appreciate your effort to understand the faith of Barack Obama, but as usual your view of Christianity is simplistic and narrow. Newsweek magazine, along with almost all the dominant public media today, refuses to acknowledge the rich diversity and multiple expressions of Christian faith in America today. You seem only interested in measuring and evaluating Obama’s faith through the lens of evangelical Christianity. By that measure, his journey of faith seems unique and different. But since Obama came to faith and was baptized in the United Church of Christ would it not be more appropriate to see him as standing within the long tradition of mainline Protestantism in America? The tradition of mainline Protestantism is as old as our nation itself and must be distinguished in important but subtle ways from modern evangelical theology. Mainline Protestantism today still represents a huge swath of American Christianity including such classic denominations as the United Church of Christ (and its antecedents), my own Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Lutherans, the Methodists, the Episcopalians and the American Baptists. Of course, we share the same Christian faith with our evangelical brothers and sisters, but the differences in worldview, patterns of faith development and spiritual culture are significant. These differences are especially important when discussing the religious faith of Abraham Lincoln. The Christian faith of the society in which Lincoln lived was dominated by the mainline Protestant churches. Much of Lincoln’s reflection on and response to religious faith can only be properly understood against the backdrop of mainline Protestantism. The same week Lincoln was in Gettysburg to offer his “Address”, he attended worship in the town’s Presbyterian Church. Our Gettysburg Presbyterian Church still marks the pew where he sat. (Decades later, this is the same church where the Eisenhower family was very active.) Since your reporters and researchers seem committed to following every footstep that Obama has walked, it would be convenient for you to walk across the quadrangle from the Law School to the Divinity School at the University of Chicago, chat with the faculty there, and educate yourselves about the fullness of American Christianity today. Barack Obama is right at home in our tradition of mainline American Protestantism, and we are proud to claim him. By the way, John McCain seems very comfortable in our tradition as well, and we are also proud to claim him.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
General Assembly reflections part 14
The 218th General Assembly (2008) reflections part 14
NOTE: This is a copy of the official, church-wide letter sent out after the Assembly:
June 28, 2008
To Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations
Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The 218th General Assembly adjourned just a few short hours ago. Even now, 973 commissioners and advisory delegates are making their way back home from San Jose, CA, where they worshiped daily, discussed and debated overtures, and celebrated the countless ways Presbyterians are engaged in ministry near and very far away—all with a focus on discerning the mind of Christ for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and seeking ways to live out this assembly’s theme: “Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8).
Beginning today and continuing over the next two years, elected commissioners will be about the task of interpreting the actions they took at this assembly. Already, their decisions have been broadcast across the church and, in this Internet world—with information received in real time, live blogs, and more—many people have already weighed in on the assembly’s actions, sharing their thoughts and feelings about the implications of those decisions on our life together in the PC(USA).
The assembly dealt with well over 400 business items. Some items had undivided agreement, including a covenant to join together to carry out mission together and a churchwide commitment to “Grow God’s Church Deep and Wide.” There was an action to continue to study a revised Form of Government, and one committee devoted its time entirely to youth issues. In addition, we continued our longstanding work toward peace in the Middle East. More information on these and other actions will be coming soon.
A few of the many assembly actions will make, or already have made, headlines across the country. Most likely, you will read about the actions from a number of sources over the next many days and weeks, but we want you to hear about this important gathering directly from the General Assembly. That is why we are writing this letter to you.
Perhaps the subject that will make the most headlines has to do with the ordination standards of our church. It is a subject with which Presbyterians are familiar and one that tends to evoke great debates and deep emotions. With that in mind, we want you to know what the assembly did—in the actual wording—in regard to ordination standards, and what will happen next.
By a 54% to 46% margin, the assembly voted to propose an amendment to our Book of Order to change one of our current ordination standards. The change is to replace the current language that says officers of the church must live by “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness” (G-6.0106b) to this new language: Those who are called to ordained service in the church, by their assent to the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W-4.4003), pledge themselves to live lives obedient to Jesus Christ the Head of the Church, striving to follow where he leads through the witness of the Scriptures, and to understand the Scriptures through the instruction of the Confessions. In so doing, they declare their fidelity to the standards of the Church. Each governing body charged with examination for ordination and/or installation (G-14.0240 and G-14.0450) establishes the candidate’s sincere efforts to adhere to these standards.
By a 53% to 47% vote, the assembly adopted a new Authoritative Interpretation (AI) on G-6.0106b: Interpretive statements concerning ordained service of homosexual church members by the 190th General Assembly (1978) of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and the 119th General Assembly (1979) of the Presbyterian Church in the United States and all subsequent affirmations thereof, have no further force or effect.
By a 54% to 46% vote, the assembly adopted a new AI on G-6.0108 which restores the intent of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church report (2006) to allow someone who is being considered for ordination or installation as a deacon, elder, or minister to register a conscientious objection to the standards or beliefs of the church and ask the ordaining body to enter into a conversation with them to determine the seriousness of the departure.
The assembly left unchanged the definition of marriage found in the Directory for Worship (W-4.9000)—“a civil contract between a woman and a man.”
By its actions, the assembly has initiated a new opportunity to focus ordination on primary allegiance and obedience to Jesus Christ, as well as to Scripture and the church’s confessions. The assembly places the responsibility onto sessions and presbyteries for discerning a candidate’s fitness for ordination.
In all of this, it is important to note that the assembly has not removed the church’s standard of “fidelity in marriage and chastity in singleness.” For the proposed change—making obedience to Christ the ordination standard—to become part of the Book of Order , a majority of presbyteries will need to ratify it over the next year.
We know the assembly actions may do little to ease the anxiety that seems to permeate our life together as a denomination. The debate isn’t new and the future holds difficult challenges. As the Rev. Dan Holloway, moderator of the committee that took up the items on ordination standards, said, “As we move forward, it is essential that we have conversations that are gracious and loving and welcoming, since we are not all of one mind.” Our hope is that none of us will act or react immediately to the decisions, choosing instead to pray and talk with one another about these issues.
During the question-and-answer time for the Stated Clerk election on Friday morning, now Stated Clerk-elect Gradye Parsons spoke of the story of Jesus being in the boat with his disciples in the middle of the lake when a storm arose (Luke 8). If fear could have capsized their boat, the disciples would have found themselves working hard to tread water in the midst of the wind and waves. Yet, Jesus calmed the storm and proceeded to question them about their faith.
Like the disciples, we, the PC(USA), are in the boat together, sometimes not altogether sure where we are headed. We see the storm approaching and our fears rise with the waves. Yet, as he was with the disciples, so, too, is Christ in our midst—calming the wind, settling the waves—being present and guiding us as we proceed ahead.
Gradye offered the following mantra as a summary of the Luke story: Get into the boat. Go across the lake. There will be a storm. You will not die .
As we move forward from this assembly, we know that storms may come, but we put our confidence and trust in the one who both calms the storms and leads us into God’s future with hope.
The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow
Moderator of the 218th General Assembly
The Rev. Gradye Parsons
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
Elder Linda Bryant Valentine
Executive Director, General Assembly Council
NOTE: This is a copy of the official, church-wide letter sent out after the Assembly:
June 28, 2008
To Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations
Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The 218th General Assembly adjourned just a few short hours ago. Even now, 973 commissioners and advisory delegates are making their way back home from San Jose, CA, where they worshiped daily, discussed and debated overtures, and celebrated the countless ways Presbyterians are engaged in ministry near and very far away—all with a focus on discerning the mind of Christ for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and seeking ways to live out this assembly’s theme: “Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8).
Beginning today and continuing over the next two years, elected commissioners will be about the task of interpreting the actions they took at this assembly. Already, their decisions have been broadcast across the church and, in this Internet world—with information received in real time, live blogs, and more—many people have already weighed in on the assembly’s actions, sharing their thoughts and feelings about the implications of those decisions on our life together in the PC(USA).
The assembly dealt with well over 400 business items. Some items had undivided agreement, including a covenant to join together to carry out mission together and a churchwide commitment to “Grow God’s Church Deep and Wide.” There was an action to continue to study a revised Form of Government, and one committee devoted its time entirely to youth issues. In addition, we continued our longstanding work toward peace in the Middle East. More information on these and other actions will be coming soon.
A few of the many assembly actions will make, or already have made, headlines across the country. Most likely, you will read about the actions from a number of sources over the next many days and weeks, but we want you to hear about this important gathering directly from the General Assembly. That is why we are writing this letter to you.
Perhaps the subject that will make the most headlines has to do with the ordination standards of our church. It is a subject with which Presbyterians are familiar and one that tends to evoke great debates and deep emotions. With that in mind, we want you to know what the assembly did—in the actual wording—in regard to ordination standards, and what will happen next.
By a 54% to 46% margin, the assembly voted to propose an amendment to our Book of Order to change one of our current ordination standards. The change is to replace the current language that says officers of the church must live by “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness” (G-6.0106b) to this new language: Those who are called to ordained service in the church, by their assent to the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W-4.4003), pledge themselves to live lives obedient to Jesus Christ the Head of the Church, striving to follow where he leads through the witness of the Scriptures, and to understand the Scriptures through the instruction of the Confessions. In so doing, they declare their fidelity to the standards of the Church. Each governing body charged with examination for ordination and/or installation (G-14.0240 and G-14.0450) establishes the candidate’s sincere efforts to adhere to these standards.
By a 53% to 47% vote, the assembly adopted a new Authoritative Interpretation (AI) on G-6.0106b: Interpretive statements concerning ordained service of homosexual church members by the 190th General Assembly (1978) of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and the 119th General Assembly (1979) of the Presbyterian Church in the United States and all subsequent affirmations thereof, have no further force or effect.
By a 54% to 46% vote, the assembly adopted a new AI on G-6.0108 which restores the intent of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church report (2006) to allow someone who is being considered for ordination or installation as a deacon, elder, or minister to register a conscientious objection to the standards or beliefs of the church and ask the ordaining body to enter into a conversation with them to determine the seriousness of the departure.
The assembly left unchanged the definition of marriage found in the Directory for Worship (W-4.9000)—“a civil contract between a woman and a man.”
By its actions, the assembly has initiated a new opportunity to focus ordination on primary allegiance and obedience to Jesus Christ, as well as to Scripture and the church’s confessions. The assembly places the responsibility onto sessions and presbyteries for discerning a candidate’s fitness for ordination.
In all of this, it is important to note that the assembly has not removed the church’s standard of “fidelity in marriage and chastity in singleness.” For the proposed change—making obedience to Christ the ordination standard—to become part of the Book of Order , a majority of presbyteries will need to ratify it over the next year.
We know the assembly actions may do little to ease the anxiety that seems to permeate our life together as a denomination. The debate isn’t new and the future holds difficult challenges. As the Rev. Dan Holloway, moderator of the committee that took up the items on ordination standards, said, “As we move forward, it is essential that we have conversations that are gracious and loving and welcoming, since we are not all of one mind.” Our hope is that none of us will act or react immediately to the decisions, choosing instead to pray and talk with one another about these issues.
During the question-and-answer time for the Stated Clerk election on Friday morning, now Stated Clerk-elect Gradye Parsons spoke of the story of Jesus being in the boat with his disciples in the middle of the lake when a storm arose (Luke 8). If fear could have capsized their boat, the disciples would have found themselves working hard to tread water in the midst of the wind and waves. Yet, Jesus calmed the storm and proceeded to question them about their faith.
Like the disciples, we, the PC(USA), are in the boat together, sometimes not altogether sure where we are headed. We see the storm approaching and our fears rise with the waves. Yet, as he was with the disciples, so, too, is Christ in our midst—calming the wind, settling the waves—being present and guiding us as we proceed ahead.
Gradye offered the following mantra as a summary of the Luke story: Get into the boat. Go across the lake. There will be a storm. You will not die .
As we move forward from this assembly, we know that storms may come, but we put our confidence and trust in the one who both calms the storms and leads us into God’s future with hope.
The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow
Moderator of the 218th General Assembly
The Rev. Gradye Parsons
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
Elder Linda Bryant Valentine
Executive Director, General Assembly Council
Friday, June 27, 2008
General Assembly reflections part 13
The 218th General Assembly reflections part 13
Copied from pcusa.org
The most emotionally charged overture from the Theological Issues and Institutions Committee came from the Presbytery of Newark asking the 218th General Assembly “to correct translation problems in five responses of the Heidelberg Catechism as found in The Book of Confessions and to add the original Scripture texts of the German Heidelberg Catechism.”
The issues surrounding this confession are complex and multi-layered. After hearing much information and debate, and defeating a minority report, the Assembly approved the overture to initiate the process to revise the Heidelberg Catechism by a vote of 436-280-11.
The United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. adopted The Book of Confessions in 1967, which included a 1962 translation of the Heidelberg Catechism prepared for and published by United Church Press. According to the overture rationale, Professor Edward Dowey of Princeton Theological Seminary chaired the committee of the General Assembly that compiled the confessions. He later admitted that a thorough check of this version was never undertaken and certain “illicit” changes made to this Heidelberg translation went undetected. After consulting the original German, as well as early Latin versions, five passages in the original text were discovered to be rendered incorrectly and key theological meanings were obscured.
Most of the Assembly’s attention focused on Question 87 of the catechism: “Can those who do not turn to God from their ungrateful, impenitent life be saved?” The current text of the answer reads: “Certainly not! Scripture says, ‘Surely you know that the unjust will never come into possession of the kingdom of God. Make no mistake: no fornicator or idolater, none who are guilty either of adultery or of homosexual perversion, no thieves or grabbers or drunkards or swindlers, will possess the kingdom of God.’”
According to the overture rationale, two phrases in the current answer that were supplied by the 1962 translators do not appear in the original text or in any translations produced prior to 1962. The primary phrase that is in dispute is “or of homosexual perversion.”
Neither the original German nor Latin contains text corresponding to this phrase, “Surely you know that the unjust will never come into possession of the kingdom of God. Make no mistake:”
If approved, the corrected text would read: “Certainly not; for as Scripture says no unchaste person, idolater, adulterer, thief, greedy person, drunkard, slanderer, robber, or anyone like that shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
The other four responses to the catechism questions would also be amended in a way that makes them more accurate and faithful to the original text. This approach would satisfy concerns that have been raised without the need of a major rewriting of the present translation.
According to the Rev. Mark Tammen, associate stated clerk and director of Constitutional Services for the Office of the General Assembly, a special committee will be appointed by the 218th GA moderator to study the recommendation and bring back a proposal to the 219th Assembly (2010). If that Assembly approves the proposal, it will be sent to the presbyteries for approval. If two-thirds of the presbyteries vote to adopt the amendments to the catechism, it will return to the 220th Assembly (2012). If that Assembly approves the changes, then the corrected Heidelberg Catechism will replace the current version in The Book of Confessions.
Copied from pcusa.org
The most emotionally charged overture from the Theological Issues and Institutions Committee came from the Presbytery of Newark asking the 218th General Assembly “to correct translation problems in five responses of the Heidelberg Catechism as found in The Book of Confessions and to add the original Scripture texts of the German Heidelberg Catechism.”
The issues surrounding this confession are complex and multi-layered. After hearing much information and debate, and defeating a minority report, the Assembly approved the overture to initiate the process to revise the Heidelberg Catechism by a vote of 436-280-11.
The United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. adopted The Book of Confessions in 1967, which included a 1962 translation of the Heidelberg Catechism prepared for and published by United Church Press. According to the overture rationale, Professor Edward Dowey of Princeton Theological Seminary chaired the committee of the General Assembly that compiled the confessions. He later admitted that a thorough check of this version was never undertaken and certain “illicit” changes made to this Heidelberg translation went undetected. After consulting the original German, as well as early Latin versions, five passages in the original text were discovered to be rendered incorrectly and key theological meanings were obscured.
Most of the Assembly’s attention focused on Question 87 of the catechism: “Can those who do not turn to God from their ungrateful, impenitent life be saved?” The current text of the answer reads: “Certainly not! Scripture says, ‘Surely you know that the unjust will never come into possession of the kingdom of God. Make no mistake: no fornicator or idolater, none who are guilty either of adultery or of homosexual perversion, no thieves or grabbers or drunkards or swindlers, will possess the kingdom of God.’”
According to the overture rationale, two phrases in the current answer that were supplied by the 1962 translators do not appear in the original text or in any translations produced prior to 1962. The primary phrase that is in dispute is “or of homosexual perversion.”
Neither the original German nor Latin contains text corresponding to this phrase, “Surely you know that the unjust will never come into possession of the kingdom of God. Make no mistake:”
If approved, the corrected text would read: “Certainly not; for as Scripture says no unchaste person, idolater, adulterer, thief, greedy person, drunkard, slanderer, robber, or anyone like that shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
The other four responses to the catechism questions would also be amended in a way that makes them more accurate and faithful to the original text. This approach would satisfy concerns that have been raised without the need of a major rewriting of the present translation.
According to the Rev. Mark Tammen, associate stated clerk and director of Constitutional Services for the Office of the General Assembly, a special committee will be appointed by the 218th GA moderator to study the recommendation and bring back a proposal to the 219th Assembly (2010). If that Assembly approves the proposal, it will be sent to the presbyteries for approval. If two-thirds of the presbyteries vote to adopt the amendments to the catechism, it will return to the 220th Assembly (2012). If that Assembly approves the changes, then the corrected Heidelberg Catechism will replace the current version in The Book of Confessions.
General Assembly reflections part 12
The 218th General Assembly reflections part 12
Copied from pcusa.org
The Rev. Gradye Parsons was elected stated clerk of the General Assembly.
Parsons has served as associate stated clerk of the General Assembly for the past eight years. In that role, he has been the director of operations for the Office of the General Assembly (OGA), including director of OGA’s General Assembly Meeting Services department.
Parsons has staffed a number of General Assembly committees. He spearheaded the development of a review process for each of the six agencies of the PC(USA) and staffed five of the six committees that conducted the reviews, with the exception being the review committee for OGA. Before his national church responsibilities, Parsons served as pastor of two churches in Tennessee for fifteen years. He was executive presbyter and stated clerk of Holston Presbytery for six years.
Copied from pcusa.org
The Rev. Gradye Parsons was elected stated clerk of the General Assembly.
Parsons has served as associate stated clerk of the General Assembly for the past eight years. In that role, he has been the director of operations for the Office of the General Assembly (OGA), including director of OGA’s General Assembly Meeting Services department.
Parsons has staffed a number of General Assembly committees. He spearheaded the development of a review process for each of the six agencies of the PC(USA) and staffed five of the six committees that conducted the reviews, with the exception being the review committee for OGA. Before his national church responsibilities, Parsons served as pastor of two churches in Tennessee for fifteen years. He was executive presbyter and stated clerk of Holston Presbytery for six years.
General Assembly reflections part 11
The 218th General Assembly (2008) reflections part 11
The Form of Government Taskforce referred:
After long discussion with many amendments, including a minority report, the Assembly approved the recommendation of their committee to refer the Form of Government Taskforce report to a new, expanded task force. Quoted here is the actual language of the action:
“That the recommendation (from the Form of Government Taskforce) be referred to the Office of the General Assembly with comment:
The referral to the Office of the General Assembly is for a period of consultation and study with churches and presbyteries through a system or systems designed and implemented by the Form of Government Task Force and members of the 218th General Assembly Committee on Form of Government Revisions. The participation of every presbytery in the period of consultation and study will be strongly urged. New members of this expanded task force are to be chosen from the 218th General Assembly (2008) Assembly Committee on Form of Government Revisions by the Moderator of the 218th General Assembly (2008), in consultation with the moderator and vice moderator of the 218th General Assembly (2008) Assembly Committee on Form of Government Revisions.
The new task force will revise the Form of Government Task Force Report, taking into account the concerns and suggestions gleaned from the consultation and study process. The guidance of the Advisory Committee on the Constitution, the overtures, and the testimony received by the 218th General Assembly (2008) Assembly Committee on Form of Government revisions and the committee’s comments are referred to the task force for serious and studied consideration. “
The Presbytery of Carlisle “is strongly urged” to study the Form of Taskforce report and make our conclusions known to the new taskforce. Anyone interested in participating in this consultation and study within our presbytery is asked to contact me as soon as possible.
The Form of Government Taskforce referred:
After long discussion with many amendments, including a minority report, the Assembly approved the recommendation of their committee to refer the Form of Government Taskforce report to a new, expanded task force. Quoted here is the actual language of the action:
“That the recommendation (from the Form of Government Taskforce) be referred to the Office of the General Assembly with comment:
The referral to the Office of the General Assembly is for a period of consultation and study with churches and presbyteries through a system or systems designed and implemented by the Form of Government Task Force and members of the 218th General Assembly Committee on Form of Government Revisions. The participation of every presbytery in the period of consultation and study will be strongly urged. New members of this expanded task force are to be chosen from the 218th General Assembly (2008) Assembly Committee on Form of Government Revisions by the Moderator of the 218th General Assembly (2008), in consultation with the moderator and vice moderator of the 218th General Assembly (2008) Assembly Committee on Form of Government Revisions.
The new task force will revise the Form of Government Task Force Report, taking into account the concerns and suggestions gleaned from the consultation and study process. The guidance of the Advisory Committee on the Constitution, the overtures, and the testimony received by the 218th General Assembly (2008) Assembly Committee on Form of Government revisions and the committee’s comments are referred to the task force for serious and studied consideration. “
The Presbytery of Carlisle “is strongly urged” to study the Form of Taskforce report and make our conclusions known to the new taskforce. Anyone interested in participating in this consultation and study within our presbytery is asked to contact me as soon as possible.
General Assembly reflections part 10
The 218th General Assembly (2008) reflections part 10
Christian and Muslim relations: “Same” versus “One”
The Assembly approved, after long debate and several significant amendments, a resolution on the relations between Christians and Muslims titled, “On Calling for Tolerance and Peaceful Relations Between the Christian and Muslim Communities.” As part of this impassioned debate on the floor of the Assembly, the important distinction between believing in “one” God and believing in the “same” God was discussed. It is very correct to say that each of the world’s three great, monotheistic religions – Christianity, Islam, and Judaism- each believe in one God. But these religious convictions placed in one God does not necessarily mean that these religions all believe in the same God. As we ponder the relations between the different religions of the world, especially since adherents of all these religions are increasingly present in our neighborhoods, it is a very important theological discussion to consider whether or not these different religions worship the same God.
Christian and Muslim relations: “Same” versus “One”
The Assembly approved, after long debate and several significant amendments, a resolution on the relations between Christians and Muslims titled, “On Calling for Tolerance and Peaceful Relations Between the Christian and Muslim Communities.” As part of this impassioned debate on the floor of the Assembly, the important distinction between believing in “one” God and believing in the “same” God was discussed. It is very correct to say that each of the world’s three great, monotheistic religions – Christianity, Islam, and Judaism- each believe in one God. But these religious convictions placed in one God does not necessarily mean that these religions all believe in the same God. As we ponder the relations between the different religions of the world, especially since adherents of all these religions are increasingly present in our neighborhoods, it is a very important theological discussion to consider whether or not these different religions worship the same God.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
General Assembly reflections part 9
The 218th General Asssembly (2008) reflections part 9
The Assembly approved a resolution to study the Belhar Confession, and consider whether or not this Confession should be added to our Book of Confessions. The text and a study guide are available at this websites (or search on Belhar at pcusa.org.)
http://www.pcusa.org/theologyandworship/confession/belhar.pdf
http://www.pcusa.org/theologyandworship/confession/belharstudyguide.pdf
The Assembly approved a resolution to study the Belhar Confession, and consider whether or not this Confession should be added to our Book of Confessions. The text and a study guide are available at this websites (or search on Belhar at pcusa.org.)
http://www.pcusa.org/theologyandworship/confession/belhar.pdf
http://www.pcusa.org/theologyandworship/confession/belharstudyguide.pdf
General Assembly reflections part 8
The 218th General Assembly (2008) reflections part 8
The Presbytery of Carlisle team:
I lift up grateful appreciation for the Commissioners from the Presbytery of Carlisle serving the 218th General Assembly.
Rev. John Green, pastor of our Paxton Church, serving on the Board of Pensions, Presbyterian Foundation and Presbyterian Publishing Corporation Committee.
Elder Margaret Mielke, clerk of session of our Pine Street Church, serving on the Review of the General Assembly Permanent Committees
Rev. John Barlow, pastor of our Warfordsburg Church, serving on the Worship and Spiritual Renewal Committee.
Elder Bud Marshall, from our Greencastle Church, serving on the Youth Committee.
Youth Advisory Delegate, Sarah Flint, from our Camp Hill Church, serving on our General Assembly Procedures Committee.
The Presbytery of Carlisle team:
I lift up grateful appreciation for the Commissioners from the Presbytery of Carlisle serving the 218th General Assembly.
Rev. John Green, pastor of our Paxton Church, serving on the Board of Pensions, Presbyterian Foundation and Presbyterian Publishing Corporation Committee.
Elder Margaret Mielke, clerk of session of our Pine Street Church, serving on the Review of the General Assembly Permanent Committees
Rev. John Barlow, pastor of our Warfordsburg Church, serving on the Worship and Spiritual Renewal Committee.
Elder Bud Marshall, from our Greencastle Church, serving on the Youth Committee.
Youth Advisory Delegate, Sarah Flint, from our Camp Hill Church, serving on our General Assembly Procedures Committee.
General Assembly reflections part 7
The 218th General Assembly (2008) reflections part 7
San Jose, California: Being an ethnic minority today.
This year the General Assembly is meeting in San Jose, California. I never visited this beautiful, northern California city before. I have enjoyed spending some time running each morning and using the break times during the day to walk around downtown San Jose. The convention center where our General Assembly meets is only a short walk from San Jose State University. The vicinity around the convention center and university community in downtown San Jose is a gorgeous area, highly developed but with beautiful green space and parks. I especially love the huge, majestic palm trees which are very common here and do not grow in Pennsylvania.
For lunch today, a gorgeous, sunny day in San Jose, I found a light sandwich and sat at a sidewalk table outside the restaurant. As I watched the lunchtime rush of people up and down the sidewalk, a fascinating thought entered my mind. As a white, middle-aged, male in San Jose I was an “ethnic minority”. A rich and fascinating rainbow of different kinds of people walked up and down the sidewalk past me. Only a few of them looked like me. Although I do not experience this kind of diversity on the sidewalk in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania or anyplace in the Presbytery of Carlisle, I know it is coming. What does it mean to be an “ethnic minority”? What does it feel like? The increasing ethnic diversity in our nation is a wonderful thing, in my opinion. America is a land with all kinds of difference and diversity. Whether we like it or not, whether we encourage it or not, our church is quickly becoming an ethnically diverse community as well. Although white people like me are still a vast majority group in our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), we will soon be an ethnic minority in our nation? How do you feel about that fact? How should the Church respond?
San Jose, California: Being an ethnic minority today.
This year the General Assembly is meeting in San Jose, California. I never visited this beautiful, northern California city before. I have enjoyed spending some time running each morning and using the break times during the day to walk around downtown San Jose. The convention center where our General Assembly meets is only a short walk from San Jose State University. The vicinity around the convention center and university community in downtown San Jose is a gorgeous area, highly developed but with beautiful green space and parks. I especially love the huge, majestic palm trees which are very common here and do not grow in Pennsylvania.
For lunch today, a gorgeous, sunny day in San Jose, I found a light sandwich and sat at a sidewalk table outside the restaurant. As I watched the lunchtime rush of people up and down the sidewalk, a fascinating thought entered my mind. As a white, middle-aged, male in San Jose I was an “ethnic minority”. A rich and fascinating rainbow of different kinds of people walked up and down the sidewalk past me. Only a few of them looked like me. Although I do not experience this kind of diversity on the sidewalk in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania or anyplace in the Presbytery of Carlisle, I know it is coming. What does it mean to be an “ethnic minority”? What does it feel like? The increasing ethnic diversity in our nation is a wonderful thing, in my opinion. America is a land with all kinds of difference and diversity. Whether we like it or not, whether we encourage it or not, our church is quickly becoming an ethnically diverse community as well. Although white people like me are still a vast majority group in our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), we will soon be an ethnic minority in our nation? How do you feel about that fact? How should the Church respond?
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
General Assembly reflections part 6
The 218th General Assembly (2008): Reflections part 6
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
TOP TEN
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:21
“Giving has always been a mark of Christian commitment and discipleship. The ways in which a believer uses God’s gifts of material goods, personal abilities, and time should reflect response to God’s self-giving in Jesus Christ and Christ’s call to minister to and share with others in the world. Tithing is a primary expression of the Christian discipline of stewardship.” – Book of Order, W-5.5004.
The Presbytery of Carlisle is being recognized and thanked at this meeting of the General Assembly for our phenomenal commitment to Presbyterian mission giving. It is an honor and great privilege for me to receive the kind remarks, congratulations and acknowledgement of different people every day here at the Assembly. Numerous times when I either introduce myself as from the Presbytery of Carlisle or people read my name tag, some sort of grateful comment about our place on the top ten list usually follows.
The General Assembly recognizes the Presbytery of Carlisle for:
Total Giving: Basic Mission Support (#6)
Per Member Giving: Basic Mission Support (#1)
Per Member Giving: Special Offerings (#6)
Per Member: Total Giving (#2)
The Presbytery of Carlisle is a mission-shaped, mission-driven and mission-giving presbytery. As I reflect on this good news in conversations with people around the General Assembly, several reflections easily come to mind. There is, by the grace of God, a remarkable, high level of trust in the Presbytery of Carlisle. That high level of trust is especially true within our Presbytery where there is wonderful collegiality among our church leaders, and a deep commitment to being connected together as Presbyterians. That high level of trust is, of course, also reflected in the deep and generous commitment many of our churches continue to have for Presbyterian mission work.
In the light of these accolades, the questions I ponder and pray are these: How can we enhance and multiply the high level of trust which already exists in our presbytery? How can we, as a healthy and trusting presbytery, raise trust and enhance connectionalism across the whole church? We have a number of congregations who do not participate in Presbyterian mission giving and are only weakly connected within our presbytery? What can we do to listen to their concerns, build trust, and join together in mutual mission and ministry? In a presbytery with such a high commitment to mission giving, what is the next step in our journey of faithfulness and service in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ?
With Linda Valentine, the executive director of the General Assembly Council;
with Hunter Farrell, the director of world mission;
with Stan deVoogd, the regional liaison for Mexico and Central America, (with whom I work closely in our Honduras mission work);
I say “Thank you” to the pastors and church professionals, elders and church members of the Presbytery of Carlisle who give generously to Presbyterian mission work, and are truly leading the way forward in our great Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
TOP TEN
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:21
“Giving has always been a mark of Christian commitment and discipleship. The ways in which a believer uses God’s gifts of material goods, personal abilities, and time should reflect response to God’s self-giving in Jesus Christ and Christ’s call to minister to and share with others in the world. Tithing is a primary expression of the Christian discipline of stewardship.” – Book of Order, W-5.5004.
The Presbytery of Carlisle is being recognized and thanked at this meeting of the General Assembly for our phenomenal commitment to Presbyterian mission giving. It is an honor and great privilege for me to receive the kind remarks, congratulations and acknowledgement of different people every day here at the Assembly. Numerous times when I either introduce myself as from the Presbytery of Carlisle or people read my name tag, some sort of grateful comment about our place on the top ten list usually follows.
The General Assembly recognizes the Presbytery of Carlisle for:
Total Giving: Basic Mission Support (#6)
Per Member Giving: Basic Mission Support (#1)
Per Member Giving: Special Offerings (#6)
Per Member: Total Giving (#2)
The Presbytery of Carlisle is a mission-shaped, mission-driven and mission-giving presbytery. As I reflect on this good news in conversations with people around the General Assembly, several reflections easily come to mind. There is, by the grace of God, a remarkable, high level of trust in the Presbytery of Carlisle. That high level of trust is especially true within our Presbytery where there is wonderful collegiality among our church leaders, and a deep commitment to being connected together as Presbyterians. That high level of trust is, of course, also reflected in the deep and generous commitment many of our churches continue to have for Presbyterian mission work.
In the light of these accolades, the questions I ponder and pray are these: How can we enhance and multiply the high level of trust which already exists in our presbytery? How can we, as a healthy and trusting presbytery, raise trust and enhance connectionalism across the whole church? We have a number of congregations who do not participate in Presbyterian mission giving and are only weakly connected within our presbytery? What can we do to listen to their concerns, build trust, and join together in mutual mission and ministry? In a presbytery with such a high commitment to mission giving, what is the next step in our journey of faithfulness and service in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ?
With Linda Valentine, the executive director of the General Assembly Council;
with Hunter Farrell, the director of world mission;
with Stan deVoogd, the regional liaison for Mexico and Central America, (with whom I work closely in our Honduras mission work);
I say “Thank you” to the pastors and church professionals, elders and church members of the Presbytery of Carlisle who give generously to Presbyterian mission work, and are truly leading the way forward in our great Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
General Assembly reflections part 5
The 218th General Assembly (2008): Reflections part 5
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Reflections on the Form of Government taskforce proposal:
I listened to some of the testimony of the Form of Government taskforce members to the General Assembly committee responsible for bringing their proposal forward. There was a lot of conversation about the Taskforce’s intention in dropping out all the specific tasks for the work of the Committee on Ministry and the Committee on the Preparation for Ministry. The work of these committees, which is precisely delineated in the current Form of Government, is revised into broad categories and expectations in the proposed Form of Government. The theory behind this proposal is that each Presbytery should be empowered, given their particular context and ministry needs, to implement the broad expectations as necessary.
In explaining this point to the Assembly Committee, a member of the Form of Government taskforce told a story from his home, Grace Presbytery in Texas. His Presbytery, of course, has a huge number of Spanish speaking people, and their presbytery is trying in various ways to reach out to them. One of the ways the presbytery has done this is by building relationships with pastors and church leaders from the Presbyterian Church in Mexico. They have identified pastors from Mexico who may, with the help of our Grace Presbytery, come into America to serve with Spanish speaking congregations here. But there is a huge obstacle preventing these Mexican Presbyterian pastors from expressing full pastoral responsibilities within our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). These pastors cannot be received as minister members of our church because they do not satisfy all the ordination requirements which are currently defined and listed in the Book of Order.
This particular situation raises a huge question for our church. Should Grace Presbytery, which is actively trying to reach out to the Spanish speaking people in their midst, be allowed to receive pastors from the Presbyterian Church of Mexico as Ministers of the Word and Sacrament in our church? Currently the moment a Minister of the Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church of Mexico steps across the border into our church they cannot serve as a Minister of the Word and Sacrament because they have not satisfied all of our ordination requirements. Should Grace Presbytery, which needs these pastors from Mexico to support their ministry and mission to Spanish speaking people in Texas, be allowed and encouraged to receive these pastors as full and active members here? This is exactly the kind of flexibility in process and procedures which the Form of Government taskforce is proposing with their revised Form of Government.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Reflections on the Form of Government taskforce proposal:
I listened to some of the testimony of the Form of Government taskforce members to the General Assembly committee responsible for bringing their proposal forward. There was a lot of conversation about the Taskforce’s intention in dropping out all the specific tasks for the work of the Committee on Ministry and the Committee on the Preparation for Ministry. The work of these committees, which is precisely delineated in the current Form of Government, is revised into broad categories and expectations in the proposed Form of Government. The theory behind this proposal is that each Presbytery should be empowered, given their particular context and ministry needs, to implement the broad expectations as necessary.
In explaining this point to the Assembly Committee, a member of the Form of Government taskforce told a story from his home, Grace Presbytery in Texas. His Presbytery, of course, has a huge number of Spanish speaking people, and their presbytery is trying in various ways to reach out to them. One of the ways the presbytery has done this is by building relationships with pastors and church leaders from the Presbyterian Church in Mexico. They have identified pastors from Mexico who may, with the help of our Grace Presbytery, come into America to serve with Spanish speaking congregations here. But there is a huge obstacle preventing these Mexican Presbyterian pastors from expressing full pastoral responsibilities within our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). These pastors cannot be received as minister members of our church because they do not satisfy all the ordination requirements which are currently defined and listed in the Book of Order.
This particular situation raises a huge question for our church. Should Grace Presbytery, which is actively trying to reach out to the Spanish speaking people in their midst, be allowed to receive pastors from the Presbyterian Church of Mexico as Ministers of the Word and Sacrament in our church? Currently the moment a Minister of the Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church of Mexico steps across the border into our church they cannot serve as a Minister of the Word and Sacrament because they have not satisfied all of our ordination requirements. Should Grace Presbytery, which needs these pastors from Mexico to support their ministry and mission to Spanish speaking people in Texas, be allowed and encouraged to receive these pastors as full and active members here? This is exactly the kind of flexibility in process and procedures which the Form of Government taskforce is proposing with their revised Form of Government.
Monday, June 23, 2008
General Assembly reflections part 4
The 218th General Assembly (2008) reflections part 4
Reflections on our World Mission
One of the highlights for me of this week’s General Assembly meeting thus far was the World Mission luncheon on Sunday. (NOTE: We have scheduled the director of World Mission, Hunter Farrell, to be with us in our Presbytery for our April Presbytery meeting.) There is completely new national staff in place in our World Mission office, and I am very supportive of our effort in the church to grow our international mission work. It was very meaningful and moving to sit together at the World Mission luncheon with Christian brothers and sisters from our partner churches all over the world, all of whom express deep gratitude for the mission and ministry of our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). There are stories upon stories from all around the world of churches that were initially planted, and conversions to Christ that were originally sparked, sometimes several generations ago, by the work of Presbyterian missionaries from the United States.
Hunter Farrell, in a very compelling address, spoke in broad terms of the history of Presbyterian world mission work and offered his vision of this new era. The Presbyterian Church made a massive commitment to world mission more than 150 years. This began the great era of mission work during which we sent our missionaries around the world. Many of our international partners today are churches that were planted and formed in that great era of world mission emphasis. Presbyterian Churches in Korea, Kenya, Brazil, Mexico, Thailand, and many others were planted by American Presbyterians. Because that era was also a time of limited communication and difficult international travel, our mission strategy was necessarily a “dependent” strategy. That is to say our congregations depended on our General Assembly to do this mission work. The congregations provided the funding, massive amounts of funding, and the General Assembly functioned as a mission sending agency. This was a profoundly successful strategy for doing world mission work.
Everything shifted and changed in our culture through the 1960s. Thus from the 1970s through the 1990s our world mission work shifted to an “independent” strategy. For many reasons, including the breakdown of trust in the church and the flattening of the world with our now easy communication and travel, individual congregations started doing world mission with a local and personal involvement. This is the era when the concept of mission trips started and has become an established part of our mission work. In this era the world mission work of the General Assembly floundered and downsized because congregations were no longer dependent on the General Assembly to engage in world mission. We are now learning the downside of this completely independent strategy for world mission work. I have seen this in the Presbytery of Honduras which simply does not have the resources or leadership to constantly host the vast numbers of American mission trips that are arriving. I have heard, for example, of one Presbyterian mission hospital in Kenya that was completely overwhelmed by the requests of three different American Presbyterian congregations that wanted to bring medical mission teams, each of more than 20 people, in the same month this summer. I have heard the terrible story of a small Presbyterian church in Mexico who organized the painting of the same wall in their town’s park six weeks in row by six different American mission teams because they do not have the resources or leadership to host this annual onslaught of American teams. The real tragedy of this independent, congregational based world mission work is that we have had to cut back on our financial commitment to full-time, fluent in the local language, professional mission workers because our money has shifted to short-term, usually week-long, mission trips.
Are we poised for a new era of world mission commitment? A new era which, obviously, will never return to a strategy in which our congregations are fully dependent on the General Assembly to do mission. A new era which, I hope, with a higher level of trust. A new era which may move us beyond the excesses of a completely independent strategy of world mission in which each congregation does their own thing with little coordination with others who may be working in the same nation. Are we ready to move into a collaborative era of world mission in which congregations, presbyteries and the General Assembly work together with our international church partners. This is clearly the direction in which Hunter Farrell would like to lead our world mission efforts. This is clearly the direction that is being proposed in the concept of mission networks. (I am very involved in the Honduras mission network). There are now 35 mission networks in our church.
Each congregation needs to be directly and personally connected with world mission. Each congregation needs to do mission trips, including international trips. But we also need communication and collaboration with our international church partners so we do not overwhelm them with our arrogant American audacity. We also need to make a serious commitment to the calling and equipping of full-time, professional mission workers serving with long term commitment all around the world. We also need the General Assembly, through the concept of mission networks and the regional liaisons staff people, to help congregations and presbyteries coordinate our world mission efforts so we are not paying thousands of dollars to travel to a foreign nation to paint the same wall six weeks in a row.
It is new day for the church. In the name of Jesus Christ let us make a commitment to world mission.
Reflections on our World Mission
One of the highlights for me of this week’s General Assembly meeting thus far was the World Mission luncheon on Sunday. (NOTE: We have scheduled the director of World Mission, Hunter Farrell, to be with us in our Presbytery for our April Presbytery meeting.) There is completely new national staff in place in our World Mission office, and I am very supportive of our effort in the church to grow our international mission work. It was very meaningful and moving to sit together at the World Mission luncheon with Christian brothers and sisters from our partner churches all over the world, all of whom express deep gratitude for the mission and ministry of our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). There are stories upon stories from all around the world of churches that were initially planted, and conversions to Christ that were originally sparked, sometimes several generations ago, by the work of Presbyterian missionaries from the United States.
Hunter Farrell, in a very compelling address, spoke in broad terms of the history of Presbyterian world mission work and offered his vision of this new era. The Presbyterian Church made a massive commitment to world mission more than 150 years. This began the great era of mission work during which we sent our missionaries around the world. Many of our international partners today are churches that were planted and formed in that great era of world mission emphasis. Presbyterian Churches in Korea, Kenya, Brazil, Mexico, Thailand, and many others were planted by American Presbyterians. Because that era was also a time of limited communication and difficult international travel, our mission strategy was necessarily a “dependent” strategy. That is to say our congregations depended on our General Assembly to do this mission work. The congregations provided the funding, massive amounts of funding, and the General Assembly functioned as a mission sending agency. This was a profoundly successful strategy for doing world mission work.
Everything shifted and changed in our culture through the 1960s. Thus from the 1970s through the 1990s our world mission work shifted to an “independent” strategy. For many reasons, including the breakdown of trust in the church and the flattening of the world with our now easy communication and travel, individual congregations started doing world mission with a local and personal involvement. This is the era when the concept of mission trips started and has become an established part of our mission work. In this era the world mission work of the General Assembly floundered and downsized because congregations were no longer dependent on the General Assembly to engage in world mission. We are now learning the downside of this completely independent strategy for world mission work. I have seen this in the Presbytery of Honduras which simply does not have the resources or leadership to constantly host the vast numbers of American mission trips that are arriving. I have heard, for example, of one Presbyterian mission hospital in Kenya that was completely overwhelmed by the requests of three different American Presbyterian congregations that wanted to bring medical mission teams, each of more than 20 people, in the same month this summer. I have heard the terrible story of a small Presbyterian church in Mexico who organized the painting of the same wall in their town’s park six weeks in row by six different American mission teams because they do not have the resources or leadership to host this annual onslaught of American teams. The real tragedy of this independent, congregational based world mission work is that we have had to cut back on our financial commitment to full-time, fluent in the local language, professional mission workers because our money has shifted to short-term, usually week-long, mission trips.
Are we poised for a new era of world mission commitment? A new era which, obviously, will never return to a strategy in which our congregations are fully dependent on the General Assembly to do mission. A new era which, I hope, with a higher level of trust. A new era which may move us beyond the excesses of a completely independent strategy of world mission in which each congregation does their own thing with little coordination with others who may be working in the same nation. Are we ready to move into a collaborative era of world mission in which congregations, presbyteries and the General Assembly work together with our international church partners. This is clearly the direction in which Hunter Farrell would like to lead our world mission efforts. This is clearly the direction that is being proposed in the concept of mission networks. (I am very involved in the Honduras mission network). There are now 35 mission networks in our church.
Each congregation needs to be directly and personally connected with world mission. Each congregation needs to do mission trips, including international trips. But we also need communication and collaboration with our international church partners so we do not overwhelm them with our arrogant American audacity. We also need to make a serious commitment to the calling and equipping of full-time, professional mission workers serving with long term commitment all around the world. We also need the General Assembly, through the concept of mission networks and the regional liaisons staff people, to help congregations and presbyteries coordinate our world mission efforts so we are not paying thousands of dollars to travel to a foreign nation to paint the same wall six weeks in a row.
It is new day for the church. In the name of Jesus Christ let us make a commitment to world mission.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
General Assembly reflections part 3
Copied from the General Assembly website: http://www.pcusa.org/ga218
The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow, 39, an energetic new church development pastor in San Francisco and leader in the “emergent church” movement, was elected moderator of the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Saturday night (June 21), capturing a second ballot victory.
Reyes-Chow — who received 48 percent of the first ballot votes — won an easy majority on the second ballot with 390 votes or 55 percent.
The Rev. William “Bill” Teng of National Capital Presbytery finished second with 255 votes or 36 percent. The Rev. D. Carl Mazza of New Castle Presbytery finished third with 52 votes or 7 percent. Elder Roger Shoemaker of Homestead Presbytery trailed with seven votes or 1 percent.
Reyes-Chow is pastor of Mission Bay Community Church, an innovative new church of San Francisco Presbytery that was recently named winner of a 2007 Sam and Helen Walton Award for outstanding new church development. In his address to the Assembly, he noted that he makes as many pastoral calls by email as by in-person visitation.
Such is the future of ministry, Reyes-Chow said. Mission Bay has a state-of-the-art Web site and extensive electronic communications among members and participants, which he said is absolutely essential for a congregation that is predominantly under-40.
In her nominating speech for him, Elder Vivian Guthrie of Greater Atlanta Presbytery urged Reyes-Chow’s election “to keep our church relevant … or we aren’t going to be on the same page as younger people. Bruce has a profound understanding of the way the world is changing, so he can help us feel less anxious and less resistant to change.”
In both his speech and his responses to questions, Reyes-Chow reiterated over and over his belief that “nothing is too hard or too wondrous for God. If the church steps out in faith rather than clinging to survival, to be more intent on being faithful than on being right, to be together based on our common covenant in Jesus Christ rather than by property or pensions, then we will be able to live into a future in which we are a vital and vibrant presence in the world.”
Teng, the only one of the four candidates to explicitly support the current constitutional prohibition of the ordination of sexually active gay and lesbian Presbyterians as church officers, emphasized his campaign theme of “gratitude and hope.” “We gather up a wealth of meaning as Presbyterians in response to the grace of God in Jesus Christ,” Teng said. “We have no greater need than to look beyond ourselves and follow Jesus into the world he loves and calls us to love.”
Mazza, who brought to his candidacy a compelling personal story of conversion and resultant commitment to the homeless and other marginalized people as founder and director of Meeting Ground in Elkton, MD, spoke of the two “great strengths” of the PC(USA) that drive his ministry: “We have an abiding commitment to gospel and Jesus Christ and a commitment to mission in the world,” he said. Shoemaker, the only elder among the four, called for Presbyterians to develop a greater understanding of themselves as the body of Christ and as Presbyterians and in doing so “we will find ways to pursue solutions that will grow our congregations spiritually and numerically.”
Reyes-Chow, the grandson of Chinese and Filipino immigrants to California, was raised in Sacramento and Stockton, CA. He is a graduate of San Francisco State University and San Francisco Theological Seminary. A prolific writer and blogger, Reyes-Chow describes himself as a “pastor/geek/dad/follower of Christ.”
The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow, 39, an energetic new church development pastor in San Francisco and leader in the “emergent church” movement, was elected moderator of the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Saturday night (June 21), capturing a second ballot victory.
Reyes-Chow — who received 48 percent of the first ballot votes — won an easy majority on the second ballot with 390 votes or 55 percent.
The Rev. William “Bill” Teng of National Capital Presbytery finished second with 255 votes or 36 percent. The Rev. D. Carl Mazza of New Castle Presbytery finished third with 52 votes or 7 percent. Elder Roger Shoemaker of Homestead Presbytery trailed with seven votes or 1 percent.
Reyes-Chow is pastor of Mission Bay Community Church, an innovative new church of San Francisco Presbytery that was recently named winner of a 2007 Sam and Helen Walton Award for outstanding new church development. In his address to the Assembly, he noted that he makes as many pastoral calls by email as by in-person visitation.
Such is the future of ministry, Reyes-Chow said. Mission Bay has a state-of-the-art Web site and extensive electronic communications among members and participants, which he said is absolutely essential for a congregation that is predominantly under-40.
In her nominating speech for him, Elder Vivian Guthrie of Greater Atlanta Presbytery urged Reyes-Chow’s election “to keep our church relevant … or we aren’t going to be on the same page as younger people. Bruce has a profound understanding of the way the world is changing, so he can help us feel less anxious and less resistant to change.”
In both his speech and his responses to questions, Reyes-Chow reiterated over and over his belief that “nothing is too hard or too wondrous for God. If the church steps out in faith rather than clinging to survival, to be more intent on being faithful than on being right, to be together based on our common covenant in Jesus Christ rather than by property or pensions, then we will be able to live into a future in which we are a vital and vibrant presence in the world.”
Teng, the only one of the four candidates to explicitly support the current constitutional prohibition of the ordination of sexually active gay and lesbian Presbyterians as church officers, emphasized his campaign theme of “gratitude and hope.” “We gather up a wealth of meaning as Presbyterians in response to the grace of God in Jesus Christ,” Teng said. “We have no greater need than to look beyond ourselves and follow Jesus into the world he loves and calls us to love.”
Mazza, who brought to his candidacy a compelling personal story of conversion and resultant commitment to the homeless and other marginalized people as founder and director of Meeting Ground in Elkton, MD, spoke of the two “great strengths” of the PC(USA) that drive his ministry: “We have an abiding commitment to gospel and Jesus Christ and a commitment to mission in the world,” he said. Shoemaker, the only elder among the four, called for Presbyterians to develop a greater understanding of themselves as the body of Christ and as Presbyterians and in doing so “we will find ways to pursue solutions that will grow our congregations spiritually and numerically.”
Reyes-Chow, the grandson of Chinese and Filipino immigrants to California, was raised in Sacramento and Stockton, CA. He is a graduate of San Francisco State University and San Francisco Theological Seminary. A prolific writer and blogger, Reyes-Chow describes himself as a “pastor/geek/dad/follower of Christ.”
Saturday, June 21, 2008
General Assembly reflections part 2
The 218th General Assembly (2008) reflections part 2
Quoted here is the recommendation coming to the General Assembly asking “organizations to affirm and adopt the following invitation.” I shared this document with our Presbytery at our June meeting, asking us to consider it for adoption in September. I hope this invitation will help us have conversation about mission in our Presbytery, and make a renewed commitment to our world mission efforts:
RECOMMENDATION
As a result of the Worldwide Mission Consultation, “Renewed Call to Presbyterian Mission in the World! Dialogue for Our Shared Future” that was held January 16-18, 2008, in Dallas, Texas, the Moderator, together with the Stated Clerk and the General Assembly Council, recommend that the 218th General Assembly (2008) invite the sessions, middle governing bodies, seminaries, General Assembly Council ministries areas, and all PC(USA)-related mission organizations to affirm and adopt the following invitation:
An Invitation to Expanding Partnership in God’s Mission
As members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) committed to God’s mission, accompanied by global partners, we gathered together January 16-18, 2008, in Dallas, Texas. We acknowledge the rich Presbyterian heritage in world mission and reaffirm the Presbyterian understanding of God’s mission as it is expressed in “Gathering for God’s Future,”
The Good News of Jesus Christ is to be shared with the whole world. As disciples of Jesus Christ, each of us in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is sent into the world to join God’s mission. As individuals and as a church, we are called to be faithful in this discipleship. Our mission is centered in the triune God. Our mission is God-called, Christ-centered, and Spirit-led. Our mission is both proclamation and service; it is the reason the church exists. …
Our renewed call from God is to face the challenges of witnessing and evangelizing worldwide, equipping the church for transforming mission, engaging in ministries of reconciliation, justice, healing and grace, and living the Good News of Jesus Christ in community with people who are poor, [persecuted, and living in the midst of violence]…
The church is part of God’s plan. We are called into the community of the church, and we call new disciples into that community. With Christ as our head, the church community exists for the sake of God's mission. We learn to serve in mission in a way that is faithful to the triune God. We are to model the kind of community God intends for all humanity. To be the church is to be one large mission society. [PC(USA), “Gathering for God’s Future: Witness, Discipleship, Community: A Renewed Call to Worldwide Mission,” 2003, pp. 1, 16. Text in brackets is added.]
Grounded in this theological foundation we realize that God is calling us to new patterns of mission. The world has changed, and the majority of the world’s Christians are now in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. The great growth and mission faithfulness of the Church outside the West invite us into a new posture. We must listen and learn to receive. We must also be open to new patterns of collaboration. These new patterns involve new cooperation and partnerships within the PC(USA).
I. We recognize that God calls us to mission that is grounded in confession of our sins, grows out of a life of prayer and is sustained in worship. Therefore, we covenant to live and serve together in God’s mission according to the following values:
1. Trusting in the Holy Spirit and trusting in one another as each discerns how God is moving us in mission. (Acts 10)
2. Doing mission in the way of Jesus who humbled himself, showing the way of self-giving and self-emptying. (Philippians 2)
3. Seeking to be faithful to God as we live and proclaim the fullness of Jesus Christ’s good news; personal witness to those outside the church, justice for the oppressed, and compassion for those in need. We accompany others in their efforts to be faithful. (Luke 4)
4. Affirming the complementary nature of God’s gifts to all in the one body of Christ and encouraging one another in living out those gifts. (1 Corinthians 12)
5. Recognizing our responsibility to each other by communicating openly, acting transparently, and speaking and hearing the truth in love. (Ephesians 4)
6. Striving in our mission to be aware of the context out of which we come, to respect the persons with whom we labor, and to honor the context in which they live. In an era of massive global inequalities we commit ourselves to be sensitive to and address the issues of power that result from our differences. (Philippians 2)
7. Valuing long-term relationships, partnerships characterized by perseverance and long-term commitments, which support and encourage global partners. (1 Thessalonians 2)
II. We seek to live out these mission values with humility, integrity, and steadfastness. Recognizing that God invites us all to be full participants in God’s mission, we commit ourselves to work cooperatively with one another in the following ways:
1. We will affirm and encourage World Mission as it continues to move from a regulatory role to a more enabling and equipping role.
2. We will celebrate and encourage diverse Presbyterian approaches and structures for mission while maintaining the unity of our participation in God’s mission.
3. We will share responsibility for the education and preparation of all Presbyterians for mission.
4. We commit ourselves to seeking more mission personnel who will serve long-term in cross-cultural contexts through the PC(USA), and to supporting them fully.
5. We commit ourselves to enabling and supporting our global partners as they send their mission personnel in cross-cultural service.
6. We recognize and affirm the growing opportunity for cross-cultural mission in our own increasingly pluralistic and multicultural society, and we receive the global community from near and far as mission partners and God’s gift to us. We seek increased integration between local and global mission.
III. As we move forward together in God’s mission, we commit ourselves to calling the church to ongoing intercessory prayer for God’s mission and to the following tasks:
1. We will form a coordinating committee to ensure that we will meet together to share and cooperate on a regular basis.
2. During the coming year we will work to address two immediate priorities:
a. to coordinate and collaborate in the sending of mission personnel;
b. to expand Presbyterian funding for mission personnel.
3. During the next three months we will share this document and invitation with our constituencies.
IV. With bold humility we invite those who would covenant with us to join in this new collaborative model of Presbyterian mission, and we ask for encouragement, for guidance and for prayer, remembering Jesus’ own prayer:
The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:22-23)
Quoted here is the recommendation coming to the General Assembly asking “organizations to affirm and adopt the following invitation.” I shared this document with our Presbytery at our June meeting, asking us to consider it for adoption in September. I hope this invitation will help us have conversation about mission in our Presbytery, and make a renewed commitment to our world mission efforts:
RECOMMENDATION
As a result of the Worldwide Mission Consultation, “Renewed Call to Presbyterian Mission in the World! Dialogue for Our Shared Future” that was held January 16-18, 2008, in Dallas, Texas, the Moderator, together with the Stated Clerk and the General Assembly Council, recommend that the 218th General Assembly (2008) invite the sessions, middle governing bodies, seminaries, General Assembly Council ministries areas, and all PC(USA)-related mission organizations to affirm and adopt the following invitation:
An Invitation to Expanding Partnership in God’s Mission
As members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) committed to God’s mission, accompanied by global partners, we gathered together January 16-18, 2008, in Dallas, Texas. We acknowledge the rich Presbyterian heritage in world mission and reaffirm the Presbyterian understanding of God’s mission as it is expressed in “Gathering for God’s Future,”
The Good News of Jesus Christ is to be shared with the whole world. As disciples of Jesus Christ, each of us in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is sent into the world to join God’s mission. As individuals and as a church, we are called to be faithful in this discipleship. Our mission is centered in the triune God. Our mission is God-called, Christ-centered, and Spirit-led. Our mission is both proclamation and service; it is the reason the church exists. …
Our renewed call from God is to face the challenges of witnessing and evangelizing worldwide, equipping the church for transforming mission, engaging in ministries of reconciliation, justice, healing and grace, and living the Good News of Jesus Christ in community with people who are poor, [persecuted, and living in the midst of violence]…
The church is part of God’s plan. We are called into the community of the church, and we call new disciples into that community. With Christ as our head, the church community exists for the sake of God's mission. We learn to serve in mission in a way that is faithful to the triune God. We are to model the kind of community God intends for all humanity. To be the church is to be one large mission society. [PC(USA), “Gathering for God’s Future: Witness, Discipleship, Community: A Renewed Call to Worldwide Mission,” 2003, pp. 1, 16. Text in brackets is added.]
Grounded in this theological foundation we realize that God is calling us to new patterns of mission. The world has changed, and the majority of the world’s Christians are now in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. The great growth and mission faithfulness of the Church outside the West invite us into a new posture. We must listen and learn to receive. We must also be open to new patterns of collaboration. These new patterns involve new cooperation and partnerships within the PC(USA).
I. We recognize that God calls us to mission that is grounded in confession of our sins, grows out of a life of prayer and is sustained in worship. Therefore, we covenant to live and serve together in God’s mission according to the following values:
1. Trusting in the Holy Spirit and trusting in one another as each discerns how God is moving us in mission. (Acts 10)
2. Doing mission in the way of Jesus who humbled himself, showing the way of self-giving and self-emptying. (Philippians 2)
3. Seeking to be faithful to God as we live and proclaim the fullness of Jesus Christ’s good news; personal witness to those outside the church, justice for the oppressed, and compassion for those in need. We accompany others in their efforts to be faithful. (Luke 4)
4. Affirming the complementary nature of God’s gifts to all in the one body of Christ and encouraging one another in living out those gifts. (1 Corinthians 12)
5. Recognizing our responsibility to each other by communicating openly, acting transparently, and speaking and hearing the truth in love. (Ephesians 4)
6. Striving in our mission to be aware of the context out of which we come, to respect the persons with whom we labor, and to honor the context in which they live. In an era of massive global inequalities we commit ourselves to be sensitive to and address the issues of power that result from our differences. (Philippians 2)
7. Valuing long-term relationships, partnerships characterized by perseverance and long-term commitments, which support and encourage global partners. (1 Thessalonians 2)
II. We seek to live out these mission values with humility, integrity, and steadfastness. Recognizing that God invites us all to be full participants in God’s mission, we commit ourselves to work cooperatively with one another in the following ways:
1. We will affirm and encourage World Mission as it continues to move from a regulatory role to a more enabling and equipping role.
2. We will celebrate and encourage diverse Presbyterian approaches and structures for mission while maintaining the unity of our participation in God’s mission.
3. We will share responsibility for the education and preparation of all Presbyterians for mission.
4. We commit ourselves to seeking more mission personnel who will serve long-term in cross-cultural contexts through the PC(USA), and to supporting them fully.
5. We commit ourselves to enabling and supporting our global partners as they send their mission personnel in cross-cultural service.
6. We recognize and affirm the growing opportunity for cross-cultural mission in our own increasingly pluralistic and multicultural society, and we receive the global community from near and far as mission partners and God’s gift to us. We seek increased integration between local and global mission.
III. As we move forward together in God’s mission, we commit ourselves to calling the church to ongoing intercessory prayer for God’s mission and to the following tasks:
1. We will form a coordinating committee to ensure that we will meet together to share and cooperate on a regular basis.
2. During the coming year we will work to address two immediate priorities:
a. to coordinate and collaborate in the sending of mission personnel;
b. to expand Presbyterian funding for mission personnel.
3. During the next three months we will share this document and invitation with our constituencies.
IV. With bold humility we invite those who would covenant with us to join in this new collaborative model of Presbyterian mission, and we ask for encouragement, for guidance and for prayer, remembering Jesus’ own prayer:
The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:22-23)
General Assembly reflections part 1
The 218th General Assembly (2008): Reflections part 1
Saturday June 21, 2008
The report of the Form of Government taskforce is certainly one of the most important issues before this year’s General Assembly. This is a sweeping, comprehensive revision of the Form of Government, which is, of course, the largest part of our Book of Order. (Our Book of Order also includes the Directory for Worship, and the Rules for Discipline.) Although the General Assembly’s first business meeting convenes today at 10:00, there was already, late Friday evening, an open presentation by the Form of Government taskforce concerning their proposal. Clearly, the taskforce has done an amazing amount of work in preparation for this decision this week. I have written about their proposal and discussed it in several different forums since their first draft was distributed last fall.
I am of two minds concerning the Form of Government taskforce proposal. I like it; I like the flexibility and streamlining of our polity which they have built into their proposal. I like the serious shift of authority and decision making back to the presbyteries, where historically it belongs. I like the focus on function rather than structure. On the other hand the approval of this proposal will require a much higher level and trust and cooperation across the church than currently exists. This kind of massive change in our administrative organization requires a very high level of trust. Does such trust exist in the church today? If not, this proposal may degenerate into deep conflict or move many people into deep apathy as they simply withdraw from this complicated conversation.
The distinction between function and structure may be the deepest change which this proposal brings. It is this distinction which may be the most important shift. The proposed Form of Government defines the function and responsibilities of the various “councils” of the church (sessions, presbyteries, synods and General Assembly). But the proposal does not define specifically how those functions should be expressed and implemented. For example, the proposed Form of Government does not explicitly state, as our current Form of Government does, that each presbytery must have a Committee on Ministry, a Committee on Preparation for Ministry and a Committee on Representation. In fact, many of the specific implementation steps and specific rules of the current Form of Government are dropped out in the new proposal. Instead broad responsibilities are outlined but specific steps for implementation are left to the decision of the individual councils.
Given some of the conversation we have started in the Presbytery of Carlisle, I want to emphasize that this proposed Form of Government is intended to be a “missional polity”. What does that mean? I want to quote here some background which was distributed by the Taskforce to help us understand their purpose and task. I quote here from “An Introduction” which is a short paper the Taskforce shared at their presentation Friday evening.
“The Form of Government proposed by the task force seeks to implement a missional polity. What is missional polity?
· To be missional begins in the confession that God has sent the church into the world to bear witness to God’s activity in reconciling and transforming the world. Therefore, mission is not something the church does; it is what the church is.
· Polity is the architecture of mission. A missional polity recognizes that the church councils – session, presbyteries, synods and General Assembly – guide and support the work of the congregation, and connect and coordinate that work with other congregations so that the whole church may witness more effectively to the activity of God in the world.
· A mission polity provides flexibility so that each congregation, as it engages the world in it particular corner of Christ’s kingdom, may do so effectively as possible, while still maintaining overarching constitutional standards that apply across the church.”
Saturday June 21, 2008
The report of the Form of Government taskforce is certainly one of the most important issues before this year’s General Assembly. This is a sweeping, comprehensive revision of the Form of Government, which is, of course, the largest part of our Book of Order. (Our Book of Order also includes the Directory for Worship, and the Rules for Discipline.) Although the General Assembly’s first business meeting convenes today at 10:00, there was already, late Friday evening, an open presentation by the Form of Government taskforce concerning their proposal. Clearly, the taskforce has done an amazing amount of work in preparation for this decision this week. I have written about their proposal and discussed it in several different forums since their first draft was distributed last fall.
I am of two minds concerning the Form of Government taskforce proposal. I like it; I like the flexibility and streamlining of our polity which they have built into their proposal. I like the serious shift of authority and decision making back to the presbyteries, where historically it belongs. I like the focus on function rather than structure. On the other hand the approval of this proposal will require a much higher level and trust and cooperation across the church than currently exists. This kind of massive change in our administrative organization requires a very high level of trust. Does such trust exist in the church today? If not, this proposal may degenerate into deep conflict or move many people into deep apathy as they simply withdraw from this complicated conversation.
The distinction between function and structure may be the deepest change which this proposal brings. It is this distinction which may be the most important shift. The proposed Form of Government defines the function and responsibilities of the various “councils” of the church (sessions, presbyteries, synods and General Assembly). But the proposal does not define specifically how those functions should be expressed and implemented. For example, the proposed Form of Government does not explicitly state, as our current Form of Government does, that each presbytery must have a Committee on Ministry, a Committee on Preparation for Ministry and a Committee on Representation. In fact, many of the specific implementation steps and specific rules of the current Form of Government are dropped out in the new proposal. Instead broad responsibilities are outlined but specific steps for implementation are left to the decision of the individual councils.
Given some of the conversation we have started in the Presbytery of Carlisle, I want to emphasize that this proposed Form of Government is intended to be a “missional polity”. What does that mean? I want to quote here some background which was distributed by the Taskforce to help us understand their purpose and task. I quote here from “An Introduction” which is a short paper the Taskforce shared at their presentation Friday evening.
“The Form of Government proposed by the task force seeks to implement a missional polity. What is missional polity?
· To be missional begins in the confession that God has sent the church into the world to bear witness to God’s activity in reconciling and transforming the world. Therefore, mission is not something the church does; it is what the church is.
· Polity is the architecture of mission. A missional polity recognizes that the church councils – session, presbyteries, synods and General Assembly – guide and support the work of the congregation, and connect and coordinate that work with other congregations so that the whole church may witness more effectively to the activity of God in the world.
· A mission polity provides flexibility so that each congregation, as it engages the world in it particular corner of Christ’s kingdom, may do so effectively as possible, while still maintaining overarching constitutional standards that apply across the church.”
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Report to the Presbytery June 17, 2008
Our Coordinating Council organized a very successful Committee Day in April, when all the Committees of the Presbytery had their meetings at the same time, in the same place. Many committee members present that day responded to some discussion questions which our Council had prepared. We appreciate your thoughtfulness and input. Our Council discussed your responses at length. What we have learned most clearly is that many people simple do not have a deep understanding of what our presbytery is supposed to be and do. And, of course, we always have new leaders in our midst who are first learning about our life together. I would like with this report to offer some response to that uncertainty about our presbytery’s mission and ministry.
The Presbytery of Carlisle voted to implement a new administrative structure in April, 2000. Thus the new structure is already eight years old. This Presbytery was one of the first, but now Presbyteries all across our church are doing the same thing and moving in the same direction. It seems to me that our presbytery is on the front edge of the deep restructuring and reformation that is happening in our denomination. I am excited to be part of it all.
The centerpiece of our presbytery’s, administrative structure is the philosophy of supporting congregations and the strategy of “ministry initiative.” This kind of thinking is becoming common sense across our church today. Our purpose is to support our congregations, connect them together, and identify new ministry initiatives as they are developing in our congregations.
We have created a culture in our presbytery of supporting congregations. The presbytery structure implemented in 2000 focused that purpose in the work of our Strengthening our Congregations Committee. We are now poised to push this to a whole new level with our Missional Church Initiative. We have started a professional relationship with the Center for Parish Development. We have a team working on this proposal and we will be, over the next year, be asking each church, each committee, and the presbytery as a whole to consider missional transformation as a common goal for our life together. I ask us to consider what it would look like if we established missional transformation as the theological foundation for our support of our congregations? We will, of course, have lots of discussion about what exactly that means in the days ahead.
The concept of ministry initiative is foundational to our presbytery structure. The idea is that the presbytery will identify and support new initiatives, ideas, and dreams as they come up out of our life together. My question is when do we take a ministry idea, which a lot of different people are contributing to, and establish it officially as a strategic initiative of the presbytery? This is an important discernment process. When do we have enough participation and ownership across the presbytery in a particular initiative in order to establish it as a strategic focus of the whole presbytery?
I want to name three important initiatives that are happening in our presbytery. I want to ask whether these should be established pieces of the strategic emphasis of our presbytery.
1. That the Presbytery make a renewed and aggressive commitment to Presbyterian international mission work by funding a new international mission co-worker position and establishing an international mission partnership. What would that look like?
2. That the Presbytery make a renewed and aggressive commitment to building our ministry at Camp Krislund. We need to do more than build a new building with our capital campaign; we need to build a whole new ministry at the camp. I have in a mind there a Missional Church Training Center. What could that be?
3. That the Presbytery make a renewed and aggressive commitment to clergy care building on the important work that our clergy support groups are now doing. What would that look like if the care for our church professionals was established as a wide and deep commitment across our presbytery?
As we continue to live into the administrative structure which we have adopted as a presbytery we need to theologically establish the support of congregations as the bedrock of all we do. We need to discern, discuss, claim and implement new initiatives as they are identified in our midst. May Jesus Christ our Lord bless our ministry and mission.
The Presbytery of Carlisle voted to implement a new administrative structure in April, 2000. Thus the new structure is already eight years old. This Presbytery was one of the first, but now Presbyteries all across our church are doing the same thing and moving in the same direction. It seems to me that our presbytery is on the front edge of the deep restructuring and reformation that is happening in our denomination. I am excited to be part of it all.
The centerpiece of our presbytery’s, administrative structure is the philosophy of supporting congregations and the strategy of “ministry initiative.” This kind of thinking is becoming common sense across our church today. Our purpose is to support our congregations, connect them together, and identify new ministry initiatives as they are developing in our congregations.
We have created a culture in our presbytery of supporting congregations. The presbytery structure implemented in 2000 focused that purpose in the work of our Strengthening our Congregations Committee. We are now poised to push this to a whole new level with our Missional Church Initiative. We have started a professional relationship with the Center for Parish Development. We have a team working on this proposal and we will be, over the next year, be asking each church, each committee, and the presbytery as a whole to consider missional transformation as a common goal for our life together. I ask us to consider what it would look like if we established missional transformation as the theological foundation for our support of our congregations? We will, of course, have lots of discussion about what exactly that means in the days ahead.
The concept of ministry initiative is foundational to our presbytery structure. The idea is that the presbytery will identify and support new initiatives, ideas, and dreams as they come up out of our life together. My question is when do we take a ministry idea, which a lot of different people are contributing to, and establish it officially as a strategic initiative of the presbytery? This is an important discernment process. When do we have enough participation and ownership across the presbytery in a particular initiative in order to establish it as a strategic focus of the whole presbytery?
I want to name three important initiatives that are happening in our presbytery. I want to ask whether these should be established pieces of the strategic emphasis of our presbytery.
1. That the Presbytery make a renewed and aggressive commitment to Presbyterian international mission work by funding a new international mission co-worker position and establishing an international mission partnership. What would that look like?
2. That the Presbytery make a renewed and aggressive commitment to building our ministry at Camp Krislund. We need to do more than build a new building with our capital campaign; we need to build a whole new ministry at the camp. I have in a mind there a Missional Church Training Center. What could that be?
3. That the Presbytery make a renewed and aggressive commitment to clergy care building on the important work that our clergy support groups are now doing. What would that look like if the care for our church professionals was established as a wide and deep commitment across our presbytery?
As we continue to live into the administrative structure which we have adopted as a presbytery we need to theologically establish the support of congregations as the bedrock of all we do. We need to discern, discuss, claim and implement new initiatives as they are identified in our midst. May Jesus Christ our Lord bless our ministry and mission.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Report to the Presbytery April 22, 2008
What kind of theology? Claiming a Missional Theology.
I am a theology junky. I love the academic study of theology. Although I was born and raised in a very active church family in a Presbyterian Church, I was never exposed to the academic world of theological study growing up. While in Seminary it is the academic study of theology that captured my heart and blessed me, and it still does. The Presbyterian Church has always made a very important intellectual assumption about church leadership. We assume that the academic study of theology is essential for our pastors and all church leaders.
But we must ask what theology should we study? Like all academic areas of study there is a rich diversity in the world of theology. In my opinion, part of the reason why the Presbyterian Church is so diverse, with such a dizzying array of convictions, perspectives and opinions, is that our church leaders do not have all the same theological grounding. We do not all read the same books. My study of theology has been incredibly diverse and, in some ways, scattered.
I have, of course, carefully studied our Book of Confessions and the historical context of our confessions. The idea of the ‘Invisible Kirk” in the Scots Confession blesses me. I look for and see glimpses of it in our churches. The Confession of 1967’s call to a ministry of reconciliation remains authentic and true for me. I enjoy the Brief Statement of Faith and I have used it extensively in my ministry.
I have studied a lot of church history and the theology of the Reformation Era. I have read a lot of John Calvin. His image of the church and its organization is remarkable. I have learned the important difference between the theology of John Calvin and the theology of Calvinism as it developed in various forms and places.
I have studied a lot of American theology including the American Great Awakenings, the great conflicts in the Presbyterian Church between the Old School and New School, the new light and old light, and the Fundamentalist Modernist controversy before World War Two. I have studied the long history of American evangelical theology. Maybe my favorite theologian is Reinhold Niebuhr. Especially in this election year, it would be good for us all to read Niebuhr again.
I have also studied a lot of Latin American liberation theology and African American liberation theology. In this tradition, Martin Luther King is a very influential American theologian. I appreciate King’s weaving together of American history and the Bible into his concept of the “beloved community.”
My point is this. As I reflect on my own theological education, I realize it is very scattered. One of the great blessings in the church has been the rich diversity of academic theology. One of the great problems, in my opinion, in the church has been the rich diversity of academic theology. There is so much to read and study that church leaders are seldom reading the same things. This, in my opinion, has contributed to our inability to come together theologically with a united heart and mind. Those of us who are immersed in Latin American liberation theology have a difficult time finding anything in common with those of us who are reading American evangelical theology. Those of us who are reading American feminist theology are having a hard time finding anything in common with those of us reading classical European Reformed theology.
From a theological perspective, I am now very excited about the church. I believe there is emerging a new school, a new brand, a new style of academic theology which has the potential to truly bring us together in common conversation. We call it missional theology. I believe missional theology has the ability to truly transcend our culture wars and bring people together. I believe that missional theology, unlike a lot of academic theology, connects theological reflection with the practice of ministry. Missional theology is truly theology for the church. I believe that missional theology is both very biblical and very consistent with our Reformed tradition. I believe that missional theology is also very attractive to young people, especially as it is being discussed in the emergent church movement.
So I bring a modest proposal to us today. Maybe we should start reading some of the same books. Maybe we should try and come together theologically. I suggest the whole genre of missional theology may be a common theme with which we all can connect. I suggest we start with the works of Leslie Newbigin, Darrel Guder and Brian McLaren. Or, for example, we may use the services of Amazon.com where there are 156 titles listed under a search on “missional theology.” Maybe a new theological movement is starting in our midst which, truly, has the potential to bring us together in service to Jesus Christ our Lord.
I am a theology junky. I love the academic study of theology. Although I was born and raised in a very active church family in a Presbyterian Church, I was never exposed to the academic world of theological study growing up. While in Seminary it is the academic study of theology that captured my heart and blessed me, and it still does. The Presbyterian Church has always made a very important intellectual assumption about church leadership. We assume that the academic study of theology is essential for our pastors and all church leaders.
But we must ask what theology should we study? Like all academic areas of study there is a rich diversity in the world of theology. In my opinion, part of the reason why the Presbyterian Church is so diverse, with such a dizzying array of convictions, perspectives and opinions, is that our church leaders do not have all the same theological grounding. We do not all read the same books. My study of theology has been incredibly diverse and, in some ways, scattered.
I have, of course, carefully studied our Book of Confessions and the historical context of our confessions. The idea of the ‘Invisible Kirk” in the Scots Confession blesses me. I look for and see glimpses of it in our churches. The Confession of 1967’s call to a ministry of reconciliation remains authentic and true for me. I enjoy the Brief Statement of Faith and I have used it extensively in my ministry.
I have studied a lot of church history and the theology of the Reformation Era. I have read a lot of John Calvin. His image of the church and its organization is remarkable. I have learned the important difference between the theology of John Calvin and the theology of Calvinism as it developed in various forms and places.
I have studied a lot of American theology including the American Great Awakenings, the great conflicts in the Presbyterian Church between the Old School and New School, the new light and old light, and the Fundamentalist Modernist controversy before World War Two. I have studied the long history of American evangelical theology. Maybe my favorite theologian is Reinhold Niebuhr. Especially in this election year, it would be good for us all to read Niebuhr again.
I have also studied a lot of Latin American liberation theology and African American liberation theology. In this tradition, Martin Luther King is a very influential American theologian. I appreciate King’s weaving together of American history and the Bible into his concept of the “beloved community.”
My point is this. As I reflect on my own theological education, I realize it is very scattered. One of the great blessings in the church has been the rich diversity of academic theology. One of the great problems, in my opinion, in the church has been the rich diversity of academic theology. There is so much to read and study that church leaders are seldom reading the same things. This, in my opinion, has contributed to our inability to come together theologically with a united heart and mind. Those of us who are immersed in Latin American liberation theology have a difficult time finding anything in common with those of us who are reading American evangelical theology. Those of us who are reading American feminist theology are having a hard time finding anything in common with those of us reading classical European Reformed theology.
From a theological perspective, I am now very excited about the church. I believe there is emerging a new school, a new brand, a new style of academic theology which has the potential to truly bring us together in common conversation. We call it missional theology. I believe missional theology has the ability to truly transcend our culture wars and bring people together. I believe that missional theology, unlike a lot of academic theology, connects theological reflection with the practice of ministry. Missional theology is truly theology for the church. I believe that missional theology is both very biblical and very consistent with our Reformed tradition. I believe that missional theology is also very attractive to young people, especially as it is being discussed in the emergent church movement.
So I bring a modest proposal to us today. Maybe we should start reading some of the same books. Maybe we should try and come together theologically. I suggest the whole genre of missional theology may be a common theme with which we all can connect. I suggest we start with the works of Leslie Newbigin, Darrel Guder and Brian McLaren. Or, for example, we may use the services of Amazon.com where there are 156 titles listed under a search on “missional theology.” Maybe a new theological movement is starting in our midst which, truly, has the potential to bring us together in service to Jesus Christ our Lord.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Preparation for the 218 General Assembly (Part Two)
I believe our congregations and presbyteries should be seriously considering this call to expand God's mission:
RECOMMENDATION #34 to the 218th General Assembly:
As a result of the Worldwide Mission Consultation[1], “Renewed Call to Presbyterian Mission in the World! Dialogue for Our Shared Future” that was held January 16-18, 2008, in Dallas, Texas, the Moderator, together with the Stated Clerk and the General Assembly Council, recommend that the 218th General Assembly (2008) invite the sessions, middle governing bodies, seminaries, General Assembly Council ministries areas, and all PC(USA)-related mission organizations to affirm and adopt the following invitation:
An Invitation to Expanding Partnership in God’s Mission
As members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) committed to God’s mission, accompanied by global partners, we gathered together January 16-18, 2008, in Dallas, Texas. We acknowledge the rich Presbyterian heritage in world mission and reaffirm the Presbyterian understanding of God’s mission as it is expressed in “Gathering for God’s Future,”
The Good News of Jesus Christ is to be shared with the whole world. As disciples of Jesus Christ, each of us in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is sent into the world to join God’s mission. As individuals and as a church, we are called to be faithful in this discipleship. Our mission is centered in the triune God. Our mission is God-called, Christ-centered, and Spirit-led. Our mission is both proclamation and service; it is the reason the church exists. …
Our renewed call from God is to face the challenges of witnessing and evangelizing worldwide, equipping the church for transforming mission, engaging in ministries of reconciliation, justice, healing and grace, and living the Good News of Jesus Christ in community with people who are poor, [persecuted, and living in the midst of violence]…
The church is part of God’s plan. We are called into the community of the church, and we call new disciples into that community. With Christ as our head, the church community exists for the sake of God's mission. We learn to serve in mission in a way that is faithful to the triune God. We are to model the kind of community God intends for all humanity. To be the church is to be one large mission society. [PC(USA), “Gathering for God’s Future: Witness, Discipleship, Community: A Renewed Call to Worldwide Mission,” 2003, pp. 1, 16. Text in brackets is added.]
Grounded in this theological foundation we realize that God is calling us to new patterns of mission. The world has changed, and the majority of the world’s Christians are now in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. The great growth and mission faithfulness of the Church outside the West invite us into a new posture. We must listen and learn to receive. We must also be open to new patterns of collaboration. These new patterns involve new cooperation and partnerships within the PC(USA).
I. We recognize that God calls us to mission that is grounded in confession of our sins, grows out of a life of prayer and is sustained in worship. Therefore, we covenant to live and serve together in God’s mission according to the following values:
1. Trusting in the Holy Spirit and trusting in one another as each discerns how God is moving us in mission. (Acts 10)
2. Doing mission in the way of Jesus who humbled himself, showing the way of self-giving and self-emptying. (Philippians 2)
3. Seeking to be faithful to God as we live and proclaim the fullness of Jesus Christ’s good news; personal witness to those outside the church, justice for the oppressed, and compassion for those in need. We accompany others in their efforts to be faithful. (Luke 4)
4. Affirming the complementary nature of God’s gifts to all in the one body of Christ and encouraging one another in living out those gifts. (1 Corinthians 12)
5. Recognizing our responsibility to each other by communicating openly, acting transparently, and speaking and hearing the truth in love. (Ephesians 4)
6. Striving in our mission to be aware of the context out of which we come, to respect the persons with whom we labor, and to honor the context in which they live. In an era of massive global inequalities we commit ourselves to be sensitive to and address the issues of power that result from our differences. (Philippians 2)
7. Valuing long-term relationships, partnerships characterized by perseverance and long-term commitments, which support and encourage global partners. (1 Thessalonians 2)
II. We seek to live out these mission values with humility, integrity, and steadfastness. Recognizing that God invites us all to be full participants in God’s mission, we commit ourselves to work cooperatively with one another in the following ways:
1. We will affirm and encourage World Mission as it continues to move from a regulatory role to a more enabling and equipping role.
2. We will celebrate and encourage diverse Presbyterian approaches and structures for mission while maintaining the unity of our participation in God’s mission.
3. We will share responsibility for the education and preparation of all Presbyterians for mission.
4. We commit ourselves to seeking more mission personnel who will serve long-term in cross-cultural contexts through the PC(USA), and to supporting them fully.
5. We commit ourselves to enabling and supporting our global partners as they send their mission personnel in cross-cultural service.
6. We recognize and affirm the growing opportunity for cross-cultural mission in our own increasingly pluralistic and multicultural society, and we receive the global community from near and far as mission partners and God’s gift to us. We seek increased integration between local and global mission.
III. As we move forward together in God’s mission, we commit ourselves to calling the church to ongoing intercessory prayer for God’s mission and to the following tasks:
1. We will form a coordinating committee to ensure that we will meet together to share and cooperate on a regular basis.
2. During the coming year we will work to address two immediate priorities:
a. to coordinate and collaborate in the sending of mission personnel;
b. to expand Presbyterian funding for mission personnel.
3. During the next three months we will share this document and invitation with our constituencies.
IV. With bold humility we invite those who would covenant with us to join in this new collaborative model of Presbyterian mission, and we ask for encouragement, for guidance and for prayer, remembering Jesus’ own prayer:
The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:22-23)
[1] The Dallas Mission Consultation’s website is at http://www.pcusa.org/calltomission/about.htm.
The presentations made at the conference are available at http://www.pcusa.org/calltomission/papers.htm#top.
This “Invitation to Expanding Partnership in God’s Mission” is also available at http://www.pcusa.org/calltomission/read-invite.htm.
RECOMMENDATION #34 to the 218th General Assembly:
As a result of the Worldwide Mission Consultation[1], “Renewed Call to Presbyterian Mission in the World! Dialogue for Our Shared Future” that was held January 16-18, 2008, in Dallas, Texas, the Moderator, together with the Stated Clerk and the General Assembly Council, recommend that the 218th General Assembly (2008) invite the sessions, middle governing bodies, seminaries, General Assembly Council ministries areas, and all PC(USA)-related mission organizations to affirm and adopt the following invitation:
An Invitation to Expanding Partnership in God’s Mission
As members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) committed to God’s mission, accompanied by global partners, we gathered together January 16-18, 2008, in Dallas, Texas. We acknowledge the rich Presbyterian heritage in world mission and reaffirm the Presbyterian understanding of God’s mission as it is expressed in “Gathering for God’s Future,”
The Good News of Jesus Christ is to be shared with the whole world. As disciples of Jesus Christ, each of us in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is sent into the world to join God’s mission. As individuals and as a church, we are called to be faithful in this discipleship. Our mission is centered in the triune God. Our mission is God-called, Christ-centered, and Spirit-led. Our mission is both proclamation and service; it is the reason the church exists. …
Our renewed call from God is to face the challenges of witnessing and evangelizing worldwide, equipping the church for transforming mission, engaging in ministries of reconciliation, justice, healing and grace, and living the Good News of Jesus Christ in community with people who are poor, [persecuted, and living in the midst of violence]…
The church is part of God’s plan. We are called into the community of the church, and we call new disciples into that community. With Christ as our head, the church community exists for the sake of God's mission. We learn to serve in mission in a way that is faithful to the triune God. We are to model the kind of community God intends for all humanity. To be the church is to be one large mission society. [PC(USA), “Gathering for God’s Future: Witness, Discipleship, Community: A Renewed Call to Worldwide Mission,” 2003, pp. 1, 16. Text in brackets is added.]
Grounded in this theological foundation we realize that God is calling us to new patterns of mission. The world has changed, and the majority of the world’s Christians are now in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. The great growth and mission faithfulness of the Church outside the West invite us into a new posture. We must listen and learn to receive. We must also be open to new patterns of collaboration. These new patterns involve new cooperation and partnerships within the PC(USA).
I. We recognize that God calls us to mission that is grounded in confession of our sins, grows out of a life of prayer and is sustained in worship. Therefore, we covenant to live and serve together in God’s mission according to the following values:
1. Trusting in the Holy Spirit and trusting in one another as each discerns how God is moving us in mission. (Acts 10)
2. Doing mission in the way of Jesus who humbled himself, showing the way of self-giving and self-emptying. (Philippians 2)
3. Seeking to be faithful to God as we live and proclaim the fullness of Jesus Christ’s good news; personal witness to those outside the church, justice for the oppressed, and compassion for those in need. We accompany others in their efforts to be faithful. (Luke 4)
4. Affirming the complementary nature of God’s gifts to all in the one body of Christ and encouraging one another in living out those gifts. (1 Corinthians 12)
5. Recognizing our responsibility to each other by communicating openly, acting transparently, and speaking and hearing the truth in love. (Ephesians 4)
6. Striving in our mission to be aware of the context out of which we come, to respect the persons with whom we labor, and to honor the context in which they live. In an era of massive global inequalities we commit ourselves to be sensitive to and address the issues of power that result from our differences. (Philippians 2)
7. Valuing long-term relationships, partnerships characterized by perseverance and long-term commitments, which support and encourage global partners. (1 Thessalonians 2)
II. We seek to live out these mission values with humility, integrity, and steadfastness. Recognizing that God invites us all to be full participants in God’s mission, we commit ourselves to work cooperatively with one another in the following ways:
1. We will affirm and encourage World Mission as it continues to move from a regulatory role to a more enabling and equipping role.
2. We will celebrate and encourage diverse Presbyterian approaches and structures for mission while maintaining the unity of our participation in God’s mission.
3. We will share responsibility for the education and preparation of all Presbyterians for mission.
4. We commit ourselves to seeking more mission personnel who will serve long-term in cross-cultural contexts through the PC(USA), and to supporting them fully.
5. We commit ourselves to enabling and supporting our global partners as they send their mission personnel in cross-cultural service.
6. We recognize and affirm the growing opportunity for cross-cultural mission in our own increasingly pluralistic and multicultural society, and we receive the global community from near and far as mission partners and God’s gift to us. We seek increased integration between local and global mission.
III. As we move forward together in God’s mission, we commit ourselves to calling the church to ongoing intercessory prayer for God’s mission and to the following tasks:
1. We will form a coordinating committee to ensure that we will meet together to share and cooperate on a regular basis.
2. During the coming year we will work to address two immediate priorities:
a. to coordinate and collaborate in the sending of mission personnel;
b. to expand Presbyterian funding for mission personnel.
3. During the next three months we will share this document and invitation with our constituencies.
IV. With bold humility we invite those who would covenant with us to join in this new collaborative model of Presbyterian mission, and we ask for encouragement, for guidance and for prayer, remembering Jesus’ own prayer:
The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:22-23)
[1] The Dallas Mission Consultation’s website is at http://www.pcusa.org/calltomission/about.htm.
The presentations made at the conference are available at http://www.pcusa.org/calltomission/papers.htm#top.
This “Invitation to Expanding Partnership in God’s Mission” is also available at http://www.pcusa.org/calltomission/read-invite.htm.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)