Churches entitled to assurance PDA will wisely disburse relief funds
Posted Thursday, April 29, 2010
Five years.
This year will mark the fifth anniversary of the catastrophe from Hurricane Katrina. Two years after that, The Layman questioned the response of the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance agency (PDA) in its slow distribution of funds. [Special Report: After Katrina and Special Report Part 2: After Katrina] An Oct. 29, 2007 letter from the Presbyterian Lay Committee complained that only $8 million of the over $20 million giving had been applied, with over $12 million still unused. Parker Williamson stated in a January 2008 posting that Katrina giving was up to $23 million but that less than half had been applied. A Layman report of January 2010 tells that giving had increased to $28.4 million and Katrina relief disbursement to $18.1 million. Two things are obvious: One, giving for Presbyterian disaster relief for Katrina has continued, and two, the PDA has consistently been holding back roughly $10 million or more all along. It is only fair that Presbyterians know why.
Five years.
Can The Layman determine if the PDA has plans to complete its relief spending for the Katrina disaster by the date of the 5-year anniversary? If not, can it report that one of the GA committees has the matter up for consideration? Has there been an external audit to ascertain that the holdback in disbursements are still there and accessible?
Five years.
While there may be some arguable reason in gradual disbursement of a portion of the funds, five years is a long time. A disaster agency functions to deal with crisis situations, and crisis is defined in terms of urgency. If the PDA cannot honor its purpose of dealing with crisis, then it should advise its constituency that there are other Christian ministries that do. What is at stake is a matter of ethical integrity. The future will see other catastrophes in America and the world. The leaders of our particular churches should be entitled to some measure of assurance that the PDA will wisely and honorably disburse relief funds. Otherwise, how can our leaders fairly encourage us as Presbyterians to unite in giving? After all, we are supposedly a connectional church. The ethical question involving the PDA is potentially jeopardizing the connectional unity of the church.
I applaud The Layman in staying with this story since 2005. Readers, please pray that there is a breaking development so that reporters may bring back a positive follow up. The victims need the material benefits of the funds. Our denomination needs restoration of its honor for the benefit of the unity of its membership.
Editor’s note: During the Sept. 2009 General Assembly Mission Council meeting, it was announced that all Katrina funds would “be gone” by 2011. From a Layman article, “Sarah Lisherness, director of the Compassion, Peace and Justice, reminded the GAMC that PDA received more than $24 million in donations for the Hurricane Katrina Fund. She said that PDA committed to a long-term recovery work, so it scheduled payment of those funds over a five-year period. ‘In 2011 all funds will be gone’ and the PDA will stop its Gulf Coast recovery work, she said. ‘When you have $24 million and you spend it down, unfortunately you don’t have $24 million anymore.”’
Chip Tolleson Charlotte, N.C.
PCUSA’s Caterpillar resolutions are a waste of time
Posted Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Check the first quarter performance of Caterpillar stock. It was great. I wonder what it would have been without our resolutions over the years? What a waste of our time, energy and cost. Getting rid of the PCUSA paid staff who chase Caterpillar year after year would be a big cost savings. They have failed in their task!
Kermit Gay Orlando, Fla.
Biblical characters, events themselves are ‘fictional reconstructions at best’
Posted Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Let’s think about this for a minute.
Certainly, Rev. Williamson is defending his home turf, and that is an honorable position, but it seems to me he has missed his own point when he claims that Rev. John Shuck of Elizabethton, Tenn., and other certainly challenging ministers brought up in the letters, are guilty of hypocrisy.
Indeed, the claim that the five unbelieving ministers are “living a lie,” and are hypocritical might be true, though we would need more information than is available in Rev. Williamson’s article. But even so, the branding of hypocrite here seems to miss the biggest mark. But perhaps I am wrong, as I’ve not been to seminary, but only listened to those who have.
My understanding is that the typical seminary curriculum is quite open about the state of Biblical scholarship that has developed over the last 100 years. This scholarship shows how the Christian texts, back through the old Hebrew books, are historical constructions, written, edited, rewritten, redacted, etc, by humans in response to their real, lived circumstances over many hundreds of years. The origin of the words is not at all clear, though the fact that the characters in the Bible most likely did not say them as written is quite well established. Even many of the characters and events themselves are fictional reconstructions at best. The fellows of the Jesus Seminar, among others, make the point quite strongly that this knowledge, which most ministers are given, is kept quietly away from their congregations, who are deemed unable to accept it. And so, they instead repeat the stories as if their flock were children. Not only is that hypocritical, it is condescending.
As for the legalistic claims, heresy and apostasy, I say, perhaps to the first, but certainly not to the second. My dictionary defines apostasy as the abandonment of one’s own religion, especially for reasons deemed low. It seems to me that Rev. Shuck is abandoning Rev. Williamson’s religion. That’s a different act altogether.
I have heard Rev. Shuck deliver a sermon on many occasions. I think many churchgoers, having been kept ignorant as children from the understanding that the ministers themselves were offered in their education, would find them outrageous. That is not Rev. Shuck’s fault, nor his congregation’s, who respect him a great deal. It is the fault of the frankly hypocritical posturing of the swarms of ministers who do not allow them to come to terms with the world as it is now known.
If the Bible stories show anything, it is that the religion described within it evolved over time. It needs to again, I think. Leaving the old behind at this point is not a low action. I think it is what good people need to do. The five ministers Rev. Williamson decries may not be as brave or as fortunate as Rev. Shuck, but we should at least allow that they are swimming in a sea of hypocrites. They and many others are doing what they feel able to do in nibbling away at the simple stories that block a more mature understanding of what Christianity is all about.
Michael Garrett Johnson City, Tenn.
When PCUSA gets its own house in order, congregations will stop leaving
Posted Monday, April 26, 2010
The Layman reports that a special committee of the PCUSA has accused the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) of “recruiting dissatisfied PCUSA congregations” and violating “ecumenical etiquette.” I recall that Jesus said: “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
It is undeniable that a number of congregations have departed from the PCUSA and some have gone to the EPC, but some have gone elsewhere. The special committee has failed to examine why the departing congregations might be dissatisfied, nor has it explained why some congregations have left and gone to other denominations than the EPC.
The apostasy that prevails in the upper reaches of the PCUSA has been well reported in The Layman. Might that be a reason for congregations to go elsewhere?
The PCUSA Washington Office has frequently enunciated positions that are offensive to many Presbyterians. Might that be a reason for congregations to go elsewhere?
The PCUSA continues to spend large sums to support the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches, although these bodies take positions that are offensive to many Presbyterians. Might that be a reason for congregations to go elsewhere?
Although Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you,” the PCUSA has practically abandoned evangelism and missionary activity. Might that be a reason for congregations to go elsewhere?
The PCUSA has turned away from the Bible as the infallible rule for faith and practice and has sought out the contemporary culture as its guide. Might that be a reason for congregations to go elsewhere?
The PCUSA repeatedly has sought to seize the property of its congregations. Might that be reason for congregations to go elsewhere?
I think that when the PCUSA cleans up its act and gets its own house in order, congregations will cease to be dissatisfied and will stop wanting to go elsewhere.
George Hill Port Allen, La.
Leadership should look to reasons congregations are leaving
Posted Monday, April 26, 2010
Perhaps the PCUSA leadership (and I use that terms loosely) should get their collective heads out of the sand and rather than accusing other Presbyterian groups of “stealing” PCUSA congregations, look to the reasons congregations are leaving the PCUSA. How the PCUSA can lose over 60,000 members in a single year and not try to determine the root cause of that dissatisfaction is beyond my comprehension. Perhaps Louisville lacks the analytical skills to determine why many congregations are dissatisfied with the leadership and direction of the PCUSA. All they need to do is look at the manner in which they have ignored the many congregations that believe Presbyterians should have a strong Biblical base, and not a “modernized” Biblical foundation which has been twisted and reshaped to make it “fit” current societal values.
Some of the proposals which will be before the 219th General Assembly regarding ordination standards, condemnation of Israel and embracing Palestine (did I miss something or is it not Palestine where Hamas, a radical Islamist group keeps lobbing missiles into Israel), an unabashed power grab to strip local congregations of authority and centralize power in Louisville are likely to drive more congregations from the PCUSA. Adopting such policies and practices will accelerate the demise of the PCUSA as it continues to move further afield from Presbyterians who do not believe that the Bible needs to constantly be “re-interpreted” to fit the current pop culture. I seem to recall that Jesus Christ never sought to do what was “popular” and what conveniently fit the culture of the day.
The PCUSA clearly displays the behavior of an ostrich – bury your head in the sand and ignore all that transpires around you. But then, the ostrich lacks analytical skills. Apparently, so too does the leadership of the PCUSA.
Jay Dull, elder Grace Community Church, Boca Raton, Fla.
Report fails to own PCUSA’s role in this real and deep disaffection
Posted Monday, April 26, 2010
The General Assembly Committee on Ecumenical Relations’ report states that presbytery leaders were caught off guard by the level of distrust and discontentment found in leaving congregations. Where have they been? Congregations have been talking about leaving ever since the Louisville Assembly in 2001. Additionally, a number of evangelical congregations have called pastors only to learn that their progressive presbyteries have refused to affirm their calls because of theological incompatibility. What choice does such a congregation really have? Where is the surprise?
The report fails to own the PCUSA’s role in this real and deep disaffection. The denomination cannot expect congregations to tolerate changing core theological positions. Our beliefs about Jesus Christ and the authority of Scripture cannot be treated like a political football and controversial actions of the General Assembly do have serious consequences.
The “Louisville Papers” outline legal actions to be carried out by presbyteries against leaving congregations were developed and in print prior to New Wineskins response to them in New Wineskins: A Time for Every Purpose Under Heaven.
The reality is that if the EPC had not accepted these congregations, yet another Presbyterian denomination would have been formed. My recommendation would be for the PCUSA General Assembly to encourage developing bridges that would improve our relations with the EPC rather than creating additional roadblocks.
Renee Guth Tucson, Ariz.
Editor’s note: Renee Guth was an elder-commissioner to the Louisville GA in 2001 and is former executive director of New Wineskins Association of Churches.
Some in PCUSA strive to bring others to spiritual salvation, others do not
Posted Monday, April 26, 2010
I couldn’t agree more with Jayne Devlin’s opinion [posted April 8, 2010] of kicking ministers out of the PCUSA who don’t abide by the confessions, creeds and Reformed theology that this denomination is based on. While many in our denomination strive to bring others to a point of spiritual salvation through Jesus Christ, there are others (John Shuck) who are pulling these same people in the other direction. It should be up to individual presbyteries to deal with these heresies that are broiling in their own backyards. For some reason they do not since they rely on individuals to file an accusation. Certainly if the congregation of First Presbyterian Church in Elizabethton wants to fire their pastor, they can do so. I have to assume that the congregation is totally on board with John Shuck since he has been there for nearly five years, expounding and teaching his angry, leftist brand of humanism, while leaving the teachings of Jesus Christ on the doormat of his church for all to trample on.
Don’t assume that all churches in Holston Presbytery are like this. Compare the Web sites of First Presbyterian in Elizabethton with First Presbyterian in Bristol. The language and content on these Web sites are vastly different from one another. Praise God for churches like First in Bristol. However, this epitomizes the overall problem in our denomination. We definitely are not of one accord and barring a miracle from our Lord, this will continue.
Many people in the PCUSA look upon separation of churches from the denomination or a denominational split as a bad thing. It’s clear to me that these periods of transition are necessary and vital and provide a method of ridding the filthiness that has been allowed to seep into our church. Thank God that he sent people such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, George Washington and, most of all, Jesus Christ to set things on a new path.
Rick Bender Penn Hills, Pa.
Does Scripture text bring conclusion into question?
Posted Monday, April 26, 2010
Carmen’s Fowler’s article in the April Layman about the Israel/Palestine issue quotes a Scripture passage that, it seems to me, goes far toward bringing her conclusion into question. Regarding the land promised by God to Abraham, she suggests that we read Genesis 15:18-21. But that says, “To your descendents I give this land from the River of Egypt to the Great River, the river Euphrates …” That would include Egypt east of the Nile, Jordan, certainly at least part of Saudi Arabia and Syria, and all of Iraq. In Biblical history, Israel never occupied all that territory. Is there any suggestion that modern Israel would now claim it all? If not, we are left with the necessity of agreeing with the Middle East Study Committee’s conclusion that “… it is also certain that no boundaries of a modern state can be established from the Biblical text.”
Richard C. Rowe, retired PCUSA missionary Santa Fe, N.M.
Is PCUSA the ecclesiastical equivalent of East Berlin in 1965?
Posted Friday, April 23, 2010
The hubris of the PCUSA knows no bounds! I guess it should come as little surprise to those of us who knew all along that the PCUSA “investigation” of the EPC’s interactions with congregations leaving our denomination would be a hit piece from beginning to end. But even I was stunned to see how malicious the report reads towards our brothers and sisters in Christ who minister in the EPC. Has the PCUSA become the ecclesiastical equivalent of East Berlin in 1965? Is the PCUSA seriously expecting the worldwide Church of Jesus Christ to believe that our churches truly require the permission of the PCUSA bureaucracy to even speak to other denominations when they are prayerfully discerning whether or not to leave our fold? Is hearsay and slander now the standard for judging our fellow Christians in other denominations?
For the PCUSA it is. This report is a disgrace of the highest order to our denomination.
Toby L. Brown
Anyone in PCUSA can file an accusation
Posted Tuesday, April 20, 2010
In response to the Rev. Clay Brown and others who wonder why the Holston Presbytery hasn’t addressed the Rev. John Shuck’s heresy, no one has filed an accusation. Here’s the thing: anyone, anywhere in the PCUSA can do that (Book of Order D-10-0100). One need not be a member of the governing body in which the accused serves. Recall this is what Paul Rolf Jensen did a few years ago when he filed complaints around the country. Upon receiving an accusation, an investigation committee must be formed “immediately” (D-10.0103).
Now that you know you can file an accusation, then do it. Don’t sit around and kvetch; or, stop complaining and passing the blame on to the presbytery. Let us know when you do it.
Rev. David A. Medeiros Stoneham, Mass.
Layman places PCUSA ‘in the worse light possible’
Posted Tuesday, April 20, 2010
What are you at The Layman trying to accomplish? You are clear that you are right and you seem only to offer love to those who see issues from your perspective. You argue and continually place the PCUSA in the worse light possible. You seem to be seeking to justify yourself by a position you have taken in the body of Christ. You do not appear to be free, and the evidence that you unsettle others is substantial.
So, I offer you Galatians 5:4-15
You who want to be justified by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working through love. You were running well; who prevented you from obeying the truth? Such persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough. I am confident about you in the Lord that you will not think otherwise. But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty. But my friends, why am I still being persecuted if I am still preaching circumcision? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves! For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
R. Monty Nelson
The fullness of grace and truth
Posted Wednesday, April 14, 2010
I’ve been hoping, praying, and working for renewal in the PC(USA) for years – but I’ve given up. Considering this year’s G.A. convinced me all the more. There’s something amiss when I wish G.A. would never meet again. A few weeks ago, I perused a PCA web site, and came to a similar conclusion. I think it’s time to give up hoping for renewal in the Presbyterian world. It’s siimply not enough. We are dying and dying things need revival, not renewal.
Carmen, I’m sincerely grateful you will be standing for truth at our G.A. But please stand for grace, too. I’m convinced the revival we need is one of the fullness of grace and truth – John 1:14 style. Our PC(USA) loved grace. But grace without truth has led to license. Less obviously, truth sans grace among our more conservative brothers and sisters has led to a sick legalism. And as long as we pit grace and truth against one another, we’ll continue to lose both. I’m quite sure the arguments and debates at this year’s GA will be arguments of grace versus truth. Oh, and there will be arguments from the middle, too. But unfortunately, those seeking to be in the sober middle miss out on the fullness of grace and truth – that’s a lukewarm, nauseating position, and misses Jesus just as much as the left and right do. Really, I do not think it is humanly possible for our churches to embody the fullness of grace and truth. It would take a miracle of the Holy Spirit. So I’m praying for a miracle. I’m praying for revival in the Presbyterian world and preaching for it, too.
So I’m a little concerned we will have to die to figure this out – and that won’t be pleasant. We may in fact have to lose our life to find it. But hey, there are great stories in the Bible about what happens after death.
God is good and full of grace and truth.
PS – Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, in truth and love. (2 John 1:3) Jesse Alexander Pastor, Geneva Presbyterian Church, Switzerland, Fla.
Unbelieving ministers are a hazard
Posted Thursday, April 8, 2010
After reading this article, I am so shocked that presbyteries allowed these men to become ministers. How did they ever get through the examination and process except for lying their way through it? I believe if these ministers are known, they should be kicked out of the church as they are a hazard to Christians, the church and to the world. It saddens me if nothing is done to get these ministers out of Christ’s churches. Jayne Devlin, elder Community Presbyterian Church, Springerville, Ariz.
‘I am overjoyed that in contrast to the skeptic, my faith is not useless’
Posted Thursday, April 8, 2010
The Layman’s recent article on clergy who deny basic tenets of the historic Christian faith was on my mind as I attended Easter service this past Sunday. As we recited the Apostle’s Creed, sang triumphant songs of Christ’s resurrection and victory, prayed to this living God of power, and heard passage after passage in Scripture proclaim the reality of Christ’s resurrection and why it matters, I was saddened at the thought that clergy and perhaps whole churches have abandoned this great faith in favor of the world’s unfounded skepticism. At times during the Easter service, I wondered how I would feel if I knew my pastors didn’t believe what they were preaching, or if the singers didn’t really believe what they were singing, or if those on my right and left in the pews looked upon the empty cross at the front of our sanctuary and didn’t really believe that Christ is risen. I was filled with a mixture of sadness and anger at the hopeless sham and false worship such skepticism would render any church service, and especially an Easter service.
For clergy to uncritically adopt the criticism of the world ironically betrays a lack of critical thinking ability. For clergy to keep such a perspective to themselves and not indoctrinate their congregations with it may sound noble, but it is both self-delusional and self-defeating, since it perpetuates a basic dishonesty that is at root, a corrosive issue of ethics as well as an issue of belief. For clergy to openly preach such skepticism to their people in the attempt to “wise them up” is hardly the sophisticated outlook they seem to think it is, but is instead merely a replacement of one set of faith beliefs with another more precarious set of faith beliefs, made all the more precarious by the oft-heard but delusional boast that skepticism isn’t rooted in a set of faith assumptions. There is no easier or more anti-intellectual road to take than the road of broad skepticism and cynicism. This is why monuments generally aren’t erected to celebrate the achievements of cynics; because their contributions are few.
I choose the road of belief, and am thankful to be part of a faith community that has chosen the same through the work of the Spirit to build His church. I am proud to stand with Paul in affirming the physical resurrection of Christ. And because of this, I am overjoyed that in contrast to the skeptic, my faith is not useless, the preaching I hear is not in vain, I am not a false witness, and I am not to be pitied above all men because I am not still dead in my sins. Praise to be the one true God who has made this possible, and pity to those clergy who have rejected this God and are either living a lie or openly propagating a hoax to their great shame.
Jason Foster Springfield, Va.
‘It is between each Presbyterian and the Lord how they follow His way’
Posted Thursday, April 8, 2010
Remember that it is a point of faith to Presbyterians to accept all points of view in baptism and communion. While we cannot ordain gays, for instance, they are always welcome in baptism and communion. We believe in freedom of conscience. Each Presbyterian’s communion with God is always between themselves and God. He alone is their judge. None of us will ever be. Jesus said that He was the way, the truth and the life. It is between each Presbyterian and the Lord how they follow His way. It is my duty as a Presbyterian to minister to all people as they attempt to follow that way, not to deny their faith or communion. We may not judge if we seek not to be judged. Read His commandments daily.
Douglas L. Wilkinson