Bringing the Word to Life

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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Please Pass the Salt

Leave a Comment / Parnell v. San Francisco, PCUSA, Sermon on the Mount, The Missional Church, Theological Reflection / By /

In this week’s Sermon on the Mount Bible class on Matthew 5:13-16, the discussion revolved around the uses of salt and the Christian calling Jesus was talking about when he said, “You are the salt of the earth.”  It came down to two categories: salt is good as a flavor-enhancer, and salt is good as a decay inhibitor. One class participant is a fire fighter who cooks for his company and at home for his wife. He delighted us with a description of how salt makes another food taste more like itself. The point of salting, he said, was not

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Market-Driven Mission (Jobs, Spahr, and the PCUSA)

7 Comments / Current Events, PCUSA, The Missional Church / By /

Three topics converge today in a swirl of reflections brought on by the day’s news: 1) The death of Steve Jobs, founder and innovator of Apple, 2) the announcement that Janie Spahr has again officiated at a wedding of a gay couple, and both in light of 3) the missional calling of the PCUSA. First, a disclosure:  I am an “Apple person.” I have owned an Apple computer since 1990 and introduced two church staffs to its wonders. Something about the right-brain utility of Apple products, the intuitive user interface, has worked for me all these years. Perhaps because I

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A Corrupt Signal Has Been Broadcast

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

My husband and I are having a recurring problem with our digital cable. While watching television, the broadcast will be interrupted by “tiling” and freezing: little squares appear over portions of the picture, obscuring faces and blipping out the sound. We’ve had baseball games freeze at critical moments, which have passed by the time the cable signal catches up with itself. The technician explained that tiling is the result of a corrupt signal that literally loses binary 1s and 0s into cyber-heaven, never to be seen again. This is caused by “noise on the line,” and past that memorable image

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A Perfect Waste of Time

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

Before and after last week’s decision to appeal the Synod PJC decision in the matter of Parnell et al v. San Francisco Presbytery, some very interesting opinions have been expressed in comments here and offline. One was particularly thought provoking because it reminded me that we had heard this remark several times at the beginning of the process in early 2008. It is the idea that pursuing ecclesiastical legal action against an offending presbytery is a waste of time, energy, and resources. There is no argument that the legal process is time consuming, trying emotionally, and expensive financially. The undergirding

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An Appeal Will Be Filed

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

The Complainants’ Counsel in the matter of Parnell et al v. San Francisco Presbytery will appeal the Synod of the Pacific Permanent Judicial Commission (SPJC) Ruling rendered on September 17. They have until the end of October to file the Notice of Appeal with the General Assembly PJC. The GAPJC in August remanded two specifications of error to the Synod, which wrote a new ruling to respond to the biblical, theological, and historical evidence presented to it. Rather than judge the claims made by either complainants or the presbytery according to the Scripture and confessions, the Synod PJC came to

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Missional Diaspora Could Make the Difference

3 Comments / PCUSA, Sermon on the Mount, The Missional Church / By /

Yesterday I proposed the possibility that a dispersal of Presbyterians might be the right thing to happen, if such a diaspora scatters the seed of the gospel on new soil (Matthew 13:3-9). But I can hear the complaints of the saints (“saints” in the New Testament refers to anyone who believes and trusts Christ): “I don’t want to be scattered in the world in which I live; it’s not safe out there! I would rather stay in the confines of the church and build it up and bring people to it.” If this actually worked in today’s world, I would

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Dandelion Dynamics: Is Dispersing the Worst Thing to Happen?

6 Comments / Fellowship of Presbyterians, Parnell v. San Francisco, PCUSA, The Missional Church / By /

This week’s posts have mused ever so briefly on why it is imperative that the Presbyterian Church hang on to the idea of “essentials of Reformed faith and polity” and to know what those essentials are. The recent Synod PJC decision in Parnell et al v. San Francisco Presbytery, if applied throughout the church, would deconstruct Presbyterianism as we know it.  When the values of “mutual forbearance” and “thoughtful disagreement” are carried to their extremes, the denomination loses its grip on “the Scriptures, our only rule of faith and manners” and “the essentials of Reformed faith and polity.”  What is

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