October 2011

Five Stages of Presbyterian Grief

Leave a Comment / PCUSA, Poetry / By /

It’s been quite a day, participating in a vigorous interchange over the events in the Presbytery of Coastal Carolina and my blog post about it yesterday. I try to allot about 1½ hours to this blogging activity daily, but yesterday’s tally far exceeded that. Absent any new developments in the Coastal Carolina situation, I would like to step back and appreciate some of the Presbyterian reactions to the news that someone could fail to affirm the statement “Jesus Christ died on the cross to save people from their sin”: • Nah, it couldn’t have happened. It’s unthinkable! • Are you […]

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Did Jesus Die for the Sins of Humanity, Or Not?

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

On Saturday, a teaching elder sought transfer into the Presbytery of Coastal Carolina. During his COM interview, he had declared that he did not believe that Jesus died for our sins. Upon questioning in presbytery, he revealed his belief that God could have (should have?) found some better way to save the world than by arranging the murder of his Son. He refused three times to answer the question, “Do you believe that Jesus died on the Cross for our sins?” Though I am sure this is not the first time a theologically questionable statement or silence has occurred in

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“Mending Wall” for Sunday Afternoon Reflection

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MENDING WALL Robert Frost Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it, And spills the upper boulders in the sun, And makes gaps even two can pass abreast. The work of hunters is another thing: I have come after them and made repair Where they have left not one stone on a stone, But they would have the rabbit out of hiding, To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean, No one has seen them made or heard them made, But at spring mending-time we find them there. I let my neighbor know

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Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

10 Comments / Fellowship of Presbyterians, Parnell v. San Francisco, PCUSA / By /

Churches, their sessions and teaching elders especially, are doing a lot of soul-searching these days about what is an appropriate relationship with their presbytery and the PCUSA denomination. Building on yesterday’s concentric circle framework, today let us consider the nature of our connectionalism and ask, when does connectionalism go too far? Is there a point at which the expectation of closeness or unity between a congregation and the PCUSA is unrealistic? If Presbyterian relationships between congregation, presbytery, synod, and GA were healthy, the diagram would look quite similar to yesterday’s. Expectations at each level of relationship are moderated by appropriate

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Connectionalism and Relational Boundaries

3 Comments / PCUSA / By /

This week’s musings have attempted to sort out the nature of the tensions that exists in the PCUSA at this time. Many evangelical pastors I know are caught in the middle of a tug of war between members of their congregation and the denomination (often the presbytery representative of it). They are truly stymied by a lack of good options, and they understand now that any course of action (from status quo to radical departure) will require supreme patience, spiritual strength, wisdom, and “emotional intelligence” to pull off. The focus of this post is one particular challenge pastors face: the

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How Much Diversity Can a Church Handle?

11 Comments / PCUSA, Theological Reflection / By /

A comment was made in the PCUSA Middle Governing Bodies Commission meeting last Saturday that stirred some thought and reaction. Expressing opposition to the creation of non-geographic presbyteries, one commissioner tweeted on #mgbcomm, “Diversity isn’t a problem, it’s an asset.” Just today, another comment from within my presbytery was passed along: Don’t expect support for forming a new “like-minded” presbytery. We need diverse voices around the table, and we can’t abide by conservatives going off into their own little corner where there won’t be any disagreement. Huh? Time to review some basics: 1.  The word diairesis is translated “diversity” only

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The Law of “Doing” and “Being”

1 Comment / PCUSA, Sermon on the Mount, Theological Reflection / By /

My weekly discussions around the Sermon on the Mount continue to stimulate application within the PCUSA context. This week’s topic was “The Fulfillment of the Law” (Matthew 5:17-20). Jesus taught: 17Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will pass from the law until everything takes place.19So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do

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No Wrong or Right Way?

9 Comments / Current Events, PCUSA / By /

Yesterday, newly ordained Scott Anderson was interviewed on CNN. He remarked that what allowed the ordination of an openly gay man “for the first time” in the PCUSA was a changing view of Scripture. He said, “There is no wrong way and no right way to interpret the Bible. . . The PCUSA is a big tent that makes room now for people like me.” While I agree that the church’s view and use of Scripture is precisely the point upon which the argument for ordination rests, I was very sad that Anderson said there is no wrong way to

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Force Play

4 Comments / Fellowship of Presbyterians, Parnell v. San Francisco, PCUSA / By /

Disturbing news has come out of the PCUSA Middle Governing Bodies Commission that met this weekend. The commission was charged with consulting presbyteries and synods around the country on matters related to form, function, and mission, and reporting its findings to next summer’s General Assembly. It was also given the authority “to act on behalf of the General Assembly to organize, divide, unite, or combine presbyteries and synods, upon an affirmative majority vote of those middle governing bodies affected.” At the time the commission was constituted (summer of 2010), one could hear the church breathe in sharply in reaction to

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All Analogies Aside

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

In case my readers have been snowed by analogies of salt, cable noise, or Apple, let me close the week with a clear statement of why I believe the PCUSA and its judicatories must make a significant correction. Though the Parnell et al v. San Francisco Presbytery case is still pending, the Caledonia v. Twin Cities Area case comes full circle today with the ordination of an openly gay man to PCUSA ministry. As this happens, the church is jolted off its foundation. The question is whether Presbyterianism is truly a faith and polity grounded in the Word of God.

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