Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA)--the national body of our denomination--has strongly criticized President Bush's policy in the Middle East in a recent letter.
You can read his message to the president here.
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Growing up, bit by bit
One of the delights of being a parent is watching your child progress through “developmental stages”—the points at which they develop new skills and abilities.
My son Ben, for example, is learning to draw with a pen he holds by himself, to recognize the letters of the alphabet, and to tell right from wrong. All of those activities reflect the “developmental stage” he’s working through. Psychologists tell us a child has to “master” one stage in order to progress to the next.
Our life with God goes through similar stages—points at which our relationship to the Holy One changes in significant ways. Often described as “stages of the journey,” the “developmental stages” we encounter in our life of faith can be identified in various scriptures.
One of the scriptures that clearly points to various “stages” in our life with God is the beloved Psalm 23. Although this psalm is usually associated with funerals, it also has a lot to say to the living and to those who aren’t grieving.
As you read it in preparation for worship, think about what parts of the psalm speak to you most directly. Why do those parts attract you? What do they have to teach you? How might God be providing care and guidance, given the parts of the psalm that speak to you?
Our other Sunday readings will be Acts 9:36-43, about Peter healing Dorcas; Revelation 7:9-17, in which all the world comes to worship the lamb who is also the shepherd; and John 10:22-30, in which Jesus speaks of himself as the good shepherd.
We’ll sing “Ye Servants of God, Your Master Proclaim,” “Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound,” and “Blessed Be the Ties That Bind.” We’ll also celebrate the Lord’s supper—and everyone’s welcome at this table!
My son Ben, for example, is learning to draw with a pen he holds by himself, to recognize the letters of the alphabet, and to tell right from wrong. All of those activities reflect the “developmental stage” he’s working through. Psychologists tell us a child has to “master” one stage in order to progress to the next.
Our life with God goes through similar stages—points at which our relationship to the Holy One changes in significant ways. Often described as “stages of the journey,” the “developmental stages” we encounter in our life of faith can be identified in various scriptures.
One of the scriptures that clearly points to various “stages” in our life with God is the beloved Psalm 23. Although this psalm is usually associated with funerals, it also has a lot to say to the living and to those who aren’t grieving.
As you read it in preparation for worship, think about what parts of the psalm speak to you most directly. Why do those parts attract you? What do they have to teach you? How might God be providing care and guidance, given the parts of the psalm that speak to you?
Our other Sunday readings will be Acts 9:36-43, about Peter healing Dorcas; Revelation 7:9-17, in which all the world comes to worship the lamb who is also the shepherd; and John 10:22-30, in which Jesus speaks of himself as the good shepherd.
We’ll sing “Ye Servants of God, Your Master Proclaim,” “Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound,” and “Blessed Be the Ties That Bind.” We’ll also celebrate the Lord’s supper—and everyone’s welcome at this table!
Saturday, April 24, 2004
Emerging concerns in the PC(USA)
Several times a year, the executive director and stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly--our "national office"--send a letter to pastors sharing their observations about the life of the denomination.
Here is their letter that arrived this week:
Dear Friends and Colleagues:
We greet you in the joy of the risen Christ! This is the latest of our seasonal communications to you to offer a word of encouragement, to share some of our thoughts about the life of the church, and to invite your input to us. In this letter, we want to offer to you some of our experiences and learnings from these past three years of having held consultations with our presbyteries and synods across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A). We hope our thoughts and questions will both challenge and encourage you in your particular ministries.
Many of you may have participated in one of the consultations. We, along with our colleague Gary Torrens, visited fifteen synod and 100 presbytery meetings. Perhaps the thought of being at 115 governing body meetings might not seem very exciting, but it has been a wonderful experience for us. In fact, we have said many times during these consultations that this may have been the most significant thing we have done in our second terms in these offices.
We set about these consultations in response to an action of the General Assembly to consult with our presbyteries and synods. Each of our consultations focused on the theme, "A New Testament Church in a New Century." That theme emerged from our conviction that we are living in a whole new context for ministry in a postmodern, 21st-century world. We believe this new context of ours has huge parallels with the experience of the New Testament church, namely, a Pentecostal world of people from every race, tongue, and nation living among us; a church struggling, like the church in Corinth, to find unity in the midst of our diversity; a dis-established church in a secular culture much like the Roman Empire; and a spiritual hunger much like Paul found at the Areopagus.
In the midst of just this kind of world, the Holy Spirit transformed the New Testament church from being a group of discouraged and divided followers of Christ into being a community of disciples that "turned the world upside down for the gospel." Just as the Holy Spirit was at work then, we believe the Holy Spirit is at work now, calling the PC(USA) to the same kind of renewal so that we can "turn the world upside down for the gospel" in our day and time.
While we have seen churches with real problems and struggles, we have also seen the Holy Spirit moving in congregations all across this denomination. The first question we asked everywhere we went was, "Where is God leading your presbytery (or synod)?" As you might expect, we got a wide variety of responses. What impressed us most was that, almost without exception, we found presbyteries and synods who are confident that God is leading them and their congregations in ministry! That sense of confidence that God is at work among us is a real source of strength and encouragement for all of us.
A number of common themes emerged in those dialogues and conversations:
· growing and widespread consensus that evangelism is our first calling and that justice is God's great intention for humankind;
· passion to revitalize our congregations;
· priority for reaching out to the rich multicultural reality of God's people;
· a focus on building a new generation of leaders, both lay and clergy, for the life and mission of the PC(USA);
· a growing number of partnerships with Christians around the world in ways that bring transformation there and here;
· a valuing of our polity with its emphasis on discerning the will of God through the collective and shared leadership of ministers and elders;
· hunger for the peace, unity, and purity of our church.
These priorities are expressed in very different ways in our diverse presbyteries. The churches and forms of ministry in the Presbytery of Alaska, where most churches are on different islands and only two can reach one another by road, look very different, from those in the Presbytery of New York City, where there are many churches on one island. Despite these marked differences, some very important common priorities are emerging among us across the denomination.
We are struck that, while there are deep disagreements on the "hot button" issues dividing our church, these are often not the primary concerns of our presbyteries or the congregations they represent. The primary passion and growing energy are around the common themes we heard expressed over and over again in our consultations.
We have made a commitment to shape our ministry and organizations to serve this emerging consensus of where God is leading us in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and we encourage you to seriously and prayerfully do the same. Where do you see the parallels between the New Testament church and the PC(USA) today in your own context? Are the common themes we've identified the same themes at work where you are engaged in ministry?
Sharing these particular reflections with you seems most appropriate as we move from Easter into Pentecost. From these consultations we have an uplifting sense of hope for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). There are undoubtedly many painful changes that we need to make to be a faithful and dynamic community of faith in 21st-century America. However, we have sensed the Holy Spirit at work among Presbyterians across this denomination in powerful ways, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with you in building a New Testament church for the 21st century.
Yours in Christ,
John Detterick, Executive Director of the General Assembly Council
Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
Here is their letter that arrived this week:
Dear Friends and Colleagues:
We greet you in the joy of the risen Christ! This is the latest of our seasonal communications to you to offer a word of encouragement, to share some of our thoughts about the life of the church, and to invite your input to us. In this letter, we want to offer to you some of our experiences and learnings from these past three years of having held consultations with our presbyteries and synods across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A). We hope our thoughts and questions will both challenge and encourage you in your particular ministries.
Many of you may have participated in one of the consultations. We, along with our colleague Gary Torrens, visited fifteen synod and 100 presbytery meetings. Perhaps the thought of being at 115 governing body meetings might not seem very exciting, but it has been a wonderful experience for us. In fact, we have said many times during these consultations that this may have been the most significant thing we have done in our second terms in these offices.
We set about these consultations in response to an action of the General Assembly to consult with our presbyteries and synods. Each of our consultations focused on the theme, "A New Testament Church in a New Century." That theme emerged from our conviction that we are living in a whole new context for ministry in a postmodern, 21st-century world. We believe this new context of ours has huge parallels with the experience of the New Testament church, namely, a Pentecostal world of people from every race, tongue, and nation living among us; a church struggling, like the church in Corinth, to find unity in the midst of our diversity; a dis-established church in a secular culture much like the Roman Empire; and a spiritual hunger much like Paul found at the Areopagus.
In the midst of just this kind of world, the Holy Spirit transformed the New Testament church from being a group of discouraged and divided followers of Christ into being a community of disciples that "turned the world upside down for the gospel." Just as the Holy Spirit was at work then, we believe the Holy Spirit is at work now, calling the PC(USA) to the same kind of renewal so that we can "turn the world upside down for the gospel" in our day and time.
While we have seen churches with real problems and struggles, we have also seen the Holy Spirit moving in congregations all across this denomination. The first question we asked everywhere we went was, "Where is God leading your presbytery (or synod)?" As you might expect, we got a wide variety of responses. What impressed us most was that, almost without exception, we found presbyteries and synods who are confident that God is leading them and their congregations in ministry! That sense of confidence that God is at work among us is a real source of strength and encouragement for all of us.
A number of common themes emerged in those dialogues and conversations:
· growing and widespread consensus that evangelism is our first calling and that justice is God's great intention for humankind;
· passion to revitalize our congregations;
· priority for reaching out to the rich multicultural reality of God's people;
· a focus on building a new generation of leaders, both lay and clergy, for the life and mission of the PC(USA);
· a growing number of partnerships with Christians around the world in ways that bring transformation there and here;
· a valuing of our polity with its emphasis on discerning the will of God through the collective and shared leadership of ministers and elders;
· hunger for the peace, unity, and purity of our church.
These priorities are expressed in very different ways in our diverse presbyteries. The churches and forms of ministry in the Presbytery of Alaska, where most churches are on different islands and only two can reach one another by road, look very different, from those in the Presbytery of New York City, where there are many churches on one island. Despite these marked differences, some very important common priorities are emerging among us across the denomination.
We are struck that, while there are deep disagreements on the "hot button" issues dividing our church, these are often not the primary concerns of our presbyteries or the congregations they represent. The primary passion and growing energy are around the common themes we heard expressed over and over again in our consultations.
We have made a commitment to shape our ministry and organizations to serve this emerging consensus of where God is leading us in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and we encourage you to seriously and prayerfully do the same. Where do you see the parallels between the New Testament church and the PC(USA) today in your own context? Are the common themes we've identified the same themes at work where you are engaged in ministry?
Sharing these particular reflections with you seems most appropriate as we move from Easter into Pentecost. From these consultations we have an uplifting sense of hope for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). There are undoubtedly many painful changes that we need to make to be a faithful and dynamic community of faith in 21st-century America. However, we have sensed the Holy Spirit at work among Presbyterians across this denomination in powerful ways, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with you in building a New Testament church for the 21st century.
Yours in Christ,
John Detterick, Executive Director of the General Assembly Council
Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
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