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Archive for September, 2009 |
This page lists our postings from all of September, 2009
|
For an index to all our reports
from the 218th General Assembly
For an index to all our reports from
the
Witherspoon
conference on global mission and justice >>
Earlier in April,
2010
March, 2010
February, 2010
January, 2010
December, 2009
November, 2009
October, 2009
August, 2009
July, 2009
June, 2009
May, 2009
April, 2009
March, 2009
February, 2009
January, 2009
December,
2008
November, 2008
October, 2008
September, 2008
August, 2008
For links to earlier archive pages,
click here. |
9/29/09 |
Is it time to find new ways to live out our Reformed commitment
to justice?
The latest issue
of Witherspoon/Sophia’s Network News has just
been published online, and we hope you’ll take a look at it.
Some of the articles in the News have already
been posted here, and we plan to post more of them in the coming
days.
For starters, here’s one written by your editor
and WebWeaver, reflecting on some of the changes that seem to be
going on in our time, and especially in our Presbyterian Church.
Some of those changes concern us deeply as they seem to
undermine our Reformed commitment to bearing witness to and
living out the Gospel in our society – which often means working
for peace and for justice.
We hope you’ll
take
a look at the essay, and a couple of the larger articles
mentioned in it. And please talk back! Tell us what you think –
just
send us an email note that we can share here.
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'We cannot agree,' says marriage/unions panel
GA special committee's preliminary report includes no
recommendations
Jerry L. Van Marter of Presbyterian News
Service reported from Louisville on September 21, 2009:
The Special Committee to Study Issues of Civil
Unions and Christian Marriage has acknowledged what has been
clearly demonstrated in debates, governing body votes and
judicial decisions throughout the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.):
Presbyterians are not of one mind on the role of same-gender
relationships in the church.
The special committee, authorized by the 2008
General Assembly, unanimously approved its preliminary report to
the 2010 Assembly here Sept. 17, answering the central question
before it - What is the place of covenanted same-gender
partnerships in the Christian community? - with a three word
response: "We cannot agree."
Though it reached unanimous agreement on the
preliminary version of its report – the group will receive
feedback from the church until Nov. 15 and prepare a final
report at its Jan 22-25, 2010 meeting – it tabled action on any
recommendations it might make.
The full
report >>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter Smith of the Louisville
Courier-Journal posted a brief report on the committee’s
lack of agreement, concluding with this line: “One Kentucky
Presbyterian elder and sociologist says the committee 'wimps
out' by failing to give a clearer recommendation to the next
General Assembly.”
Smith’s report >> |
GA special
committee unanimously recommends adoption of Belhar Confession
Anti-apartheid creed can lead way to multicultural church,
Austin says
Presbyterian News
Service, in the person of Jerry L. Van Marter, reports:
LOUISVILLE –
September 24, 2009 – A special committee authorized by the 218th
General Assembly (2008) has announced that it will recommend to
next summer’s 219th Assembly that the Belhar Confession be added
to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’ Book of Confessions.
Amending the Book
of Confessions requires a two-thirds vote by two successive
General Assemblies plus a two-thirds ratification vote by the
denomination’s 173 presbyteries between Assembly ballots.
The confession
was written in 1982 and adopted in 1986 by the Dutch Reformed
Mission Church in response to the apartheid system of racial
separation in South Africa. It declared apartheid a sin and the
church’s theological justification of it as heresy.
But Belhar’s
greater value to the PC(USA), special committee member the Rev.
J.C. Austin told the General Assembly Mission Council’s
executive committee here Sept. 23, lies in its “fundamental
themes that go beyond the apartheid struggle.”
Austin, a
Presbyterian minister who works at Auburn Theological Seminary
in New York and is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Cape
Town in South Africa, said those themes are the unity of the
church, reconciliation and a commitment to justice.
For the
rest of the news report >> |
Witness for
Peace invites you: Join a special on-line
briefing: “Honduras coup exposed”
This is a crucial moment for Honduran
democracy. President Manual Zelaya returned to Honduras last
Monday, after more than 80 days in exile since the June 28
military coup drove him from the country. The de facto regime
refuses to return the democratically-elected leader to power,
and the military has employed a campaign of systematic
repression and violence to suppress peaceful protests.
Earlier this month, Witness for Peace sent an
emergency delegation to Honduras to look into the wide-spread
accusations of human rights violations and to accompany
threatened citizens. What they found is a call to action and
solidarity.
Be sure to join us for the first Witness for
Peace online briefing:
Honduras Coup Exposed
Thursday, October 1st
7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT
WFP International Team member Galen Cohee
Baynes will take your questions and share analysis from the
delegation he led to Honduras two weeks ago with updates from
the unfolding crisis. This free event will be held online, so
you can participate from the comfort of your home or office.
All you need is a computer with internet access and speakers or
a telephone.
It's not too late!
RSVP
today for this special event. Don't miss this
opportunity to hear first-hand testimony from this evolving
human rights emergency.
If you can't join us, be sure to check our
People Transforming Policy blog for daily updates from WFP
staff currently in Honduras to accompany activists and leaders
during this tumultuous time. |
9/25/09 |
NETWORK NEWS IS HERE AT LAST!
But only on-line
As you are probably aware, the Witherspoon Society and Voices of
Sophia are merging their efforts. However, we are still in the
process of merging our treasuries, preparing a merged budget,
merging membership rolls, writing a new Mission Statement, and
coming up with a new name.
The Board of our new organization has decided that during this
time of transition, our publication (which may also change
names) will be published in digital form only. When all of these
aforementioned tasks are completed we will return to publishing
a “hard copy” printed newsletter.
But for now, the Summer issue of Network News (late
again, for which your editor apologizes) is posted here in PDF
format, and the Fall issue (for which the deadline is November
10) which be published in the same way.
The content of this issue includes (among other things):
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Messages from our Co-Moderators (pp. 2-4) |
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The
Editor’s Spot – facing change and being faithful to
the call to do justice (5-8) |
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Meddlin’ – a sermon at the PW
Churchwide Gathering, by Margaret Aymer (9-13) |
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Getting Back to the Business of
Being the Church, by Johnnie Monroe, at the
PHEWA gathering at the Big Tent (14-17) |
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A report from the Ghost Ranch
Peace & Justice Week (18-22)
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Announcing next year’s Ghost
Ranch seminar:
July 26-August 1, 2010
WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER: CONFRONTING THE STRUCTURES OF INJUSTICE Details on pp. 23-24 |
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Comments on the Form of
Government report (25-26) |
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More Light Presbyterians meet in
Nashville, celebrating “God’s Whole Family” – a
report by Gene TeSelle (27-29)
|
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For the continuing debate on
ordination:
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Afterthoughts on Authority, by
Eric Mount (30-34) |
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Biblicism: Protestantism’s
Distinctive Form of Idolatry, by Paul E. Capetz
(34-37) |
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We’ll be posting many of these
articles on the web-site in HTML format too, as
soon as we can.
Two notes for using this on-line
publication:
This issue of Network News is published in easy-to-print
PDF format, in two
forms:
About URL links in the text: We
have tried to format all the links (to websites,
and email addresses) so they will work well just
by clicking on them. However, to do that we have
to make sure they fit on one line, which means
putting some of them in really really small
type. If you want to make them legible, we
suggest copying them and pasting them into your
own word processor, then changing them into a
larger font size.
Please let us know how this works
for you! Just send a note to
dougking2@aol.com
|
9/16/09 |
Plans are already in place for our
2010 Ghost Ranch Seminar!
GHOST RANCH SEMINAR
July 26-August 1, 2010
WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER
CONFRONTING THE STRUCTURES OF
INJUSTICE
If it seems there are many critical issues confronting us, it is
because there are. How do we respond to the biblical call for
justice in a world facing deepening global inequality,
environmental challenges, and the escalation of violence in
human relationships? We are fortunate to have three eminently
qualified people prepared to address these questions. We will
use A Social Creed for the 21st Century
to discern a moral, ethical and spiritual response to the many
challenges humankind must meet. In presentations and discussions
we will search for the prophetic spirit to guide our efforts
toward a more just and humane world.
More
information on the seminar leaders >> |
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) calls for just health care
reform - Q & A Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow
has passed along a very helpful short summary prepared by the
Washington Office of the PC(USA), regarding our church’s
long-standing commitment to the idea of health care for all. The
statements gathers recent General Assembly policy statements
calling for “a national medical plan that will ensure health
coverage for all persons residing in the United States.” Such a
plan should be shaped by the principles of universal
accessibility, equity, and responsible funding. The statement
further makes clear that while “single-payer universal health
care reform in which health care services are privately provided
and publicly financed” would most clearly reflect the
imperatives of the Gospel, this is not a call for
“socialized medicine.”
Read the full statement >> |
Major tomato grower to implement
agreements with Coalition of Immokalee Workers
This good news comes to us from
the Rev. Noelle Damico, who staffs the PC(USA)’s Campaign for
Fair Food:
Dear Friends:
We have wonderful news! One of
Florida’s largest tomato growers has agreed to fully implement
the CIW’s fair food agreements. Thanks to your efforts in
calling on fast-food, grocery, and foodservice retailers to work
with the CIW, a large enough share of the market has been
created that East Coast Growers and Packers was incented to
break from the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange (FTGE) and
implement these agreements.
Jesus reminded his followers of
a simple, but profound Hebrew teaching, “In everything do to
others as you would have them do to you” (Mt. 7:12). East
Coast’s decision demonstrates that the commitment of growers as
well as farmworkers and corporations are needed if we’re to
create a food system that is ensures our common well-being.
In the wake of this momentous
step forward, please take a moment to call on leading grocery
corporations, Kroger, Publix, and Ahold, to work with the CIW
now. Click
here for resources. |
A call to "Meddlin’ "
A sermon by Margaret Aymer,
for the 2009 PW Churchwide Gathering
Of the many powerful presentations at the
Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women, held last July in
Louisville, one drew special attention from a number of
Witherspoon/Voices members who were there. Margaret Aymer, who
is assistant professor of New Testament at the
Interdenominational Theological Center, and serves on the
PC(USA)’s Facing Racism Strategy Team, preached a sermon which
she titled simply “Meddlin’.” It is a powerful call to ministry
that includes all people, that proclaims forgiveness to all, and
invites them into full participation in the life of the church,
in good health care, in much more.
Perhaps she summed up her point with these
words:
... as Christians, Jesus calls us to leave off
preaching and take to meddlin’. That means, we do not get the
luxury to decide between those who do and do not deserve health
care. We do not get the luxury to decide between those who
should and should not be able to afford medicine. We do not get
the luxury to decide between the “innocent” sick and those “who
have no excuses.” To follow Jesus, we must give up our desire to
see the purification ritual. Instead, we must be the community
that, in Jesus’ name, takes to meddling in the world’s affairs.
We are called to stand up on behalf of all those that the world
considers sick and sinful, all of the excluded and shunned, all
of those from whom the world demands the purification ritual.
Read the full
sermon here, in html format >>
Or
find it in easy-to-print PDF format at the PW website >>
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9/10/09 |
A note from your WebWeaver:
Well, we've moved. And some of our stuff is
unpacked. And some of it I can even find!
So I hope to be functioning again, more or less
regularly, as the manager of this website. And I'll be glad to
hear from you if you have news or reflections that you'd like to
share here.
Just
send a note!
Doug King |
More Light Presbyterians meet in Nashville, celebrating “God’s
Whole Family”
by
Gene TeSelle
More Light Presbyterians held its 2009 conference
September 4-6 in Nashville at Second Presbyterian Church, one of
two More Light churches in the Presbytery of Middle Tennessee (a
third congregation is considering affiliation). The local team,
chaired by Trice Gibbons, was impressive in both its planning
and its hospitality.
Other Presbyterian organizations were invited to
participate and be exhibitors, and the Witherspoon
Society/Voices of Sophia was glad to be among them. Several
times it was noted how constructive the diversity of
organizations has been, reaching people through different
networks and highlighting the many reasons people have for
supporting the removal of obstacles to ordination.
The conference was designed to be participatory,
and there were various workshops around the theme of "God's
Whole Family." It is difficult, then, to convey the richness of
what the participants brought, experienced, and took away with
them. ...
There was also the world premiere of MLP's new
film, "God's New Family," with Jan Leo and Michael Adee.
Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow spoke to the group on
Saturday morning, emphasizing the need to find "postmodern" ways
of being the church: making sure that communication is two-way,
without the "layers of protection" that secretaries and recorded
messages have offered; recognizing that authority does not come
automatically with degrees and status (in fact the Presbyterian
system, he said, is "open-source" in its approach); being "all
things to all people," finding unity in diversity; not putting
too much reliance on "restructuring," since communication never
stops flowing; and getting beyond ideological loyalties, since
the entire community can never hold the same things, and mutual
conversation is a sign not of weakness but of strength.
The full
report, plus a link to John Shuck's blog reporting on the
conference >> |
URGENT: You can help restore
democracy to Honduras Since June 28th, many
friends of School of the Americas
Watch (SOA)
have joined with our friends in Honduras to
help return democracy to their country. As a result, your
actions are now bearing fruit.
Earlier this
week, the SOA graduate-backed Honduran military coup regime
refused all diplomatic options to return democracy. The U.S.
State Department responded by asserting that visas to Hondurans
would no longer be granted under the coup. Late yesterday State
Department officials made it clear that they are considering
legally defining the situation as a "military coup." This would
create an automatic cut-off of aid to Honduras.
The coup regime
immediately responded by saying that they would allow the
rightful President Zelaya to return with amnesty, but not as
president. Clearly the coup leaders are caving to the pressure.
We need you to act now to return democracy to Honduras. Please
make two very important phone calls this morning!
1.) Call the
State Department at 202-647-6575 or 1-800-877-8339 and ask for
Secretary Clinton. Deliver the following message: "Legally
define the de facto regime in Honduras as a military coup and
ensure that the coup plotters will be held responsible for their
actions."
2.) Call the
White House at 202-456-1111 and repeat the same message,
"Legally define the de facto regime in Honduras as a military
coup and ensure that the coup plotters will be held responsible
for their actions."
Our earlier posts on Honduras >> |
Health Care for All is a Moral
Imperative
Here are some thoughtful
quotations that might be helpful in discussions about the
current health care reform issue.
Cowardice asks the question, 'Is
it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' But
conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a
time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor
politic, nor popular but because conscience tells one it is
right. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The test of the
morality of a society is what it does for its children.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The care of human life and
happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only
object of government. Thomas Jefferson
Justice is
conscience, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the
whole of humanity. Those who clearly recognize the voice of
their own conscience usually recognize also the voice of
justice. Alexander Solzhenitsyn
A spirit of harmony can only
survive if each of us remembers, when bitterness and
self-interest seem to prevail, that we share a common destiny.
Barbara Jordan
More >> |
More of our
posts on health care policy >> If you have thoughts to share
-- or resources to recommend --
please
send a note, to be shared here! |
For an index to all our reports
from the 218th General Assembly
For an index to all our reports from
the
Witherspoon
conference on global mission and justice >>
Earlier in April,
2010
March, 2010
February, 2010
January, 2010
December, 2009
November, 2009
October, 2009
August, 2009
July, 2009
June, 2009
May, 2009
April, 2009
March, 2009
February, 2009
January, 2009
December,
2008
November, 2008
October, 2008
September, 2008
August, 2008
For links to earlier archive pages,
click here. |
| |
Some blogs worth visiting |
|
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. |
|
Witherspoon’s Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, Witherspoon’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. |
|
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. |
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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. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
|
Plan now for our 2010 Ghost Ranch
Seminar!
GHOST RANCH SEMINAR
July 26-August 1, 2010
WE’RE ALL IN
THIS TOGETHER
CONFRONTING THE STRUCTURES OF INJUSTICE |
|
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