Listen to the way Gene Peterson paraphrases that in
contemporary language: "And I ask [God] that with both feet
planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all
Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach
out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the
depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the
fullness of God!"(1)
"Rooted and established in love," or in the language of the
venerable King James Version in which many of us were nourished,
"rooted and grounded in love." That was the theme of the 213th
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) that concluded
yesterday in Louisville, Kentucky.
As most of you know, I make it a practice to attend the
Assembly every year. After all, it is the highest governing body
in our denomination, and the Assembly's pronouncements are
listened to around the world as the voice of the Presbyterian
Church. Since the Presbyterian Church includes you and me, and
since some of those pronouncements in years past have been more
than a bit disquieting, particularly as reported in the press, I
go to keep track of what is happening, to see if we have shot
ourselves in the foot, and then come home to report to you on the
state of your church.
I was not looking forward to the Assembly this year. I left
Warren last Saturday with more than a little unease. I knew what
was coming - we were about to go tooth and nail for the umpteenth
time over the issue of whether or not to allow gays and lesbians
full participation in the life of our church. All the mainline
denominations have been struggling with it. Year after year the
same fight, and it is getting old. More about that in a bit.
The first order of business at these annual gatherings is
the election of a Moderator, a person whose task is to preside
over the meetings but, more than that, to represent our
denomination as its highest elected official for the coming year.
There are brief nominating speeches, brief statements from the
candidates (there were four this year), a question-and-answer
period during which commissioners can ask whatever is on their
minds with responses coming from each candidate, and finally a
vote. One can generally guess who the winner will be by gauging
who gives the best answers, who makes the fewest blunders, or, as
one of my friends adds, who looks good with their face blown up
to twelve feet tall on the giant TV screen. For what it is
worth, in my not so humble opinion, the one who did best in the
back-and-forth was Dr. Jack Rodgers, a retired Professor from San
Francisco Seminary and author of several widely read books on our
Presbyterian Confessions. And, yes, Jack did win the election.
Sunday at the Assembly is always highlighted by worship.
The Order of Service filled 19 pages with the proceedings lasting
two solid hours. A massed choir of several hundred voices from
area churches led the music along with a worship band, a small
chamber orchestra and traditional organ. Spectacular. Outgoing
Assembly Moderator Syngman Rhee was the preacher for the day and
his theme was that for the Assembly: Rooted and Grounded in Love.
Almost 300 mission workers were commissioned and we capped it all
off with a celebration of the Lord's Supper. It would be nice if
we did business as well as we do worship.
Monday morning is not normally a highlight of General
Assembly, but this year it was. Tony Campolo, that delightful
Baptist from the wilds of Philadelphia, addressed the Assembly at
breakfast. He was aware of the trouble we have been having.
"Most denominational splits have nothing to do with theology," he
observed. "Behind all the rhetoric about theology we see power
games being played out." Hmm.
Power dynamics also affect family life, Tony said. "Men are
usually lousy lovers because they're on power trips all the
time." He continued by saying that people frequently ask him who
should be the head of the house? "I feel like saying, 'If you
were a Christian, you wouldn't ask a stupid question like that.'"
He said the question reminded him of the one the disciples asked
Jesus about which one of them would sit at his right hand in the
coming reign of God. Instead, husbands and wives should be
seeking to emulate Jesus, who "emptied himself and took the form
of a servant."
"I know what you're thinking: Who's going to be in charge of
the family?" he said. "Try Jesus!" Amen! Good ol' Tony!
As every dyed-in-the-wool Presbyterian knows, the real work
of the church is handled in committees, and at General Assembly,
the rule is writ large - 15 standing committees, most with 50 to
60 members who have probably never laid eyes on one another
before, dealing with hundreds of items of business, subjects
ranging from the nitty-gritty of church government to broad
questions of national and international affairs. Committee
meetings begin on Sunday night then continue on Monday and
Tuesday with Wednesday morning reserved for everyone to read the
committee reports of everyone else.
The plenaries resume. The Assembly approved a major report
on campus ministry, a good move considering that the college
years are when we lose many of our best and brightest. The
report calls for the creation of an internship program to train
new campus ministers, a system for funding ongoing support of
campus ministries, and the development of an electronic
notification system so campus ministries know when Presbyterian
students come to their schools. Makes good sense.
Upon recommendation of the Committee on Catholicity and
Ecumenical Relations, the Assembly affirmed the directions of
historic talks currently taking place between us and the Roman
Catholic Church. The Assembly instructed our representatives to
find "appropriate language" to describe the closer ties
developing between the two churches, to find ways to renounce
anti-Catholic statements made by the Presbyterian Church in the
past, and to join the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Conference in a
study that could lead to a mutual affirmation of each other's
baptisms. There are still differences between the churches, as
we all know, but they are getting smaller and smaller and
smaller. Praise God.
As expected, the Assembly extended the current "Year of the
Child" mission emphasis to a "Decade of the Child," in which
congregations, members and church agencies will be encouraged to
continue the efforts they have begun and explore new ways to be
in ministry with children and their families in the years to
come. The Assembly also approved a major policy statement on
domestic violence entitled "Turn Mourning into Dancing!" The 84-page report addresses the causes of the problem in American
society and in more than 60 recommendations proposes ways in
which the church can be more effective in reducing the incidents
and effects of domestic violence in the country.
On another sensitive issue, the Assembly adopted moral and
ethical guidelines for stem cell and fetal tissue research.
Recognizing both the great progress in that area as well as the
complexity of the moral issues involved, the guidelines offer
counsel on the use of tissue derived from fetuses, subjecting it
to appropriate limitations. Under the guidelines, the decision
to have an abortion would be separate from the decision to donate
fetal tissue and the sale or commercialization of fetal tissue
would be legally prohibited.
In the midst of all the other business, the Assembly
approved formation of a task force that had been recommended by a
number of our denominational leaders. Over the next four years
it will examine in detail the theological issues that have
divided the Presbyterian Church (USA) in recent times. The 17-member group, to be appointed by the moderators of the three most
recent General Assemblies, was directed "to lead the PC(USA) in
spiritual discernment of our Christian identity, seeking the
peace, unity and purity of the church." Among the subjects the
task force was asked to explore are issues related to our
understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ, biblical
authority and interpretation, ordination standards, and power.
Friday afternoon arrived and with it the committee report
that would respond to the approximately 30 overtures from
presbyteries around the nation dealing with the ever-present
sexuality issues. The committee was recommending a proposed
constitutional amendment to the presbyteries that, if ratified by
a majority of them in the coming year, would delete the paragraph
from our Book of Order which had been inserted in 1996 saying,
Those who are called to office in the church are to
lead a life in obedience to scripture and in conformity
to the historic confessional standards of the church.
Among these standards is the requirement to live either
in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a
man and a woman, or chastity in singleness. Persons
refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice
which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained
and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of
the Word and Sacrament."(2)
That was the passage inserted five years ago to exclude
openly gay people from office in the church (even though they are
not directly mentioned in the language). Knowing that the task
force to study our conflicts had been established earlier in the
week, the easy thing to do would have been for the Assembly to
simply refer the report to that group for deliberation - let them
battle about it for the next four years. But no. By an almost
2-1 margin, the committee's recommendation was adopted, and the
decision will be put to the presbyteries during the coming year.
At a press conference following the vote, both conservatives
and liberals held forth, either pointing with pride or viewing
with alarm. After both groups had had their say, Moderator
Rogers spoke: "The scriptures say 'Rejoice with those who rejoice
and weep with those who weep.' I am rejoicing that this group
now has hope, and weep with those who sincerely believe the
church has done a wrong thing." I feel the same way; I have
friends on both sides.
The reality is that these sexuality questions are with us as
a church because they continue to be with us as a society. In my
view, no matter what we say or refuse to say is going to end the
discussion, no matter how tired we are of it or how much we wish
it would go away.
During the course of an Assembly week, we learn a lot. For
example, did you know that the letters in Britney Spears name can
be rearranged to spell Presbyterians? I knew you would be
excited. At the Assembly I run into many friends and colleagues
from years past. It is a time of catching up. "Where are you
these days?"
Warren, Pennsylvania.
"Where is that?"
Northwestern part of the state. Don't worry about it, you
can't get there from here anyway.
We talk about the past and the future. One of my old
friends wondered, in light of all the conflict and confusion, if
there would be any church at all in which to do her ministry as
the years progressed. I told her I was not worried about that,
and the reason I am not worried is this is not our church anyway.
This is the Lord's church, and that means, through thick and
thin, it will not only survive, it will thrive.
Need proof? Do you remember where you were on Fathers Day
last year? Many of you were right here, and some of you have
told me that you had been genuinely concerned about the future of
this church. As you sat here last year, at this very hour you
were listening to someone whom your Pulpit Committee was
proposing to become your next pastor. At the conclusion of the
service, you voted. And things have not been the same since.
The words of despair have become words of delight. All in one
year. How did that happen? At the heart of it, I believe with
every fibre of my being that God put the pieces together. You
and you and you and you and you and you and you and even me. All
together..."ROOTED AND GROUNDED in love that [we] may have power,
together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high
and deep is the love of Christ..." And then to share that love.
That IS why God put us here. This is, after all, God's church.
Always has been. Always will be.
Rooted and grounded in love. There is nothing more to be
said than to echo the words of the Apostle: "Now to him who is
able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory
in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for
ever and ever!"
Amen.
1. Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs in
Contemporary Language, (Colorado Springs, CO : Navpress, 1995), p. 408
2. G-6.0106b
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