Teaching

Learning Goals for a Course on Marriage

4 Comments / 2012th General Assembly (Pittsburgh), Marriage Definition, PCUSA, Teaching / By /

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

12 Comments / 2012th General Assembly (Pittsburgh), Marriage Definition, PCUSA, Teaching, Uncategorized / By /

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

20 Comments / 2012th General Assembly (Pittsburgh), Marriage Definition, Moral Authority, PCUSA, Teaching / By /

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 Can a New “Season of Serious Study” Accomplish?

13 Comments / 2012th General Assembly (Pittsburgh), PCUSA, Peace Unity & Purity, Teaching / By /

In answer to all the Committee 13 items of business regarding civil unions and marriage, the PCUSA General Assembly passed the following resolution:  “In a desire to promote the peace, unity, and purity of the church, we move the whole Presbyterian Church U.S.A. enter into a season of serious study and discernment concerning its meaning of Christian marriage in the two-year period between the 220th General Assembly (2012) and the 221st General Assembly (2014). We would further move the Office of Theology and Worship prepare and distribute educational materials to all presbyteries and congregations. These materials should include the relevant

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What GA Decisions Mean to the Church

5 Comments / 2012th General Assembly (Pittsburgh), Board of Pensions, GAPJC Decisions, Marriage Definition, MCC Report, Naegeli's Laws, Parnell v. San Francisco, PCUSA, Teaching / By /

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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Reflections at Fuller Seminary’s Commencement

3 Comments / Personal, Teaching / By /

Below is the text of my three-minute speech to the Fuller graduating Class of 2012 and their families and friends, on Saturday, June 9, 2012, at Lake Avenue Congregational Church. I was chosen to be one of four student speakers, and the task was “to give a snapshot of what you are doing now in ministry, and how Fuller helped prepare you.” Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses and professors, I have a fire in my belly for teaching. My thirty-five years of learning at Fuller has taught me that the world and the church need more and

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One Confession, or Many?

3 Comments / EPC, Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, Fellowship of Presbyterians, Parnell v. San Francisco, PCUSA, Teaching, Theological Reflection / By /

As we compare the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) and the emerging Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians (ECO), the most important consideration seems to be the doctrinal foundations of each. The EPC rests on the Westminster standards (the Confession, Larger, and Smaller Catechisms); the ECO retains all nine Confessions currently in the PCUSA Constitution. In addition, the EPC has listed “essentials” to which every member subscribes. The ECO has launched a Theology Project to identify the essential beliefs of Presbyterians in that fellowship. In the meantime, the ECO statement addresses the great themes of the Reformed Tradition found in F-2.05 as

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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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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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A Skewed Bell Curve

4 Comments / PCUSA, Teaching / By /

This week I am articulating six reasons for my sense of urgency about equipping individual presbyters for stand-alone discipleship. Yesterday I suggested—as I have been demonstrating for weeks—that there are increasing challenges to orthodox faith and practice in PCUSA circles. The second reason has to do with the political impact of congregational departures. A few weeks back I used an asymptote graph to illustrate my point. (A reader has since corrected my equation for that post. It would have been more elegant to define the function as f(x) = 1/x2). Today I will draw a bell curve to show what

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