Marriage Definition

Marriage Curriculum: Learning Indicators

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Step Three in the process of developing a curriculum on marriage is to identify learning indicators in each of the four domains (knowing, feeling, doing, and becoming). If we haven’t already encountered a sticky wicket, this step gives pause to many. The development of learning indicators is predicated on the following givens: 1. There is something to learn; there is knowledge to be discovered and applied to everyday life. Yes, Virginia, there is truth and you can know it because God has revealed it in his Word. 2. Feelings are going to come out, if we do our job right […]

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Learning Goals for a Course on Marriage

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The second major step in developing a curriculum on marriage for congregations in the PCUSA is to unpack the overall goal, which was stated yesterday: “The purpose of this course is to arrive at an understanding of marriage that can be affirmed and practiced, with joyful confidence and a clear conscience, in the church.” A careful examination of this guiding statement points to sub-goals in four areas: what do we want the learners to know (information), to feel (emotional impact), to do (together in class activity as well as in application elsewhere), and to become (transformation). In other words, we

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Steps Toward Developing a Marriage Curriculum—Part II

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To give you an idea of where I am headed in the next few posts, let me outline the general plan for how to develop a curriculum on any topic. The foundational work of such a plan is important, because it sets the direction for the whole project. It reveals the starting point for discussion, and offers the measure for success at the end. As you read through this outline, think about its application for a course on marriage in your church. 1. Set the overall learning goal for the course. This is the “big picture” statement of what one

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Foundations for a Curriculum on Marriage, Part I

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This week I am putting on my “Christian Formation and Discipleship” cap to analyze the best approach for a congregational study along the lines directed by the General Assembly. The content of our study, the methods employed, and the desired outcomes will be discussed through this week here. But before we can get to that standard protocol for curriculum development, the question must be addressed: “What will be considered authoritative and foundational for the study?” What can be identified as “information” and “true knowledge” as we start out? I realize this is a Modern approach, but the post-Modern alternative poses

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What GA Decisions Mean to the Church

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Hundreds of decisions were made in the course of this week’s General Assembly. Tracking the business is a little like maintaining a baseball scorecard. Some runners may get on base but never make it to home plate. The weather may delay the game. An error may be offset by a brilliant field catch. The final score is only one indication of what happened during the game; but the routine plays, the hand signals, and the errors throughout the game reveal the true condition of the team. To carry this analogy into the PCUSA, the Big Decision not to change the

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We Are Not at Liberty . . .

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On this Fourth of July, while Americans consider the implications of Liberty, Presbyterians were in their plenary session of the General Assembly in Pittsburgh, PA.  The Assembly was surprised by the announcement of the Vice-Moderator Tara McCabe, that she was resigning that office immediately. After a tearful statement infused with anger and defensiveness, she was released from duty and replaced by Tom Trinidad of Faith Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs. What Tara learned was that with church office comes a limit to one’s freedom. As office holders in the PCUSA, elders agree to bind their consciences captive to the Word

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The Silence Is Deafening

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[It shouldn’t be fascinating at all that I have not been blogging. Still burning the candle at both ends. Just two more days of grading papers and finalizing the academic quarter, and I’m back with you on a daily basis, for the duration!]  It is so fascinating to observe how quiet some people are in the face of recent events in the PCUSA.  A few cases on point: The silence in response to rogue Redwoods Presbytery has been deafening. Whom might we expect to react to its refusal to censure one of its minister members, the Rev. Janie Spahr (honorably

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“Peace, Unity, and Purity” and Presbyterian Reality

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In this second post of a three-part series, I am exploring the dynamics of peace, unity, and purity and how, through church history, they have been achieved through ministry dynamics that included separation. Considerable pressure is exerted from time to time in our present context to maintain institutional “unity” (though our Present Troubles indicate that this is a condition in name only in the PCUSA). Usually, the Scripture passage referred to most often is John 17, Christ’s “high priestly prayer” in which he asks his Father “that they may be one . . .  completely one” (17:20-23). But I would

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Calling Out a Rogue Presbytery

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The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) now must deal with the first situation anyone can remember of a presbytery directly refusing to act on the decision and order of a General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (GAPJC). The question is, what recourse is there for dealing with such a flagrant disregard of their ordination vows and the basic understanding of Presbyterian governance (found, for instance, at F-3.0206, “Review and Control” by a higher council)?   Understand that the drafters of the motion believed that they were acting consistent with their vows, that they are applying the love ethic of Jesus accurately, and that

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A Presbytery Gone Rogue

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Today, the presbytery neighboring mine, Redwoods Presbytery, took an action that hit a new low in Presbyterian life. It officially refused the direct order of the GAPJC to rebuke Janie Spahr for conducting same-sex weddings. The following motion was passed by a 74 to 18 vote: The Presbytery opposes imposition of the rebuke as set forth in the decision of the Presbytery Permanent Judicial Commission, dated August 27, 2010 (which was stayed by its terms until the present day), by declaring and resolving as follows: WHEREAS, our primary ordination vow as Ruling and Teaching Elders is to be obedient to

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