| |
Archives for February 2008 |
This page lists all our postings from February
|
For an index to all our reports
and analyses
on the 219th General Assembly
For links to
all our archive pages, listed by months,
click here. |
2/29/08 |
The 218th General Assembly is drawing near!
We invite you to take a look at
the events we
have planned during the Assembly, and plan on joining us for
as many as you can. The listing also includes instructions
for ordering tickets from the G.A. Ticket Service. |
2/28/08 |

Christian Peace Witness for
Iraq
March 6 - 10, 2008
Washington, DC ... and around the country
Witness in
Washington, Vigil in your Community
Join thousands of Christians in Washington D.C.
and across that country as we worship and witness together to
say “YES” to peace and “NO” to the War in Iraq. Read our
invitation and principles. Events start Thursday, March 6 and
end Monday, March 10.
This event is being coordinated with the
6th Annual
Ecumenical Advocacy Days – Claiming a Vision of True
Security.
There's lots more, too!
Check it out
>> |
Mind the Gap! The Other Inconvenient
Truth: The Growing Gap between Rich and Poor
This is the introductory note in our
special issue of Network News, focusing on the
growing rich-poor gap.
The whole issue is posted in PDF format, but we’ll also
post some of the articles in regular web format (html), for
quicker accessibility.
The world isn’t just getting warmer, it’s
getting more deeply divided between rich and poor.
We began discussing the need to dedicate an
issue of Network News to this topic in a Board meeting
back in April of 2007. The economy had not yet begun to tank but
there were ample signs that all was not well and would probably
get worse. Since that initial discussion, it has become clear
that the gap is not so much between the rich and poor as it is
between the rich and everyone else. And the gap is not just a
matter of wealth, it’s also a growing differential in power, as
labor unions and other structures that have helped balance the
rich-poor differential are being attacked and weakened.
More >>
Labor
justice – up close and personal
Trina Zelle, who is co-moderator of the
Witherspoon Society (and editor of this issue of Network News),
is the Lead Organizer and Director of Interfaith Worker Justice
of Arizona
Out of her experience she tells of the
struggles of working people in Arizona (and not just there!).
Then she looks briefly at some of the ways people of faith can
act for justice for workers.
Presbyterians Advocate Worker Justice
Kim Bobo, who serves as Executive Director of
Interfaith Worker Justice at the national level, looks at the
many ways Presbyterians have been involved in working against
hunger and poverty in the U.S. over recent decades. She explains
why labor unions are necessary, and how government policies need
to be shaped to provide greater justice for working people.
Finally, she offers ways Presbyterians can “put your faith to
work for workers.”
Mission and that
Other Inconvenient Truth
by Jake Young
Jake Young, as co-moderator of Witherspoon,
was invited to participate in the consultation on World Mission,
held by the PC(USA) on January 16-18, 2008 in Dallas, Texas,
around the theme, “Renewed Call to Presbyterian Mission in the
World! A Dialogue for Our Shared Future.”
He reports his own appreciation of the sense
of understanding and respect that he found in the group, but
notes too that at least one of the six invited global partners,
the Rev. Milton Mejia of Colombia, reminded the group that the
world is far from the “flat” and fair world that Thomas Friedman
– and many of the conference participants – seem to find so
comforting, and (for them) comfortable. |
A comment on the rejection of "scruples"
abominable scruples
Dearly beloved!
I have always opposed any and all restorations
of monastic vows in the courts of our church.
I agree with Martin Luther's arguments, as did
John Calvin, in his work opposing monastic vows. I also agree
with Calvin's finding that monastic vows, mixed with
superstition, are based on our ability to earn God's favor and
so cannot be anything other than abominations in God's sight.
How dare we have reinstated vows of chastity and obedience? I
find the resulting judicial flagellations wholly unbefitting the
Reformed tradition.
What next? Will we now restore the vow of
poverty?
Rev. Ralph Garlin Clingan, PhD, member, the Board of
Directors of PHEWA, Professor of Theology, Saint Peter's
College, Jersey City, NJ
For more on
the recent decisions by the General Assembly's Permanent
Judicial Commission, which appear to deny candidates for
ordination the possibility of stating "scruples" or departures
on grounds of conscience from requirements of behavior. |
2/25/08 |
The Winter 2008 issue of
Network News is now available here.
Focusing on the theme, "The Other Inconvenient
Truth: The Growing Gap between Rich and Poor," we offer a
variety of perspectives on issues of justice for working people,
seen through the work of the organization Interfaith Worker
Justice, reflections on issues of worker justice in Latin
America, the growing "industry" of union busting, and much more.
Click here for a
list of the contents. |
When Is Growth
a Good Thing?
Distributive Justice in the
Age of Globalization
by Gene TeSelle
Here’s an
additional look at the growing rich-poor gap in a global
perspective. (The current issue of Network News focuses
on that, but we ran out of time and space to include this
important take on the subject.)
Thomas Pogge, a
German scholar and student of John Rawls (author of Theory of
Justice in 1971), notes that while India and China have
experienced economic growth recently, the people of China, like
those in the U.S., are increasingly divided by the rich-poor
gap.
He goes on to
suggest that this gap could be reduced significantly, though,as
“doubling the wealth of the bottom 40 percent [of the
world’s people] would take only 1.55 percent of the wealth of
the top 1 percent. Doubling the wealth of the bottom 80
percent would take only 15.3 percent of the wealth of the
top 1 percent.”
The full essay >> |
Another tragic hate crime
Eighth grade boy shot and killed for being gay
Read the New York Times report >>
Michael Adee of More Light Presbyterians offered
this reflection for Presbyterians:
A Presbyterian pastor speaks to the tragic death of a gay teen
in Oxnard, CA; what will his Church say at the 218th General
Assembly in San Jose in June?It is a
tragic day when a teenager kills another teenager for being
different, ostensibly because he was gay – and because he did
not conform to conventional male dress codes. Lawrence King, at
age 15, is dead and Brandon McInerney, age 14, is charged with
his death as a hate crime.
King had recently come out as gay to
classmates, and his recent wearing of mascara, lipstick and
jewelry to school resulted in bullying by male students at
school. Being different, being gay or transgender should not
cost someone their life, not in this country, not anywhere in
the world.
More Light Presbyterians and I give thanks to
God for a pastor who gets it and who lovingly and powerfully
evoked Psalm 139 at a memorial service for Lawrence King at
Westminster Presbyterian Church: "God knit Larry together and
made him wonderfully complex ... Larry was a masterpiece,” said
the Rev. Dan Birchfield, pastor, Westminster Presbyterian
Church, Oxnard.
More >> |
Where's the debate over gun control?
Liliana Segura, an AlterNet staff writer and Editor of the
Rights & Liberties section, posted this reflection on Feb. 22:
The campus shooting at Northern Illinois
University may be old news by now, but forgive me for thinking
it might have presented an opportunity at last night's debate
for someone to ask Hillary or Obama about gun control. Can you
remember the last time either candidate talked about it? The
last time any Democratic presidential contender did? Thinking "Dems"
and "guns" leaves me with images of John Kerry in a hunting
outfit. Embarrassing.
The rest
of her essay >>
More on gun control >> |
Christians and politics Two modest
pointers toward a meeting of religious right and left
What Does a Progressive Christian Believe?
A Guide for the Searching, the Open, and the Curious
Delwin Brown, dean emeritus of the Pacific
School of Religion and formerly Professor of Christian Theology
at Iliff School of Theology, “writes with a passion for clear
thinking about what it means to be a pluralistic, compassionate,
open-minded, justice-seeking Christian today,” according to
a
reviewer on the website of The Center for Progressive
Christianity.
While he is
critical of both conservative and liberal , Brown “reclaims the
ideas and language of traditional Christianity, carefully
reconstructing them in positive ways. If there is such a thing
as progressive Christian apologetics, Brown has come close to
producing it. For example, he rediscovers a positive meaning for
‘biblical authority’.”
The reviewer
summarizes some of Brown’s major points:
A uniquely
helpful part of the book is Brown’s wisdom about the role of
religion in politics. “There are good reasons, then, for
urging that religion be kept out of politics. The only
problem is that it is not possible...” (p 112) So he
proposes six ways to manage the inevitable relationship
between the two: don’t privilege any one religion,
understand one’s adversaries, find common values, seek
compromise, don’t outlaw conduct unless it directly
undermines the common good, and deliberate with others in
community. “Our Christian voice is vitally important. It
endeavors to speak reflectively on behalf of justice,
repentance, inclusion, and healing. The progressive
Christian witness is ‘good news’ for everyone.” (p 121)
And maybe things are changing anyway, as the generations change
...
The Austin (TX) American-Statesman carries a report
of a Tuesday-night gathering in an Austin restaurant of “mostly
20- and 30-something Christians [who] drank iced tea, red wine
and Belgian ale and traded thoughts about the war in Iraq,
abortion and immigration reform. Some of them support Sen. John
McCain for president. Some are torn between Sens. Hillary
Clinton and Barack Obama. All said their Christian faith informs
the decision they will make in the voting booth.”
Reporter Eileen
E. Flynn writes that “at the moment, no candidate can lay sole
claim to the evangelical vote,” citing Michael Lindsay, a
sociology professor at Rice University in Houston, author of
Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the
American Elite, who pictures evangelicals today as much more
“diverse and sophisticated than the stereotype of the right-wing
fundamentalist.”
She adds that
evangelical writer Tony Campolo sees this shift as largely
generational, with evangelicals under 40 as more concerned about
poverty and environmental issues rather than abortion and
same-sex marriage. |
2/22/08 |
Dangerous toys from China? It's a US problem too.
Carl Pope, the executive director of the Sierra
Club, argues that the problem of toxic toys and all the other
stuff coming into the US from China is less a reflection of
China’s problems than it is a result of “a business model in
which companies outsource manufacturing under short-term,
low-cost contracts to the firm that will follow their design
standards most cheaply. All that is really Fisher-Price about
Dora the Explorer is the design – the product itself is made in
a factory over which the company has almost no control. It
doesn't manage the working conditions, environmental standards,
or safety practices. As a result, it no longer controls the
product itself.”
In short, the desperate drive for maximizing
short-term profits is undermining any long-term planning and
development – and thus responsibility.
The forthcoming issue of Witherspoon’s
Network News is focusing on another side of the same
problem, as it affects workers both in the US and around the
world.
Carl Pope’s article >> |
Sojourners offers training for leaders in justice-building
Is your congregation looking for practical ways
to help build the movement to overcome poverty in the U.S. and
around the world?
There's no better time than an election year
to make our voices heard on behalf of the "least of these,"
which is why Sojourners is offering an in-depth, practical
training this June—teaching hundreds of passionate and dedicated
Christians how to join us in changing the political landscape in
2008 and beyond.
Participants in this year's Pentecost
conference, held June 13 through 15 at Trinity College in
Washington, D.C., will learn how to impact their congregations
and communities with the biblical mandate for social justice.
Trainings will focus on everything from raising awareness about
why Christians must engage in politics, to using new media tools
to share the goal of ending poverty with the whole world.
More >> |
2/21/08 |

Christian Peace Witness for
Iraq
March 6 - 10, 2008
Washington, DC ... and around the country
Witness in
Washington, Vigil in your Community
Join thousands of Christians in Washington D.C.
and across that country as we worship and witness together to
say “YES” to peace and “NO” to the War in Iraq. Read our
invitation and principles. Events start Thursday, March 6 and
end Monday, March 10.
This event is being coordinated with the
6th Annual
Ecumenical Advocacy Days – Claiming a Vision of True
Security.
There's lots more, too!
Check it out
>> |
Knox Presbytery asks GA to reverse GA-PJC decision on
ordination standards, with new AI The
Presbytery of John Knox has adopted an overture asking the 218th
General Assembly (2008) to adopt the following Authoritative
Interpretation of Section G-6.0108 of the Book of Order:
The requirements of G-6.0108 apply equally
to all ordination standards of the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.). G-6.0108 requires examining bodies to give
prayerful and careful consideration, on an individual,
case-by-case basis, to any departure in matters of belief or
practice that a candidate may declare during examination.
However, the examining body is not required to accept a
departure from standards, and cannot excuse a candidate's
inability to perform the constitutional functions unique to
his or her office (such as administration of the
sacraments).
Dr. Mark Achtemeier, in a letter to Knox
Presbytery sent with the proposed overture, explained that "This
overture is prompted by events of this past Monday, in which the
General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission issued a decision
(Bush v. Presbytery of Pittsburgh) that effectively nullifies
Recommendation 5 of the [PUP Task Force].”
Achtemeier’s intent is apparently to recover
some of what the PUP Task Force intended, by allowing the
possibility of departures for standards in the Book of Order
relating to behavior as well as belief.
Read the report of PresbyWeb >>
The full text
of the overture >> |
When “‘prayers’ just won’t do”
On the recent spate of school killings and challenge of the
gun lobby
Tim Rutten, writing in the Los Angeles
Times recently, lamented the numerous shootings recently in
schools around the nation.
All these wrenchingly tragic crimes are
linked by a common factor – the ubiquity of guns in America.
Given that we're in the midst of the most hotly contested
presidential campaign in recent memory, you'd think that all
this bloodletting might become a campaign issue. If you
thought that, you'd have reckoned without regard to the gun
lobby's near-total victory among the politicians of both
political parties. ...
The truth is that guns make the malicious,
the malcontent and the mad powerful. They confer the power
of life and death on the demented and deranged – and yet we
do nothing. There are more guns circulating in the U.S.
today than ever before, somewhere around 250 million,
according to projections by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms.
Rutten’s article >>
Your WebWeaver found this article instructive,
but checked it out with Catherine Snyder, who has just joined
the Board of the Witherspoon Society. She serves as a campus
minister at Virginia Tech, where 32 students were gunned down
last April. She wrote this response:
Dear Doug,
Thank you for calling Tim Rutten's piece
"'Prayers' just won't do" to my attention. I hope you will
share it with as many people as you can. As a minister, I
confess my sadness that the most faithful and courageous
responses I have seen since April 16 have come from the
secular press. Churches seem to be as afraid as our
politicians when it comes to expressing outrage over these
preventable tragedies. It is shameful how we tolerate this
violence and do so little to change the laws that would make
such a difference in this country. We are not powerless,
though we act so.
Grace and peace,
Catherine
She suggested these articles, too:
It begins: “A sound and bipartisan public
lands bill is being held up in the Senate in behalf of the
gun lobby’s attempt to overturn decades-old safety
regulations barring people from carrying loaded guns in
national parks.”
More on gun
control legislation >> |
When African-American history is
just known as history
The
Vice-Moderator of the PC(USA), Elder Robert E. Wilson, is
sending a message to the church about Black History Month.
It begins:
Do we
need Black History Month? Yes.
But we need to get back to the original intent of the
celebration.
Black
History Month began as a yearlong study and discussion of
African-American history, with the month of February as the
kickoff. Many say Black History Month is necessary until
textbooks more completely and accurately portray the
contributions Blacks have made.
We need to
make sure books and curricula are upgraded so that schools
and churches can teach Black History the whole year, rather
than one month. Black students, as well as Asians, Native
American, Hispanic/Latino and White students need to know
more about African American culture than just the history
associated with slave owners.
More >> |
No 2 Torture Announces a Youtube
Video Contest,
AND
they are asking for help to generate $10,000 in prize money.
Starting April 1st
No2Torture will begin soliciting submissions on the popular site
Youtube, of 60 second videos that address from a No 2 Torture
perspective the question, "What's the big deal about torture?"
They will collect these submissions to be judged by a panel of
prominent activists in the Anti-Torture movement. The ten best
videos will be awarded $1,000 prizes. The money for these cash
awards must come from you, our No 2 Torture supporters. All of
these videos will then become the property of No 2 Torture to be
used in future information campaigns online and on television to
continue conscience raising in this nation. They have already
been given a $1,000 matching gift and $300 towards the match.
More on the
contest, and the need for support >> |
Installing Your Husband ...
Dear Tech Support,Last year I upgraded
from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow
down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower
and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under
Boyfriend 5.0.In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other
valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention
6.5 and then installed undesirable programs such as NBA 5.0, NFL
3.0 and Golf Clubs 4.1. Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and
Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I've tried running
Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I
do?
Signed,
Desperate
Read the response from Tech Support >> |
2/20/08 |
Tonight!
Or, like, maybe tomorrow??
Satellite shoot-down nothing more than anti-satellite test
The planned Pentagon shoot down of the wayward
U.S. military satellite is nothing more than an opportunity to
test new Star Wars anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) technology says
the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space.
"The Bush administration is magnifying the
risk to justify the testing of new dangerous and provocative
offensive space warfare technologies,” says Bruce Gagnon,
Coordinator of the Global Network, which is based in Maine.
More >> |
2/18/08 |
Following up on the
PJC
ruling against gay ordination |
A Witherspoon comment
from Gene TeSelle, Witherspoon Society Issues Analyst
The PJC decisions need to be corrected – by a new Authoritative
Interpretation and by deleting or replacing G-6.0106bThe recent decisions of the
General Assembly's Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) in three
cases are disappointing in that they give an over-simplified
response to a complex question and introduce further confusions
into the life of the church.
TeSelle's brief analysis asks what these
decisions affirm, and what they deny; how they confuse our
priorities, and what can be done.
Read it all >> |
More Light
Presbyterians has issued a statement adopted
unanimously by their Board, saying in light of the PJC ruling:
It is time for Presbyterians to end the
discrimination against their LGBT sisters and brothers and
to honor their calls to ordained office. This judicial
ruling further entrenches the unjust ordination standard in
G-6.0106b. MLP hopes that this ruling will also stop what we
now know to be futile and divisive attempts to interpret or
seek ways around what really must be removed. Since 1997,
More Light Presbyterians has consistently maintained that
the only response to the unacceptable and impossible choices
imposed on LGBT persons is to change our constitution.
It’s about time!
The
full MLP statement >> |
A response from one deeply affected by the PJC decision:
Dr. Paul Capetz, who was restored to ordained
ministry just three weeks ago by
action
of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area, has written this
very personal comment (slightly edited) in response to friends
who have been contacting him to express their concern and
support.
Dear friends,Since many
of you have expressed concern for me these past few days since
the PJC handed down its ruling which portends to overturn the
presbytery's decision to restore me to ordained office, I send
you these observations and thoughts.
Frankly, I just haven't been answering my
phone – I haven't got the energy even to talk with people. I'm
feeling punched in the gut by the church – waiting for the PJC
to overturn the presbytery's decision restoring me to ordained
minister – I can't begin to put together into words all my
thoughts and feelings – sheer disbelief and outrage may be close
to the mark.
I never would have requested to be restored if
I hadn't been completely convinced from a close reading of the
PUP report that was adopted as AI by the GA in 2006 that this
was a completely legal thing to do. Moreover, the Committee on
Ministry and the presbytery would never have gone through such a
lengthy and complicated process had not everyone believed that
this was in accord with the polity. Furthermore, the COM and
presbytery were so careful to do everything "decently and in
order" so that no missteps were taken.
The rest of Paul Capetz' note > |
Covenant Network responds to recent PJC decision
In response to the recent GAPJC rulings, Covenant
Network Co-Moderators Jon Walton and Deborah Block issued a
statement saying in part:
One decision of the PJC was profoundly
disappointing. In the case of Bush v. Pittsburgh Presbytery,
the PJC ruled that the second sentence (including “chastity
in singleness”) of G.6-0106b is an “essential of Reformed
faith and polity,” from which behavioral departure is not
acceptable for those seeking church office. This ruling
lifts one sentence in the Book of Order to a position of
authority above all others in the Constitution, including
the Book of Confessions of the church. We do not believe
that there is any sound theological or legal basis for
making such a distinction. . . .
In inexplicably lifting up one sentence as
outside the bounds of discernment, the PJC appears to have
disregarded the wisdom of that General Assembly and its
clear intention as made explicit in the report of the
Theological Task Force. We pledge to do everything we can to
help set the church back on the path that the PJC decision
has partially blocked.
Read the full statement >> |
"In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to
battle..." Blogger John Shuck offers a sharp
look at the state of the PC(USA) in light of the recent GA PJC
decision, and the various battle lines that seem to be shaping up
for the 218th General Assembly, to be held in San Jose,
Cal., June 21 - 28, 2008.
Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of
Elizabethton, Tenn., Shuck is clear and thoughtful and very
forthright in his opinions. And sometimes funny, too. Whether you’re
on the left, or right, or somewhere in the “broad middle” of the
Presbyterian Church, you may disagree with his views. We know he’ll
welcome your notes of discontent (or who knows, maybe even a good
word or two). And we hope you’ll send us a note here, too, so we can
talk more about it here.
He concludes:
It is time for moderates to stand up and do
the good thing. Yes, if the June GA does remove the AI and send
to the presbyteries the opportunity to remove G-6.0106b there
will be an outcry from the right wing. They will be well-funded.
They will threaten to shoot the denomination in the head by
withholding funds and so forth. It will get ugly. So? Toughen
up.
Heterosexual prejudice is the presenting issue.
That is only the surface issue. The real issues are much deeper.
These issues are ultimately about freedom. Freedom of thought
and freedom to change and to grow. Fundamentalists will have
none of that. No, you may not like many of my or others'
progressive theological ideas. But it is good for you that we
participate in a denomination in which we can express them.
Freedom of thought does not come without the
willingness to defend it. Moderates, you are the ones who will
make it happen or not. I hope that you will go with your heart
on the lgbt issue and go for freedom of thought on theological,
social, and political issues. Only from that standpoint can we
really be a church that can address the issues we face that are
much larger than worrying about who has gay cooties.
Read the rest of his blog >>
|
Looking toward the 218th General Assembly
Obviously those who seek a more just and
inclusive church will be going to the General Assembly in San Jose
(June 21 - 28, 2008) with hopes for making changes.
We are offering here reports of overtures that
have been passed by various presbyteries, and will try to keep up
with further developments as they occur.
If you're aware of other overtures or
approaches, please let us know, and we'll add your reports!
Just send a
note.
Current reports include:
|
Two presbyteries send overtures to correct anti-gay
mistranslation of Heidelberg Catechism The
Presbytery of Boston and the Presbytery of Pittsburgh have
passed overtures that would correct the mistranslation in 1962
which added the phrase "or of homosexual perversion" that was
not part of the original Heidelberg Catechism.
On the
Pittsburgh action >>
The
overture from the Presbytery of Boston >>
The presbyteries of Northern Kansas and New
York City have taken similar actions. |
|
Preliminary list
of issues facing 218th General Assembly outlined
Presbyterian News
Service reports from Louisville: "The key issues coming
before the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.) were outlined here Wednesday (Feb. 13) during a joint
meeting of the General Assembly Council (GAC) Executive
Committee and the Committee on the Office of the General
Assembly (COGA)."
The full report >> |
2/16/08 |
GA Permanent Judicial Commission
rules out conscientious objection to “fidelity and chastity”
requirement
PJC says only a constitutional amendment will
change things
The General Assembly Permanent
Judicial Commission (GAPJC) has overthrown the authoritative
interpretation that the General Assembly approved in 2006, which
would have allowed candidates for ordination to declare a
“scruple” against a particular requirement for ordination, on
the grounds that they could not in conscience adhere to it.
Specifically this means that any
candidate for ordination as a minister or elder must obey the
requirement of “fidelity in marriage or chastity in singleness,”
which was added to the Book of Order as provision
G-6.0106b.
The ruling of the GA PJC,
issued on February 11, 2008, actually deals with three cases,
all of which touch on the issue of sexuality and ordination.
The action of the 2006 General
Assembly left it up to the discernment of the ordaining body
(the session for elders, the presbytery for ministers) as to
whether the ordination requirement must be regarded as
“essential,” and therefore an absolute requirement, or might be
seen as not essential, and therefore might be set aside in the
case of a particular individual.
This PJC ruling describes the
“fidelity and chastity” provision as “a mandatory standard that
cannot be waived.” Further, it makes clear that while candidates
may be permitted to “depart” from ordination standards related
to belief, they cannot be allowed the same freedom of conscience
with regard to behavior.
And it upheld language from a
prior Synod of the Trinity PJC ruling which made a distinction
between allowing departures from the church’s standards related
to belief – but not departures related to behavior.
Presbyterians committed to a
fully open and inclusive church, including its practices of
ordination, have differed over the past few years in their
strategies for dealing with the essentially exclusionary demands
for “fidelity and chastity.” Some have sought a gradual approach
to changing practice and the application of ordination standards
through action in presbyteries, which others have believes that
no real change would happen until the “fidelity and chastity”
requirement in G-6.0106b of the Book of Order is totally
removed.
The PJC seems to side with the
latter approach, especially when it declares: “the fidelity and
chastity standard may only be changed by a constitutional
amendment. Until that occurs, individual candidates, officers,
examining and governing bodies must adhere to it.”
It seems likely that this
action will reverse the moves toward a more inclusive church
recently taken by two presbyteries: On January 15, San Francisco
presbytery voted 167 to 151 to approve as “ready for
examination”
Lisa Larges, a lesbian who works for the advocacy group,
That All May Freely Serve. And on January 26, the
Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area voted 196 to 79 to restore
the ordination of Paul Capetz, a gay seminary professor who
voluntarily set aside his ordination in 2000 in protest over the
PC(USA)’s ordination standards.
More reports and comments >>
We welcome your comments and additions!
Just send a note. |
2/12/08 |
More from the conference on
“terror, torture,
and security”
Facing our
complicity, needing conversion: More questions
Following the presentation by
Dr. Ed Long,
the evening discussion continued with
Dr. Mark Douglas,
Associate Professor of Christian Ethics at Columbia Theological
Seminary, who began by agreeing with what others had said: that
people in congregations are reluctant to talk about torture. But
the reason, he said, is that “we don’t have the language to talk
about it.” Some churches have tried to deal with the painful
subject, but they don’t have the theological tools that we need.
He proceeded to work out some of these tools
through a series of questions: Why aren't Christians
asking about torture? Why do Christians ask questions?
What do we know about torture? Why is torture going
on? And how can Christians deal with our complicity in
that torture?
Through the questions, he moved to the
conclusion that the U.S. use of torture reflects our nation's
need for a sense of control, and our lack of patience to deal
with terrorism more slowly and carefully. His concluding
emphasis on the need for patience brought some provocative
responses from the group.
More on Douglas'
presentation >> |
2/11/08 |
More from the conference on
“terror, torture,
and security” Healing for survivors
Cat Bucher provided the second presentation
of Monday afternoon, speaking out of her broad experience in
activism and concern for people who are struggling to
recover from torture and other abuses of their rights, in
Latin America as well as in the Middle East and Africa. She
is part of the founding team for the Dallas Center for
Survivors of Torture, where she continues to work as case
manager, and she accompanies Latin American Forensic
Anthropology Teams exhuming massacre sites.
If torture is
used as a way by which a government can tear apart social
groups, then confronting that torture helps to rebuild the
torn social bonds. Therefore much of her work is devoted to
“finding safe places where communities of healing can
happen. Part of that process, too, is providing support
systems for the care-givers of the survivors of torture.
Bucher raised
the question of how we will provide support in the years
ahead for military veterans, as they begin dealing with the
deep pain and guilt of what they have been through.
More on
her presentation >>
Monday evening: dealing with “complacency,
complicity and denial” in our churches
The two final presentations in the conference were
aimed at moving the group toward finding ways to deal with the
resistance that seems at be present in many churches and educational
institutions, to dealing with the issue of torture.
The first speaker was Dr. Edward Leroy Long,
Jr., who is the James Pearsall Professor Emeritus of Christian
Ethics and Theology of Culture of Drew University. His most recent
book is Facing Terrorism: Responding as Christians. Rick
Ufford-Chase, introducing Dr. Long, mentioned that book as one that
“touched me deeply,” and that led to numerous conversations during
his moderatorial term, which “convinced me that he is one of the
important seminal thinkers of the church.”
Long’s talk focused on “the way in which social
witness and social action can best take place in a changed
ecclesiastical and political climate.” He sees two approaches to
dealing with social issues, one being “institutional social
witness,” and the other “movement-oriented undertakings.” These are
not entirely different, but each approach has its strengths and
weaknesses.
More >>
A conference participant urges action
against U.S. leaders guilty of war crimes
Chuck Fager, of Fayetteville/Ft. Bragg,
NC, responds to comments by presenter Scott Horton about the
possibility of legal actions against U.S. leaders
responsible for war crimes, i.e. torture.
Read
his note >>
|
Take
Action to Stop Torture! Tell
Your Senator to Support Section 327 of H.R. 2082
from Witness in Washington Weekly,
from the Washington Office of the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.)
Those who oppose torture have an opportunity
in February to end the CIA "enhanced interrogation techniques"
program. A vote in the Senate, which we expect to take place in
mid-February, will decide the fate of very important
anti-torture legislation (Section 327 of H.R. 2082 - the
Intelligence Authorization bill). That bill would require the
CIA to comply with the restrictions in the Army Field Manual on
interrogation of detainees. The U.S. Army Field Manual prohibits
torture, as well as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
More
>> |
Ecumenical Advocacy Days is a
month away! The 2008 Advocacy Days:
Claiming a Vision of True Security is March 7 – 10. Don’t
forget to register for Ecumenical Advocacy Days before the cost
of registration increases on Feb. 15. Visit
http://www.advocacydays.org to register today. Room rates at
the conference hotel will increase on the 11th. Please book them
now! Visit the website above for more information.
This year’s conference promises to be an
exciting event. The vision statement states, “As people of faith
and hope, we believe our nation is entering – and must enter --
an era of renewal and re-creation. The conviction is now
widespread that it is time to envision and act on a new pathway
to true human security – one which seeks not only the absence of
tension, but the presence of justice (Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.) The 2008 Ecumenical Advocacy Days assembly will
explore new visions of security in our homes, neighborhoods,
nation and world.” |
Full Time
Position announced for Social Justice Director at Jan Hus
Presbyterian Church, New York
Jan Hus Presbyterian Church (JHC) is seeking a
Social Justice Director who, in partnership with the Social
Justice Committee and the congregation, shall be responsible for
Jan Hus Church’s Social Justice Programs known as Homeless
Outreach an Advocacy Program (HOAP) and Global Concerns Program.
More
>> |
2/9/08 |
More from the conference on “terror, torture,
and security” Torture as a conflict point
between competing theologies
On Monday afternoon the focus shifted to
theological reflection about torture. The session was opened
with a reading from the Barmen Declaration, which reflected the
struggle of the Confessing Church in Germany as they stood
against the demands of the Nazi state that
Christians conform to the national ideology,
including Nazi symbols in their sanctuaries and much more. The
declaration of the Confessing Church, led by Karl Barth, was a
resounding affirmation of Jesus Christ as the Word which we must
hear, and an equally clear No to the false faith proclaiming by
the Nazis.
The first speaker, Dr. George
Hunsinger, is Professor of Systematic Theology at
Princeton Theological Seminary, and was the founder of the
founder of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT).
He has recently edited Torture Is a Moral Issue (Eerdmans,
2008), which will lift up various moral aspects of this issue
from a variety of faith and academic perspectives.
Hunsinger opened with a clear statement of the
theological issue: “Today the ideology of nationalism and a new
and cryptic form of racism are threatening the integrity of the
Church.” The question for us today, he said, is the same as that
faced by German Christians in 1938: “Do we really put our
loyalty to Christ above all else?”
More >> |
2/8/08 |
More from the conference on “terror, torture,
and security”
Seeing torture in
the U.S. context
The first session on Monday morning focused on
the issue of torture in European and U.S. history, and
considered ways our present situation both reflects and differs
from our past.
The presenter for this vast subject was Scott
Horton, who is an attorney and a partner with the law firm of
Patterson, Belknap, Webb and Tyler LLP in New York. He serves as
adjunct faculty at Columbia Law School and is author of over 100
publications, as well as contributing to Harper's Magazine
and writing the online column “No Comment” for their
website.
He traced the uses of torture from the Roman
Empire, through Nazi Germany, Soviet communism, and down to the
U.S. in the 21st century. Seeing torture as
basically corrosive of the nation that uses it, and as
ineffective at many levels, he portrayed the need for religious
voices to be raised against it as a threat to our values as a
nation, and as a people of faith. |
Pittsburgh Presbytery passes overture to restore Heidelberg
Catechism to its historic form
Media release from More Light Presbyterians,
Pittsburgh, PA: February 7, 2008
Today at Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church,
Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Presbytery voted 128-94 in support of
sending the Heidelberg Catechism Overture to the 218th General
Assembly in San Jose.
Submitted for consideration by the Sessions of
Sixth Presbyterian Church, Community of Reconciliation and East
Liberty Presbyterian Church, this Overture's intention is to
correct the mistranslation in 1962 which added the phrase "or of
homosexual perversion" that was not part of the original
Heidelberg Catechism. The Heidelberg Catechism is part of the
Book of Confessions for the Presbyterian Church (USA). Sixth
Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh and Community of Reconciliation,
Pittsburgh, are More Light Presbyterian Churches.
Andreas Kurt Schuele, Professor of Biblical
Theology, Union-PSCE, Richmond, VA offered an advisory opinion
on this Overture to Pittsburgh Presbytery.
Click
here for more information about the Heidelberg Catechism
and this Overture on the National MLP Website.
A debt of gratitude is owed to Professors
Johanna Bos and Christopher Elwood of Louisville Presbyterian
Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, for their faithful
scholarship which revealed the errors and mistranslations within
the 1962 translation of the Heidelberg Catechism from its
original form and languages.
The 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church (USA) will now have the opportunity to restore the
Heidelberg Catechism to its original form and meaning, when it
meets in San Jose, June 21 - 28, 2008.
Michael J. Adee, National Field Organizer,
More Light Presbyterians
(505) 820-7082,
michaeladee@aol.com,
www.mlp.org
Note: A similar overture was
approved by the Presbytery of Northern Kansas in January, by
voice vote without dissent, according to a note from the Rev.
Kent Winters-Hazelton, pastor of First Presbyterian Church,
Lawrence, KS. |
2/7/08 |
More from the conference on “terror, torture,
and security”
 |
Lucy Mashua
meets Eric Fair |
Facing the realities of torture
The first two presentations in the conference
on torture were planned to put faces on the reality of the human
abuse of human beings. And they did just that.
First,
Lucy Mashua
spoke of growing up in Kenya, being subjected to female genital
mutilation, and then to torture and rape by police and others
who attacked her for her resistance to the degrading treatment
of women.
Then
Eric Fair,
formerly an interrogator serving under a private contractor in
Iraq, told of his experience in using sleep deprivation in the
interrogation of an Iraqi prisoner, until he realized within
himself that this was something that he simply could not do.
So he stopped, he left Iraq, and has told the ugly story.
For
related reports from the conference >> |
A major Ghost Ranch event this
summer! July 28 -
August 3, 2008
Paths toward Peace and Justice:
Spirituality, Earth-Care, and the Prophetic Word in a time of
Violence
In partnership with the Witherspoon Society,
the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, Presbyterians for Restoring
Creation, and the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program.
Come to Ghost Ranch for a revival of the old
fashioned "cowboy camp-meetings" of its history. Each morning
will offer high quality workshops on a wide variety of issues
and artistic expressions related to peacemaking, justice and
earth-care. Afternoons will include some activities and free
time to enjoy Ghost Ranch. Nancy Eng MacNeill and Mark Koenig of
the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program staff will offer an
intergenerational activity each day after lunch.
Evenings will center on all-Ranch worship with
former PC(USA) Moderator John Fife and Rabbi Lynn Gottleib
offering the prophetic word in the beautiful Agape Center,
looking out over the valley toward Pedernal. This year there
will be a concerted effort to join the "arts" side of the
program with the "seminar" side. Rev. Carol Wickersham, founder
of No2Torture, will design and coordinate the worship
experiences.
Families, note that there will be a special
"Peace and Justice Track" for high school students this year.
Former Young Adult Volunteer Andrea Leonard will team with the
College staff to build an experience that integrates the high
school students into the broader community and conversation.
High school seminars will be highly interactive, activity-based,
and a lot of fun.
Rick Ufford-Chase and Gail Brown will reprise
the popular "camp culture" begun in 2007, offering a low-cost
housing and food option in the campground. Enjoy fellowship over
shared meals and late night campfires.
More
information --- both general and about each of the nine
scheduled seminars >> |
2/6/08 -- Ash Wednesday |
Seeking ways to confront “terror, torture, and security”
Spending three days talking about torture may not
sound like much fun. It’s not. But about sixty people came
together at Columbia Theological Seminary, in Decatur, Georgia,
from Sunday evening, Feb. 3, through noon on Tuesday, Feb. 5, to
do just that. Nearly half the participants were students, mostly
at Presbyterian-related colleges and seminaries, looking for
ways to act against something that seems to betray all they
believe in about the Christian life, and about the values of the
United States.
 |
The group responds to
presentation by Dr. Edward LeRoy Long, Jr. |
The conference was sponsored by
Presbyterian-based No2Torture and the Presbyterian Peace
Fellowship, along with the denomination’s Presbyterian Peace
Program. Three seminaries also joined in sponsoring the event:
Columbia, which provided generous hospitality, along with
Princeton and Fuller. All three were represented by faculty
members and/or students, and there were students also from
Harvard Divinity School, Union Theological Seminary (both of
them, in New York and Richmond), San Francisco Theological
Seminary, along with Austin, Dubuque and New Brunswick.
The meeting was held with one specific goal:
finding ways to help Presbyterian congregations deal with an
urgent issue which most of them seem desperate to avoid. Various
participants spoke of their experiences in trying to deal with
U.S. use of torture, whether in sermons or in less “weighty”
situations. And the general reaction has been “We just can’t
talk about that here.”
The conference began Sunday evening by
plunging into the lived reality of torture: We heard harrowing
presentations, the first being from a woman who was a victim of
genital mutilation and torture in her native Kenya, and is now a
refugee in asylum in the U.S. The second presentation was by a
former police officer who then served in the U. S. Army as a
linguist, and then was sent to Iraq with a private contractor,
interrogating detainees using “enhanced interrogation
techniques” such as sleep deprivation, that were approved in the
Army manual. He did that for a short time, until “after three or
four hours I had to stop,” because his spirit rebelled so
strongly at what he was being told to do.
On Monday there were presentations looking at
the issue of torture first in the context of America history,
then in light of theological reflection, and finally in relation
to the “complacency, complicity and denial in our American
churches.
Tuesday morning was spent in small group
discussions on possible strategies for helping our churches and
people get beyond the complacency and denial.
We’ll bring you more detail on the
presentations as soon as we can process them. But in the
meantime —
A note from your WebWeaver:
I am writing this on the evening of Ash
Wednesday. I discovered in the service of imposition of ashes at
our church this evening that a ritual of penitence was indeed
appropriate for me, as one who is complicit in the terrible
deeds our nation is doing.
And an invitation:
If you were at the conference and have
thoughts to share,
please send a note!
We'll post more tomorrow -- we hope!
For the page on the
conference >> |
2/3/08 |
Albany Presbytery approves overture to delete G-6.0106b
At its regular meeting on Saturday, Feb. 2, the
Presbytery of Albany voted by 69 to 41, with 2 abstentions, to
send to the 218th General Assembly an overture to
delete G-6.0106b from the Book of Order. It also approved a new
Authoritative Interpretation which would rule that
“Interpretative statements concerning ordained service of
homosexual church members by the 190th General Assembly (1978)
of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of
America and the 119th General Assembly (1979) of the
Presbyterian Church in the United States, and all subsequent
affirmations thereof, have no further force or effect.”
Thanks to Terry Diggory, of
Saratoga Springs, NY, for this report.
For the full
text of the overture and its rationale >> |
For an index to all our reports
and analyses
on the 219th General Assembly
For links to
all our archive pages, listed by months,
click here. |
| |
|
GA actions
ratified (or not) by the presbyteries
A number of the most important actions of the 219th
General Assembly are now being sent to the presbyteries for their
action, to confirm or reject them as amendments to the PC(USA) Book
of Order.
We're providing resources to help inform the
reflection and debate, along with updates on the voting.
Our three areas of primary interest are:
 |
Amendment 10-A,
which would remove the current ban on
lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender persons being considered as
possible candidates for ordination as elder or ministers. |
 |
Amendment 10-2,
which would add the Belhar Confession to our Book of
Confessions. |
 |
Amendment
10-1, which would adopt the new Form of Government
that was approved by the Assembly. |
|
|
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Some blogs worth visiting |
PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
|
Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
|
John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
|
John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
|
Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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