News on PC(USA) Book of Order revisions

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There are two current items of interest regarding revision and rewriting of the PC(USA) Book of Order.

The first is the status of Book of Order amendments from the last General Assembly.  The vote tallies were last updated on April 16 and most of the amendments have been approved.  While all of these affect the Book of Order, of particular interest are amendments 06-A and 06-B.1.  Amendment 06-A is a major revision of Chapter G-XIV, the longest chapter in the Form of Government section.  The amendment also includes some related “housekeeping” changes to other sections to match the new sections and words in Chapter XIV.  Amendment 06-B.1 moves the ordination questions and service from Form of Government to Directory for Worship.  The former is currently being approved by a narrow margin and the latter has received enough affirmative votes to assure passage.  The only other amendment whose outcome has not been decided yet is 06-B.2 “Adding Licensure of Candidates–On Amending G-14.0309” which is currently failing by the narrow margin of 60 to 63.  All other amendments have been approved by enough presbyteries.

In the other news, at it’s April 12-14 meeting the Form of Government Task Force, charged with rewriting the whole Form of Government section of the Book of Order, decided not to decide but to leave a structural question up to the 218th General Assembly.  The Form of Government web page has not been updated with the report of this meeting yet, but the PC(USA) news service issued a press release on April 16 reporting on the meeting.  Specifically, the task force had been working on a new version of the “G” section which moved the first four chapters into a new preceding section which would contain the “foundational principles” found in those chapters.  At the meeting last week the task force voted 6-3 to provide two versions to the next GA: One with the new fourth section and one that left the foundational principles in the Form of Government section.

The news article also talks about the underlying theology of the rewrite and how it is built upon “missional polity.”  This is the concept that the church does not have a mission, but rather that mission is its only reason for existence. The news story quotes a supporting document:  “Mission lies at the heart of the Church’s identity. The Church is called into being and is an expression of the mission dei, God’s ongoing engagement with the world to reconcile, transform, and finally fulfill the divine creative intent in it.”  (I thought I saw this document on-line at one time but can not find it again.)

The task force next meets August 16-18.

Brief Comment:  In the PC(USA) news service article four members of the task force and two PC(USA) staff members to the task force were quoted.  All but one staff member (Doska Ross) are identified as clergy!  Are elders involved in this process?  You would not know it from the news story.  The membership list shows that the task force is composed of six clergy and three elders.

Moderator elected at the 47th General Meeting of the Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Trinidad and Tobago

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The 47th General Meeting of the Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Trinidad and Tobago has just concluded and the Rev. Elvis Elahie, 45, was elected Moderator.  The meeting was held at St. Andrews Theological College, Paradise Hill, San Fernando.  Trinidad &Tobago’s Newsday reports that Rev. Elahie was ordained in 1988 and “has worked in several districts around the country.”

In his acceptance speech, Rev. Elahie is quoted as saying:

“Over the ages the Christian community has been
enriched out of the heritage of seers and scholars and saints.  Thus we must engage new insights for our time, by being possessors of the truth of many yesterdays, partakers of God’s thoughts for today and creators with God for a better tomorrow.  One of the areas which I am sure must engage our attention is that of the fusion between education and religion as we aim toward human development.”

In an interesting note on the polity of this denomination, the article says the previous moderator served two two-year terms.  Unlike most presbyterian denominations where a moderator serves a single term, the multiple terms here may indicate a greater role in the ecclesiastical operation of the church.

Coming events

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It has been a bit slow the last couple of months with less Presbyterian news and happenings during Lent and the week following Easter.  But as any GA Junkie knows, GA season is just around the corner.  Here is what I have on my calendar for the next few months:

  • General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, May 19-25, 2007
  • 133rd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, June 3-8, 2007
  • General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, June 4-8, 2007
  • 35th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, June 12-15, 2007
  • 74th General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, June 13-20, 2007
  • 27th General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, June 20-23, 2007
  • 71st General Synod of the Bible Presbyterian Church, August 2-7, 2007

Enjoy.  The first is barely a month away.  And they webcast!

Whom do you seek?

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Whom do you seek?  That really is the question of the day on this, or any, resurrection Sunday.  As modern Christians we come to worship this morning “knowing the answer.”  The music this morning in the “regular” service I attended included brass, bagpipes, organ, percussion including timpani, and a full choir.  Even our sunrise service had the brass ensemble.  And the music was glorious!  Well preformed, appropriate for worship, spiritually uplifting.  What more can I say…

Except that as I reflected on Easter this afternoon I had to go back to that pivotal phrase in the scripture lesson from the Gospel of John:  Whom do you seek?

The first resurrection day did not have all of the horns and choirs.  Those announced Jesus’ birth.  Now Jesus was in the tomb, or at least was supposed to be.  As one of my children said when they were very young “Dead is dead.”  And all the disciples knew was death.  We rightly celebrate the resurrection for the joyful event it is, for it also represents the hope of our salvation and our own resurrection.  But we must hold this in the tension of what that first resurrection day held.  None of the disciples expected it no matter how many times Jesus told them otherwise.  Resurrection was, and still is, outside the realm of human experience.  Dead is dead.  So when asked “Whom do you seek?” they were not looking for the living amidst the dead, but the body in the grave yard.  They were expecting the ordinary not the extra-ordinary because that was too far beyond their experience and understanding.

Whom do you seek?  Maybe this is why I am such a fan of Easter sunrise services.  There is something about being out there in the dark and cold that resonates in me and helps me realize that I do seek the living among the dead.  Something that helps me better connect with that first resurrection morn.  Something that makes me realize that in our human existence death is the end but that in God’s order it is only the beginning.  It helps me realize the quiet and loneliness those first disciples felt that morning as they visited the tomb.  As they began, it was an experience of longing.  By the end it was an experience of wonder, if not understanding.

Do we, can we, fully grasp the divine miracle that is embedded in this event and the incredible 180 degree turn it placed in the disciples’ lives?  Does our knowing the story keep us from really grasping how everyday experience and natural laws were so totally violated in Jesus’ resurrection?  What can we do to grasp the significance that we and the disciples are looking for the living among the dead when that question is asked “Whom do you seek?“

Religion Commentary on CNN web site

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In this week where religion stories with some “mass appeal” seem to appear on the cover of every news magazine and evening news broadcast, the CNN web site is carrying a very smart and honest commentary by contributor Roland Martin.  Now, there is a tie-in here since the commentary goes by the same name as a current feature on CNN called “What would Jesus really do?” that, from the description, seems to be a roundtable discussion by the likes of Rick Warren and Jerry Falwell.  (I don’t have cable so I don’t know if I’ll ever see it.)

Mr. Martin takes on the current climate of the (predominantly white) evangelical churches in the US that seem to have their focus on two issues: abortion and homosexuality.  He says: “Ask the nonreligious what being a Christian today means, and based on what we see and read, it’s a good bet they will say that followers of Jesus Christ are preoccupied with those two points.”

But he is even handed here and while he criticizes the religious right for this narrow focus, he also points out the religious left’s liberal attitude about what is sin.  But one of his strongest points is that the predominantly “white” church shares little in common with the priorities of the predominantly African-American church.  If we are all Christians, it would speak well of us to at least understand each other’s perspective and focus.

Yes, this is commentary and his opinion, but he makes a good case and it is a good read which should provoke the reader to some thought. 

Presbyterian Church of Ghana Moderator encourages new sources of denominational funding

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The Myjoyonline web site is reporting that the Rt. Rev. Dr. Yaw Frimpong-Manso, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), has encouraged additional sources of denominational funding.  From the article it appears that he was speaking in a sermon at a worship service to celebrate the “elevation” of the Samreboi sub-district of the PCG to a full district in the Wassa Amenfi District of the Western Region.

Rev. Frimpong-Manso is quoted as saying:

[T]he church could no longer continue to rely solely on assessment payments for the smooth running of the church.

“As a step in this direction”,he stated: “I humbly appeal to you to find ways and means of raising funds from within and outside your congregation for the development of church infrastructure, evangelism and social services”.

and later the article says

The Moderator said the church needed to improve its financial base so as to move away from the ever dependence on the annual assessment, offering and annual harvests, into finding new ways of funding the church, adding: “We need money and this should come out of viable projects and investments”.

From my PC(USA) perspective I would read the “assessment” as something like per-capita and it sounds like the “offering and annual harvests” are like our special offerings.  However, what the moderator seems to be encouraging is not like our additional congregational gifts to higher governing bodies that we call “mission giving” but other sources like revenue from projects and investing in something.

What is clear, from his list of priorities (the development of church infrastructure, evangelism and social services), is that this is for the expansion of the church and its mission, not just the maintenance of the institution.

I also found it interesting the appeal for necessary transportation:

The Resident Pastor appealed to the Head Office of the church to replace the eight-year-old incapacitated Suzuki motorcycle with a strong vehicle, in order to promote evangelism and social services in the hinterland where the road network was in a mess.

American Episcopal Bishops Decline to Participate in the World Anglican Communion’s Proposed Solution

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Back in February the Anglican Primates met and requested that the American Episcopal Church be clear that it intends to affirm the Anglican standards on ordination and marriage.  Last week the Episcopal House of Bishops met and by voice vote approved a “mind of the house” resolution that said they do not like the scheme that the Anglican Primates approved.  To quote the official Episcopal article:

On the second to last day of the meeting, the bishops had approved a “mind of the house” resolution by voice vote. While affirming the desire to remain within the councils of the Anglican Communion, they said a proposed pastoral scheme recommended by the Anglican primates in February would be “injurious” to the church and urged Executive Council to decline to participate in it.

The full text of the three “mind of the house” resolutions can be found in another press release.

In addition, the Bishops have asked for a meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.  As Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was quoted as saying in the article the meeting would be “about concerns around polity issues, how this church is governed, that we do not make decisions lightly or easily, but after lengthy conversation and deliberation through a very reasoned process.”  She is also quoted as saying “I think there is some belief in this House [of Bishops] that other parts of the communion do not understand us very well.”

That Archbishop Williams would attend such a meeting is uncertain since it is also reported that he does not have a place in his schedule for it.

In related news, it is being reported that the it was recommended to the House of Bishops that the Rt. Rev. William J. Cox, retired Bishop Suffragan of Maryland, age 86, be tried in the church court for “illegally performing sacramental acts without the permission of the local Episcopal bishop.”  Specifically, he participated in the ordination of two priests and a deacon at Christ Church in Overland Park, Kansas, under the direction of the Primate of Uganda.  The primary source for the information is an article on The Living Church Foundation web site and it has been picked up by one of my regular reads, the Global South Anglican.  (The comments on Global South Anglican following this article are interesting as well.) This news is reported as coming out of the March 16-21 House of Bishops meeting, but I have found no mention of it on the official news service, Episcopal Life Online.  In a breaking development, The Living Church web site reported on Friday that Bishop Cox has informed the Presiding Bishop that he has left The Episcopal Church and has been received into the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone.  The article quotes Bishop Cox as saying “I don’t want a fight among Christians,” and that he left to avoid financial and public relations problems for the Episcopal Church.

(Brief commentary note:  The Episcopal Life Online web site is a brand new portal that went live last week.  If you are a casual Episcopalian who is looking for info on what is generally going on in the church, it is probably good.  If you are a news junkie who is trying to drill down into important or relevant news stories I found it to be a more clumsy and difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.  In addition, at the present time the search function seems to be having problems.  But that can be fixed I’m sure.)

OPC Discussion of the Federal Vision Controversy

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The February issue of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church‘s official publication, New Horizons, has a series of articles on the Federal Vision Controversy.  This issue is in fulfillment of the recommendations approved by the 2006 OPC General Assembly when they adopted the Report on Justification.  I have in general found articles in New Horizons to be relevant, well written, and informative and in skimming through these article I find that they meet the usual standards.  If you want some reading on the Federal Vision Theology you might want to check them out.

Baptismal Standards — or — The advantages of celebrity?

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While a bit afield of the usual focus of this blog, this news item caught my attention and does have some relevance to Presbyterian polity and theology:

The Scotsman has a news article on a Stewart family in Leith who asked to have their son baptized at North Leith Parish Church and they were declined since the parents were not married but had been living together for six years.  While it appears that this couple does not regularly attend the church there is a family connection to the parish.  This situation is in contrast to South Leith Parish Church across town where the pastor last summer baptized the son of celebrity musician Rod Stewart who likewise was not married (but engaged) to the child’s mother.  It is not clear that Rod and his family have a connection to South Leith.

The Church of Scotland, according to the article, leaves the question of baptisms up to the pastor.  The pastor at North Leith appropriately spoke generally for the article about baptisms, but would not comment on specific individuals.  The pastor at South Leith could not be reached for comment for the article.  While there is much more behind this that we do not know, on the surface it leaves the impression that celebrity has it’s privileges.

How do we view baptism within our polity?  How seriously do we take this sacrament, the parent’s vows and the congregation’s vows?  Not an idle question at the moment since the theology of baptism is central to the Federal Vision controversy.

If you want an interesting, and very Presbyterian, view of this I would recommend the chapter “Christmas Baptism” in the book The Good News from North Haven by Michael Lindvall.  While holding the importance of the community very high, it exposes the ways that our sessions sometimes work.

Call for PC(USA) Stated Clerk to not run for a fourth term

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The Institute on Region and Democracy (IRD) based in Washington, D.C., has issued a press release calling on Presbyterian Church (USA) Stated Clerk Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick to not seek a fourth term as stated clerk when his present term is finished at the next General Assembly in 2008.  Rev. Kirkpatrick said in a recent interview that he will pray and reflect on his fourth term this summer.  The first paragraph of the IRD statement reads:

WASHINGTON, DC– The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), under Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick, has seen a steady decline in membership.  Kirkpatrick, an affable man, has failed to show true leadership that would strengthen, expand, unify, and stabilize the PCUSA. Now, in an interview with the denominational news service, he is hinting at a run for a fourth four-year term. He claims that the PCUSA “is in a potential tipping point of renewed growth and vitality.” The Steering Committee of the IRD’s Presbyterian Action program has asked Kirkpatrick to “decline nomination for a fourth term in 2008, for the good of the denomination.”

I would note that the IRD is a conservative organization not associated with a denomination whose slogan is “Reforming the Church’s Social and Political Witness.” Their Presbyterian Action Director is James D. Berkley who blogs on the IRD site as well as his own “The Berkley Blog.”