{"id":268,"date":"2011-08-16T05:24:41","date_gmt":"2011-08-16T12:24:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gajunkie.info\/blog\/?p=268"},"modified":"2011-08-16T05:24:41","modified_gmt":"2011-08-16T12:24:41","slug":"fellowship-pcusa-gathering-some-things-to-pay-attention-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.gajunkie.com\/?p=268","title":{"rendered":"Fellowship PC(USA) Gathering &#8212; Some Things To Pay Attention To"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><font><\/font><font><\/font><font><\/font>I have to admit that for the purposes of blogging I was not really tracking the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fellowship-pres.org\" target=\"_blank\">Fellowship PC(USA)<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fellowship-pres.org\/august-gathering\/\" target=\"_blank\">Gathering<\/a> too closely.&nbsp; Yes, I knew it was coming up but I did not have it ranked too high on the news scale of the stories I was tracking. It struck me as a bit of a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newwineskinsassociation.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">New Wineskins<\/a> redo and instead I have been struggling to stay on top of other news items, especially in the midst of General Assembly Season.<\/p>\n<p>Now, this may seem contradictory, but in the interest of full disclosure let me also say that personally I have been very curious about the Fellowship gathering and how it fits into the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pcusa.org\" target=\"_blank\">PC(USA)<\/a> big picture at the present time.&nbsp; In fact I was interested enough, and the questions in my own congregation were numerous enough, that I very seriously considered attending. However, family commitments are keeping me home that weekend and it seemed a long way to go for a two day meeting.<\/p>\n<p>Having now put my cards on the table, I will continue by saying that I have changed my mind and now consider this something that all of us in the PC(USA) need to be watching.<\/p>\n<p>What changed my mind? First, the size.<\/p>\n<p>At the present time the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fellowship-pres.org\/what-to-expect-in-minneapolis\/\" target=\"_blank\">Fellowship PC(USA) is saying<\/a> that they have pre-registered an overflow crowd of 1900 attendees.&nbsp; Checking some numbers, it seems that this will be the largest gathering in the PC(USA) this year, and I think it will make it one of the largest gatherings of Presbyterians in the world this year.<\/p>\n<p>How big? Not as big as a PC(USA) General Assembly, but the PC(USA) Big Tent gathering had an <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.pcusa.org\/news\/2011\/6\/30\/wheres-love\/\">announced attendance<\/a> of around 1700.&nbsp; The <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/nextchurch.net\/site\/?p=1\">NEXT Church event<\/a> was 350.&nbsp; The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pcaac.org\/2011GeneralAssembly\/Actionsofthe39thGeneralAssembly.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">PCA General Assembly had 1,183 commissioners<\/a> and the Church of Scotland GA had around 800 commissioners.&nbsp; For the GA&#8217;s, if we make a rough estimate that observers are about the same number as commissioners that puts their total attendance in the same ball park as the Fellowship PC(USA) is expecting. In the PC(USA), 1,900 members would represent almost one in every thousand of the total membership. If you want to consider congregations, the 830 congregations expected to have representatives make up about 8% of the PC(USA) churches.<\/p>\n<p>Is it a minority? Yes. Is it significant? In light of the size of other gatherings I think it is.&nbsp; The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fellowship-pres.org\/what-to-expect-in-minneapolis\/\" target=\"_blank\">material from the Fellowship<\/a> says &#8220;The initial planners thought there might be a few hundred people interested in new ways of &#8216;being church&#8217;&#8230;&#8221; This event has evolved into something bigger.<\/p>\n<p>So lets be honest &#8211; to bring together the largest gathering of Presbyterians this year with a six-month lead time says something about the state of the PC(USA). However, I think it says more about the uncertainty some members of the PC(USA) feel than it necessarily says about the new organization itself.<\/p>\n<p>Why do I say this?&nbsp; Consider the developments in that time.&nbsp; The Fellowship PC(USA) launched with a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.fellowship-pres.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/A-Letter-to-the-PCUSA-February-2011-final3.pdf\">letter<\/a> and a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.fellowship-pres.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/White-Paper.pdf\">white paper<\/a> which quickly needed <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.fellowship-pres.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Clarification-Background.pdf\">some clarifications<\/a> added to it. Early on there was a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/vimeo.com\/21090976\">video by the Rev. Jim Singleton<\/a> talking about a &#8220;new kind of fellowship&#8221; as a group mostly within the PC(USA), but maybe some outside it, and advertises it as an idea to be presented to the Fellowship gathering.&nbsp; There is also <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/vimeo.com\/21613040\">an interesting video by Rev. Singleton<\/a> where he takes credit for the &#8220;deathly ill&#8221; phrase and gives the explanation behind it.&nbsp; Then in May, with the impending passage of Amendment 10-A, the Fellowship issued <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fellowship-pres.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/May-2011-Letter-to-Fellowship.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">another letter<\/a> that said &#8220;we are committed to starting a new Reformed Body without leaving the PC(USA).&#8221;&nbsp; So having a portion of the Fellowship outside but in correspondence with the PC(USA) had been de-emphasized.&nbsp; (Although it should be noted that one of the signatories to that letter is Head of Staff at a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.chapelhillpc.org\/MyOffice\/Blog\/ViewBlog.asp?bid=160&amp;blog=y\">church that is now exploring dismissal<\/a>, but keep reading because this letter has been superseded.)&nbsp; The Fellowship also announced the hiring of the Rev. Dr. Paul Detterman as Administrative Consultant for the Fellowship.&nbsp; On June 24 they <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.fellowship-pres.org\/registration-update-for-the-august-gathering\/\">announced<\/a> that the main room had reached capacity and that registrations were going to be taken for an overflow room bringing the total possible registration to 1,450.<\/p>\n<p>At about that time <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fellowship-pres.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Update-June-28.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">another letter was posted<\/a> with new goals for the Fellowship.&nbsp; They say:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The goal of the Fellowship is to form a new way for Presbyterian<br \/>\ncongregations to relate, recapturing more of what it means to be the<br \/>\nbody of Christ.&nbsp; The mission of the Fellowship is to create an<br \/>\nenvironment in which these congregations can grow and thrive as<br \/>\ncommunities in covenant.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And they acknowledge that the landscape has changed:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>While the original motivation for the Fellowship was a desire to<br \/>\npositively impact the decline and increasing dysfunction of the PC(USA),<br \/>\nthe passage of Amendment 10-A has brought an enormous challenge into<br \/>\nthe discussion.&nbsp; Suddenly, a new reality has emerged in our<br \/>\ndenomination, creating a crisis of integrity for Presbyterians who<br \/>\nremain committed to theological orthodoxy.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And the new Reformed Body outside the PC(USA) was back on the table:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nOne option under the Fellowship umbrella will be a new Reformed body<br \/>\nthat, while desiring to maintain mutually helpful association with the<br \/>\nPC(USA) and its related institutions, will nonetheless provide a clear<br \/>\nand distinct identity beyond the PC(USA).&nbsp; Documents required for the<br \/>\ncreation of this new Reformed body are in process.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And in an interesting admission they say &#8220;We believe the new Form of Government (nFoG) provides specific options previously unavailable to us, and we are exploring these.&#8221; And somewhere about this time the name changed from the Fellowship PC(USA) to Fellowship of Presbyterians. (For reference, the new domain name fellowship-pres.org was acquired on August 11) [Update: The <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.fellowship-pres.org\/what-is-in-a-name\/\">Fellowship discussed<\/a> their new name and logo on August 16.]<\/p>\n<p>The final step in this prologue to the meeting was a letter from the Administrative Consultant titled &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.fellowship-pres.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/What-to-Expect-in-Minneapolis.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">What to expect in Minneapolis&#8230;<\/a>&#8221;&nbsp; I will return to this in just a moment.<\/p>\n<p>It is important to also recognize that while this may be the most high-profile effort under way there are numerous other initiatives floating around.&nbsp; One of these is the creation of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.presbycoalition.org\/Committees%20of%20Correspondence%20SBP.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Presbytery Committees of Correspondence<\/a>. (News coverage by the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pres-outlook.com\/news-and-analysis\/1-news-a-analysis\/11469-santa-barbara-initiative-scopes-another-path-for-conservatives-.html\" target=\"_blank\">Presbyterian Outlook<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/layman.org\/News.aspx?article=28674\" target=\"_blank\">The Layman<\/a>) (And for those not familiar with the term, &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.u-s-history.com\/pages\/h675.html\" target=\"_blank\">Committees of Correspondence<\/a>&#8221; is a loaded term going back to the American Revolution)&nbsp; In another development the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.presbyterysd.org\" target=\"_blank\">Presbytery of San Diego<\/a> has created an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.presbyterysd.org\/nextwave.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Administrative Commission<\/a> to work with churches interested in moving their membership to them as a like-minded presbytery, &#8220;if the way be clear,&#8221; effectively forming a flexible, semi-geographic, or &#8220;fuzzy-boundary&#8221; (as I like to call it) presbytery.<\/p>\n<p>So, in this present landscape what should we be watching for at the Fellowship Gathering? In looking this over I see a Rorschach Test in all of this &#8211; if there are 2000 people there will there be 2000 different opinions and expectations?&nbsp; Has the Gathering come to represent a visible way of expressing protest or uncertainty about the PC(USA) without enough common vision?&nbsp; In his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fellowship-pres.org\/what-to-expect-in-minneapolis\/\" target=\"_blank\">recent letter<\/a> Mr. Detterman admits as much:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nAs the spring progressed, however, and it became clear that ordination<br \/>\nstandards and a significant portion of the Book of Order would be<br \/>\nchanged, the August Gathering became the go-to place for many more<br \/>\npeople with a wide range of different needs and concerns.&nbsp; As the number<br \/>\nof registrations grew, so did people\u2019s expectations.&nbsp; Now with well<br \/>\nover 1,900 people attending, the \u201cgathering\u201d appears to have morphed<br \/>\ninto a \u201chappening.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>and<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nThe 830+ congregations sending representatives have many different<br \/>\nneeds.&nbsp; Some are looking for a \u201csafe\u201d place in the wake of changed<br \/>\nordination standards.&nbsp; Others are looking for innovation and<br \/>\nopportunities for missional engagement.&nbsp; Some are committed to<br \/>\ncontinuing long-term relationships with the PC(USA) while others will be<br \/>\nseeking assistance toward an expedient departure.&nbsp; People who are<br \/>\ncoming to Minneapolis looking for an ecclesiastical \u201csilver bullet,\u201d an<br \/>\ninstant solution that calms the waters of their ministry will be<br \/>\ndisappointed.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>With that introduction the letter gives four things, or &#8220;tiers,&#8221; to expect:<\/p>\n<p>First, for those happy, content, or accepting of where they are the gathering will be offering &#8220;ideas and options for nurturing Christ-honoring ministry in place.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Second, some attendees will be interested in innovative and creative changes in presbytery structure. &#8220;A few of these models will be explained and explored.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Third, for congregations not in a comfortable place in their presbytery &#8220;new possibilities for \u201caffiliate\u201d congregations will be introduced.&#8221; This will also include discussion of possible changes to be sent to the 220th General Assembly.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, there is the option of a &#8220;new Reformed Body,&#8221; now explicitly distinct from the PC(USA). This goes on to say:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The idea is to recapture our core identity, believing that Reformed<br \/>\ntheology has much to say to our contemporary culture, and that Calvin\u2019s<br \/>\noriginal vision for the nature and role of presbyteries offers a better<br \/>\nway of relating to one another than most of us are experiencing now.&nbsp; In<br \/>\nforming this new Reformed \u201cbody,\u201d there is also the opportunity to move<br \/>\nwith imagination and energy into the reality of a post-denominational<br \/>\nworld.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The letter is clear that no votes will be taken at this meeting.&nbsp; The letter says &#8220;We will be presenting a carefully-designed range of options, all covered<br \/>\nby a large \u201cumbrella\u201d of shared commitment to Jesus Christ, to God\u2019s<br \/>\nmission in the world, and to each other.&nbsp; Discernment and intelligent,<br \/>\nChrist-honoring discussion will be the heart and soul of our time<br \/>\ntogether.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>I have to think that there are a few more possibilities out there as well so it will be interesting what comes to the surface and what ideas and reports come out of the Gathering.<\/p>\n<p>It will also be interesting to see what reaction there is from outside the Gathering.&nbsp; There has been a bit so far from beyond the Fellowship&#8217;s sphere of influence.&nbsp; <a href=\"http:\/\/shawncoons.posterous.com\/an-appeal-to-those-attending-the-fellowship-p\" target=\"_blank\">Shawn Coons has written<\/a> encouraging them to honor the statement on the web site that their actions be &#8220;mutually helpful association with the PC(USA) and its related institutions.&#8221;&nbsp; An article from The Christian Century anticipates a strong preference for the fourth option above in a piece titled &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.christiancentury.org\/blogs\/archive\/2011-08\/lull-another-presbyterian-storm\" target=\"_blank\">Lull before another Presbyterian storm?<\/a>&#8220;<\/p>\n<p>I do want to point you to one more video before I go.&nbsp; One of the keynote speakers at the Gathering is Dr. Richard Mouw, President of Fuller Theological Seminary.&nbsp; He was gracious enough to take the time and speak with my presbytery and I understand that he has been speaking to others as well.&nbsp; Los Ranchos Presbytery heard him and <a href=\"http:\/\/vimeo.com\/channels\/111906#20379555\" target=\"_blank\">posted the video of his hour-long talk<\/a>.&nbsp; It is not exactly the same as what he discussed with us, but his perspective and passionate argument for staying together as a denomination make the video well worth watching.&nbsp; (At our presbytery meeting he spoke more about practical ways that we could work out to stay together.)<\/p>\n<p>So, I look forward to hearing about this gathering from a distance.&nbsp; The official Twitter account for the Fellowship is <strike>@fellowshippcusa<\/strike> [Update: changed to <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/fellowshippres\" target=\"_blank\">@fellowshippres<\/a>] and the announced hashtag is <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=%23MN2011\">#MN2011<\/a>. We will see who else is tweeting and blogging from the event. And as it goes, maybe we will have enough pieces of a large jigsaw puzzle to start finding a picture emerging.<\/p>\n<p>[As a postscript let me point out that the Presbyterian Outlook was working on this event in very similar directions as I was and got their stuff posted over the weekend.&nbsp; They have (at least) one <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pres-outlook.com\/component\/content\/article\/44-breaking-news\/11740-meetings-by-foes-of-trends-in-church-could-hold-portent-for-its-future.html\" target=\"_blank\">article about the Gathering<\/a>, another on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pres-outlook.com\/component\/content\/article\/44-breaking-news\/11738-fellowship-pcusa-sends-mixed-signals-minneapolis-gathering-will-be-multi-tier-ed.html\" target=\"_blank\">the mixed signals<\/a>, and an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pres-outlook.com\/component\/content\/article\/44-breaking-news\/11741-that-the-devils-might-weep.html\" target=\"_blank\">editorial<\/a>.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have to admit that for the purposes of blogging I was not really tracking the Fellowship PC(USA) Gathering too closely.&nbsp; 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