October 2011

Reformation as Discipline

Leave a Comment / PCUSA, Theological Reflection / By /

As Reformation Sunday approaches, thoughts turn to the question, “What sort of reformation is necessary for the PCUSA to get back on solid footing with God in order to fulfill its mission?” The great 16th century Protestant reformers addressed this question with renewed focus upon the unadorned and uncorrupted gospel of Jesus Christ: “The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God” (Luther, Thesis number 62). Aware of God’s awesome power and holiness, Luther, for instance, trembled in his own repentance and called the Church to its own. The particular presenting […]

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Another Reformation?

4 Comments / PCUSA / By /

We’re approaching Reformation Sunday, a highlight in worship and preaching for many PCUSA churches around the country. Great hymns, bagpipes, Geneva robes, and a walk down memory lane get us in touch with our roots. Recalling Luther’s bold debate-starter in Wittenberg and Calvin’s audacious experiment in Geneva, we celebrate being part of the Reformed Tradition. It is a great tradition, worthy of remembrance and respect, and compelling in its claims. My life was transformed by the gospel passed on to me in this tradition and I am grateful to God for the intervention. And yet, for some I suspect the

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Subscribing to Standards

1 Comment / Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, PCUSA / By /

After reflecting on “Convenient Confessionalism” in yesterday’s post, I got curious about the meaning of the word “standards” as used in the PCUSA constitution. Here are all the occurrences of the word in the Book of Order: F-1.0302d:  The Church strives to be faithful to the good news it has received and accountable to the standards of the confessions. F-2.02 The Confessions as Subordinate Standards These confessional statements are subordinate standards in the church, subject to the authority of Jesus Christ, the Word of God, as the Scriptures bear witness to him. While confessional standards are subordinate to the Scriptures,

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Convenient Confessionalism

8 Comments / Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, Parnell v. San Francisco, PCUSA / By /

The current progression of situations in presbyteries, leading to actions contrary to the Word of God and inconsistent with historic Christian doctrine, has caused a crisis of conscience requiring some congregations to look for a way to disassociate from this waywardness. They need a way to live according to their consciences, shaped by the Word of God. Some have opted for relief of conscience through the adoption of ordination requirements or essential tenets in their procedural manuals. What happens when a presbytery adopts a list of theological tenets it has agreed are essential to the faith?  What happens when a

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Convenient Constitutionalism

3 Comments / Parnell v. San Francisco, PCUSA / By /

The mutually exclusive claims we know exist within the PCUSA have necessitated some creative thinking about how we can differentiate where we must, while collaborating where we can.  One of the creative options under consideration is the formation of presbyteries with porous boundaries. Three forms of this idea have surfaced: 1) the formation of new presbyteries from a composite of congregations in close geographic proximity; 2) the transfer of congregations from one presbytery to a neighboring one; or 3) the delineation of a new presbytery within the bounds of an existing presbytery. I realize that for some, even these solutions

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Don’t Ask Me to Cross the Line

8 Comments / PCUSA / By /

Conservative congregations around the country, and certainly within my own presbytery, are researching possibilities for some kind of creative and equitable way out of the crisis of conscience they are facing in the PCUSA. We are in an unprecedented moment of change in this denomination, wrought by a stream of decisions now trickling down to the local level. Before the new Form of Government was incorporated into the Book of Order and Amendment 10-A was inserted (removing the ordination standard of “fidelity & chastity” in the process), arguments made in debate assured theological conservatives that it was all about Christ’s

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The Pastor-Teacher’s Task

6 Comments / Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, Teaching, Theological Reflection / By /

Yesterday, I made a case for reclaiming teaching ministry in the PCUSA. Our focus is on current church members who need equipping, and on not-yet-disciples who need basic information about the faith. But what do people need to know? What sort of learning experience, from our vantage point, should we be providing? Members of the congregation may have some idea of what they want to learn, but their input is only one data point when deciding what to teach. There is a body of information from which to choose, passed on from generation to generation, and now in our hands.

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Reclaiming the Ministry of Teaching in the PCUSA

1 Comment / Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, PCUSA, Teaching / By /

The generation of Americans growing up in the 1950s and 1960s (and their parents) might remember the weekly television program of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen called Life Is Worth Living. The winsome bishop taught Catholic values and addressed moral issues of his day to an audience of ten million viewers at the peak of his popularity. During this era, the Reverend Billy Graham also had risen to prominence as an international evangelist. For fifty years, his message was conveyed through a weekly radio program called Hour of Decision and reinforced by televised crusades and newspaper columns. These teachers of the

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Who Taught These People?

8 Comments / Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, Parnell v. San Francisco, PCUSA, Teaching / By /

One of the heartbreaks of the current climate and conversation in the PCUSA is the discovery that decision-makers cannot tell the difference between truth and error in doctrine. There have been many times at GA when observers have looked at each other incredulously and asked, “Who taught these people?” As an educator and equipper of those preparing to teach for Christian formation, I find it particularly alarming that inadequate, inaccurate, or just plan errant statements of theology and Bible are made during important deliberations. And what do we make of the GAPJC’s reticence to rule on the substance of biblical

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What? Me Angry?

3 Comments / Fellowship of Presbyterians, PCUSA, Sermon on the Mount / By /

Last night’s Bible study class (which I lead weekly) continued in the Sermon on the Mount to the topic of “Murder Management.” Jesus raised the bar on the fifth commandment, “Do not murder” to include the avoidance of anger: 21“You have heard that it was said to an older generation, ‘Do not murder,’ [that is, criminal killing] and ‘whoever murders will be subjected to judgment.’ 22But I say to you that anyone who is angry with a brother will be subjected to judgment. And whoever insults a brother* will be brought before the council, and whoever says ‘Fool’ will be

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