Recent passings: Dr. Isabel Rogers and Rev. Marguerite Bowden-Reed

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Earlier this month two individuals who served in leadership in Presbyterian governing bodies joined the church triumphant.

Dr. Isabel Rogers, professor at Union Theological Seminary-Presbyterian School of Christian Education and moderator of the 199th General Assembly in 1987 died on March 18 of cancer.  Her election that year is still the closest election of a moderator since the reunion that formed the PC(USA) in 1983.  Her life and work is remembered in a PC(USA) news service article.

On March 9 The Rev. Marguerite Bowden-Reed died of a stroke in Tucson, Az.  She is credited with being the first woman called to serve as an executive in the PC(USA) or it’s predecessor churches.  She was elected executive presbyter for the Presbytery de Cristo in 1973 and later served as the executive of the Synod of the Covenant.  Following that she was an associate pastor in Tucson where she was active in the Sanctuary Movement.  She is remembered in a PC(USA) “Notes about people” as well as more extensive articles from the Arizona Daily Star and The Tucson Citizen.

Designated giving: It’s not just for Presbyterians

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A growing trend in the local presbyteries and our synod is for churches to designate their mission giving to specific ministries on the list that the governing body supports leaving some budgets short or having limited unrestricted funds for new opportunities.

From a news story today in the Lompoc Record, this is also the fashion for giving in other organizations.  In this case the United Way of Greater Los Angeles.  The Lompoc Record reports:

According to financial records, about two-thirds of the $47 million that United Way in Los Angeles gave away last fiscal year went to benefactors’ favorite causes, one of the highest ratios in the country.

And in the case of the United Way, it is not just selecting a charity on the list, but the money can be designated for any non-profit that is designated a public charity.  This includes many of the SoCal arts and cultural organizations and Harvard-Westlake School, a college preparatory school with an annual tuition price tag of over $23,000 per year.

The result: “But local United Way officials said donor choices are leaving one of the charity’s fundamental missions – to help meet basic human needs – with a smaller piece of the pie.”

“If you care, you understand.”

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This evening NPR’s show “All Things Considered” had a piece on the internet and the NCAA Basketball Tournament and the 2007 Cricket World Cup currently being held in the West Indies.  Most of the cricket part was about watching on the internet versus watching in a movie theater with the live satellite broadcast.  But at the end of the segment the host made the comment:

“By the way, the big news from the tournament today was: A South African player made World Cup history when he smashed six sixes in an over.  If you care you understand.”

It struck me that this captures this, and a lot of other blogs, perfectly.  Just as this description of a cricket accomplishment is almost totally incomprehensible to me, much of what I write about is probably gibberish to many other people.  But, “If you care, you understand.”

And now back to our regularly scheduled news.

Celtic 0 – Rangers 1

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Well, the Rangers won the football (soccer) match one goal to nil over Celtic.  And the Scottish religious leaders were in attendance with the first minister.  They finally arranged their schedules and security for Church of Scotland Moderator Alan McDonald to attend a Celtic-Rangers football game with Cardinal Keith O’Brien as a show of support for the Scottish initiative to stop sectarian violence.  They were joined by the First Minister and religious leaders from other faiths.  The attendance by the dignitaries is covered by BBC News, but you can get a rundown on the game itself from Soccernet.

In a related development, former Church of Scotland Moderator John Cairns will be one of the protestant participants in an April 17 golf tournament.  The event, featuring both protestant and catholic clergy, is also related to the campaign to eliminate sectarian violence.

More reaction to the New Wineskins Convocation

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Since the New Wineskins Association of Churches Convocation about a month ago now I have commented on the response from other bloggers as well as the articles from the Network of Presbyterian Women in Leadership about the role of women in leadership and the response it drew from the NWAC and the Witherspoon Society.  There have been some other comments, reports and analysis coming out that I’ll point to now.

The first official response was a follow-up letter from NWAC co-moderator Garrit Dawson.  In this letter he sets forth his summary of the convocation, the action taken, and a list of “what’s next.”

There was also official comment from Dr. Jeremiah, the State Clerk of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church who was part of the delegation the EPC sent to the convocation.  In his message Dr. Jeremiah emphasizes the global mission emphasis the two groups share.

There has not been official reaction from the PC(USA) to the NWAC Convocation.  It was covered in two articles from the PCUSA News Service (Feb. 9, Feb. 14) and mentioned in passing in the recently published interview with Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick.  There was also the letter from Rev. Kirkpatrick and General Assembly Council Executive Director Linda Valentine that came out before the Convocation that has the appearance of a preemptive strike.

The most recent comment is a series of articles posted on the Witherspoon Society web site that provide news and analysis of the gathering and the NWAC organization.  (From the frequent references to the Presbyterian Outlook article by Leslie Scanlon it would appear that none of these writers were at the convocation.  But neither was I.)

The first article by Gene TeSelle is a brief summary of the meeting and some brief analysis that includes the following:

When there is talk about withdrawal by anyone – right, left, or center – there will be at least the passing thought that it would be “good riddance.” But this is likely to be followed by the feeling that, no matter how much we disagree, we have grown accustomed to each other and may even like each other. Departure is always interpreted as a sign of failure – somewhere, somehow.

But let’s notice that departure to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church would not be to a group that is alienated from the PC(USA) to the extent of anathematizing it. The EPC is in communion with us. We might think of those who withdraw to it as being in a “holding tank,” an interim situation while they think things over. They might even decide to return to the PC(USA), especially if the EPC gets tangled up in debates over women’s ordination. When you think you’re escaping to a purer and more homogeneous communion, you may find that you are only increasing the number of disputes to be worried about.

The second article, also by Gene TeSelle, looks at the NWAC theological heritage and the church order that they have outlined.

The third article, “New Wineskins or Simply Whining?” is an opinion piece by John E. Harris.  In it he takes the NWAC to task for being a very small but vocal minority that is now concerned with ordination issues for women when they deny the same arguments for sexually-active homosexuals.

Finally, Berry Craig, a history teacher, has a commentary likening the NWAC transitioning to the EPC with the secession of the Confederate States.  He said that just as northerners had varying opinions in the 1860’s, so PC(USA) liberals are similarly split between “good riddance” and “the union must be preserved.”

So far I have seen a response to the Witherspoon articles from one person, Bill Crawford, who was at the NWAC Convocation.  Mr. Crawford’s comments can be found in his blog Bayou Christian in an entry titled “Feel the Love.”

A couple of comments of my own:
   When Mr. Harris talks about how small the NWAC minority is he uses a percentage of congregations in the PC(USA).  While I do not deny that the number is small, I suspect that the number of members is actually higher.  The membership numbers for NWAC are not published (that I know of) but I would suspect that the average NWAC church is larger than the average PC(USA) congregation.  I know it is for this corner of the world (Southern California).
   Second, Mr. Harris talks about the progressive organizations never advocating departure from the PC(USA). That to my knowledge is true, but I do know that high-profile progressive congregations have discussed it.
   Finally, several of these articles in the end seem to reduce this discussion to money.  That is, are the big churches trying to leverage or force governing bodies to do certain things under threat of losing giving, and the churches that are leaving wanting to take their property with them?

We will see what else gets published and posted in the coming weeks.

Witherspoon Society response to NPWL comments on women in leadership in EPC

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A week ago I discussed the Network of Presbyterian Women in Leadership (NPWL) articles that asked important and hard questions about how women in leadership would be accepted by the Evangelical Presbyterian Church with the New Wineskins Association of Churches’ expected transition from the PC(USA) to the EPC.  In that posting I commented on a parallel between some of the language used in that articles about the ordination of women with the language that is used in favor of the ordination of active homosexuals.  Others have also noted that parallelism and the Witherspoon Society has posted an open letter that Karen Ellen Kavey of Chapaqqua, NY, wrote about this to Becce Bettridge, Director of the NPWL and author of one of the articles.  Ms. Kavey writes that she is appreciative of Ms. Bettridge asking these questions but then goes on to write:

An unsettling question haunts me: How can someone, such as yourself, feel and express such genuine, palpable, well-reasoned concern for themselves regarding inequality, especially inequality based on interpretation of Scripture, and not feel this very same concern for others?

If, instead of the word “women”, you had substituted all minorities into your wonderful Questions, it would be a perfect essay… a letter for all God’s people.

The question of ordination standards is not an easy one and, as this exchange points out, is a continuum. Where you draw the line as to who should and who should not be ordained varies widely depending on perspective.

Court supports break-away Presbyterian church in Kenya

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It is being reported by Kenya Times and AllAfrica.com that a judge in Nairobi has put a hold on the cancellation of the certification of the Presbyterian Mission Outreach Church, a group that split from the Presbyterian Church of East Africa last year.  The stories report that the Kenyan Registrar of Societies issued the church their certification last December 29 after a background check to be sure that the organization was not a security threat.  The Assistant Registrar subsequently issued a letter canceling the certification saying that the church was a threat to existing peace.

The judge issued a 90 day stay on the cancellation and will hear additional arguments on March 27.

PC(USA) News Service interview with Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick

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The PC(USA) News Service recently ran a news story based on an interview PCNS coordinator Rev. Jerry Van Marter did with Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick.  For the most part the questions and answers were predictable and soft-ball but a few points stick out.  If you will permit me, I am going to intersperse my comments in this post rather than saving them for the end.

Maybe the headline item is that Rev. Kirkpatrick has not ruled out running for a fourth term as Stated Clerk.  He says that he will seek to discern his call to this ministry over the summer.  (Is this like the current political fashion of first announcing your candidacy on a late-night talk show and then making a “formal” announcement later?)

For me the most interesting response was about the Office of the General Assembly’s view of the legal memos on property that have come to be called the “Louisville Papers.”  Rev. Kirkpatrick says:

He said a legal opinion on church property that
denominational critics have derisively called “The Louisville Papers”
and labeled “hard-line” and “secretive” are simply that — legal
opinions on church property law.

“That’s not the advice we’re giving churches and sessions,” Kirkpatrick insisted, citing a more recent paper from his Constitutional Services office entitled “Responding Pastorally to Troubled Churches.” That
document states: “We commend using a response team that seeks a time of
prayer and conversation aimed at understanding the conflict and
identifying steps toward reconciliation.”

I believe that this is the first response I have seen out of the Stated Clerk’s Office about these documents and I am glad there was finally some acknowledgment and explanation of them.  I think we are all hearing a variety of stories from “the trenches” about the different approaches presbyteries are taking.  And, unfortunately, I think that the knowledge of the existence of these memos soured the environment and forced congregations to respond aggressively in the process of leaving the denomination rather than trusting the presbyteries and the connectional process that we have.  Yes, I am aware of the hard-fought civil legal battles that have been and are being fought.  I would like to hear more about the “vast majority of cases” that Rev. Kirkpatrick refers to where the presbyteries are not going to court.

Beyond that the interview goes over much of the denominational, international and ecumenical events that have been covered in other PCNS news stories over the last couple of months and how from these events the story says “Despite the departure of a handful of disaffected Presbyterian Church(U.S.A.) congregations in recent months, General Assembly Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick remains convinced that the troubled denomination “is in a potential tipping point of renewed growth and vitality.””

I think all of us hope that he is correct.

Complaint re-filed against Rev. Janet Edwards in Pittsburgh Presbytery

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This past fall I was following a case in the PJC of Pittsburgh Presbytery where the Rev. Janet Edwards was accused of conducting a wedding for two women.  (My previous posts of  Sept. 18, Nov. 15, Dec. 11)  The charges again the Rev. Edwards were dismissed because the investigating committee filed the charges four days late.

It was announced and expected that the complaint would be re-filed and late last week the Rev. James Yearsley did so.  The original complaint was by Rev. Yearsley alone; the new complaint is also signed by seven additional ministers and six elders.  It is interesting to note that of the fourteen individuals signing the complaint, only Elder Robert Gagnon is currently in Pittsburgh Presbytery.  And of the signers of the complaint two are recognizable names in the Presbyterian commentator community:  Professor Gagnon and the Rev. Toby Brown (A Classical Presbyterian).

The PC(USA) New Service has issued a press release on the developments as well as some coverage in the popular media, including the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

A new investigating committee will be formed.

Scottish Religious Leaders to Attend Celtics/Rangers Football Match

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Last December, as part of a series of efforts to halt sectarian violence in Scotland, there were discussions about the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, the Right Rev. Alan McDonald,  and the Scottish Roman Catholic Cardinal Keith O’Brien attending a Rangers/Celtics football (soccer) match.  Due to security and then scheduling issues the idea was put on hold.  It was announced over the weekend that Rev. McDonald and Cardinal O’Brien would be joining First Minister Jack McConnell at the Celtics/Rangers match at Old Firm in Glasgow this coming Sunday.  They will also be joined by religious leaders from other faiths.