December 2011

A New Job, and Renewed Vision

7 Comments / 2012th General Assembly (Pittsburgh), Parnell v. San Francisco, PCUSA, Personal, The Missional Church / By /

As you may have heard by now, the Presbyterian Coalition has appointed me its new “Renewal Director” effective January 1, 2012. You can read more about the Coalition and its purpose on its website.  I am delighted with this appointment on many levels and feel that God orchestrated the various factors to bring about this result. I have previously served on the Board, and one year as a Co-Moderator, so the Coalition family is familiar and dear to me. It will be a privilege to serve with this organization, for Kingdom purposes in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). My vision for […]

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Responding to Joe Small—4: What Could We Have Done Better?

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

Back in the day, when the controversy was over subscription to the five doctrinal Fundamentals (divine inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture, substitutionary atonement, the historical reality of Christ’s miracles, the virgin birth, and the bodily resurrection of Jesus), the Presbyterian Church duked it out at Princeton Seminary. The Fundamentalist/Modernist debate, represented by Harry Emerson Fosdick (the liberal) and Gresham Machen (the conservative), resulted in Princeton realigning its theological faculty toward the modernist view. Consequently, Machen’s group founded Westminster Seminary in 1929 to preserve the conservative view. In the 1930s, the divide particularly over the view of Scripture resulted in the

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Responding to Joe Small—3: Getting to the Root of Our Divisions

6 Comments / Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, PCUSA / By /

Finishing this three-part reflection on Joe Small’s “Open Letter,” the third topic of note requires an historical perspective. Joe writes, “I believe that the current differentiation and likely separation is a tragedy. Could it have been avoided? Maybe . . . but only if decades ago we had found more faithful ways of expressing and living out our differences in conviction.” As I have explored the arguments and counterarguments for change in the PCUSA (especially in ordination standards), a few historical references repeatedly come up. They link to each other like a daisy-chain, with implications that a radical change of

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Responding to Joe Small—2: Essential Tenets

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

Continuing in respectful dialogue with friend and colleague Joe Small, in response to his “Open Letter,” the second topic of note is essential tenets of Reformed faith. The Fellowship of Presbyterians has decided to embrace the current Book of Confessions as its theological basis. When asked my opinion, before the document was released, I signed off on this approach as the best way to keep continuity, since all of us elders had already agreed to hold these confessions and catechisms as instructive and guiding to our life together. It is, frankly, an easy way to make the transition, though I

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Responding to Joe Small: On Bitter Schism

5 Comments / Fellowship of Presbyterians, PCUSA / By /

In the interest of constructive dialogue, I would like to respond to the “Open Letter” written by Joseph D. Small and published yesterday in The Presbyterian Outlook. First, a little background and an affirmation: I have been acquainted with Joe for many years most especially through our participation in a Reformed dialogue on the Sacraments in Geneva in the late 1990s. I last spoke to him at breakfast in Minneapolis during the August Gathering of Presbyterians. The grief he expressed then and now about the divide in the PCUSA is based on a grounded orthodox understanding of our faith and

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An Advent Meditation: Lights

Leave a Comment / PCUSA, Sermon on the Mount / By /

The one job I do not look forward to in December is stringing the lights on the fresh Christmas tree. I complained once too often a few years ago about wires showing, and the task became mine in perpetuity as a result. There are several aspects of the process that bring discomfort: the tree stays outside until the lights are on, for ease of access all the way around the tree, so it’s a cold job (if you can call 45° cold, which we do here in sunny California). One must hold one’s arms high for what seems an interminable

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Light in a Dark World

1 Comment / PCUSA, The Missional Church / By /

The sixth reason why individual Presbyterians must be equipped for stand-alone discipleship is perhaps the most obvious one: we have an incredible challenge to evangelize our own PCUSA tribe, the “world” of which we are a part. A word of explanation about terms: We are hearing more Presbyterians talk about the missional challenge before us, but they may not be referring to the same dynamic I am. Many groups are co-opting the term “missional,” but its original meaning (according to authors like Michael Frost and Darryl Guder) has to do with incarnational ministry outside the church-circle. A missional advance is

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Spiritual Growth Through Tribulation

Leave a Comment / PCUSA, Spiritual Disciplines, Theological Reflection / By /

The fifth reason why individual Presbyterians must be equipped for stand-alone discipleship is to capitalize on the opportunity to grow spiritually through times of trial. Spiritual progress can certainly be made when things are going well, but the testimony of saints through the ages is that growth is accelerated when things are going badly, if one is open to it. Another observation must be made sadly. If one is not open to the work of God through suffering, suffering can become an obstacle to growing faith. The novel The Shack exposes this reality vividly, but any pastor will tell you

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Ready for the Opportune Moment

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

The fourth reason why individual Presbyterians must be equipped for stand-alone discipleship is that we never know when we will be called upon to make a defense of the gospel or a biblical point of view. The impact of a well-placed word literally at any moment cannot be underestimated. But if we are ill-equipped to give that word, ignorant of the things of God, slow to pick up on where a conversation is going, or otherwise tongue-tied, we may miss an important opportunity. Over many years time, I have been awed by those occasions in a committee meeting or one-on-one

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Economic Realities and the Evangelical Cause

2 Comments / PCUSA, Teaching / By /

The third reason why individual Presbyterians must be equipped for stand-alone discipleship has to do with the strained resources of our renewal groups. For decades, organizations like the Presbyterian Coalition, Presbyterians For Renewal, and the Presbyterian Lay Committee have been publishing discipleship resources, sponsoring retreats and conferences, and providing staff to help guide and coordinate evangelical efforts throughout the country. Together with many other specific-interest groups, they have created a Presbyterian Renewal Network to resource commissioners to General Assembly, cultivate leadership for nomination to PCUSA offices, and keep tabs on trends and changes in Presbyterian life. As churches have felt

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