We celebrate this year the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin. I was in Montreat on July 10, which is his actual birthday, for our church’s celebration of John Calvin. John Calvin, by the power of his mind, and his remarkable organizational skills set in motion a movement that truly changed the world and our lives. His thoughts about organizing the church have flowed through these centuries with great power and have been captured in our Book of Order, and in Reformed and Presbyterian Churches all around the world. It is no exaggeration to say that wherever in the world we witness the blossoming of the idea of democracy, we see the legacy of John Calvin. When we sit at our session tables, gather in the dignity of our presbytery meeting, and in congresses and federal courts all around the world, with our commitment to group decision making and shared authority, we feel the genius of John Calvin. From Geneva where Calvin first pondered and practiced these blessed ideas about church organization this influence has flowed. Like all brilliant ideas, these ideas have been claimed, revised, reworked and created again in different contexts and in different cultures. Like all brilliant ideas, these also have been misused and transformed into ugly patterns of ideology and idolatry. One thing I have learned in this year of remembering is that we must peel back all the layers and remember John Calvin himself, his work, his ministry and legacy; not Princeton Theology or the theology of James Thornwell, not Westminster Theology, and certainly not the theology of the Synod of Dort and it aberration of Calvin using the acronym TULIP, and not the Dutch Reformed Church and not even the heritage of the Church of Scotland. In other words we need to remember John Calvin and not simply Calvinism. The essential kernel of Calvin’s polity has flowed from Geneva to Scotland, from Scotland to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, to South Korea, Thailand and India, to Mexico and Brazil. These ideas have flowed to Kenya, Sudan, Egypt, Malawi and South Africa. And now in our world the essential ideas of Calvin’s polity are expressed in church meetings and church structures, and democratic constitutions by people who have never heard of John Calvin, and who do not know this heritage. But we know the heritage and we are grateful for the legacy.
For us today though, maybe it is the theological system of John Calvin, more than the polity, which is most astounding. It is this theology that needs to constantly be remembered and reclaimed, celebrated and breathed deep into the very soul of our prayer life. If Calvin’s church polity easily becomes confused in the interplay and interconnection of a number of different and vital themes, Calvin’s theology may be easily summarized and proclaimed in one, loud, glorious phrase: the sovereignty of God.
I want to try on with you a one paragraph summary of John Calvin’s theology: The world is filled with the dazzling beauty, majesty and magnificence of God. All around us, everywhere, in all of creation, in every creature, in the whirling of the planets, and the movements of the molecules God’s dazzling magnificence is everywhere. But we cannot see it. Why can we not see the beauty and majesty of God all around us? Our blindness cannot be God’s fault, it must be our fault. There is something wrong with us. We are sinful, totally depraved, creatures. This sin blinds us to the majesty and beauty of God all around us. We are blind. Our loving and gracious God comes to us in Word and Holy Spirit so that we might be able to see. We are by the gift of Word and Spirit assisted in seeing; we are chosen to see. Now with the new eyes blessed by the Word and the Spirit we can see all the majesty and beauty of God, and we spend our lives saying “Thank you.”
Maybe I can do even better. I can summarize the totality of Calvin’s ministry and purpose in one memorable phrase: “Lift up your hearts.” “Lift up your hearts.” This is the essential spiritual practice to which Calvin calls us. All the organizational work, and the careful themes of polity are in order to create churches, and church structures which are holy places devoted to the lifting up of our hearts. All of the carefully systemized theological reflection is intended to help us to orient our minds toward the lifting up of our hearts. Most importantly for Calvin, it is about our hearts. It is about God’s gift in Jesus Christ which fills us with a motivating passion and an ardent zeal. It is about the power of the Holy Spirit coming down into the very core of our being, not simply our minds, and not simply an act of intellectual belief, but a passionate and inspired lifting of our hearts. All the polity and all the theology of John Calvin is intended toward this one end, that the people of Jesus Christ will lift up our hearts to the Lord. Preachers, maybe at the top of every sermon as you sit down to craft and write each week you may write this: “The purpose of the sermon is to encourage us to lift up our hearts.” Elders, maybe we should print this at the top of every session meeting agenda or maybe above the door to our church buildings: “The purpose of this church is to help us lift up our hearts to the Lord.” And, maybe I pray, the purpose of our presbytery is to help us lift up our hearts to the Lord.
If you want to understand the theology of John Calvin, and, I would say, if you want to understand the purpose of the church today standing in the legacy of John Calvin, simply ponder this little phrase, “Lift up your hearts.” How does that happen? Where does it happen? What inspires and motivates it to happen? And finally what are the consequences and results when we come together with lifted hearts. This is the legacy and the invitation we have received from John Calvin. Lift up your hearts. Thanks be to God.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Report to the Presbytery Sept. 22, 2009
The Coercion of Connectionalism
When I was in high school, in both my junior and senior years, I earned a Varsity Letter in Men’s Gymnastics. Gymnastics was my sport and those years and those teams are some of the great, joyful memories of my life. I was pondering recently that my experience in men’s gymnastics, long ago, has prepared me for this job. I have a very highly developed sense of balance. A sense of balance is a good thing in a time when the ground beneath the church is shifting and moving.
We are living in a time of massive culture change and transformation in our church. Some have called the changes that are happening in the church today as sweeping and comprehensive as those of the Protestant reformation in the 1500s. I agree with that, we are living in the midst of a Modern Reformation.
Possibly the most sweeping change which is shifting the ground and undermining the foundations of our Presbyterian Church is the breaking down of our connectionalism. So much so that a polity of free association has, for many congregations, become the polity of our church. The polity of free association is the American way, and it is very successfully expressed in the Southern Baptist tradition which, of course, is by far the largest of the Protestant Churches. A polity of free association means that each church has a choice, a free choice, about what other congregations you may choose to associate with. This is a very free form, fluid polity. Congregations come and go in their relationship with one another depending on their needs and desires at any given point in their life. This polity of the free association of congregations is both a very old idea in America and a very new idea. The post-modern, emergent church movement which is blossoming all over our country is a free association of congregations. The Willow Creek association, and the Purpose Driven Church association are free associations of congregations. Each congregation decides with which other congregations they want to associate.
Let me be very clear, the Presbyterian Church is very, very different. There is supposed to be, and there has historically always been a fundamental coercion to our connectionalism. Our congregations do not, on any given day, have a choice about our connectionalism. Our connections together are part of the identity of who we are as churches. I call this the coercion of connectionalism because there is not free choice about this decision. Congregations today that choose to break our connectionalism and sever all connections with our Presbyterian Church cause tremendous trauma and pain, often expressed in disciplinary action, legal action and high rancor.
I argue the Presbyterian Church is very unique because our connectionalism binds us together in ways deeper than our own free choice. This is part of our identity and character; it is not a choice on any given day. This is a style of church which is very different from the American cultural emphasis on free choice and free association. But this all begs a very difficult question: Is our connectionalism sustainable in the midst of the modern reformation we are living through? My response is that it depends on what question is being asked when our church leaders are sitting around their session tables planning the ministry and mission of their own congregations.
If the question, “What has the Presbytery done for us?” is on your agenda as you do your session work, I submit that all connectionalism is gone. And I would argue, from my own experience, that this is exactly the question that many church leaders are asking today. “What has the Presbytery done for us?” This question does not reflect our classic Presbyterian connectionalism, but rather is an expression of a polity of Baptist free association. The Presbytery and the General Assembly cannot possibly bring resources and expertise to every one of our churches, to be able to satisfy every session need, every day. If our defining question is simply, “What is in this for me?”, we are done. Shut off the lights and close the door. This question breaks all connectionalism because it presumes that all that really matters is my congregation, my needs, and my well being. This question casts out any vision of the vital importance of being together in ministry.
For connectionalism to be true and deep in our midst we must ask a different question: “How can we participate in and support the connection of the 52 church in our presbytery, and, indeed, the 11,000 churches in our Presbyterian Church.” We must presume a deep connection between us and ponder ways, especially in these challenging times, in which we can participate in our connections. Thus I ask our Elders and church leaders to think carefully about the defining questions that are operating within your congregations. Are your guiding questions presuming that the churches of our presbytery and, indeed, throughout our church are in this together? Or are your guiding questions actually straining the bonds that unite us? I request that our church leaders take very seriously a framework of decision making that unites and builds us up together. Ask and pray and ponder this question: “How can we participate in and support the connection of the 52 churches in our presbytery?”
When I was in high school, in both my junior and senior years, I earned a Varsity Letter in Men’s Gymnastics. Gymnastics was my sport and those years and those teams are some of the great, joyful memories of my life. I was pondering recently that my experience in men’s gymnastics, long ago, has prepared me for this job. I have a very highly developed sense of balance. A sense of balance is a good thing in a time when the ground beneath the church is shifting and moving.
We are living in a time of massive culture change and transformation in our church. Some have called the changes that are happening in the church today as sweeping and comprehensive as those of the Protestant reformation in the 1500s. I agree with that, we are living in the midst of a Modern Reformation.
Possibly the most sweeping change which is shifting the ground and undermining the foundations of our Presbyterian Church is the breaking down of our connectionalism. So much so that a polity of free association has, for many congregations, become the polity of our church. The polity of free association is the American way, and it is very successfully expressed in the Southern Baptist tradition which, of course, is by far the largest of the Protestant Churches. A polity of free association means that each church has a choice, a free choice, about what other congregations you may choose to associate with. This is a very free form, fluid polity. Congregations come and go in their relationship with one another depending on their needs and desires at any given point in their life. This polity of the free association of congregations is both a very old idea in America and a very new idea. The post-modern, emergent church movement which is blossoming all over our country is a free association of congregations. The Willow Creek association, and the Purpose Driven Church association are free associations of congregations. Each congregation decides with which other congregations they want to associate.
Let me be very clear, the Presbyterian Church is very, very different. There is supposed to be, and there has historically always been a fundamental coercion to our connectionalism. Our congregations do not, on any given day, have a choice about our connectionalism. Our connections together are part of the identity of who we are as churches. I call this the coercion of connectionalism because there is not free choice about this decision. Congregations today that choose to break our connectionalism and sever all connections with our Presbyterian Church cause tremendous trauma and pain, often expressed in disciplinary action, legal action and high rancor.
I argue the Presbyterian Church is very unique because our connectionalism binds us together in ways deeper than our own free choice. This is part of our identity and character; it is not a choice on any given day. This is a style of church which is very different from the American cultural emphasis on free choice and free association. But this all begs a very difficult question: Is our connectionalism sustainable in the midst of the modern reformation we are living through? My response is that it depends on what question is being asked when our church leaders are sitting around their session tables planning the ministry and mission of their own congregations.
If the question, “What has the Presbytery done for us?” is on your agenda as you do your session work, I submit that all connectionalism is gone. And I would argue, from my own experience, that this is exactly the question that many church leaders are asking today. “What has the Presbytery done for us?” This question does not reflect our classic Presbyterian connectionalism, but rather is an expression of a polity of Baptist free association. The Presbytery and the General Assembly cannot possibly bring resources and expertise to every one of our churches, to be able to satisfy every session need, every day. If our defining question is simply, “What is in this for me?”, we are done. Shut off the lights and close the door. This question breaks all connectionalism because it presumes that all that really matters is my congregation, my needs, and my well being. This question casts out any vision of the vital importance of being together in ministry.
For connectionalism to be true and deep in our midst we must ask a different question: “How can we participate in and support the connection of the 52 church in our presbytery, and, indeed, the 11,000 churches in our Presbyterian Church.” We must presume a deep connection between us and ponder ways, especially in these challenging times, in which we can participate in our connections. Thus I ask our Elders and church leaders to think carefully about the defining questions that are operating within your congregations. Are your guiding questions presuming that the churches of our presbytery and, indeed, throughout our church are in this together? Or are your guiding questions actually straining the bonds that unite us? I request that our church leaders take very seriously a framework of decision making that unites and builds us up together. Ask and pray and ponder this question: “How can we participate in and support the connection of the 52 churches in our presbytery?”
Friday, August 21, 2009
Our Missionaries in Honduras: Mark and Ashley Wright
Praise God! Ashley and Mark Wright and their three children arrived safely in Honduras to begin their mission service. Please see their mission connections webpage at:
http://www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/profiles/wrightm.htm
You may find webpages for all of our Presbyterian international missionaries at missionconnections. Please pray for the Wrights as they begin their service with the Presbyterian Church in Honduras. This article is copied from their initial mission connections article:
Rev. Mark and Ashley Wright
The Wrights are the first Presbyterian mission co-workers to serve with the Presbyterian Church of Honduras. They began their service in July 2009. They’re tasked with leadership and theological training, as well as promoting congregational self-sufficiency in the Honduran context. While their primary role is helping to build the capacity of local church leaders, the Wrights also nurture and resource the PC(USA)’s mission network.
Once the center of the Mayan empire, Honduras is a now a sparsely populated, mountainous country in Central America, and one of the poorest in the Western Hemisphere. Throughout most of the last century it has been ruled by various military dictatorships, but since the 1980s the military has been more restrained and democracy is growing, as is the income level of the people. The Presbyterian Church of Honduras consists of 20 churches located within a 60-mile radius from the capital city, Tegucigalpa. The church members are said to be so enthusiastic that many meet four days per week: Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday as well as Sunday.
Ashley recalls a particular moment of insight that occurred in India when she was only 10 years old. “We were in New Delhi visiting the Taj Mahal and it was very, very hot. We had walked back up to the front along the flat pools, and were standing next to a man chopping sugar cane. He tossed the left-over ends into a huge pile on his left, and many children were scampering onto the pile looking for pieces that had any juice left in them. I started watching a little girl who was about 6 years old. She stopped in front of me and we stared each other up and down—I in my dress and shoes and hat and she in a dirty undergarment but with a gold stud in her nose. She was very thin, and from the way she tore into her small stump of discarded sugarcane she was obviously very hungry. For the first time, I realized how extremely blessed I was to have been born into my family in the United States and not into poverty in India. I realized at that young age that I was not put into the world to be a taker, but to be a person who gives and makes the world better.”
Mark tells about the time during his junior year abroad in 1986-87 when he was part of a group of American students who crossed the Berlin Wall and were hosted by a group of students in East Germany. The two groups defended their countries vigorously. Then, Mark reports, “As the evening wore on and our leaders went home for the night, we all began to talk and defend less and listen more. Words got easier, ideas and ideologies got softer, and we all began to be able to admit both the faults of and our love for our respective nations. A wall fell that day. Later, during graduate school at the University of Salzburg, I took another trip to Berlin and Checkpoint Charlie, where not long before the guns, dogs, and barbed wire had seemed so permanent and dangerous. This time, however, I borrowed a hammer and climbed on a stretch of that thick wall. I beat enough pieces of concrete off to fill a backpack and I brought them home when I returned to the United States. The funny thing is, I don’t know what happened to them. It seems that even the pieces of that wall have disappeared.”
Ashley spent four years in children’s ministry for the Kennedy Heights Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. She gave children’s sermons, taught both preschool and confirmation classes, and organized Bible school. Prior to that work, she had served in a similar ministry with children at First Presbyterian Church in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. Before that, she worked as a librarian at Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, a high school biology teacher in Charlotte/Mecklenburg, North Carolina, and a customer service representative for Eagle Vision in Memphis, Tennessee.
Mark spent a year in Germany and another in Austria and is fluent in German. He served for almost five years as pastor of Kennedy Heights Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, and two and one-half years at Spruce Pine Presbyterian Church, Spruce Pine, North Carolina.
Ashley earned a bachelor’s degree in art and literature from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. She also earned an M. Div. from Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. Mark holds a bachelor’s degree in religion from Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina. He has also earned three masters degrees. The first was in teaching from the University of Memphis, Tennessee. His certificates are in middle school and high school biology, chemistry, science, and German. The second was in German language and literature from Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio. The third was an M. Div. from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. Ashley is a member of the Balmoral Presbyterian Church in Memphis, Tennessee, and is a candidate for ordained ministry in the Presbytery of the Mid-South. Mark was ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament on July 1, 2001. He is a minister member of the Presbytery of Cincinnati.
Ashley and Mark have three sons—Ethan, Eliott, and Gabriel—who will accompany them on their assignment to Honduras.
http://www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/profiles/wrightm.htm
You may find webpages for all of our Presbyterian international missionaries at missionconnections. Please pray for the Wrights as they begin their service with the Presbyterian Church in Honduras. This article is copied from their initial mission connections article:
Rev. Mark and Ashley Wright
The Wrights are the first Presbyterian mission co-workers to serve with the Presbyterian Church of Honduras. They began their service in July 2009. They’re tasked with leadership and theological training, as well as promoting congregational self-sufficiency in the Honduran context. While their primary role is helping to build the capacity of local church leaders, the Wrights also nurture and resource the PC(USA)’s mission network.
Once the center of the Mayan empire, Honduras is a now a sparsely populated, mountainous country in Central America, and one of the poorest in the Western Hemisphere. Throughout most of the last century it has been ruled by various military dictatorships, but since the 1980s the military has been more restrained and democracy is growing, as is the income level of the people. The Presbyterian Church of Honduras consists of 20 churches located within a 60-mile radius from the capital city, Tegucigalpa. The church members are said to be so enthusiastic that many meet four days per week: Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday as well as Sunday.
Ashley recalls a particular moment of insight that occurred in India when she was only 10 years old. “We were in New Delhi visiting the Taj Mahal and it was very, very hot. We had walked back up to the front along the flat pools, and were standing next to a man chopping sugar cane. He tossed the left-over ends into a huge pile on his left, and many children were scampering onto the pile looking for pieces that had any juice left in them. I started watching a little girl who was about 6 years old. She stopped in front of me and we stared each other up and down—I in my dress and shoes and hat and she in a dirty undergarment but with a gold stud in her nose. She was very thin, and from the way she tore into her small stump of discarded sugarcane she was obviously very hungry. For the first time, I realized how extremely blessed I was to have been born into my family in the United States and not into poverty in India. I realized at that young age that I was not put into the world to be a taker, but to be a person who gives and makes the world better.”
Mark tells about the time during his junior year abroad in 1986-87 when he was part of a group of American students who crossed the Berlin Wall and were hosted by a group of students in East Germany. The two groups defended their countries vigorously. Then, Mark reports, “As the evening wore on and our leaders went home for the night, we all began to talk and defend less and listen more. Words got easier, ideas and ideologies got softer, and we all began to be able to admit both the faults of and our love for our respective nations. A wall fell that day. Later, during graduate school at the University of Salzburg, I took another trip to Berlin and Checkpoint Charlie, where not long before the guns, dogs, and barbed wire had seemed so permanent and dangerous. This time, however, I borrowed a hammer and climbed on a stretch of that thick wall. I beat enough pieces of concrete off to fill a backpack and I brought them home when I returned to the United States. The funny thing is, I don’t know what happened to them. It seems that even the pieces of that wall have disappeared.”
Ashley spent four years in children’s ministry for the Kennedy Heights Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. She gave children’s sermons, taught both preschool and confirmation classes, and organized Bible school. Prior to that work, she had served in a similar ministry with children at First Presbyterian Church in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. Before that, she worked as a librarian at Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, a high school biology teacher in Charlotte/Mecklenburg, North Carolina, and a customer service representative for Eagle Vision in Memphis, Tennessee.
Mark spent a year in Germany and another in Austria and is fluent in German. He served for almost five years as pastor of Kennedy Heights Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, and two and one-half years at Spruce Pine Presbyterian Church, Spruce Pine, North Carolina.
Ashley earned a bachelor’s degree in art and literature from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. She also earned an M. Div. from Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. Mark holds a bachelor’s degree in religion from Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina. He has also earned three masters degrees. The first was in teaching from the University of Memphis, Tennessee. His certificates are in middle school and high school biology, chemistry, science, and German. The second was in German language and literature from Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio. The third was an M. Div. from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. Ashley is a member of the Balmoral Presbyterian Church in Memphis, Tennessee, and is a candidate for ordained ministry in the Presbytery of the Mid-South. Mark was ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament on July 1, 2001. He is a minister member of the Presbytery of Cincinnati.
Ashley and Mark have three sons—Ethan, Eliott, and Gabriel—who will accompany them on their assignment to Honduras.
Praying for our Schools.
In preparation for a new school year, the New York Board of Regents wrote a prayer which they expected to be read at the start of the year in every public school in the state of New York. The pray was brief and nondenominational:
Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessing upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country.”
On June 25, 1962 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the State of New York could not have an official prayer read in public school classrooms. The Court deemed unconstitutional a public prayer to be used in public schools which was composed by governmental officials. As we know, there was a chorus of outrage at this Supreme Court decision from many devout Christians. But since that long ago day, those of us who attended public schools which never had official public prayers, and who now have children looking forward to another school year in public schools which never have public prayers, we have learned that, in fact, the civilized world has not come to an end because of that Supreme Court decision.
I believe we church leaders need to hear again and take to heart President J. F. Kennedy’s very perceptive response to that monumental Supreme Court decision:
“We have in this case a very easy remedy and that is to pray ourselves. I would think that it would be a welcome reminder to every American family that we can pray a good deal more at home, we can attend our churches with a good deal more fidelity, and we can make the true meaning of prayer much more important in the lives of all our children.”
In our churches and in our homes, our congregations, pastors and parents have the responsibility to pray for our schools, students, and teachers. As we begin another school year let us pray.
NOTE: For an excellent discussion of public religion in America, including the story of the 1962 Supreme Court ruling on school prayer, see Jon Meacham. American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation. (Random House, 2007).
Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessing upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country.”
On June 25, 1962 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the State of New York could not have an official prayer read in public school classrooms. The Court deemed unconstitutional a public prayer to be used in public schools which was composed by governmental officials. As we know, there was a chorus of outrage at this Supreme Court decision from many devout Christians. But since that long ago day, those of us who attended public schools which never had official public prayers, and who now have children looking forward to another school year in public schools which never have public prayers, we have learned that, in fact, the civilized world has not come to an end because of that Supreme Court decision.
I believe we church leaders need to hear again and take to heart President J. F. Kennedy’s very perceptive response to that monumental Supreme Court decision:
“We have in this case a very easy remedy and that is to pray ourselves. I would think that it would be a welcome reminder to every American family that we can pray a good deal more at home, we can attend our churches with a good deal more fidelity, and we can make the true meaning of prayer much more important in the lives of all our children.”
In our churches and in our homes, our congregations, pastors and parents have the responsibility to pray for our schools, students, and teachers. As we begin another school year let us pray.
NOTE: For an excellent discussion of public religion in America, including the story of the 1962 Supreme Court ruling on school prayer, see Jon Meacham. American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation. (Random House, 2007).
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Honduras: A Call to Prayer
This call to prayer has been sent out to the General Assembly's Honduras mission network and is posted on Tim and Gloria Wheeler's mission connections page:
A call to prayer and expression of concern for Honduras
From the Central America and Mexico Office with information from PC(USA) mission workers Tim and Gloria Wheeler
August 4, 2009:
During this time of great difficulty in Honduras we are led to ask for ongoing prayers for a peaceful process in the country and for a process of reconciliation that will lead to real benefits for the whole population. During the past three months the country has been living a time of great tension and division. The degree of polarization has become even more evident after the events of June 28. As in any conflict of this dimension, there are two sides that need to be heard in order to move ahead along a peaceful path that will eventually allow the country to develop and prosper that benefit all people, especially the most excluded and forgotten.
In this atmosphere of tension the news of mediated talks taking place in Costa Rica come as very positive news in the hope for movement forward in a process of peace, democracy and national reconciliation. The immediate future of the country depends on these talks and we pray an agreement can be reached for the upcoming months leading to scheduled elections in November. The talks will be mediated by President Oscar Arias. The positions of the parties involved are distant and both will need to make concessions and move to a more central position for the good of the country and to avoid violence. On the positive side there has been a great deal of discussion of national problems and the need for political reforms so that the democratic system will work in a better and more just way. If this can happen in a national dialogue to strength the democratic process so that public institutions work much better, then all will benefit from the present conflict, especially the people who have been traditionally left out of the national dialogue and agenda.
Special prayers are asked for Honduran families who may suffer division from a political crisis in which they have no control.
Pray for the Honduran Presbyterian Churches that are dealing with a range of difficulties brought on by the interruption of normal life.
Pray for children to be able to go back to school.
Pray for nonviolence on the streets and that people will express their opinions without violence.
Pray for people in rural communities who do not have enough to eat and in whose name so much is said and proclaimed.
Pray for continued dialogue at all levels of society on fundamental issues facing Honduras and that freedom of expression not be curtailed.
Finally, please pray for the many mission partnerships that exist between the PC(USA) and churches and communities in Honduras.
A call to prayer and expression of concern for Honduras
From the Central America and Mexico Office with information from PC(USA) mission workers Tim and Gloria Wheeler
August 4, 2009:
During this time of great difficulty in Honduras we are led to ask for ongoing prayers for a peaceful process in the country and for a process of reconciliation that will lead to real benefits for the whole population. During the past three months the country has been living a time of great tension and division. The degree of polarization has become even more evident after the events of June 28. As in any conflict of this dimension, there are two sides that need to be heard in order to move ahead along a peaceful path that will eventually allow the country to develop and prosper that benefit all people, especially the most excluded and forgotten.
In this atmosphere of tension the news of mediated talks taking place in Costa Rica come as very positive news in the hope for movement forward in a process of peace, democracy and national reconciliation. The immediate future of the country depends on these talks and we pray an agreement can be reached for the upcoming months leading to scheduled elections in November. The talks will be mediated by President Oscar Arias. The positions of the parties involved are distant and both will need to make concessions and move to a more central position for the good of the country and to avoid violence. On the positive side there has been a great deal of discussion of national problems and the need for political reforms so that the democratic system will work in a better and more just way. If this can happen in a national dialogue to strength the democratic process so that public institutions work much better, then all will benefit from the present conflict, especially the people who have been traditionally left out of the national dialogue and agenda.
Special prayers are asked for Honduran families who may suffer division from a political crisis in which they have no control.
Pray for the Honduran Presbyterian Churches that are dealing with a range of difficulties brought on by the interruption of normal life.
Pray for children to be able to go back to school.
Pray for nonviolence on the streets and that people will express their opinions without violence.
Pray for people in rural communities who do not have enough to eat and in whose name so much is said and proclaimed.
Pray for continued dialogue at all levels of society on fundamental issues facing Honduras and that freedom of expression not be curtailed.
Finally, please pray for the many mission partnerships that exist between the PC(USA) and churches and communities in Honduras.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Report from Camp Krislund
Dear Presbyterians,
Our Camp Krislund 2009 summer camp has been a remarkable success. We are grateful for the leadership of our new Program Director Art DeVos. One evening while our JCCC (Joint Camp and Conference Committee) was at the camp we appreciated the joyful enthusiasm of all the campers when Joel, a huge stuffed bear, was marched around the dining hall to uproarious applause. The girls’ wagons had just won the daily award for being the cleanest and best decorated unit. They won the opportunity to keep Joel for the day! Joel the Bear is a small sign of our success in bringing a new culture of clean to our Camp. Several other successful changes have been initiated this summer:
We have revitalized the chaplains program. The chaplains are now responsible for the daily “Nightfest” worship service talks, for daily staff devotions, and for preaching at the Saturday morning worship with all the parents in attendance. This intentional and high profile inclusion of our pastors in the summer camp program will reap an abundant spiritual harvest for years to come and create a closer relationship with our churches.
In the dining hall we have seen wonderful improvements. Under Pam DeVos’ leadership we have changed to family style dining. We overcame the overwhelming stress on kitchen volunteers by rotating all the campers and summer camp staff through dining hall set-up and clean up responsibilities. Importantly, because we have a large percentage of campers on scholarships, we applied for and were approved to receive food supplies from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank system which has created extraordinary cost savings.
With expertise and volunteers from our State College and Derry Churches, we now have two new longhouses at Camp. These new housing units replaced the old, canvas tents which had been a mainstay at Krislund. The longhouses and the newly renovated Conestoga wagons improved the camping experience at Krislund this summer.
We remember well the cold, dark days in January and February when we sat at our JCCC Board meetings agonizing over a massively out of balance budget and wondering if summer camp was possible. God is good; All the time. We have a much better grasp of our financial management on a day to day basis. We have successfully concluded what many parents have told us is the best Krislund Summer Camp ever.
We need your support as we build on the success of summer camp 2009 and bring Camp Krislund up to its potential and our vision. Our financial viability is still tenuous. There is still an enormous amount of infrastructure repair and maintenance work to do. Looking ahead, we have gathered a remarkable, professional team to guide our plans for the construction of the new adult lodge through your Funding the Future capital campaign. This construction and the careful management of our new lodge are still before us.
Camp Krislund belongs to the Presbyterian congregations of our three presbyteries. It is your camp! We are grateful for the abundant support and encouragement so many of you have provided through this difficult year of transition. We believe we have turned the corner; our Camp Krislund is poised to move into a bright new future in service to our churches and our Lord.
In Christ;
Chuck Curley, Pastor State College Church, Huntington Presbytery JCCC chairperson
Joy Kaufmann, General Presbyter, Huntington Presbytery
Charlie Winkelman, Pastor Jersey Shore Church, Northumberland Presbytery JCCC chairperson
Bill Knudsen, Executive Presbyter, Northumberland Presbytery
Harold Nightwine, Elder Derry Church, Carlisle Presbytery JCCC chairperson
Mark Englund-Krieger, Executive Presbyter, Carlisle Presbytery
Our Camp Krislund 2009 summer camp has been a remarkable success. We are grateful for the leadership of our new Program Director Art DeVos. One evening while our JCCC (Joint Camp and Conference Committee) was at the camp we appreciated the joyful enthusiasm of all the campers when Joel, a huge stuffed bear, was marched around the dining hall to uproarious applause. The girls’ wagons had just won the daily award for being the cleanest and best decorated unit. They won the opportunity to keep Joel for the day! Joel the Bear is a small sign of our success in bringing a new culture of clean to our Camp. Several other successful changes have been initiated this summer:
We have revitalized the chaplains program. The chaplains are now responsible for the daily “Nightfest” worship service talks, for daily staff devotions, and for preaching at the Saturday morning worship with all the parents in attendance. This intentional and high profile inclusion of our pastors in the summer camp program will reap an abundant spiritual harvest for years to come and create a closer relationship with our churches.
In the dining hall we have seen wonderful improvements. Under Pam DeVos’ leadership we have changed to family style dining. We overcame the overwhelming stress on kitchen volunteers by rotating all the campers and summer camp staff through dining hall set-up and clean up responsibilities. Importantly, because we have a large percentage of campers on scholarships, we applied for and were approved to receive food supplies from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank system which has created extraordinary cost savings.
With expertise and volunteers from our State College and Derry Churches, we now have two new longhouses at Camp. These new housing units replaced the old, canvas tents which had been a mainstay at Krislund. The longhouses and the newly renovated Conestoga wagons improved the camping experience at Krislund this summer.
We remember well the cold, dark days in January and February when we sat at our JCCC Board meetings agonizing over a massively out of balance budget and wondering if summer camp was possible. God is good; All the time. We have a much better grasp of our financial management on a day to day basis. We have successfully concluded what many parents have told us is the best Krislund Summer Camp ever.
We need your support as we build on the success of summer camp 2009 and bring Camp Krislund up to its potential and our vision. Our financial viability is still tenuous. There is still an enormous amount of infrastructure repair and maintenance work to do. Looking ahead, we have gathered a remarkable, professional team to guide our plans for the construction of the new adult lodge through your Funding the Future capital campaign. This construction and the careful management of our new lodge are still before us.
Camp Krislund belongs to the Presbyterian congregations of our three presbyteries. It is your camp! We are grateful for the abundant support and encouragement so many of you have provided through this difficult year of transition. We believe we have turned the corner; our Camp Krislund is poised to move into a bright new future in service to our churches and our Lord.
In Christ;
Chuck Curley, Pastor State College Church, Huntington Presbytery JCCC chairperson
Joy Kaufmann, General Presbyter, Huntington Presbytery
Charlie Winkelman, Pastor Jersey Shore Church, Northumberland Presbytery JCCC chairperson
Bill Knudsen, Executive Presbyter, Northumberland Presbytery
Harold Nightwine, Elder Derry Church, Carlisle Presbytery JCCC chairperson
Mark Englund-Krieger, Executive Presbyter, Carlisle Presbytery
Monday, July 13, 2009
Report to the Presbytery June 23, 2009
Loyalty to Presbyterian World Mission
According to my dictionary, the word “loyal” means “giving or showing firm and constant support or allegiance to a person or institution”. Is there any loyalty left in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)? What does it mean to be loyal to an institution? Is loyalty a value or a spiritual gift which we even seek today in our church? I want to ask for and encourage loyalty to the work of Presbyterian world mission.
If there is one great, abiding legacy of American Presbyterianism it is our heritage of world mission. We are a church tradition which participated in the invention of world mission. In the great age of world mission, from the end of the Civil War to the first World War we are the church which sent missionaries around the world, building hospitals, building schools, building agricultural and farm infrastructure, building churches. Our heritage of world mission is stellar and profound. I believe it may be the most important bequest of American Presbyterianism.
I believe with this heritage of mission work the Presbyterians, and our partner mainline Protestant denominations, planted very fruitful seeds in our own culture and society. These seeds have grown up in today’s younger generations as a deep commitment to mission work and community service. These spiritual seeds, which were planted generations ago in the great era of world wide mission work, have grown up into one of the most, remarkable expressions of church work we have today, mission trips. I believe that these seeds planted during the great era of world mission have sprouted into the remarkable plethora of para-church, mission organizations that are now spanning the globe: Group Work Camps, Reach Work Camps, World Vision, Compassion International, Save the Children, Habitat for Humanity. I mention these organizations specifically because I have personal experience with them all. In many ways these organizations, and many others like them, offer important and worthy mission opportunities. For example, through their popular program called the 40 hour famine, World Vision has moved many teenagers to think deep and pray about the abundance and material blessing we have in this country. What does it mean to be a first world Christian living in such an affluent society? After a group of teenagers spend a 40 hours famine together, deep spiritual reflection about consumerism and abundance flow very easy and very deep. For example, Group Work Camps have created an infrastructure and procedure for doing short term mission trips which is easily available for even our smallest congregations. For many churches, their first mission trip with teenagers is a Group work camp, and these experiences often change lives and transform churches. Our son Michael, now a senior in high school, still has a Group work camp ball cap hanging on his bedroom wall from his first mission trip when he was in sixth grade. For example, Habitat for Humanity, as we all know, has given countless people the remarkable opportunity of hands on mission involvement. When I went to a Habitat for Humanity Global Village training class several years ago, I was by far the oldest person among the more than 50 people in our class. Most of the students were college kids preparing to go around the world on short term Habitat mission trips. I believe that the great era of Protestant world mission, during which the Presbyterians were a driving force, is the historical and spiritual antecedent for these exciting, modern and popular para-church mission organizations today.
If you look around the churches of this Presbytery, almost every vital and healthy church in this presbytery does mission trips. I believe that mission trips are as vital today in the life of the church as Sunday school. For many young people and, indeed, for many adults, mission trips are transforming experiences in Christian faith formation. I believe mission trips are vital in the church today. I am leaving on a mission trip this Sunday. But I also believe that there is a huge difference between mission trips and Presbyterian world mission.
Presbyterian world mission is a very different thing than short term mission trips. For many, many complex reasons we have as a church lost our focus on Presbyterian world mission. One of the reasons is that we have shifted enormous energy and resources to doing mission trips. I am asking us to rekindle our commitment and our loyalty to Presbyterian world mission.
At its core, Presbyterian world mission is a commitment to full time, long term, professional missionaries serving at the invitation of our partner churches all around the world. The difference between mission trips and Presbyterian world mission is the difference between kindergarten and the university. Certainly we need excellent kindergartens; we need mission trips. But we also need universities, we need Presbyterian world mission.
I ask for loyalty and commitment. I ask that we proudly proclaim that we are the Presbyterians; we are the ones with a 200 year old heritage of world mission commitment. I ask that we support Presbyterian world mission.
According to my dictionary, the word “loyal” means “giving or showing firm and constant support or allegiance to a person or institution”. Is there any loyalty left in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)? What does it mean to be loyal to an institution? Is loyalty a value or a spiritual gift which we even seek today in our church? I want to ask for and encourage loyalty to the work of Presbyterian world mission.
If there is one great, abiding legacy of American Presbyterianism it is our heritage of world mission. We are a church tradition which participated in the invention of world mission. In the great age of world mission, from the end of the Civil War to the first World War we are the church which sent missionaries around the world, building hospitals, building schools, building agricultural and farm infrastructure, building churches. Our heritage of world mission is stellar and profound. I believe it may be the most important bequest of American Presbyterianism.
I believe with this heritage of mission work the Presbyterians, and our partner mainline Protestant denominations, planted very fruitful seeds in our own culture and society. These seeds have grown up in today’s younger generations as a deep commitment to mission work and community service. These spiritual seeds, which were planted generations ago in the great era of world wide mission work, have grown up into one of the most, remarkable expressions of church work we have today, mission trips. I believe that these seeds planted during the great era of world mission have sprouted into the remarkable plethora of para-church, mission organizations that are now spanning the globe: Group Work Camps, Reach Work Camps, World Vision, Compassion International, Save the Children, Habitat for Humanity. I mention these organizations specifically because I have personal experience with them all. In many ways these organizations, and many others like them, offer important and worthy mission opportunities. For example, through their popular program called the 40 hour famine, World Vision has moved many teenagers to think deep and pray about the abundance and material blessing we have in this country. What does it mean to be a first world Christian living in such an affluent society? After a group of teenagers spend a 40 hours famine together, deep spiritual reflection about consumerism and abundance flow very easy and very deep. For example, Group Work Camps have created an infrastructure and procedure for doing short term mission trips which is easily available for even our smallest congregations. For many churches, their first mission trip with teenagers is a Group work camp, and these experiences often change lives and transform churches. Our son Michael, now a senior in high school, still has a Group work camp ball cap hanging on his bedroom wall from his first mission trip when he was in sixth grade. For example, Habitat for Humanity, as we all know, has given countless people the remarkable opportunity of hands on mission involvement. When I went to a Habitat for Humanity Global Village training class several years ago, I was by far the oldest person among the more than 50 people in our class. Most of the students were college kids preparing to go around the world on short term Habitat mission trips. I believe that the great era of Protestant world mission, during which the Presbyterians were a driving force, is the historical and spiritual antecedent for these exciting, modern and popular para-church mission organizations today.
If you look around the churches of this Presbytery, almost every vital and healthy church in this presbytery does mission trips. I believe that mission trips are as vital today in the life of the church as Sunday school. For many young people and, indeed, for many adults, mission trips are transforming experiences in Christian faith formation. I believe mission trips are vital in the church today. I am leaving on a mission trip this Sunday. But I also believe that there is a huge difference between mission trips and Presbyterian world mission.
Presbyterian world mission is a very different thing than short term mission trips. For many, many complex reasons we have as a church lost our focus on Presbyterian world mission. One of the reasons is that we have shifted enormous energy and resources to doing mission trips. I am asking us to rekindle our commitment and our loyalty to Presbyterian world mission.
At its core, Presbyterian world mission is a commitment to full time, long term, professional missionaries serving at the invitation of our partner churches all around the world. The difference between mission trips and Presbyterian world mission is the difference between kindergarten and the university. Certainly we need excellent kindergartens; we need mission trips. But we also need universities, we need Presbyterian world mission.
I ask for loyalty and commitment. I ask that we proudly proclaim that we are the Presbyterians; we are the ones with a 200 year old heritage of world mission commitment. I ask that we support Presbyterian world mission.
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