Support Presbyterian World Mission
There are two motivating questions that I try to keep in mind. These are big picture questions that bring me back to what I believe is the true purpose and direction of my calling, and my ministry among you.
The first is, “Where is the energy?” This is my spiritual discernment question. There is always so much to do, so many different directions, and so many different tasks; but this question helps me focus. “Where is the energy?” By this I am seeking to understand where and with whom I perceive the Holy Spirit to be working in our midst. What is God doing?
My second motivating question is this: “How can we connect?” How can we connect with each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, how can our congregations connect with each other, how can we connect together as a presbytery, and, most important, how can we connect with what God is doing in our midst?
Where is the energy? How can we connect? These are spiritual discernment questions for me, and like all spiritual discernment I find bits and pieces of answers to these questions all over the place, and in many surprising places. But there is one answer to both of these motivating questions that is far above and beyond all the other bits and pieces of answers which I see in other places. There is, for me, a very clear, number one answer to both of these questions. It is our world mission work.
In our world mission work, in which I have been very involved, I find spiritual energy and powerful connections which are together motivating, transforming and incredibly life-giving. This is my thesis: In our world mission work we will find the energy and the connection to move into the future which God has prepared for our life together.
For many of you I know, I am preaching to the choir: Our Derry Church has been building homes in Nicaragua for more than ten years, our Gettysburg Church has led medical mission trips to Honduras in cooperation with CURE international for more than ten years, our Pine Street Church blessed their members Eric and Becky Hinderliter into Presbyterian world mission service and they will begin a new term of service in Lithuania, our Mechanicsburg Church built a new church building for the Presbyterian Church of Honduras, our Market Square Church has made a generous commitment to the Albert Schweitzer hospital in Haiti, our Silver Spring Church has had a sister to sister church relationship in South Africa, our Lower Marsh Creek has had a sister to sister church relationship in Russia, our Falling Spring Church blessed their members the Diane and Scott Carper into mission service in Honduras, Second Carlisle and Christ Church Camp Hill have made commitments to support the work of Presbyterian missionaries Tim and Gloria Wheeler in Honduras. This list goes on and on and on. All of this work should be encouraged and supported. I would like to ask those of you who have had a strong world mission commitment to test my thesis. In our world mission work we will find the energy and the connection to move into the future which God has prepared for our life together.
This is a remarkably healthy presbytery with a very high level of trust and a beautiful collegiality. I am very grateful for the opportunity to do ministry together with you; and I find deep joy and a lot of fun in this work. At our June Presbytery meeting in 2005 I was elected to this position. I remember pondering at that time that moving into this governing body work was a real experiment in faith. I thought then that maybe I would try this for about five years. I remember telling my wife that I am not really interested in working with some dysfunctional, conflicted, nasty presbytery. If that is what this becomes I will simply find another good church to serve. Today, I am sorry to disappoint some of you, but I am not going anywhere. I love this job. I am very grateful for this opportunity.
This is my thesis: In our world mission work we will find the energy and the connection to move into the future which God has prepared for our life together. Standing here now in 2010, my question becomes what do we need to do to move to the next level? How can we claim the future which God has prepared for our life together? Of course, I already have an answer to test with all you. In our world mission work we will find the energy and the connection to move into the future which God has prepared for our life together.
1) I challenge every one of our congregations to connect with our world mission work. About half of you are already doing this. Focus on and grow that work; there is energy and connection there. For those of you looking for an opportunity or seeking another one, I encourage you to connect with the ministry we have created in partnership with the Presbyterian Church of Honduras. Sponsored by and organized by the Presbyterian Church in Honduras - this is their ministry - and hosted by our Presbyterian missionaries in Honduras the Wheelers and the Wrights, we have the opportunity to contribute to a home building ministry in Tegucigalpa. If you have never been on a mission trip and have no world mission connection, please consider this opportunity. This ministry is serving Presbyterian families in the context of some of the difficult poverty in the world. This is their ministry and we simply walk along side of them in partnership.
2) I challenge every one of our congregations to make a commitment to Basic Mission Giving and Presbyterian World Mission in order to sustain and grow the number of professional Presbyterian missionaries we have deployed around the world. Support Basic Mission Giving and Presbyterian World Mission. Presbyterian World Mission is a glorious and proud dimension of our heritage, and I believe Presbyterian World Mission will help us find a way forward. Please support Presbyterian World Mission in direct and relational ways.
3) I challenge every one of our congregations to claim the “Both/And” theology of the New Testament. The call to mission in the New Testament is a call to Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth. It is a “Both/And” theology. We are called to mission in Tegucigalpa and Nicaragua and Lithuania and Malawi and we are called to mission in the Allison Hill neighborhood of Harrisburg, the downside of Chambersburg and into all the almost invisible pockets of poverty up and down Path Valley and throughout Fulton, Perry, and Juniata countries. We are called to the ends of the earth and we are called to stock the neighborhood food pantry. I challenge us to cast out the destructive “Either/Or” theology of scarcity and claim again the abundant “Both/ And” theology of the New Testament.
In our world mission work we will find the energy and the connection to move into the future which God has prepared for our life together. May it be so! Amen!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Conscientious Objection to War
In the sixth chapter of my book, The Presbyterian Pendulum, I discuss the history of the Presbyterian Church's advocacy for conscientious objection to war as one end of the pendulum's swing. As indicated by this recent letter from the Stated Clerk of our Presbyterian Church (copied here) this is still a very important issue for the church. . .
March 2010
To every congregation and presbytery in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and its predecessor denominations, has long recognized that
followers of Jesus Christ make different choices in regard to military service. The Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.) teaches that one way Christians can be faithful is through service in the armed
forces. The General Assembly’s first statement in support of conscientious objection as an option
for people of faith was made in 1930. In 1969, the General Assembly made a statement in
support of selective conscientious objection, which means that objection to a particular war
judged by the individual conscience to be wrong is a moral obligation that may stem from
Christian just-war teaching.
The 218th General Assembly (2008) took actions that relate to Presbyterians and military service in several ways. These actions include implementation steps for General Assembly programs, presbyteries, and sessions. The assembly’s action On Supporting Those Who Feel Called to Seek Status as Conscientious Objectors:
“Reaffirms the church’s position on the freedom of conscience, especially as it relates to
a person’s status as a conscientious objector against participating in the armed services.
“Encourages the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program to produce and identify study guides
and discernment materials for individuals, congregations, and presbyteries to help church
members and their friends be able to articulate God’s calling on their lives in regard to
participating in the armed forces, and war.
“Encourages presbyteries to provide education opportunities for ministers, military
chaplains, and sessions on how to fulfill their responsibility of educating young people
about issues of faith, conscience, and war, including civic alternatives to serving the
country through the armed forces.
“Encourages presbyteries and sessions to create a structure to document and support
those who feel called to seek status as conscientious objectors to participation in the
armed forces, or war.
“Encourages presbyteries and sessions to create a structure to document and support
those who feel called to seek status as conscientious objectors to participation in the
armed forces, or war. Active members of the church can now register with the Stated
Clerk of the General Assembly for conscientious objector status, and certificates are sent
to the church for their records and for the church member (Book of Order G-5.0202; GA
Minutes, 2003, Part I, p. 651, Recommendations 2, 3; “Presbyterians and Military
Service” – PDS #7027005035).”
In the action, On Building Peace in Iraq, the 218th General Assembly (2008) voted to “call upon
the United States government to support our military personnel by granting speedy discharges to conscientious objectors; fully funding veterans’ benefits; ensuring that injured service personnel and veterans have the best medical, mental health, and rehabilitation care available; and providing generous benefits to surviving family members.”
The Presbyterian Peacemaking Program has created a Web page with resources to help
individuals discern God’s call in relation to participation in the armed forces. It is available at
www.pcusa.org/peacemaking/actnow/conscientious-objection.htm.
The Office of the Stated Clerk is prepared to register active members, baptized members, and
active nonmembers of congregations as conscientious objectors. Contact Joyce Evans at (888)
728-7228, ext. 5424, or read “Presbyterians and Military Service” (PDS# 70-270-05-035 in
English; PDS# 24-358-07-012 in Spanish) for the process. This information will be included in
future publications related to this issue. The Presbyterian Washington Office has communicated
the concerns of the 218th General Assembly for our military personnel to our elected officials in
Washington.
Choices related to military service may be challenging. We will hold you in prayer as you
provide assistance to individuals as they make and live out their decisions.
In Christ,
The Reverend Gradye Parsons
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
March 2010
To every congregation and presbytery in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and its predecessor denominations, has long recognized that
followers of Jesus Christ make different choices in regard to military service. The Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.) teaches that one way Christians can be faithful is through service in the armed
forces. The General Assembly’s first statement in support of conscientious objection as an option
for people of faith was made in 1930. In 1969, the General Assembly made a statement in
support of selective conscientious objection, which means that objection to a particular war
judged by the individual conscience to be wrong is a moral obligation that may stem from
Christian just-war teaching.
The 218th General Assembly (2008) took actions that relate to Presbyterians and military service in several ways. These actions include implementation steps for General Assembly programs, presbyteries, and sessions. The assembly’s action On Supporting Those Who Feel Called to Seek Status as Conscientious Objectors:
“Reaffirms the church’s position on the freedom of conscience, especially as it relates to
a person’s status as a conscientious objector against participating in the armed services.
“Encourages the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program to produce and identify study guides
and discernment materials for individuals, congregations, and presbyteries to help church
members and their friends be able to articulate God’s calling on their lives in regard to
participating in the armed forces, and war.
“Encourages presbyteries to provide education opportunities for ministers, military
chaplains, and sessions on how to fulfill their responsibility of educating young people
about issues of faith, conscience, and war, including civic alternatives to serving the
country through the armed forces.
“Encourages presbyteries and sessions to create a structure to document and support
those who feel called to seek status as conscientious objectors to participation in the
armed forces, or war.
“Encourages presbyteries and sessions to create a structure to document and support
those who feel called to seek status as conscientious objectors to participation in the
armed forces, or war. Active members of the church can now register with the Stated
Clerk of the General Assembly for conscientious objector status, and certificates are sent
to the church for their records and for the church member (Book of Order G-5.0202; GA
Minutes, 2003, Part I, p. 651, Recommendations 2, 3; “Presbyterians and Military
Service” – PDS #7027005035).”
In the action, On Building Peace in Iraq, the 218th General Assembly (2008) voted to “call upon
the United States government to support our military personnel by granting speedy discharges to conscientious objectors; fully funding veterans’ benefits; ensuring that injured service personnel and veterans have the best medical, mental health, and rehabilitation care available; and providing generous benefits to surviving family members.”
The Presbyterian Peacemaking Program has created a Web page with resources to help
individuals discern God’s call in relation to participation in the armed forces. It is available at
www.pcusa.org/peacemaking/actnow/conscientious-objection.htm.
The Office of the Stated Clerk is prepared to register active members, baptized members, and
active nonmembers of congregations as conscientious objectors. Contact Joyce Evans at (888)
728-7228, ext. 5424, or read “Presbyterians and Military Service” (PDS# 70-270-05-035 in
English; PDS# 24-358-07-012 in Spanish) for the process. This information will be included in
future publications related to this issue. The Presbyterian Washington Office has communicated
the concerns of the 218th General Assembly for our military personnel to our elected officials in
Washington.
Choices related to military service may be challenging. We will hold you in prayer as you
provide assistance to individuals as they make and live out their decisions.
In Christ,
The Reverend Gradye Parsons
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
My Book: The Presbyterian Pendulum
I am glad to announce that my book, The Presbyterian Pendulum, is now published and available from WipfandStock.com.
The Presbyterian Pendulum is a study in mainline Protestant social ethics
with a focus on the Presbyterian Church (USA). This book is written for the
church with the hope that it will provide theological foundation and
spiritual encouragement for our efforts to find unity despite the diversity of
convictions and perspectives in our midst. This is a historical study of the
significant social and political issues to which the church responded
throughout the twentieth century. With a foundation in solid historical
research, this book offers the compelling thesis that the Presbyterian Church
is at its best when the wild diversity of worldviews, theological perspectives,
and convictions are encouraged. Even more, the book offers the spiritually
rich thesis that it is in this wild diversity, not despite of it, that the providence
of God is seen and known. What is unique and compelling about this study
is the guiding metaphor of the pendulum swinging. The vast difference of
opinion in the church around social issues has historically always been true,
is necessary today, and itself points to a deeper truth about God’s sustaining
providence. The church must discern and hold onto that deeper truth. We
must let the pendulum swing. It is my hope that this book will be an encouragement
for the church even as we continue to be mired in deep conflict.
The Presbyterian Pendulum is a study in mainline Protestant social ethics
with a focus on the Presbyterian Church (USA). This book is written for the
church with the hope that it will provide theological foundation and
spiritual encouragement for our efforts to find unity despite the diversity of
convictions and perspectives in our midst. This is a historical study of the
significant social and political issues to which the church responded
throughout the twentieth century. With a foundation in solid historical
research, this book offers the compelling thesis that the Presbyterian Church
is at its best when the wild diversity of worldviews, theological perspectives,
and convictions are encouraged. Even more, the book offers the spiritually
rich thesis that it is in this wild diversity, not despite of it, that the providence
of God is seen and known. What is unique and compelling about this study
is the guiding metaphor of the pendulum swinging. The vast difference of
opinion in the church around social issues has historically always been true,
is necessary today, and itself points to a deeper truth about God’s sustaining
providence. The church must discern and hold onto that deeper truth. We
must let the pendulum swing. It is my hope that this book will be an encouragement
for the church even as we continue to be mired in deep conflict.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
A Call to Justice
I am grateful for the many generous responses to my report to the Presbytery of Carlisle January 2010 which called forth a renewed commitment to our tradition of Christian realism. May I suggest that one, small way to engage this question in our churches and in our preaching is by some careful consideration of a Christian concept of justice. I am sure that many, many recent sermons from Presbyterian pulpits exalted the concept of Christian love. Maybe we also need some devoted attention to the biblical concept of justice. One way to consider the contours of our tradition of Christian realism is this constant push and pull between love and justice.
I appreciate Professor David True’s referring me to a recent web editorial in the online journal “Political Theology.” Copied here is a nice definition of justice from that editorial:
Justice “is not reducible to a check list and will power. Rather, it is a way of inhabiting the world and interacting with others that embraces more than the will and more than war. It is about habits and dispositions and how one is inclined to act in the course of the quotidian tasks of life when one is not consciously thinking about or willing it. Which is to say that the justice on which the classic just war tradition is erected, by the likes of Augustine and Aquinas, is a matter of character. It is a virtue. More specifically, it is the virtue of a people whose life is disciplined in a manner that they ordinarily, habitually care for and seek the good of their neighbors, including their enemy neighbors, in times of peace as well as war.”
From the Web Editorial: The Justice of Just War and the Exceptionalism it Requires A Response to Barack Obama's Nobel Acceptance Speech on 9 December 2009; found at: http://www.politicaltheology.com/ojs/index.php/PT/announcement/view/40.
Mark Englund-Krieger
I appreciate Professor David True’s referring me to a recent web editorial in the online journal “Political Theology.” Copied here is a nice definition of justice from that editorial:
Justice “is not reducible to a check list and will power. Rather, it is a way of inhabiting the world and interacting with others that embraces more than the will and more than war. It is about habits and dispositions and how one is inclined to act in the course of the quotidian tasks of life when one is not consciously thinking about or willing it. Which is to say that the justice on which the classic just war tradition is erected, by the likes of Augustine and Aquinas, is a matter of character. It is a virtue. More specifically, it is the virtue of a people whose life is disciplined in a manner that they ordinarily, habitually care for and seek the good of their neighbors, including their enemy neighbors, in times of peace as well as war.”
From the Web Editorial: The Justice of Just War and the Exceptionalism it Requires A Response to Barack Obama's Nobel Acceptance Speech on 9 December 2009; found at: http://www.politicaltheology.com/ojs/index.php/PT/announcement/view/40.
Mark Englund-Krieger
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Report to the Presbytery January 2010
Peacemaking:
The General Assembly started the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program in 1980. I started in Seminary in 1982. It was time and an era when the church was seriously engaged with questions of war, peace and a commitment to peacemaking. The Commitment to Peacemaking was an idea which fostered significant support across the church, and, of course, significant debate. I remember in my first years of ministry passionate debates at Presbytery meetings about questions of war and peacemaking.
What happened to our commitment to peace? We live in a war torn world. What happened to our voice, our calling, our witness to Christ the Prince of Peace? Why are we seemingly afraid to engage these questions and these issues? Is our common life now so fragile that these debates frighten us? Questions of war and peace, questions of the ways our nation should be engaged in the world and the church’s response to that engagement are deeply controversial and difficult questions. But these are questions our church has always engaged, always debated. We have always pushed theological reflection into these realms. I am very concerned that these vital questions have simply dropped out of our conversation, out of our common life. Are we so weak and frightened, and hunkered down into the isolated life of our congregation, that we are now afraid to engage these questions of war and peace? Or, and this may be closer to the truth, have our pastors and church leaders so abandoned the hard work of theological study and reflection that we do not have anything to say, expect occasionally a trite repetition of the editorials of either George Will on one side or Thomas Friedman on the other.
In a recent edition of The Presbyterian Outlook, Professor Stanley Hauerwas, who is not Presbyterian, said in an interview that all Christians are called to be pacifists. Wow! What a provocative statement in a Presbyterian magazine. Our Presbyterian Church, and the larger Reformed Tradition, is not now and has never been pacifist. Historically and theologically it is simply wrong to say that all Christians are called to be pacifists. I know I am not. Is this not a vitally important theological and spiritual question for the church today?
In his speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, President Obama was reaching for some philosophical and theological foundation for an understanding of peace which is not pacifist and fully engages the brutal realities of our world today. I quote: “A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler’s armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda’s leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism. – it is recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.”
I am not making a partisan comment for Obama; please do not hear that. What I am saying is deeper. I believe Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize speech was reaching back into the tradition of Christian realism for some foundational thinking about war and peace. This is our tradition. These are core convictions for the Presbyterian Church. Especially in the American Presbyterian tradition, Christian Realism has always been the theological framework with which we struggled with questions of war, peacemaking, international relations and law enforcement. Given the tenacious power of evil in our world today, the church is called to engage these questions, debate these issues. Remaining silent on these questions is not an option for Presbyterians. There must be public engagement. This is not a task we can abandon because it makes us uncomfortable or because the conversation always creates debate and heated conflict. We must speak publicly. We are the Presbyterians; this is our calling.
I am talking about the Christian realism of the Barmen Declaration of Faith in our Book of Confessions. The most profound American voice in this tradition of Christian realism is Reinhold Niebuhr. Like the Barmen Declaration, Niebuhr was also writing in the World War II era. Niebuhr was very critical of the churches reluctance to engage these questions. Niebuhr was pushing the churches and our nation to understand the reality of the world we live in.
Writing in 1941 Niebuhr published a paper which is relevant today titled, “The Christian Faith and the World Crisis.”
I quote: Too many American Christians, Niebuhr argued, believed that “war could be eliminated if only Christians and other men of good will refused resolutely enough to have anything to do with conflict. In our opinion this utopianism has contributed to the tardiness of the democracies in defending themselves against the perils of a new barbarism, and (in America at least) it is easily compounded with an irresponsible and selfish nationalism. Love must be regarded as the final flower and fruit of justice, however, when love is substituted for justice it degenerates into sentimentality and may become the accomplice of tyranny. We are well aware of the sins of all the nations, including our own, which have contributed to the chaos of our era. Yet we believe the task of defending the rich inheritance of our civilization to be an imperative one, however much we might desire that our social system were more worthy of defense.”
I believe we must stand in this long tradition of Christian realism, powerfully articulated by Reinhold Niebuhr for example, which does not flinch at the power of evil in our world, is not afraid, and boldly proclaims the sovereignty of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.
We live in a day when the evil of al Qaeda is a contagious virus trying to infect our very souls. I am not arguing for some kind of pro-American militarism; I am often appalled by our American arrogance. I am arguing against the often fear-filled silence in our churches which is afraid to even discuss these issues. “Blessed at the peacemakers for they will be called the children of God.” What does that mean in a world increasingly scorched by the power of evil?
NOTES:
See interview with Stanley Hauerwas, “The Presbyterian Outlook”, Dec. 7, 2009.
See President Obama’s “Nobel Peace Prize speech” now available via Google search.
See Reinhold Niebuhr, “Christian Faith and the World Crisis”, first published in Christianity and Crisis, February 10, 1941 and now available via Google search.
On Reinhold Niebuhr see Jon Meacham, American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation, (Random House).
Mark J. Englund-Krieger
January 2010
The General Assembly started the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program in 1980. I started in Seminary in 1982. It was time and an era when the church was seriously engaged with questions of war, peace and a commitment to peacemaking. The Commitment to Peacemaking was an idea which fostered significant support across the church, and, of course, significant debate. I remember in my first years of ministry passionate debates at Presbytery meetings about questions of war and peacemaking.
What happened to our commitment to peace? We live in a war torn world. What happened to our voice, our calling, our witness to Christ the Prince of Peace? Why are we seemingly afraid to engage these questions and these issues? Is our common life now so fragile that these debates frighten us? Questions of war and peace, questions of the ways our nation should be engaged in the world and the church’s response to that engagement are deeply controversial and difficult questions. But these are questions our church has always engaged, always debated. We have always pushed theological reflection into these realms. I am very concerned that these vital questions have simply dropped out of our conversation, out of our common life. Are we so weak and frightened, and hunkered down into the isolated life of our congregation, that we are now afraid to engage these questions of war and peace? Or, and this may be closer to the truth, have our pastors and church leaders so abandoned the hard work of theological study and reflection that we do not have anything to say, expect occasionally a trite repetition of the editorials of either George Will on one side or Thomas Friedman on the other.
In a recent edition of The Presbyterian Outlook, Professor Stanley Hauerwas, who is not Presbyterian, said in an interview that all Christians are called to be pacifists. Wow! What a provocative statement in a Presbyterian magazine. Our Presbyterian Church, and the larger Reformed Tradition, is not now and has never been pacifist. Historically and theologically it is simply wrong to say that all Christians are called to be pacifists. I know I am not. Is this not a vitally important theological and spiritual question for the church today?
In his speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, President Obama was reaching for some philosophical and theological foundation for an understanding of peace which is not pacifist and fully engages the brutal realities of our world today. I quote: “A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler’s armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda’s leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism. – it is recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.”
I am not making a partisan comment for Obama; please do not hear that. What I am saying is deeper. I believe Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize speech was reaching back into the tradition of Christian realism for some foundational thinking about war and peace. This is our tradition. These are core convictions for the Presbyterian Church. Especially in the American Presbyterian tradition, Christian Realism has always been the theological framework with which we struggled with questions of war, peacemaking, international relations and law enforcement. Given the tenacious power of evil in our world today, the church is called to engage these questions, debate these issues. Remaining silent on these questions is not an option for Presbyterians. There must be public engagement. This is not a task we can abandon because it makes us uncomfortable or because the conversation always creates debate and heated conflict. We must speak publicly. We are the Presbyterians; this is our calling.
I am talking about the Christian realism of the Barmen Declaration of Faith in our Book of Confessions. The most profound American voice in this tradition of Christian realism is Reinhold Niebuhr. Like the Barmen Declaration, Niebuhr was also writing in the World War II era. Niebuhr was very critical of the churches reluctance to engage these questions. Niebuhr was pushing the churches and our nation to understand the reality of the world we live in.
Writing in 1941 Niebuhr published a paper which is relevant today titled, “The Christian Faith and the World Crisis.”
I quote: Too many American Christians, Niebuhr argued, believed that “war could be eliminated if only Christians and other men of good will refused resolutely enough to have anything to do with conflict. In our opinion this utopianism has contributed to the tardiness of the democracies in defending themselves against the perils of a new barbarism, and (in America at least) it is easily compounded with an irresponsible and selfish nationalism. Love must be regarded as the final flower and fruit of justice, however, when love is substituted for justice it degenerates into sentimentality and may become the accomplice of tyranny. We are well aware of the sins of all the nations, including our own, which have contributed to the chaos of our era. Yet we believe the task of defending the rich inheritance of our civilization to be an imperative one, however much we might desire that our social system were more worthy of defense.”
I believe we must stand in this long tradition of Christian realism, powerfully articulated by Reinhold Niebuhr for example, which does not flinch at the power of evil in our world, is not afraid, and boldly proclaims the sovereignty of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.
We live in a day when the evil of al Qaeda is a contagious virus trying to infect our very souls. I am not arguing for some kind of pro-American militarism; I am often appalled by our American arrogance. I am arguing against the often fear-filled silence in our churches which is afraid to even discuss these issues. “Blessed at the peacemakers for they will be called the children of God.” What does that mean in a world increasingly scorched by the power of evil?
NOTES:
See interview with Stanley Hauerwas, “The Presbyterian Outlook”, Dec. 7, 2009.
See President Obama’s “Nobel Peace Prize speech” now available via Google search.
See Reinhold Niebuhr, “Christian Faith and the World Crisis”, first published in Christianity and Crisis, February 10, 1941 and now available via Google search.
On Reinhold Niebuhr see Jon Meacham, American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation, (Random House).
Mark J. Englund-Krieger
January 2010
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
An Advent Pastoral Letter to our Churches
December 15, 2009
Dear Friends,
The themes of the season of Advent always move me into prayer and reflection. My wife encourages our family to gather regularly around our Advent wreath for Bible reading and prayers. Our boys have grown beyond their childish reluctance, and our family prayer time is important to us all. We are grateful for the good health and abundance in our family.
But my prayer this Advent also turns to a litany of recent news from our churches. This news from many places, all over our presbytery, burdens me and nags at my sense of comfort and ease. I am very concerned about the ways this nagging economic stress burdens our Pastors and discourages our Elders. I run through my mind and lift in prayer a list of reports and stories which have come to me: the note from one church saying they are using up their cash reserves which may be gone in a year; the elimination of staff positions in several of our churches; drastic cutbacks in Per Capita contributions due to financial stress; a little blurb in a church newsletter asking for donations to their heating oil fund which is now depleted; a pastor struggling with a proposed cutback from full to part-time status; one church struggling to pay their mortgage; several churches already forecasting significant decreases in Basic Mission Giving in 2010. . . And our Presbytery is looking for ways to manage a $150,000 deficit in 2009. And of course, the ripple effect of this economic stress strains the bonds of our connectionalism as our shortages are passed along to the General Assembly. I am also acutely aware of the financial stress in many of our mission agencies, social service organizations, and feeding ministries which are on the front line of meeting basic human needs. I know the burden is heavy in many of our congregations, but I must ask, if you are able, please be attentive to your Per Capita contributions and Basic Mission contributions as we approach year end. Please do not hunker down in fear and trepidation. Please do not turn in on yourself. Let us walk this journey together.
It is time to be faithful. Do not fear. Do not lose heart. The name of our God is NOT Dollar. We know the name that is above every name. “He is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” Like no time I can remember in my ministry, it is time to be bold in Christ, be strong in proclamation, be constant in prayer, and walk together in love.
Blessed Advent and Merry Christmas!
Dear Friends,
The themes of the season of Advent always move me into prayer and reflection. My wife encourages our family to gather regularly around our Advent wreath for Bible reading and prayers. Our boys have grown beyond their childish reluctance, and our family prayer time is important to us all. We are grateful for the good health and abundance in our family.
But my prayer this Advent also turns to a litany of recent news from our churches. This news from many places, all over our presbytery, burdens me and nags at my sense of comfort and ease. I am very concerned about the ways this nagging economic stress burdens our Pastors and discourages our Elders. I run through my mind and lift in prayer a list of reports and stories which have come to me: the note from one church saying they are using up their cash reserves which may be gone in a year; the elimination of staff positions in several of our churches; drastic cutbacks in Per Capita contributions due to financial stress; a little blurb in a church newsletter asking for donations to their heating oil fund which is now depleted; a pastor struggling with a proposed cutback from full to part-time status; one church struggling to pay their mortgage; several churches already forecasting significant decreases in Basic Mission Giving in 2010. . . And our Presbytery is looking for ways to manage a $150,000 deficit in 2009. And of course, the ripple effect of this economic stress strains the bonds of our connectionalism as our shortages are passed along to the General Assembly. I am also acutely aware of the financial stress in many of our mission agencies, social service organizations, and feeding ministries which are on the front line of meeting basic human needs. I know the burden is heavy in many of our congregations, but I must ask, if you are able, please be attentive to your Per Capita contributions and Basic Mission contributions as we approach year end. Please do not hunker down in fear and trepidation. Please do not turn in on yourself. Let us walk this journey together.
It is time to be faithful. Do not fear. Do not lose heart. The name of our God is NOT Dollar. We know the name that is above every name. “He is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” Like no time I can remember in my ministry, it is time to be bold in Christ, be strong in proclamation, be constant in prayer, and walk together in love.
Blessed Advent and Merry Christmas!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Emerging Church and Karl Barth
Our missional church study group is studying a collection of essays published as An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, Edited by Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones. Baker Books, 2007.
One of the better essays in this book is:
Digging Up The Past: Karl Barth (The Reformed Giant) as Friend of the Emerging Church
by Chris Erdman
It is remarkable to me to see the new conversation about emergent church connecting with some old, classic theological reflection from Karl Barth. When I see the old and the new connecting in fresh ways I pay attention. For people of my generation, Karl Barth was a very important theologian in our education. Indeed, Barth was a revolutionary thinker who had a giant impact on the post-World War Two generation of pastors, especially in the Reformed Tradition. This quote from Barth, in a book on Emergent Theology, is very relevant today:
This quote is from Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, volume 1:
"How disastrously the Church must misunderstand itself if it can imagine that theology is the business of a few theoreticians who are specially appointed for the task.... Again, how disastrously the Church must misunderstand itself if it can imagine that theological reflection is a matter for quiet situations and periods that suit and invite contemplation, a kind of peace-time luxury.... As though the venture of proclamation did not mean that the Church permanently finds itself in an emergency! As though theology could be done properly without reference to this constant emergency! Let there be no mistake. Because of these distorted ideas about theology, and dogmatics in particular, there arises and persists in the life of the Church a lasting and growing deficit for which we cannot expect those particularly active in this function to supply the needed balance. The whole Church must seriously want a serious theology if it is to have a serious theology."
One of the better essays in this book is:
Digging Up The Past: Karl Barth (The Reformed Giant) as Friend of the Emerging Church
by Chris Erdman
It is remarkable to me to see the new conversation about emergent church connecting with some old, classic theological reflection from Karl Barth. When I see the old and the new connecting in fresh ways I pay attention. For people of my generation, Karl Barth was a very important theologian in our education. Indeed, Barth was a revolutionary thinker who had a giant impact on the post-World War Two generation of pastors, especially in the Reformed Tradition. This quote from Barth, in a book on Emergent Theology, is very relevant today:
This quote is from Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, volume 1:
"How disastrously the Church must misunderstand itself if it can imagine that theology is the business of a few theoreticians who are specially appointed for the task.... Again, how disastrously the Church must misunderstand itself if it can imagine that theological reflection is a matter for quiet situations and periods that suit and invite contemplation, a kind of peace-time luxury.... As though the venture of proclamation did not mean that the Church permanently finds itself in an emergency! As though theology could be done properly without reference to this constant emergency! Let there be no mistake. Because of these distorted ideas about theology, and dogmatics in particular, there arises and persists in the life of the Church a lasting and growing deficit for which we cannot expect those particularly active in this function to supply the needed balance. The whole Church must seriously want a serious theology if it is to have a serious theology."
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