Carlisle Executive Presbyter

Reflections from Honduras June 2009

2009-07-13T19:11:00.001-07:00

“It is not a coup.” “It is not a coup.” My friend Gaby Chavez emphatically told us her perspective while we were comfortably seated around the conference table in the Habitat for Humanity national office in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Gaby, with a rising passion in her voice, told us that she and many other friends were repeatedly sending emails to CNN informing them that it is not a military coup that happened in Honduras this week. She asserted that what had happened to the President was legal, necessary and had been anticipated for some weeks. Gaby shared her conviction, which she assured us was shared by many Hondurans, that with the head of the Congress now seated as the new President the will of their Constitution was precisely expressed. “This is a democratic country. It is not a coup. I wish CNN would get it right!”

Gaby is a delightful, petite Honduran woman, fully bi-lingual, who works in funds development within the national office of Habitat for Humanity Honduras. I met her several years ago at a Presbyterian Church U.S.A. mission network conference which I helped organize in Tegucigalpa. Gaby and I have been corresponding regularly by email as we are conceiving a three way partnership between Habitat Honduras, the Presbyterian Church in Honduras and our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Before this week, despite having led eight week-long mission trips to Honduras since 2006, I knew very little about the national politics. I presumed the common perception that Honduras is a very stable democracy and a close ally of the United States. Honduras, for example, did not suffer violent civil conflict like neighboring Nicaragua and El Salvador in the 1980s. But this week I learned all about national politics in Honduras. I learned that President Zelaya was coming to the end of his first and final term in office. The Honduran Constitution limits the President to one term. Only days before our trip, which left Harrisburg airport on June 28, I learned that President Zelaya was asking for a change in the Constitution to permit him to run for a second term. He then dismissed the head of the military who disagreed with this action. In line with the military leadership, the Honduran Supreme Court has declared that this request is illegal. That was the seed that blossomed into a difficult international crisis right before our eyes while our mission team was in San Pedro Sula to build a new home.

Our awareness of the seriousness of this political situation became very real when the pilot on our Delta airlines flight spoke over the p.a. system as we approached our landing in San Pedro Sula: “We have learned that the President of Honduras has been removed from office and taken to Costa Rica. We know many of you are mission teams from the United States. We encourage you to speak with your host organizations to a make a decision concerning your visit in Honduras.” With that brief announcement our anxiety level jumped and we wondered what surprises lay ahead of us this week.

When we met our Habitat for Humanity host, in front of Wendy’s in the airport as we were instructed, our first questions were about this political situation. Hector is a driver for Habitat and expressed a bubbling, warm hospitality which immediately eased our anxiety. He told us that all the political unrest at this point was confined to Tegucigalpa, the capital city, and our work should not be affected. As we drove with Hector to our hotel he gave us a quick introduction to Honduran politics including his very strong opinion that the action was not a coup, was not illegal, and many Hondurans were in favor of the action. Hector, in his gregarious and charming manner, gave us a comprehensive and very opinionated introduction to Honduran politics while driving us to our hotel. I became a little concerned when Hector, with his infectious smile and strong opinions, kept turning to look at us seated behind him in the van, instead of keeping his eyes on the road ahead, as he drove. Fortunately, he paused his political lecture every few sentences so our translator, Kathy, could give us an English version. During these translation pauses he paid attention to his driving and we arrived safely at our hotel.

After our long flights, our team was early to bed on Sunday night and up bright, early and eager to work on Monday morning. After an uneventful forty-five minute drive out of the city and into the poor rural area where the new home was located, we were greeted by the Habitat for Humanity staff and the “owner” family for the opening ceremony and prayer to begin our week. We spent a beautiful day in the hot, Honduran sun mixing mortar and laying block. Our team worked beautifully together, and the lead mason on this job, Carlos, was a true joy. It was obvious that Carlos was eager to work with us. He carefully supervised the construction of the new home, while graciously involving our team members in all aspects of this work. I know from experience that nothing will raise the irritability of a group of pampered Americans faster than the blistering hot Honduran sun. I was deeply relieved on Monday afternoon at how well our team was working and getting along. There is no way to prepare for or anticipate how well a mission team will work together. Our team was working and getting along beautifully. I expected it to be a very good week; I knew already that this team would make significant progress on the construction of this new home. After a long, hot day in the sun sleep came easy and early for our team back at the hotel.

On Tuesday morning we were all up early and eager to return to “our house” for another work day. Now we knew what to expect and we were buoyed by the opportunity and the blessing to do this work. For convenience, our van picked us up at the hotel before stopping at our Habitat for Humanity staff person’s home to pick him up on the way to the work site. We spent the time riding in the van generously covering ourselves with lotion preparing to face the Honduras sun again. But as soon as our Habitat staff host climbed into the front seat he announced, “We are not working today.”

After an email from the Habitat for Humanity USA office, the Executive Director of Habitat in Honduras decided that our transportation out of the city to the rural area where we were working was too dangerous. There were protests at the exits to the city. Large groups of people were gathered on the highways. There was no way of knowing if these protesters were in favor of President Zelaya who was exiled in Costa Rica or may have been in support of newly seated President Marchelli. The politics were not important to us. The disappointment settled into our hearts. All we knew is that we were being prevented from driving out of the city. We were sure that our new friend Carlos wanted us at the worksite so we could lay block side by side for another day. We were sure that Gloria, her husband and their children were eager to see us working another day on their new home. We were sure their ninth grade son was especially eager to work with us. On Monday he was quick to do the heaviest work, mixing and carrying heavy buckets of mortar, and carrying block. We were sure that the children who hung around the work site and the teenagers who stopped by to lend a hand on Monday would be eager to see us again. All day Monday we chatted and laughed with each other across the language barrier. They eagerly stood by the side of the dusty road and waved goodbye as we pulled away Monday, waving out the van windows, saying, “Hasta Manana!” “See you tomorrow.” But tomorrow never came. We were never able to return to our work site. These simple, joyful people out in the Honduran country side seemed very far away from presidential politics and international power plays, from the constant live coverage of “CNN Espanol” and from the threat of violence between opposed allegiances. But now the presidential politics, which we followed on the hotel’s computer at BBC world news, intervened in a powerful way directly in our lives.

We simply hoped to help Carlos build a house. We simply hoped to confirm and affirm the rich dignity and pride we saw in Gloria’s eyes while she worked with us on her new home. For this week we did not want to be sophisticated, first-world Christians from America with our highly-educated, sophisticated, internet-connected professional lives. This week we simply wanted to lay block and mix mortar. We wanted to stand next to Carlos learning Spanish and teaching English. We wanted to carefully settle each new block onto a carefully laid bed of mortar and align it precisely with the taut mason’s line. We wanted to share a shovel and rake with Gloria as we compacted the dirt in her new rooms in preparation for the tile floor which will be carefully laid as one of the last steps of construction. We were here for the simple act of helping to build a new home. But that simple act filled us with the hope for spiritual renewal and blessing. But Presidential politics intervened and crushed our hopes.

Disappointed seared our hearts on Tuesday morning. As the hours passed the disappointment became deep and permanent. Instead of going to the work site, we went to the Habitat for Humanity office to monitor the political situation and calculate our next steps. As the hours we were supposed to be working wasted away on Tuesday, the situation in the city grew tense and dangerous. A huge political demonstration took over the center of the city of San Pedro Sula; the United States State Department issued a travel advisory for Honduras; we listened to comments by President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton concerning these things. And now the order came down from the regional office of Habitat for Humanity. All mission teams were directed to leave the country as soon as possible. All long term Habitat volunteers were also directed to leave the country. We were taken back to our hotel and told to stay within the hotel grounds until our flights were arranged. We learned that our team from the Presbytery of Carlisle was one of three teams working with Habitat Honduras that week. The others were university teams from Ireland and Canada. The Habitat staff worked hard to help us make new airline connections to get out of the country as soon as possible. They shared our disappointed and anxiety but most of all they were appropriately concerned for our wellbeing. I am grateful for the wonderful and warm, emotional blanket which Habitat for Humanity staff people wrapped us in.

The little hotel where our team was staying is in downtown San Pedro Sula. This was our home for two days as our new flights home were scheduled. We did not leave the grounds of the hotel, and its large steel gate remained locked all day long. But on Wednesday afternoon we could hear the commotion and the noise. The usually very heavy traffic in front of our hotel had completely stopped. No vehicles were moving. But the blaring noise of a large commotion was clear; loud speakers and chanting, horns and the noise of masses of people. But we could not see anything from inside the hotel gate. We unlocked and opened the gate and stepped out into the street in order to see. While standing in the middle of the barren street we saw, only four city blocks away toward center city, a huge inferno of burning tires creating clouds of ugly, black billowing smoke right in the middle of the street. And walking past the fire, not toward us but perpendicular to our street, we could see enormous crowds of people marching. As we scoured the internet for all news, we learned these large crowds were gathering outside the government buildings to protest. We learned that these public demonstrations were much, much larger in Tegucigalpa. These protest marches paralyzed the city, but it was unclear which side of the political crisis was being advocated, or if both sides were squared off against each other. We never felt danger or threatened but we certainly understood the importance of not getting caught up near the demonstrations. After snapping a few photographs, I stood a moment watching the odd sight of the huge fire in the middle of the street. I thought of Carlos working alone laying block, and the family who was waiting for their home to be built, and the energy and enthusiasm of our team which came to help build that home. We would not be going to the work site again. Everything changed. Honduras changed. My feelings are confused, mixed up and ambiguous. I am not sure what it all means. But I know the raw emotion, the anxiety and confusion, the deep bonding of our team, and the powerful foundation of prayer and support which lifted us have all touched me deeply. Sitting safely at home and now quietly writing these reflections I realize again that I am profoundly grateful.

Report to the Presbytery June 23, 2009

2009-07-13T08:04:00.000-07:00

Loyalty to Presbyterian World Mission

According to my dictionary, the word “loyal” means “giving or showing firm and constant support or allegiance to a person or institution”. Is there any loyalty left in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)? What does it mean to be loyal to an institution? Is loyalty a value or a spiritual gift which we even seek today in our church? I want to ask for and encourage loyalty to the work of Presbyterian world mission.

If there is one great, abiding legacy of American Presbyterianism it is our heritage of world mission. We are a church tradition which participated in the invention of world mission. In the great age of world mission, from the end of the Civil War to the first World War we are the church which sent missionaries around the world, building hospitals, building schools, building agricultural and farm infrastructure, building churches. Our heritage of world mission is stellar and profound. I believe it may be the most important bequest of American Presbyterianism.

I believe with this heritage of mission work the Presbyterians, and our partner mainline Protestant denominations, planted very fruitful seeds in our own culture and society. These seeds have grown up in today’s younger generations as a deep commitment to mission work and community service. These spiritual seeds, which were planted generations ago in the great era of world wide mission work, have grown up into one of the most, remarkable expressions of church work we have today, mission trips. I believe that these seeds planted during the great era of world mission have sprouted into the remarkable plethora of para-church, mission organizations that are now spanning the globe: Group Work Camps, Reach Work Camps, World Vision, Compassion International, Save the Children, Habitat for Humanity. I mention these organizations specifically because I have personal experience with them all. In many ways these organizations, and many others like them, offer important and worthy mission opportunities. For example, through their popular program called the 40 hour famine, World Vision has moved many teenagers to think deep and pray about the abundance and material blessing we have in this country. What does it mean to be a first world Christian living in such an affluent society? After a group of teenagers spend a 40 hours famine together, deep spiritual reflection about consumerism and abundance flow very easy and very deep. For example, Group Work Camps have created an infrastructure and procedure for doing short term mission trips which is easily available for even our smallest congregations. For many churches, their first mission trip with teenagers is a Group work camp, and these experiences often change lives and transform churches. Our son Michael, now a senior in high school, still has a Group work camp ball cap hanging on his bedroom wall from his first mission trip when he was in sixth grade. For example, Habitat for Humanity, as we all know, has given countless people the remarkable opportunity of hands on mission involvement. When I went to a Habitat for Humanity Global Village training class several years ago, I was by far the oldest person among the more than 50 people in our class. Most of the students were college kids preparing to go around the world on short term Habitat mission trips. I believe that the great era of Protestant world mission, during which the Presbyterians were a driving force, is the historical and spiritual antecedent for these exciting, modern and popular para-church mission organizations today.

If you look around the churches of this Presbytery, almost every vital and healthy church in this presbytery does mission trips. I believe that mission trips are as vital today in the life of the church as Sunday school. For many young people and, indeed, for many adults, mission trips are transforming experiences in Christian faith formation. I believe mission trips are vital in the church today. I am leaving on a mission trip this Sunday. But I also believe that there is a huge difference between mission trips and Presbyterian world mission.

Presbyterian world mission is a very different thing than short term mission trips. For many, many complex reasons we have as a church lost our focus on Presbyterian world mission. One of the reasons is that we have shifted enormous energy and resources to doing mission trips. I am asking us to rekindle our commitment and our loyalty to Presbyterian world mission.
At its core, Presbyterian world mission is a commitment to full time, long term, professional missionaries serving at the invitation of our partner churches all around the world. The difference between mission trips and Presbyterian world mission is the difference between kindergarten and the university. Certainly we need excellent kindergartens; we need mission trips. But we also need universities, we need Presbyterian world mission.

I ask for loyalty and commitment. I ask that we proudly proclaim that we are the Presbyterians; we are the ones with a 200 year old heritage of world mission commitment. I ask that we support Presbyterian world mission.

First Presbyterian Church of Carlisle

2009-06-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

Meeting House Springs Cemetery

Dear Mrs. Thomson,

I prayed for you today. I know that some people may consider praying for a dead person strange. But I find comfort and blessing in praying for the dead. I know you died in faith, since we know your husband was the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Carlisle. Did you refer to your home as “Carlisle” when you died in 1744? I know you died too young, and I wonder if you still had young children to care for when you passed away. If so, that must have caused a terrible hardship for your husband. I trust his congregation supported him through that difficult time. I pray for your husband also, Rev. Thomson, but I am afraid that we do not know where his grave is located, and where he went after leaving our church.

I wanted to write so that you may know you have been a wonderful encouragement and blessing to the people in our church. We believe that your grave in our church cemetery may be the oldest marked grave in our Cumberland County. (I am sure it was not called Cumberland County when you lived here.) Your gravesite has become a sort of holy place for our people. I am sure you would be surprised to learn that your life has become such a cherished memory for us.

You would be pleased to know that your husband created a beautiful gravesite for you after your death. Now after all these years, some of our people have carefully cleaned and restored your grave so that we may now see the inscription your husband had carved there on the stone grave top, and the family coat of arms that is carved there also. I wish we knew today all that these symbols meant to your family.

Because of you, our people have decided to clean and restore the cemetery where you are buried. It has been more than 275 years since your death, and now many of the people you probably knew – McFarlands, Dennys, Blacks, Clarks – are buried all around you. We have soldiers buried there from our Revolutionary War, but you died long before that brutal conflict which gave birth to our new nation. I wonder if your husband ever talked about freedom. Many Presbyterians were involved in that war. They wanted to be free. Your husband picked a beautiful spot for your burial. It is a holy place, on a little bluff, not far from the spring which you must have visited daily for your water, and only a few yards from your church building.

Some of our people learned that your husband came here from Scotland before you. He moved onto the frontier of Penn’s land and gathered some other Presbyterian folk into a new congregation. There were many Scots Irish folks pushing into that wilderness and many new churches were born in those days. I am sure those were difficult years for you, being separated from your husband without knowing where he was or what he was doing. Can you remember the day you received his letter beckoning you to come and join him? That journey across the ocean alone must have been difficult? Did you land in Boston or New York? How did you travel out to your husband’s new church? That is long journey.

I prayed for you today. I hope you know that the church you and your husband started is a strong and vital congregation, in this year of our Lord 2009. I wanted you to know that your great, great, great, great, great grandson visited us today. He is a fine man with a charming wife, but they have moved south into Virginia. But your husband would be glad to know that his family is still Presbyterian.

May God bless you and keep in your eternal life.

Sincerely,

Mark

Waynesboro Presbyterian Church

2009-05-29T09:04:00.000-07:00

Healing in the name of Jesus.

Can you list all the Bible stories of Jesus which involve healing? Of course, we know healing is a powerful and common dimension of the ministry of Jesus.

Despite all the changes and transformations in the church today, one constant remains true about the work of pastors. Pastors today are expected to make hospital calls. This is an aspect of ministry which simply cannot be neglected or abandoned in the church today. Indeed, most pastors understand the vital, spiritual importance of hospital calls. We understand that our pastoral presence is a powerful source of healing and encouragement when our people are living through the trauma of modern medical care.

I was richly blessed by the opportunity to worship with our Waynesboro Presbyterian Church on a Sunday when they included a Service of Healing in their worship. Given the centrality of healing in the ministry of Jesus and in our professional ministries today, it may be appropriate to consider more ways we may include a Service of Healing in our regular worship services.

The Waynesboro example is very meaningful and beautiful. This Service of Healing was expressed during the regular Sunday morning worship. Pastor Brian introduced the Service of Healing by explaining it as an extended time of prayer. The members of the session were invited forward to join him at the front of the church. A chair was brought out and the pastor and session formed a loving semi circle around the chair, facing out toward and thus including the congregation in their circle. Brian invited anyone who wanted prayers to come forward. Slowly and reverently individuals came forward and quietly whispered their prayer concern to Pastor Brian. Brian then repeated the prayer concern for the congregation to hear, invited the person to sit, the session all laid hands on the person and Brian lifted up a pastoral prayer focusing on their individual prayer need.

This Service of Healing, I learned, is a regular practice at Waynesboro expressed about quarterly and always as part of worship. I am sure there may be some uncomfortable feelings and attitudes when this practice is first introduced in worship for the first time. But the feeling I had with the Waynesboro Church was one of deep reverence and a real depth of prayer as the congregation prayed for healing. Such depth of prayer only comes with practice.

Given my introverted personality, if you asked me whether I would ever seek such public prayer for myself, I would quickly respond, “Probably not.” I typically prefer my prayers private and anonymous. But this time of healing prayer during worship at Waynesboro moved me deeply. So I went forward when there was an appropriate time, and quietly asked Brian to pray for the healing of the Presbyterian Church, and for my leadership. I was lifted and blessed by the gentle touch of the session members, and truly encouraged by Brian’s prayer for the unity of our church and my ministry.

Maybe our church will be more faithful and effective if we each identified those ways we need to be healed, and publicly asked for healing prayers in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Report to the Presbytery April 28, 2009

2009-05-12T08:47:00.000-07:00

"Abundantly Far More"

I know many of you will find this hard to believe. But truly, I had a wonderful spiritual experience at the annual meeting of a congregation once. It was way back in the first half of the 1970s; I was still a junior high school student; I do not remember the exact year. It was a difficult time for our nation. We were in the middle of the OPEC oil embargo, and the national economy was in a very serious recession. At my small, home church our annual meeting was on one very cold, winter Sunday. At that time my father was serving as both the Clerk of Session and the financial secretary of our little church.

He did his Clerk report, not much had changed in that little church in a year. He moved right into his financial secretary report, and reviewed the financial reports and the budget for the new year. Things were very bad. There was a lot of anxiety and a lot of discussion. I have this memory of my dad responding to many questions and concerns clearly and calmly. (By the way, my parents are very well. They are now fully retired and living in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.) This was a small family church, and this meeting was much more of a conversation among friends, than a business meeting. And then, after all of the concerned discussion waned, my father gave this sort of off-the-cuff little sermon to the congregation. He said something like, “We know this is a very difficult time for the church and for many of our families. We need to make some difficult decisions; we need to be managing this situation very carefully. But the church will carry on. We will carry on through this. The church will carry on.” My dad never used God language, like we preachers use. My dad would never have used words like prayer and providence. But in his own way, and in a way that was deeply meaningful to our family church, he proclaimed our essential truth: God will be God, and the church will carry on. Preachers, I challenge you to bring that same spirit of encouragement and hope to our people now.

More than fifteen years after that annual meeting of my home church, I was the pastor of a very small church. We did not have a secretary. I took the bulletin material and the announcements to Carol’s home every Wednesday morning, and she typed and then photocopied at her dad’s auto parts store. Without a secretary, I was glad to walk out to the road every noon and gather the mail, and I took responsibility for getting all the stuff to the right people: Sunday school curriculum to our teachers, bills and bank statements to our financial secretary, etc. You all know the routine. But that day, this one envelope caught my attention, so I opened it. This was a notice from the electric company to the church that because we were three months past due our electricity was going to be turned off. I had never experienced anything like this before either in my family or in the church, and this notice really upset me. For some reason, our financial secretary, Rose, was out of town for a couple days and unavailable. So this notice sat on my desk, and burdened my mind. Sunday morning rolled around again; this notice was still sitting on my desk and rolling around in my mind.

I noticed that Ron had arrived, and was sitting in his usual pew near the front. Ron was one of the saints and was a great supporter of me. He was on session at that time and was, of course, related to our financial secretary Rose. If I was 25 years old at the time; Ron was probably 65. Ron and his family became some of my best friends in the church as I was learning how to be a pastor. So I decided, on the spot, to share this notice with Ron a few minutes before the worship service. I snatched it up off of my desk, and went out and sat down next to Ron in his pew. Ron always sat alone in worship because his wife and two daughters were all in the choir. I handed Ron the notice from the electric company, and told him that this was bothering me and Rose was out of town. I was not sure what to do about it. Ron quickly looked at the notice. Calmly, he put it back in the envelope and tucked into his jacket pocket. He looked at me and said, “The session will take care of this. You need to worry about your sermon.” That is still very good advice for our preachers. He flashed me a big smile and sent me on my way to lead worship. It was another of those moments of grace in my life. At the next session meeting I noticed on the Treasurer’s report an extra large payment to the electric company. I did not feel a need a comment on it and neither did Ron, and the electricity was never disconnected, and the church carried on.

Wow, it is stunning to me how quickly the social and economic climate has changed in the past half of a year. My friends, for times like these the church needs to carry on. The church needs to be the church. Let us be clear about who we are what we are able to do. We cannot feed all the hungry people in the world, or even in our presbytery. We cannot stop people from losing their home because they cannot pay their mortgage. We cannot stop company managers from sharing the sad news that jobs are being eliminated, and people will be out of work. We cannot restore the investment savings of our people, or insure that everyone will have an abundant retirement. We cannot pay every tuition bill, or even everyone’s utility bill. But we can be the church. We can be the church. And the church will carry on. We can proclaim a word like this one from the letter to the Ephesians:

"Now to God who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever." Amen

In Memory of Carl Dudley

2009-04-29T18:02:00.000-07:00

I never met Carl Dudley. But when my email popped up with a Presbyterian News article announcing his death, a deep sadness filled my heart. This is a man who wrote a book that was a very significant source of inspiration and encouragement for me in the very first years of my ministry. After reading the short article (Presbyterian News Service, number 09338, April 24, 2009) I pulled my copy of Making the Small Church Effective, (Abingdon Press, 1978) down off my bookshelf. This is not a book I have looked at for many years, but as I paged through it quickly I felt again the power with which this book blessed my ministry. As with all my books, the year I first read it is written in the front cover: 1982. That was my first year of seminary and this book was one of the required texts in our Introduction to Ministry course.

After graduation in 1985, I started ministry in a very small, rural congregation in Kiskiminetas Presbytery. I remember those first years of ministry with great fondness. I remember most of all the profound graciousness of this family church that took me in as one of their own and literally taught me how to be a pastor. They poured out hospitality, kindness, and tolerance for the young, new minister who had all the academic answers and none of the life experience to be a pastor. Indeed, in the first years of my professional ministry we created, by the grace of God and the amazing tolerant and accepting love of the congregation, a very effective ministry.

But there were many dark days in those first years of ministry; days when isolation and loneliness burdened at my heart. On Thursday mornings when I tried to write yet another sermon, or on Monday mornings when I sat quietly wondering what exactly I should do with my time all week, I often pulled this little Dudley book off the shelf and read through it again. That a “professor of church and community at McCormick Theological Seminary,” as the back cover proclaimed, would have bothered to write a book about the tiny, isolated church where I found myself serving was an idea that itself inspired me. Somehow, just the fact that this book existed with its focus on and celebration of small churches, encouraged me. “Truly, I am not alone!” Furthermore, that such a small church could and should actually be “effective” was like a fount of divine inspiration for me.

So I type out here Dudley’s eloquent description of small church as family. This is my own heritage and history. Deep down in my heart, there is an abiding love and affection for small, family churches:

“To understand our small church, we begin with the feelings of the members. When asked, members show a strong sense of ownership and deep feelings of belonging. ‘This is our church,’ they say. Members do not begin with apologies or comparisons, unless they are implied because the questioner comes from a larger congregation. For members, the small church is not ‘small is beautiful,’ or ‘small is quality,’ or ‘small but anything.’ Members have a strong, positive attitude toward belonging, because it is a significant experience in their lives. Some ‘members’ are not active in programs, or even in regular attendance on Sunday. They may participate only on special occasions and attend only for annual events. Some such members are not even listed on the rolls of the church, but it remains ‘our church’ to them. They have remained with the church despite other alluring alternatives. In times of crisis for the congregation, they have rallied with support. In the crises of their personal families, the congregation has surrounded them with care and concern. Belonging to the church is like being a member of the family.”
(Dudley, Making the Small Church Effective, page 29)

Thanks be to God for the life, witness and ministry of Professor Carl Dudley.

Characteristics of a missional congregation.

2009-04-07T15:24:00.000-07:00

Lesslie Newbigin. The Gospel in a Pluralist Society. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989.

Our missional church study group has been intentionally reading and discussing missional theology for several years. We recently finished working through one of the seminal and early works in missional thinking: Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society. I want to highlight the image of a missional congregation which Newbigin outlines in Chapter 18, “The Congregation as a Hermeneutic of the Gospel.” As I regularly visit the churches in our presbytery, I see many glimpses of these characteristics. I believe Newbigin has captured in his six, short descriptions the basic outline of what a missional congregation may look like. These characteristics may inspire good conversation in our congregations as we continue to explore new directions in ministry and mission.

It will be a community of praise (page 227). Then, too, the Church’s praise includes thanksgiving. The Christian congregation meets as a community that acknowledges that it lives by the amazing grace of a boundless kindness (page 228).

Second, it will be a community of truth (page 228) A Christian congregation is a community in which, through the constant remembering and rehearsing of the true story of human nature and destiny, an attitude of healthy skepticism can be sustained, a skepticism which enables one to take part in the life of society without being bemused and deluded by its own beliefs about itself (page 229).

Third, it will be a community that does not live for itself but is deeply involved in the concerns of the neighborhood (page 229).

Fourth, it will be a community where men and women are prepared for and sustained in the exercise of the priesthood in the world. The Church is described in the New Testament as a royal priesthood, called to ‘offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God’ and ‘to declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light’ (I Peter 2: 5,9) (page 229 – 230).

Fifth, it will be a community of mutual responsibility. If the Church is to be effective in advocating and achieving a new social order in the nation, it must itself be a new social order (page 231).

And, finally it will be a community of hope (page 232).

May it be so in our churches.

New Presbyterian Missionaries!

2009-04-02T14:04:00.000-07:00

The article is copied from Presbyterian News Service; February 17, 2009.
http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2009/09116

A dozen new Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) international mission personnel attended orientation in January and have begun their international assignments or will begin them in coming weeks.

The Rev. Sara Armstrong and Rusty Edmondson will serve in Peru as delegations and partnerships coordinators. They will organize, coordinate, and translate for Presbyterians visiting from the United States, helping to ensure that these visits reflect the mutual mission priorities of the partner churches. They will serve at the invitation of the Evangelical Presbyterian and Reformed Church of Peru.

A minister member of the Santa Fe Presbytery, Sara was associate pastor for mission and pastoral care at Central United Methodist Church in Albuquerque, NM, prior to entering mission service. She also has served two bilingual Presbyterian congregations in New Mexico and Colorado and three churches in Ohio. Her experience also includes service as a chaplain at Menaul School in Albuquerque and as executive director of a faith-based charity.
Sara earned an undergraduate degree from Smith College in Northampton, MA, and a Master of Divinity degree from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.

Rusty founded Zapata Builders, LLC, a commercial construction company, and SimpleVentures, a marketing/investment firm, in Colorado and New Mexico. Prior to that, he worked in the maintenance and interpretive divisions of the National Park Service. He is a graduate of New Mexico State University, where he studied agricultural engineering. Rusty is a member of Alamosa (CO) Presbyterian Church.They will arrive in Peru in March.

Alexandra Buck is project facilitator for Bridge of Hope, a fair trade project developed in 2005 by the Joining Hands network in Peru. Joining Hands is a program of the Presbyterian Hunger Program that addresses the root causes of hunger through networks of churches and grassroots organizations in developing countries. The networks are also linked to PC(USA) presbyteries and congregations that support the networks’ struggle against hunger.

Buck facilitates a fair trade bridge between artisans in Peru and consumers in the United States. The availability of new markets has significantly increased the income of the Peruvian artisans.
Prior to her mission appointment, Buck was a young adult intern with the Presbyterian U.N. Office. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Hispanic and international studies from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, and is a member of West Granville Presbyterian Church in Milwaukee, WI.

Amanda Craft is serving in Guatemala, where her assignment focuses on women’s leadership development. Her work in Guatemala is at the invitation of the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala.

Craft enters mission service after working for eight years as an associate for education and advocacy for the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program. From 1999 to 2000 she was a PC(USA) Young Adult Volunteer program in Guatemala. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Denison University in Granville, OH. She is a member of Highland Presbyterian Church in Louisville.
Craft is married to Omar Alexander Chan Giron, who accompanies her in her ministry in Guatemala.

The Rev. David Diercksen is serving along the border between the United States and Mexico at Puentes de Cristo, one of six sites of the Presbyterian Border Ministry. Puentes de Cristo’s work is concentrated along Mexico’s northeastern boundary with the United States.
The Presbyterian Border Ministry is a joint ministry between the PC(USA) and the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico. Diercksen is the U.S. coordinator for the Puentes De Cristo site.
Working closely with his Mexican Presbyterian counterpart, Diercksen will facilitate the work of the numerous mission teams that visit the border region each year.

A minister member of Pittsburgh Presbytery, Diercksen has served congregations in Pennsylvania, New York and Maine. Most recently he was pastor and head of staff at Heritage Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh.

Diercksen earned a bachelor’s degree from Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA, a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, NJ, and a Master of Education degree from the University of Pittsburgh. Diercksen is being accompanied by his wife, Nadine, in his new ministry.

Dr. John and Gwenda Fletcher will serve in the Democratic Republic of Congo. John, a physician, will work at the Christian Medical Institute of the Kasai. A major part of his assignment is to help form a network of support and collaboration among all the Presbyterian Community of Congo’s mission hospitals. He will also teach medical residents, medical students and nursing students. Gwenda will work as an education consultant with the Presbyterian Community of Congo.

The Fletchers previously served in the Congo from 1989 to 2002. Both of them grew up in India as children of Presbyterian mission workers.

John is a graduate of the University of Washington, where he received both his undergraduate and medical degrees. Gwenda holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR, and a master’s degree in special education from Portland State University.

Both are ordained elders and members of First Presbyterian Church, Yuma, AZ. They will arrive in Congo in April after completing language study.

The Rev. Brenda Harcourt is a leadership trainer for the Presbyterian Church of East Africa in Kenya. She works in the eastern and Mt. Kenya regions to help improve the leadership skills of both clergy and lay leaders.

Harcourt's assignment in Kenya is her second appointment as a PC(USA) mission worker. From 1989 to 1991 she was a seminary instructor in Ghana, serving with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana.

Immediately prior to her new mission appointment, Harcourt was pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Oregon, IL. She also has been pastor of a congregation in Pennsylvania, a conference center director and a chaplain.

Harcourt holds a bachelor’s degree from Millersville University in Millersville, PA, and a Master of Divinity from Lancaster Theological Seminary in Lancaster, PA.

Jed Koball is serving in Peru with Joining Hands as a companionship facilitator. He will be facilitating the relationship between the Peruvian network, Uniendo Manos Contra Pobreza (Joining Hands Against Poverty) and PC(USA) congregations.

Koball served as a Young Adult Volunteer in the Philippines from 1996 to 1997. Prior to re-entering mission service, he was interim associate pastor at Larchmont Presbyterian Church in Larchmont, NY. He also has worked in Nicaragua with Bridges to Community, a not-for-profit community development organization.

Koball earned a bachelor’s degree from St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, NC, and a master’s in theology from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.

Nancy McGaughey works in Sudan as a health coordinator with the Association of Christian Resource Organizations Serving Sudan (ACROSS). She serves at the invitation of the Presbyterian Church of Sudan, the PC(USA)’s partner in southern Sudan.

McGaughey, a registered nurse, brings 15 years of mission experience to her assignment in Sudan. She worked in Nepal from 1987 to 2002 as a PC(USA) mission worker and from 1977 to 1980 with the Peace Corps. Most recently she has worked at Clare Medical Center in Crawfordville, IN. She is a member of Russellville Community Church, a congregation of the United Church of Christ/Disciples of Christ in Russellville, IN.

She holds an associate’s degree in nursing from Indiana University, a bachelor’s degree in vocational home economics from Purdue University, and a master’s in vocational and technical education from Purdue.

The Rev. Stacey Steck is serving in Costa Rica as associate for congregational growth and development with the Costa Rican Presbyterian Church. He also will assist U.S. Presbyterians who travel to Costa Rica on mission trips and serve as half-time pastor of an English-speaking congregation, Escazu Christians Fellowship.

Steck has been living in Costa Rica since 2006, serving the Escazú Christian Fellowship. Prior to moving to Costa Rica, he was stated supply pastor and head of staff at First Presbyterian Church in St. Cloud, MN.

Steck holds a B.A. degree from the American University in Washington, DC, and an M.Div. from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He is a minister member of Minnesota Valleys Presbytery.
Nathaniel Veltman is a development consultant with the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus. He will be working with the five synods of the church in the western region of the country in a variety of development projects.

Nathaniel Veltman is a development consultant with the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus. He will be working with the five synods of the church in the western region of the country in a variety of development projects.

Veltman recently received a master’s degree in international development from the University of Pittsburgh. His undergraduate degree is from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. While a student, he participated in service opportunities in Ghana and Malawi. Veltman is a member of Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh

The Future of the Synod

2009-03-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

My proposal for the future direction of the ministry and mission of the Synod is very simple. The Synod should be completely dismantled as a governing body. There is nothing shocking or surprising about this proposal. I have heard this very point repeatedly in conversation with many different people around the church. The complete dismantling of the Synod is often spoken of as an inevitable result of time and funding. We know this will happen someday. The Synod is going to disappear as a governing body; my concern is that this will happen by a very slow death which will devour vast amounts of money and hours of leadership time. I propose we become much more forward thinking and visionary in approaching this question. I propose we do not simply allow the force of inevitability to define our future.
I have heard all the emotional arguments which presume that the dismantling of the Synod will compromise and break our connectedness as a church. I humbly submit this is completely not true. The Synod is not a source of connectedness in the church today. The most effective source of institutional connectedness across the denomination today, and in my experience in the Presbytery of Carlisle, is provided by the General Assembly. The General Assembly provides a vital connecting link on the Office of the General Assembly side by providing our constitution in the Book of Order and Book of Confessions, and, of course, for providing the process for their amendment. Much more important to my heart and soul, I believe that the General Assembly Council, the other side of our General Assembly, provides the most important connecting link in our church through the World Mission office. It is here that we should be gathering and focusing our resources and leadership. In addition, I believe the Office of Theology and Worship and the Church Leadership Connection provide vital connecting links within our church. We do not need the Synod for any of these vital connecting links in the church today.

Very quickly, I propose to offer an overview of what we may lose and what we may gain if we boldly and courageously consider the complete dismantling of the Synod.

What we should lose: We should lose the administrative functioning of the Synod. There should not be any Synod meetings, no Synod commissioners, no official governing body action or administrative maintenance. Within our presbyteries we should not continue to hit our heads against the wall trying to recruit Synod commissioners. There should not be any Synod programs or vast Synod initiatives.

What we should gain: I propose that the position of Synod executive should be transformed into a “Consultant to the Presbyteries” position. This professional church consultant should work in two broad areas, with oversight provided by a very small Coordinating Council which may include one person from each of our presbyteries.

Leadership Development: The consultant to the Presbyteries should focus on developing the leadership of the presbyteries. This will include models of support and nurture parallel to what we now have in the Executive Presbyter Forum. The consultant will take responsibility for gathering leaders together. These leaders may be the Executives, the Associate Executives, the Clerks, the Moderators, the chairs of our COM and CPMs, large church pastors, small church pastors, lay pastors, new pastors, etc. There are many different constituencies of leaders which our Presbytery consultant could be responsible for connecting together and encouraging. The consultant’s responsibility would be to help create the bonds of prayer and patterns of mutual support, sharing, and learning for our presbytery leaders.

Mission Networks: The Presbytery consultant should initiate, support, and encourage multi-presbytery mission networks. This has been discussed in the current Synod structure, but this whole effort has, in my opinion, been completely stifled because of our concern to maintain a governing body. Thus, currently, the mission networks have been left to fend for themselves. Some of them like the Transformation Network and the Trinity Disaster Response Network, which Carlisle initiated, have thrived. I submit that the whole concept of mission networks fits the theological, technological and cultural context which we are learning to live into as a church. For example, our General Assembly’s World Mission office is supporting a system of international mission networks, where there is tremendous energy and deep spiritual commitment. I am the moderator of our nascent Honduras mission network. This model may be the future of Presbyterian World Mission. At our level, as a gathering of presbyteries, I humbly submit that we cannot have both. We cannot have a robust and energetic commitment to mission networks and a functioning governing body. As it is now, we are trying to both and we are doing neither very well.

In summary, I propose the complete dismantling of the Synod as a governing body. I propose the creation of a full-time consultant to the Presbyteries position with a focus on leadership development and mission networks. I propose that of our presbyteries redirect their Basic Mission Giving distributions from the Synod to the General Assembly. The new consultant to the presbyteries should have a salary and a support infrastructure derived solely from Per Capita contributions and current Synod financial reserves.

Book Review: Lamin Senneh

2009-03-02T10:51:00.000-08:00

Lamin Senneh,
Disciples of All Nations: Pillars of World Christianity
Oxford University Press, 2008

There is something truly remarkable happening in the world. I believe we must be constantly challenged and inspired to lift up our eyes and ponder what is happening in the Church (note the capital “C”) in our world today. It is easy and ordinary to be short-sighted. We may easily consider our own daily to-do list to be the full extent of our vision of the church on any given work day in ministry. There are, of course, sermons to write to satisfy the inevitable coming of another Sunday, and worship services to craft for special seasonal occasions, committee meetings to attend, and the relentless call of pastoral visits. We express ministry on a daily and a local level, and it becomes natural and easy for us to consider this the end of the story, and the fullness of our task.
But, once and again, a voice goes out and may enter our ear, which beckons our vision up and out. Lamin Senneh is such a voice. Do we realize what is happening in the Church around the world? Wow. Listen to this voice. Pay attention to this word. There is something truly remarkable happening in the Church. We are living through a great, global awakening of the Church. The fact is our little corner of Christ’s holy Church today, that is, the American Protestant churches and specifically our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are not participating in this great awakening. The implications of this fact deserve our deepest pondering and prayer. Being outside of this great global awakening will have momentous consequences for our style of church. I believe we need to start paying attention to voices like Professor Senneh.
This new book is the first in a series of books being published as the Oxford Studies in World Christianity. Lamin Sennneh, of Yale University, is the series editor.

“The extent to which the current awakening has occurred without the institutions and structures that defined Western Christendom, including the tradition of scholarship, learning, and cosmopolitanism, is an important feature of World Christianity and its largely hinterland following. In the current resurgence monasteries, theological schools, and hierarchical agency, for example, have played comparatively little role. . . .” (quoted from locations 58-63 of the Amazon Kindle edition.)

This is, of course, the fact with which we must reckon, even while we are too often captivated and captured by our local concerns: “With unflagging momentum, Christianity has become, or is fast becoming, the principal religion of the people of the world. Primal societies that once stood well outside the main orbit of the faith have become major centers of Christian impact, while Europe and North America, once considered the religion’s heartlands, are in noticeable recession.” (quoted from locations 80-83 of the Amazon Kindle edition.)

“These unprecedented developments cast a revealing light on the serial nature of Christian origins, expansion, and subsequent attrition. They fit into cycles of retreat and advance, of contraction and expansion, and of waning and awakening that have characterized the religion since its birth, though they are now revealed to us with particular force. The pattern of contrasting development is occurring simultaneously in various societies across the world. The religion is now in the twilight of its Western phase and at the beginning of its formative non-Western impact. Christianity has not ceased to be a Western religion, but its future as a world religion is now being formed and shaped at the hands and in the minds of its non-Western adherents. Rather than being a cause for unsettling gloom, for Christians this new situation is a reason for guarded hope.” (quoted from locations 88-92 of the Amazon Kindle edition.)

A guarded hope indeed! Amen!

Report to the Presbytery Jan. 27, 2009

2009-01-26T13:41:00.000-08:00

In anticipation of his Invocation at the Inauguration of President Obama, there was a lot of criticism of Rev. Rick Warren. I read a comment from Rev. Warren where he responded, “I am not for the right wing; I am not for the left wing; I am for the whole bird.” I like that image. I feel that way also. I am for the whole bird.
On this day, at this meeting of the Presbytery of Carlisle, we participate again in the great debate about the qualifications for officers in our church. In my mind, and I know many others agree, there seems to be a deep spiritual fatigue around these issues. Here we go again; many of us feel with frustration and resignation. Will anyone change their mind? Are there any new insights and arguments which we have not heard before? Here we go again, and it all seems tired and deeply wearing. From my perspective, there has been very little interest in these questions in our presbytery. I have not been invited to a single session meeting or a single Sunday school class to make a presentation on these questions. On the other hand, I have done numerous presentations on missional theology, our world mission work and on Camp Krislund. Of the two, open discussion forums I created to talk about the General Assembly, one was cancelled because of a lack of response. The second, hosted by our Greencastle Church, was an excellent discussion and a good event, but with only five of our churches represented. As far as I know, our General Assembly commissioners have not been invited to other churches to discuss their experiences. In my very casual conversation with a number of pastors, I am not aware of any churches that have had session discussions, or congregational conversations around these General Assembly amendments. I hope that there has been some discussion at your session meetings in preparation of this vote today.
At the same time, I have a very different perception of our Presbytery. In many ways, and I can list examples, this Presbytery is very engaged, energized, motivated, healthy and vital. This is, in my mind, a remarkably good and healthy Presbytery, and my opinion is confirmed when I hear stories from my colleagues about some of the dysfunction and conflict that is happening in many other presbyteries. I am very grateful for the opportunity to work and serve in this presbytery.
Obviously, we have something very, very special in our presbytery. There is a tremendously high level of trust and support. There is a deep and abiding sense of collegiality and friendship among our church leaders. We have been, two years in row, the number one Presbytery in the nation in per member basic mission giving. There continues to be very strong participation in Per Capita giving. There is, I believe, a wonderful good spirit at our presbytery meetings and a very high level of participation. As I am out and about in our churches, I am blessed by the respect and appreciation which I receive. This is not about me. This reflects a high level of respect and appreciation for my office, and thus for the presbytery itself. We have a remarkable gift and grace in our presbytery.
So I ask this question: out of our health and out of our spiritual vitality as a presbytery how may we serve the whole church? How can the Presbytery of Carlisle contribute to the peace, unity and purity of the whole church? I have been pondering this question since the meeting of the General Assembly last June; I have not come up with any brilliant answers.
I put together a draft overture to the General Assembly which proposed that all changes to our constitution be decided by supermajority voting. In my own mind, I pondered this idea as a way to create a higher unity, and a greater consensus around these questions. But as I shared my proposal with some friends around the presbytery, I quickly realized that proposal did not bring people together across the great divide but, in fact, fell right into the old divisions.
So I ask again, what may we do, as one of the healthiest and vital presbyteries in the church, to share our gift? How may we give what we share to the whole church? How may we contribute to the peace, unity and purity of the whole church out of the deep sense of peace, unity and purity which we share among ourselves?
So I put that question out there for us to ponder and consider. I only have some tentative suggestions which move us in that direction. I suggest that we make a commitment to enhancing and growing what we already do very well. Let us build better relationships, enhance the bonds of unity and trust, and grow the connections which we already share in this presbytery.
Some modest proposals:
Let us organize a presbytery wide pulpit exchange this year. As a Presbytery, we did this before, long ago, in celebration of the Presbytery’s 150th anniversary. This will be an opportunity for our preachers to share their gifts with other congregations and in a small way connect our congregations together.
Let us create a church to church partnership program within the presbytery. By linking up churches with one another we create a whole list of ways in which we may grow the relationships among us. Sessions can visit the other church for worship, there may be an exchange of Sunday school teachers for some classes, or maybe congregations can join together for a common worship service or maybe a picnic.
Let us make a common, renewed commitment to Camp Krislund. Let us build a camp and holy place dedicated to bringing people together across the dividing walls which separate us.
Let us explore and commit to a new international mission partnership, not as individual congregations but as a presbytery. I encourage your to join me in our Church Leadership Conference in Tegucigalpa this March. This is an excellent experience for pastor’s continuing education.
Let us have more fellowship and fun together. I encourage your participation in our presbytery retreat. I encourage your participation in our Presbytery day at the Harrisburg Senators baseball game this June 28.
Most of all let us continue to be the best Presbytery we can, let us grow the bonds of spiritual connection and mission involvement, let us learn each others names, and preach in each others pulpits, let build on the wonderful gift we have as a presbytery, and together let us discern ways we may share our abundant gifts with the whole church.

January 27, 2009

Ordained Leadership in the Church

2009-01-10T16:17:00.000-08:00

A paradigm is an intellectual and mental framework for understanding. I like the concept of paradigm. It helps me realize that the way we think about things, the way we look at things, and our perceptions of reality are flexible and changing. We can, in fact, change our perceptions of reality. We can shift our most essential paradigms of thought.

We need a paradigm shift in the church. We need a paradigm shift, a new way of thinking and conceiving, one of the most essential aspects of the church, our leadership. What does it mean to be a leader in the church? How is leadership expressed? Who are the leaders and how did they become leaders? We need a paradigm shift around this most basic and most important question.

Conventionally, and without must serious reflection, we easily and ordinarily hold onto a paradigm of leadership in our church that we see, participate in, and appreciate in many other areas of our society. We hold onto the idea of leadership as paid professionals. In almost every area of our society leadership is provided and leadership is models by paid professionals. Thus this paradigm has controlled our thinking, and defined our perception about leadership in the church.

We must have a different paradigm for leadership in the church. We need a paradigm shift away from our common, modern social practice with its strong emphasis on paid professionals. We need to understand and claim the biblical paradigm of calling and ordination. The paid professionals are not the leaders in the church. Leadership in the church is expressed by those who have been called and ordained.

It is the power and continuing presence of God’s calling which allows the church to exist and thrive in each new day, each new year and indeed for every generation. God will provide leadership in the church through a spiritual calling which is heard and responded to by faithful people throughout the generations. The Bible story is very clear: Abraham and Sarah, Moses, David, Isaiah and Jeremiah, Mary, Jesus, Matthew, Mark, Peter and John, and the apostle Paul, Timothy and Barnabas. God calls. The Bible is also clear that these are not perfect people. Sarah responds to her call, “Wait a moment Lord, I am a little too old for this.” Moses responds to his call, “Lord, not me, I do not have the qualifications or experience for this job.” Jesus responds, “Take this cup from me.” It is not, in the first place, the qualities and characteristics of the people that is important. All that matters is that God calls. God calls. Down through ages God calls. And here in this holy place, in the midst of all the ambiguity and challenge of being the church in our modern, fast, sophisticated society, God still calls. The still small voice; the quiet spritual nudge; the warm encouragement of a friend which becomes in our heart a divine word; the witness of the community that reaches out beyond itself into our town and around the world; in those words of scripture that settle in our minds with comfort and challenge: God calls. This is the basis, the only basis, for leadership in the church.

In our tradition, with our emphasis on good organization, but also in most every other Christian expression, the call of God into the heart and soul of individual believers is affirmed and confirmed by the gathered community, by the church. God calls, and the church sets these ones apart for leadership. This is our service and celebration of ordination; the setting apart of leaders in the church. God calls and the church sets apart these ones for leadership in the church. This is the paradigm through which we must understand leadership in the church. God calls and the church ordains and these people are set apart for leadership. It is not about paid professionals; is all about the call of God and the affirmation of the church.

Elders and Deacons; stand in your calling. Because of God’s call, and the church’s confirmation of that call in your ordination and installation, you are the leaders of the church. Please be clear about that. Elders and Deacons: you are the leaders of the church.

Deacons, remember the story of the Book of Acts. The church was growing so quickly that God set apart special people for a ministry of compassion. It is this ministry to the least and the lost, the hurting, the alone, and the oppressed that has always been central to God’s desire for the church. In the ministry of our deacons, this calling to care, support, pray, encourage, and serve continues.

Elders: remember our name. This calling is particularly powerful and important in our expression of church. The very word “Presbyterian” is linguistically derived from the New Testament word which is translated into English as “elder.” All through the ages God has called and the church has set apart elders for leadership in the church. Our Presbyterian tradition has particularly emphasized the leadership of elders. Elders, you are called to lead.
In the modern church, we have also discerned a special calling to set some people apart as trustees. Trustees are not an ordained office; but have a vital expression of leadership in our modern churches. The best way to understand our Trustees is analogous to our Deacons. They take some of the load off of the Elders, so the Elders can focus on bringing the whole church into line with God’s call and God’s purpose for your life together.

The ordained leadership of the church is responsible for leading the church. Get out of this paid, profession staff versus volunteer paradigm. That is not the church. The church is about called and ordained leaders – Elders, Deacons and Ministers – together and equally leading the people of God into the purposes of God for this place at this time. And what does this leadership look like? Remember the ordination question: “Will you seek to serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love?” That is the leadership we need in the church today. We need leadership that is filled with energy, intelligence, imagination and love. May it be so in this place in the name and to the glory of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!

Report to the Presbytery Nov. 18, 2008

2008-11-18T17:02:00.000-08:00

We are all healed in Jesus.

Early on Saturday, October 11 I was making breakfast for our sons, pancakes and scrambled eggs, as usual on a Saturday morning. While cooking I was chatting with both of them as they were sitting at our kitchen table waiting for food. My wife, Kris, came into the kitchen in her bathrobe, fresh out of her morning shower. With a bright smile on her face and in her voice, she said loudly to all of us, “Stop everything; We need to pray. I am done with my tamoxifen. Thank God.” With great ceremony, she slowly pulled open the cabinet which holds our kitchen garbage can, held her hand up high for a moment, and dropped her empty pill bottle into the garbage.

For five years, 60 months, every single day, my wife has dutifully taken her tamoxifen pill. Tamoxifen is a form a chemo-therapy routinely prescribed now as part of the treatment plan for breast cancer. In the summer of 2003, my Kris was diagnosed with breast cancer. Our lives were immediately all tossed up in the air and we landed upside down, bewildered, dizzy and very confused. Her surgery at UPMC’s Magee Women’s hospital in Pittsburgh went “perfectly”; that was the word her surgeon used when he first came out to talk with me in the waiting room. Immediately after surgery eight weeks of outpatient radiation therapy were prescribed. For those weeks, sometimes alone, sometimes with me, sometimes with other friends, Kris made the trip to the hospital for her radiation therapy. And for every Monday, Wednesday and Friday of those eight weeks the church I was serving delivered a full dinner to our home. I challenge you, in your churches, to match that kind of pastoral care.

On the advice of her doctor, after the radiation therapy, Kris started taking tamoxifen for the recommended five years. This past July she went back for her regular appointment with her oncologist. He reviewed her recent mammogram, examined her, then he gave her a big hug and told her that she had “graduated.” She does not need to see her oncologist any more; she is cancer free. Now that last tamoxifen pill is gone also, we are profoundly grateful.

In 2003, when this journey with cancer started, our three sons that year were ages 15, 11 and 3. I remember praying, hard and deep prayers, which I never shared with Kris. I prayed, “Lord, please just give Kris a few more years so we can get these boys a little older before I must take care of them by myself.” Although we always received encouragement, good news and hope, there was always a dark prayer lingering in my heart, expecting that soon cancer would win this fight. But here we are five years later. The empty pill bottle is in the garbage, my dear Kris is cancer free, and we rejoice in the abundant blessings that have been showered on our family.

Everyone responds to these kinds of traumas in life differently. Of course, many, many people do not have the good news which we have had. But everyone can be a part of God’s healing presence. Healing comes from our God in many different ways. I know the journey through breast cancer is very difficult for the women involved. But it is in very significant ways also very difficult for the men, for the husbands and the fathers, and for the children. Of course, it is not our bodies that are involved, but it is our lives. Pastors and church people know all this. Our pastoral care in these situations may be the most important thing we do in the church.

What does it feel like to be healed? What does it feel like to be blessed? By grace, I have had the privilege of walking next to a remarkable woman who has taught me about such things. Healing is always plural. Healing is always shared. Kris is healed, the landmark five year point has been passed. Today’s medical definition of being healed of cancer is real, wonderfully, truly, fabulously real for us. Kris dropped the empty pill bottle in the garbage. So I wanted to share this simple and yet important word with you all from my wife. She believes, as I do also in a new way now, that we are all healed in Jesus Christ.

After dropping the empty pill bottle in the garbage and after Kris led our family in a prayer of thanksgiving, we stood around for a moment chatting, reflecting and eating breakfast. Our now 17 year old son, Michael, asked his mom. “So what does it feel like to have had cancer?” Without hesitation Kris responded, “It has all been a great blessing. We are all healed in Jesus.” Thanks be to God.

Pretending to be a Missionary

2008-10-30T06:44:00.000-07:00

Pretending to be a Missionary.

The young person is stellar and active. The congregation rejoices in having such a gifted young person in their midst. Years of Sunday school classes, Christmas pageants, Palm Sunday processionals, praise worship services and youth group activities roll by. Graduation from high school is celebrated and the young person is off to a prominent university to study, learn and grow. The young person always reconnects with the congregation during Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, and now and again during summer time vacations. The congregation learns of the gifted young person’s graduation from the university with an outstanding degree and a minor course of study in Spanish, or Chinese, or African studies. Soon the letters start arriving at the homes of leading church members. The young person is seeking support so they may spend two weeks or twelve months in a far off, foreign land serving as a missionary. These days such short term mission service is typically connected with some para-church mission organization that specializes in such opportunities for young people. Of course, leading church members who have watched this young person grow up in their church are eager to send $100 to support the cause. One of the active Elders pushes such support even higher and asks the session to support the effort. Soon this young person’s noble journey of discovery serving on a short term mission experience is one of the mission causes of their home congregation. The young person’s photograph standing in the midst of a group of children in some far off land is posted on the church’s bulletin board. Everyone is happy supporting this young person as part of the mission work of the congregation. Indeed, this work is appreciated by all.

I tell this story in a sort of generic sense because I know many Presbyterians can fill in the details. This is a story that can be replicated countless times across the congregations in our church. I can easily tell this same story in a very personal sense about our own son who is now 20 years old. Although his life is on track with purposeful plans and direction, he also loves to pretend to be a missionary. Indeed, the church he grew up in is always eager to support his missionary endeavors. Already he has been to Malawi, to Peru doing evangelism to an unreached people, and this month the letters will be sent out seeking support for his scheduled trip to Uganda where he will be involved with a short-term ministry to children. Let us be clear. Our young people and their short term mission experiences, which we love to support in our churches, are not about mission service. These experiences are about the personal, spiritual and emotional development of these young people whom, indeed, we should support and nurture. These experiences, especially in support of young people we know and love in our own congregations, are important and worthy. But we should not confuse these experiences with mission work. Pretending to be a missionary for a week or a year is not the same thing as long-term, sustained, professional mission service. Within the push and pull for resources within our congregations it would be more correct to name our support for our young people doing mission trips as Christian education, rather that mission work.

Here comes the rub. Especially within our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) our commitment to long term, sustained mission service is suffering because of the redirection of our attention and resources toward supporting short-term mission experiences. Indeed we have taken our eye off the prize when it comes to our church’s mission service. It may be convincingly argued that the greatest legacy and the most important heritage in our American Presbyterian tradition is our world mission work. Presbyterians were at the forefront of the world mission movement 150 years ago, and this work defines our worldview and theological foundations more than anything else. In my opinion, this legacy of world mission is so powerful in our church that it is, itself, the source of the new energy to do mission trips and seek out short term mission experiences. But this energy has exploded in some unhealthy ways. In previous generations of Presbyterians this deep calling to be engaged in world mission was expressed through a robust commitment to recruiting, equipping, and sending out long-term professional missionaries on behalf of the whole church. These career missionaries were the servants of our church serving the larger world. We still have in place through our World Mission office a comprehensive infrastructure to support, equip and send out long term missionaries on our behalf. But we have recently allowed this long term commitment to fall off because of our lack of a mature and deep theological understanding of mission.

An analogy is appropriate here. Within the life of our church we have created a very comprehensive infrastructure of pastoral support and evaluation through the work of each Presbytery’s Committee on Ministry. We have a very sophisticated understanding of the relationship between a pastor and a congregation which we test, discern, evaluate and equip. We do not allow any person in the church, or walking in off the street, to preach in our pulpits, celebrate our sacraments or moderate our session meetings. We have a sophisticated, theologically grounded and a highly functioning polity for sanctioning and supporting the relationship of a pastor and congregation. All of our churches expect this of themselves, of their pastors and of our presbyteries. The Presbyterian Church is very good at this kind of theologically grounded polity. In our churches we are deeply committed to the vision of the called, theologically rooted and equipped pastor whose relationship with a congregation is very carefully discerned and evaluated. We must have the same commitment in our world mission work. For a church that has such high expectations for our pastors, why are we not expecting the same thing of our missionaries? But it seems as if we allow anyone to pretend to be a missionary. Indeed they are often sent out with our blessing and financial support, and quite often a very poor grounding in any theology of mission. Why have we allowed our world mission work to be taken over by our obsession with short-term, unequipped, unconnected enthusiasm which often functions without language and cultural training? This enthusiasm is seldom equipped to understand what God may be doing in and through a different culture.

What should we do?

· Renew our commitment to long-term, sustained, professional missionaries who are trained and equipped by the church and sent out on behalf of the whole church. Support Presbyterian world mission.

· Develop a holistic theology of mission which moves beyond the American arrogance which presumes we can fix the world’s problems, and expects everyone in the world to “do church” just like us.

· Encourage and support our young people in their own spiritual development by encouraging mission trips and experiences in different Christian cultures. But this support must be more than financial. We must provide our young people with a robust Christian education that seeks to discern what God is doing in the world, and especially in people, cultures and churches very different from our own. We must, by word and deed, help our children to be global Christians.

· Do not do it alone. Connect people together, connect churches together and strive to create bridges across cultural divides.

Mission Networks in the PC(USA)

2008-09-28T11:54:00.000-07:00

Did you know that the Presbyterian Church in Madagascar has more members than our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)? Did you know that we have a close working partnership with two different Presbyterian Churches in Ghana: the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ghana? Did you know about the efforts of American Presbyterians to establish relations with the emerging house churches, many of which include people with a Reformed and Presbyterian background, in all the “stan” countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan)? Did you know there are new efforts to connect our church with the peacebuilding efforts which have been bearing fruit in Ireland for many years, through the work of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland? Did you know about the longstanding effort of American Presbyterians to stand with our brothers and sisters in Columbia against the violence in that nation? Our Columbia Mission Network, in a powerful ministry of compassion, has provided for the General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Columbia when he, his wife and young children needed to leave Columbia because of the death threats received in response to their Christian witness? Did you know that because of the influence and support of American Presbyterians, the Presbyterian Church in Honduras, after years of effort, has finally had their legal petitions with the government, which is dominated by Roman Catholic officials, approved. Now the Presbyterian Church has official standing as a religious organization in Honduras. This means, for the first time, that the Presbyterian congregations in Honduras are able to legally own their church buildings and property. Given the lack of social infrastructure in Haiti, do you know about the incessantly difficult work which American Presbyterians are doing to bring a long-term, sustainable, mission effort to that poor country? Did you know, after generations of conflict and war, the church is emerging with amazing life and vitality in Vietnam and Laos and that American Presbyterians are partnering with those congregations? All of this work is being carried and supported by the burgeoning, new Mission Networks of our Church.

There are now thirty three Mission Networks in our church working closely with our World Mission office and spanning the globe. Do you know about this new movement in Presbyterian World Mission? We were all together for what was only the second official gathering of Mission Networks for several, strategic days in September. Hosted by Hunter Farrell, the Director of World Mission and all of the Mission Area Coordinators from around the world, each one of our mission networks participated in this gathering. The energy, vision and commitment of the more than sixty people gathered at our Mission Network conference was remarkable. The images and stories of mission work from around the world breathes life into this dry definition of Mission Networks taken from our World Mission website:

“Mission Networks bring together Presbyterians from around the United States who share a common international mission focus. World Mission Networks facilitate building and maintaining healthy partnerships, and provide a place for representatives of various PC(USA) partnerships to share information and coordinate their efforts. Each Mission Network centers around a specific country, people group or program area of ministry, and is composed of Presbyterians who represent international mission partnerships established through their synods, presbyteries, congregations, or other PC(USA) entities.”

The Mission Network movement is clearly the way forward in Presbyterian World Mission. This movement responds to the fact that the locus for World Mission has undeniably shifted to our congregations and presbyteries, who are doing mission on their own by sending out short term mission teams. The Mission Network movement is an effort to harness and connect those congregational efforts. When we learn some of the horror stories of poorly planned and unconnected mission trips the importance of our Mission Networks is clear. When we learn of two different Presbyterian congregations bringing large, medical mission teams to the same foreign medical clinic the same week, we understand the important of Mission Networks. We learn of the small, Presbyterian Church in a nation in Africa that could not handle the repeated requests from different American congregations to host their mission trips. Thus the different American teams were asked to paint the same wall in the same public school four weeks in a row and we see the need for Mission Networks. When we learn about the social scientific research of Dr. Robert Priest at Trinity Evangelical Seminary about short term mission trips we see the need for Mission Networks. Dr. Priest’s research concludes that short term mission trips have very little long term transformative power in the lives of participants if these experiences are not surrounded by very intentional support, reflection and nurture both before and particularly after the experience.

The Mission Network movement is an effort to connect all the enthusiasm and passion for mission, which is expressed in congregations doing mission trips, with the Presbyterian Church’s historic commitment to deep, long-term, sustainable mission work with Christian partners around the world. Mission Networks connect the long-term, mature, sustainable model of mission which grounds the work of our professional mission co-workers with the short-term, local, enthusiasm of mission trips. Most important, the Mission Networks may be the best connection between our congregations and the World Mission office. There is a new spirit of collaboration, partnership and mutually blowing through our General Assembly, and particularly embodied in the new team, under the leadership of Dr. Hunter Farrell, now assembled to lead the World Mission office. This spirit is very evident in the growth and support given to our Mission Networks. We have received and we stand in a glorious heritage of Presbyterian world mission. Get involved! Support World Mission!

Report to the Presbytery September 23, 2008

2008-09-23T08:02:00.000-07:00

What do you want to talk about? G.A.C. or O.G.A.?

What do you want to talk about? When we speak of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) it is very important for us to remember that there are several different conversations going on at the same time. These different conversations often have nothing to do with one another.

What do you want to talk about? On one hand we can talk about the work of the Office of the General Assembly. But, in fact, I would much prefer to talk about the work of the General Assembly Council. What I want us to remember again is that when we are talking about the work of the General Assembly we must be very clear about the distinction between the Office of the General Assembly and the General Assembly Council. These two entities are very distinct, with different purposes, different sources of funding, and completely different staff.

My concern is that when we talk casually about the General Assembly, in our congregations, what we typically mean is the Office of the General Assembly. The Office of the General Assembly is funded almost totally by our Per Capita assessment, it is led by the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, now the newly elected Gradye Parsons, and it is responsible for the polity side of the church. The Office of the General Assembly includes the Stated Clerk’s office, the Permanent Judicial Commission, and is fully responsible for the biennial meeting of the General Assembly. Any time we are talking about polity including the Book of Order and the Book of Confessions we are talking within the purview of the Office of the General Assembly. Indeed, we must again have conversations here at our Presbytery about polity, and about proposed changes to our Book of Order. I understand that these conversations are very important. We must carry them out with prayerful discernment.

But, my friends, I want to talk about something else. I want to talk about the work of the General Assembly Council. This is a very different conversation. The General Assembly Council, now under the leadership of Executive Director Linda Valentine, is the mission and program side of the General Assembly. Although we do not talk about it nearly as much, the General Assembly Council is significantly larger than the Office of the General Assembly. The General Assembly Council is funded by our mission giving and our special offerings. The General Assembly Council includes Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and the Presbyterian Hunger Program. The General Assembly Council also includes the Office of Theology and Worship, which creates excellent theological resources for our church. The largest piece of the General Assembly Council is our work in World Mission. The General Assembly Council’s office of World Mission recruits, trains, funds and supports our more than 200 full-time, professional mission co-workers around the world. Let’s talk about that work!

This is my request and my plea. Many of you, I know, on both sides of the debate, have concerns and deep questions about the conversations we are having about polity and the Book of Order. We will continue those conversations here at our presbytery as we consider the latest proposals. Please do not allow any frustrations you may have with our conversations about polity to distract from or frustrate your support for our world mission. They are very different conversations, representing very different entities within the church. More over, I have this crazy idea that if we can shift the conversation a little bit, and talk more, and learn more, and commit ourselves more to our work in world mission, on the General Assembly Council side of the church, it may help us find our way forward through our very difficult polity conversation. What do you want to talk about? We must continue our conversation about polity, but let us also remember this very important conversation and commitment to world mission.

Note: For more information about the General Assembly Council please see their website at www.pcusa.org/gac. World Mission also has a website at www.pcusa.org/worldmission. The Office of the General Assembly also has a website at www.pcusa.org/oga.

Support World Mission

2008-09-06T11:43:00.000-07:00

A Report from Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

The jet ways which off board each jet at Toncontin International airport lead everyone to a long walkway. At the end of this walkway a pair of escalators direct everyone down to the immigration desks, baggage claim and customs. Like the whole airport, this hallway is always immaculately clean, it’s polished floor glistening and bright. The outside wall of this long walkway is glass from floor to ceiling. Like the whole facility, the glass is sparkling clean. I am delighted to return to Tegucigalpa, Honduras; a place I have learned to love. Walking along this walkway, shaking off the fatigue of the long jet rides which started early in the morning in Baltimore, I breathe in the joy and satisfaction of being here again. My body enjoys the opportunity to stretch, loosen and walk after being cramped up in an airplane for the last hours. My eyes and mind are lifted up and out through the windows and far beyond to the exquisitely beautiful horizon. The jagged peaks of Tegucigalpa’s famous mountains, which are all around in all their lush green, rise up and out of the urban sprawl and touch a beautiful sky. Strolling along this walkway is a moment of spiritual transition. Now having arrived, my mind can cast aside all the details of travel. The obsession with flight schedules, making connections in Houston, and constant concerns about delays, changes, or cancellations are now all gone. Now I am here and turn to the purposes I have in mind for these few precious days in Honduras.

Our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been doing world mission for a very long time. Our heritage of world mission is deep, long and remarkable. One of the purposes of my ministry now is to understand, celebrate and support our work in world mission. Our world mission work is where my heart is; increasing this is where my passion and energy are leading me. As we have always done, the church must again rally and unite around our world mission work. This is now one of my deepest convictions. This is a conviction which has been building, growing, developing and maturing for many years. The congregations where I have served as pastor were always blessed, renewed and vitalized by strong mission programs and generous mission giving. I believe our mission work is a vital piece, maybe the vital piece, toward the future peace, purity and unity of the church. This quick, three day trip to Honduras is an expression of my continuing education. I am here again to learn how the Presbyterian Church does world mission. I want to learn with my feet on the ground, talking with the people, understanding the decision-making, beginning to discern the challenges which must be faced, and learning this process. What does our world mission work look like in our world today?

On this trip I have the opportunity to learn with the experts. Along with Kathy Wells, the Director of Christian education in our Mechanicsburg Church; we are along for the ride as our world mission people do their work. We are here with Stan Devoogd, the area coordinator for Mexico and Central America. Stan is one of six area coordinators who work with the General Assembly Council and oversee our world mission. We are joined by our mission co-worker Tracey King, the regional liaison for Central America. Tracey’s office is in Managua, Nicaragua and she is responsible for relationships with all our mission partners, supporting our mission co-workers, and relationships with other U.S. Presbyterians working in the area. Specifically, Kathy and I have joined Stan and Tracey on this quick trip to Honduras to talk with our mission partners, and begin creating plans for a potential new PCUSA mission co-worker position in Honduras.

I have learned about the structure which we now have in place in our world mission office. Hunter Farrell is the director of world mission, and works directly with Linda Valentine, the executive director of the General Assembly Council. Hunter is the voice and vision of world mission today. (Hunter will be with us for the April 2009 meeting of the Presbytery of Carlisle.) Hunter is supported by the six area coordinators, like Stan, who each oversee our mission work in a particular area of the world. The six areas each have several regional liaisons, like Tracey. Together these world mission staff people are responsible for recruiting, supporting, encouraging and connecting the 200 mission co-workers who are serving in world mission for the PCUSA.

The single most important feature of our world mission work today is its collegiality. We do mission in partnership with other churches, ecumenical partners and all varieties of Christian mission organizations all over the world. Thus our mission co-workers are always serving at the invitation of local Christian organizations, schools, hospitals or churches. This commitment to collegiality with Christian brothers and sisters in every nation expresses deep theological commitments about what we believe about world mission today.

Our task here in Honduras is to talk with our Christian partners, to understand their ministries, and to explore ways we may work together. In Honduras, like most nations today, we have several different Christian partners. In Honduras, our Presbyterian Church has had a long partnership with Heifer Project International with whom our PCUSA mission co-workers, Tim and Gloria Wheeler, are now serving. (For this trip, we are staying in the Wheeler’s home even while Tim and Gloria are in the United States doing mission itineration. The Wheelers will be in our Presbytery in October.) We met with the Heifer Project staff all afternoon on Friday in their office. We had a wonderful discussion of their model of community development. This work is commendable, and I encourage your support. Our Second Carlisle Church has a close relationship with the Wheelers, and has been doing mission trips with the Wheelers every year. Please talk with Rev. Jennifer McKenna about their work. I particularly encourage your support of Heifer’s alternative Christian gift program.

Most important, our world mission staff has been in a continuing conversation with the Presbyterian Church of Honduras. We are exploring ways that our churches may work together and join in mutual mission. Thus we met all day with the executive board, “el junta,” of the Presbyterian Church of Honduras. Stan and Tracey led us through a three point agenda around which we worked for almost five hours. Of course, in the relaxed Latin American style, we also had a lengthy time of Bible study, shared prayer, numerous coffee breaks, a long, leisurely lunch and a lot of cordial conversation, especially since my Honduran friends keep pushing me to speak Spanish. We did spend considerable time on these questions: In what ways are the PCUSA and PC Honduras cooperating and working together now?; What would the PC Honduras propose as the responsibilities and objectives of a potential mission co-worker working with them?; How would the PC Honduras define the qualifications and personal qualities they would like in a mission co-worker? These leaders from the PC Honduras were very clear and very articulate in their appreciation for the partnership with our PCUSA. Their objectives for a potential mission co-worker working serving with them are also very clear: leadership development. They need help in the administrative organization of their Presbytery. (The PC Honduras now has one presbytery which includes all of their 20 congregations.) They need help in the theological and spiritual support of their pastors. They need help in the equipping of their Sunday school teachers and the strengthening of their ministries of Christian education. Clearly these are gifts and skills the PCUSA can bring to Honduras when the right person is called, recruited, and funded.

As I reflect on that long day of conversation with my friends in the PC Honduras, I rejoice both in my opportunity to be involved in these conversations and the beautiful work our church is doing in world mission. At this meeting we were truly brothers and sisters working together to build Christ’s church. This experience was a true embodiment of mutuality in mission and partnership. I am convinced that if our PC USA can find the will and way for growing world mission, and providing a mission co-worker to work with the PC Honduras, we will be doing a very worthy and good ministry. I plea for your generous support for our work in world mission, and specifically for this new mission co-worker position to serve the Presbyterian Church of Honduras.

Camp Krislund update

2008-07-21T07:47:00.000-07:00

July 2008

Dear Presbyterian brothers and sisters,

We write to express our grateful appreciation for the generous support which many of our congregations have already pledged toward our Funding the Future Campaign at Camp Krislund and your participation in Krislund’s Summer Camp program. We also write to offer this brief status report.

As we write this letter the most important and faithful expression of the Camp’s ministry is in full swing: our summer camping program. Krislund Summer Camp is again this year a vital program. Because of the financial stress on the regular program budget, Steve Cort has taken on the extra responsibility of serving as the Summer Camp’s program director. We appreciate his devotion and commitment to the summer program. Under his leadership a team of counselors, junior counselors, adventure coordinators, kitchen staff, life guard and nurses have been gathered to serve the almost 700 young people who will come to Camp. Of these campers, many are on full scholarships.

At the same time our plans for the future growth of the camp are underway in response to your generous support of our Funding the Future Capital Campaign. Your financial support for this effort has been remarkable. We are very grateful for the Coordinating Teams in each presbytery, the many campaign advocates in our churches, and the many elders who have responded to our presentations and solicitations at your session meetings. Thus far 94 of our congregations and many individuals have pledged more than $1.8 million to the Funding the Future Campaign. Of course, the Campaign continues.

In proper stewardship of these abundant gifts, we have already taken significant steps to address the most pressing financial need of the Camp, but the least glamorous aspect of our campaign. We have paid more than $460,000 toward our land debt. We expect that our commercial land debt with NorthWest Savings Bank will be completely paid this year! This is the first major component of our campaign. Gifts from our Funding the Future Campaign are not intended to pay off our other significant land debt which is held by the Synod of the Trinity. Our presbyteries will hear more about the restructuring of our Synod loan as these plans develop.

Under the leadership of our Director of Development and Maintenance Kent Rishell, we have accomplished a remarkable amount of legal and administrative infrastructure work in preparation for new construction at Krislund. We have received authorization and permits from both Centre County and the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection for our proposed construction. This allows us, first of all, to move forward with the two major infrastructure demands of any new construction: water and sanitation. With an estimated cost of $170,000, we expect the Camp’s new water system to be installed this fall. After satisfying stringent environmental regulations, our new well has been drilled and the system is ready to be installed. This new water system will completely replace the old system and will be large enough to include any and all of our future new construction. The next step, to be accomplished in 2009, is the installation of our new sanitation system. This is an additional system which is necessary to support all our new construction. Our current, state-of-the-art, natural sanitation system will still be used as it is now, but it cannot be expanded to include any new construction.

Of course, any project the size and scope of our Funding the Future Campaign will face obstacles and challenges. Our biggest challenge thus far has been the concept of new adult housing at the Camp. This, we know, is the most exciting and visible element of our campaign. Our new adult housing will allow us to move our Camp’s ministry and mission into bold new directions reaching many more people all year long. But the concept of one large adult lodge attached to the back of the existing retreat center has proved untenable because of construction and environmental-impact costs created by its sweeping design. Thus we have formed a Design and Construction Team to consider other options for adult housing at the camp. (Please call Mark if you are interested in joining the work of this team.) Conceptually, this team has decided to take a step back and consider again any and all options for adult, year-round housing at the Camp given our theological vision of ministry, the restraints of the legal and environmental regulations and the financial constraints of the Funding the Future Campaign. This effort will move forward with careful discernment.

As our Funding the Future Campaign has developed we sadly learned that our creative plans for an “omni building” can not be included within our current campaign. Thus our plan for this multi-purpose building which will support our Summer Camp program and also offer flexible, indoor recreational opportunities all year remains a dream. Given the success of our Funding the Future Campaign we hope there will be energy and enthusiasm to move forward with this dream in the future.

Our plans, hopes and dreams for our beloved Camp Krislund are bold and big. We have appreciated your generosity and support. We hope all our congregations will join us in creating a camp and conference center that in all its ministry and mission loudly proclaims the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sincerely,

Presbytery of Carlisle Presbytery of Huntingdon Presbytery of Northumberland
Executive Presbyter General Presbyter Executive Presbyter

Mark Englund-Krieger Joy Kaufmann William Knudsen

Response to Newsweek, "What He Believes"

2008-07-18T05:49:00.000-07:00

To Newsweek magazine;

I appreciate your effort to understand the faith of Barack Obama, but as usual your view of Christianity is simplistic and narrow. Newsweek magazine, along with almost all the dominant public media today, refuses to acknowledge the rich diversity and multiple expressions of Christian faith in America today. You seem only interested in measuring and evaluating Obama’s faith through the lens of evangelical Christianity. By that measure, his journey of faith seems unique and different. But since Obama came to faith and was baptized in the United Church of Christ would it not be more appropriate to see him as standing within the long tradition of mainline Protestantism in America? The tradition of mainline Protestantism is as old as our nation itself and must be distinguished in important but subtle ways from modern evangelical theology. Mainline Protestantism today still represents a huge swath of American Christianity including such classic denominations as the United Church of Christ (and its antecedents), my own Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Lutherans, the Methodists, the Episcopalians and the American Baptists. Of course, we share the same Christian faith with our evangelical brothers and sisters, but the differences in worldview, patterns of faith development and spiritual culture are significant. These differences are especially important when discussing the religious faith of Abraham Lincoln. The Christian faith of the society in which Lincoln lived was dominated by the mainline Protestant churches. Much of Lincoln’s reflection on and response to religious faith can only be properly understood against the backdrop of mainline Protestantism. The same week Lincoln was in Gettysburg to offer his “Address”, he attended worship in the town’s Presbyterian Church. Our Gettysburg Presbyterian Church still marks the pew where he sat. (Decades later, this is the same church where the Eisenhower family was very active.) Since your reporters and researchers seem committed to following every footstep that Obama has walked, it would be convenient for you to walk across the quadrangle from the Law School to the Divinity School at the University of Chicago, chat with the faculty there, and educate yourselves about the fullness of American Christianity today. Barack Obama is right at home in our tradition of mainline American Protestantism, and we are proud to claim him. By the way, John McCain seems very comfortable in our tradition as well, and we are also proud to claim him.

General Assembly reflections part 14

2008-06-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

The 218th General Assembly (2008) reflections part 14

NOTE: This is a copy of the official, church-wide letter sent out after the Assembly:

June 28, 2008

To Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations

Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The 218th General Assembly adjourned just a few short hours ago. Even now, 973 commissioners and advisory delegates are making their way back home from San Jose, CA, where they worshiped daily, discussed and debated overtures, and celebrated the countless ways Presbyterians are engaged in ministry near and very far away—all with a focus on discerning the mind of Christ for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and seeking ways to live out this assembly’s theme: “Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8).

Beginning today and continuing over the next two years, elected commissioners will be about the task of interpreting the actions they took at this assembly. Already, their decisions have been broadcast across the church and, in this Internet world—with information received in real time, live blogs, and more—many people have already weighed in on the assembly’s actions, sharing their thoughts and feelings about the implications of those decisions on our life together in the PC(USA).

The assembly dealt with well over 400 business items. Some items had undivided agreement, including a covenant to join together to carry out mission together and a churchwide commitment to “Grow God’s Church Deep and Wide.” There was an action to continue to study a revised Form of Government, and one committee devoted its time entirely to youth issues. In addition, we continued our longstanding work toward peace in the Middle East. More information on these and other actions will be coming soon.

A few of the many assembly actions will make, or already have made, headlines across the country. Most likely, you will read about the actions from a number of sources over the next many days and weeks, but we want you to hear about this important gathering directly from the General Assembly. That is why we are writing this letter to you.

Perhaps the subject that will make the most headlines has to do with the ordination standards of our church. It is a subject with which Presbyterians are familiar and one that tends to evoke great debates and deep emotions. With that in mind, we want you to know what the assembly did—in the actual wording—in regard to ordination standards, and what will happen next.

By a 54% to 46% margin, the assembly voted to propose an amendment to our Book of Order to change one of our current ordination standards. The change is to replace the current language that says officers of the church must live by “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness” (G-6.0106b) to this new language: Those who are called to ordained service in the church, by their assent to the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W-4.4003), pledge themselves to live lives obedient to Jesus Christ the Head of the Church, striving to follow where he leads through the witness of the Scriptures, and to understand the Scriptures through the instruction of the Confessions. In so doing, they declare their fidelity to the standards of the Church. Each governing body charged with examination for ordination and/or installation (G-14.0240 and G-14.0450) establishes the candidate’s sincere efforts to adhere to these standards.

By a 53% to 47% vote, the assembly adopted a new Authoritative Interpretation (AI) on G-6.0106b: Interpretive statements concerning ordained service of homosexual church members by the 190th General Assembly (1978) of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and the 119th General Assembly (1979) of the Presbyterian Church in the United States and all subsequent affirmations thereof, have no further force or effect.

By a 54% to 46% vote, the assembly adopted a new AI on G-6.0108 which restores the intent of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church report (2006) to allow someone who is being considered for ordination or installation as a deacon, elder, or minister to register a conscientious objection to the standards or beliefs of the church and ask the ordaining body to enter into a conversation with them to determine the seriousness of the departure.
The assembly left unchanged the definition of marriage found in the Directory for Worship (W-4.9000)—“a civil contract between a woman and a man.”

By its actions, the assembly has initiated a new opportunity to focus ordination on primary allegiance and obedience to Jesus Christ, as well as to Scripture and the church’s confessions. The assembly places the responsibility onto sessions and presbyteries for discerning a candidate’s fitness for ordination.

In all of this, it is important to note that the assembly has not removed the church’s standard of “fidelity in marriage and chastity in singleness.” For the proposed change—making obedience to Christ the ordination standard—to become part of the Book of Order , a majority of presbyteries will need to ratify it over the next year.

We know the assembly actions may do little to ease the anxiety that seems to permeate our life together as a denomination. The debate isn’t new and the future holds difficult challenges. As the Rev. Dan Holloway, moderator of the committee that took up the items on ordination standards, said, “As we move forward, it is essential that we have conversations that are gracious and loving and welcoming, since we are not all of one mind.” Our hope is that none of us will act or react immediately to the decisions, choosing instead to pray and talk with one another about these issues.

During the question-and-answer time for the Stated Clerk election on Friday morning, now Stated Clerk-elect Gradye Parsons spoke of the story of Jesus being in the boat with his disciples in the middle of the lake when a storm arose (Luke 8). If fear could have capsized their boat, the disciples would have found themselves working hard to tread water in the midst of the wind and waves. Yet, Jesus calmed the storm and proceeded to question them about their faith.

Like the disciples, we, the PC(USA), are in the boat together, sometimes not altogether sure where we are headed. We see the storm approaching and our fears rise with the waves. Yet, as he was with the disciples, so, too, is Christ in our midst—calming the wind, settling the waves—being present and guiding us as we proceed ahead.

Gradye offered the following mantra as a summary of the Luke story: Get into the boat. Go across the lake. There will be a storm. You will not die .

As we move forward from this assembly, we know that storms may come, but we put our confidence and trust in the one who both calms the storms and leads us into God’s future with hope.

The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow
Moderator of the 218th General Assembly

The Rev. Gradye Parsons
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly

Elder Linda Bryant Valentine
Executive Director, General Assembly Council

General Assembly reflections part 13

2008-06-27T15:26:00.000-07:00

The 218th General Assembly reflections part 13

Copied from pcusa.org

The most emotionally charged overture from the Theological Issues and Institutions Committee came from the Presbytery of Newark asking the 218th General Assembly “to correct translation problems in five responses of the Heidelberg Catechism as found in The Book of Confessions and to add the original Scripture texts of the German Heidelberg Catechism.”

The issues surrounding this confession are complex and multi-layered. After hearing much information and debate, and defeating a minority report, the Assembly approved the overture to initiate the process to revise the Heidelberg Catechism by a vote of 436-280-11.

The United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. adopted The Book of Confessions in 1967, which included a 1962 translation of the Heidelberg Catechism prepared for and published by United Church Press. According to the overture rationale, Professor Edward Dowey of Princeton Theological Seminary chaired the committee of the General Assembly that compiled the confessions. He later admitted that a thorough check of this version was never undertaken and certain “illicit” changes made to this Heidelberg translation went undetected. After consulting the original German, as well as early Latin versions, five passages in the original text were discovered to be rendered incorrectly and key theological meanings were obscured.

Most of the Assembly’s attention focused on Question 87 of the catechism: “Can those who do not turn to God from their ungrateful, impenitent life be saved?” The current text of the answer reads: “Certainly not! Scripture says, ‘Surely you know that the unjust will never come into possession of the kingdom of God. Make no mistake: no fornicator or idolater, none who are guilty either of adultery or of homosexual perversion, no thieves or grabbers or drunkards or swindlers, will possess the kingdom of God.’”

According to the overture rationale, two phrases in the current answer that were supplied by the 1962 translators do not appear in the original text or in any translations produced prior to 1962. The primary phrase that is in dispute is “or of homosexual perversion.”

Neither the original German nor Latin contains text corresponding to this phrase, “Surely you know that the unjust will never come into possession of the kingdom of God. Make no mistake:”
If approved, the corrected text would read: “Certainly not; for as Scripture says no unchaste person, idolater, adulterer, thief, greedy person, drunkard, slanderer, robber, or anyone like that shall inherit the kingdom of God.”

The other four responses to the catechism questions would also be amended in a way that makes them more accurate and faithful to the original text. This approach would satisfy concerns that have been raised without the need of a major rewriting of the present translation.

According to the Rev. Mark Tammen, associate stated clerk and director of Constitutional Services for the Office of the General Assembly, a special committee will be appointed by the 218th GA moderator to study the recommendation and bring back a proposal to the 219th Assembly (2010). If that Assembly approves the proposal, it will be sent to the presbyteries for approval. If two-thirds of the presbyteries vote to adopt the amendments to the catechism, it will return to the 220th Assembly (2012). If that Assembly approves the changes, then the corrected Heidelberg Catechism will replace the current version in The Book of Confessions.

General Assembly reflections part 12

2008-06-27T15:18:00.000-07:00

The 218th General Assembly reflections part 12

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The Rev. Gradye Parsons was elected stated clerk of the General Assembly.
Parsons has served as associate stated clerk of the General Assembly for the past eight years. In that role, he has been the director of operations for the Office of the General Assembly (OGA), including director of OGA’s General Assembly Meeting Services department.
Parsons has staffed a number of General Assembly committees. He spearheaded the development of a review process for each of the six agencies of the PC(USA) and staffed five of the six committees that conducted the reviews, with the exception being the review committee for OGA. Before his national church responsibilities, Parsons served as pastor of two churches in Tennessee for fifteen years. He was executive presbyter and stated clerk of Holston Presbytery for six years.

General Assembly reflections part 11

2008-06-27T14:44:00.000-07:00

The 218th General Assembly (2008) reflections part 11

The Form of Government Taskforce referred:

After long discussion with many amendments, including a minority report, the Assembly approved the recommendation of their committee to refer the Form of Government Taskforce report to a new, expanded task force. Quoted here is the actual language of the action:

“That the recommendation (from the Form of Government Taskforce) be referred to the Office of the General Assembly with comment:

The referral to the Office of the General Assembly is for a period of consultation and study with churches and presbyteries through a system or systems designed and implemented by the Form of Government Task Force and members of the 218th General Assembly Committee on Form of Government Revisions. The participation of every presbytery in the period of consultation and study will be strongly urged. New members of this expanded task force are to be chosen from the 218th General Assembly (2008) Assembly Committee on Form of Government Revisions by the Moderator of the 218th General Assembly (2008), in consultation with the moderator and vice moderator of the 218th General Assembly (2008) Assembly Committee on Form of Government Revisions.

The new task force will revise the Form of Government Task Force Report, taking into account the concerns and suggestions gleaned from the consultation and study process. The guidance of the Advisory Committee on the Constitution, the overtures, and the testimony received by the 218th General Assembly (2008) Assembly Committee on Form of Government revisions and the committee’s comments are referred to the task force for serious and studied consideration. “

The Presbytery of Carlisle “is strongly urged” to study the Form of Taskforce report and make our conclusions known to the new taskforce. Anyone interested in participating in this consultation and study within our presbytery is asked to contact me as soon as possible.

General Assembly reflections part 10

2008-06-27T14:38:00.000-07:00

The 218th General Assembly (2008) reflections part 10

Christian and Muslim relations: “Same” versus “One”

The Assembly approved, after long debate and several significant amendments, a resolution on the relations between Christians and Muslims titled, “On Calling for Tolerance and Peaceful Relations Between the Christian and Muslim Communities.” As part of this impassioned debate on the floor of the Assembly, the important distinction between believing in “one” God and believing in the “same” God was discussed. It is very correct to say that each of the world’s three great, monotheistic religions – Christianity, Islam, and Judaism- each believe in one God. But these religious convictions placed in one God does not necessarily mean that these religions all believe in the same God. As we ponder the relations between the different religions of the world, especially since adherents of all these religions are increasingly present in our neighborhoods, it is a very important theological discussion to consider whether or not these different religions worship the same God.

General Assembly reflections part 9

2008-06-26T17:12:00.000-07:00

The 218th General Asssembly (2008) reflections part 9

The Assembly approved a resolution to study the Belhar Confession, and consider whether or not this Confession should be added to our Book of Confessions. The text and a study guide are available at this websites (or search on Belhar at pcusa.org.)

http://www.pcusa.org/theologyandworship/confession/belhar.pdf

http://www.pcusa.org/theologyandworship/confession/belharstudyguide.pdf