Randy Bush, co-moderator of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians
DETROIT, Mich. — Randy Bush, the co-moderator of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians (Cov Net) encouraged those at the organization’s Commissioners’ Convocation Dinner to pay attention to “Framing the Shot.”
On Friday evening, Bush, the pastor of East Liberty Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pa., asked what types of pictures will best capture the 221st General Assembly?
It probably won’t be buildings, he said. “It will probably be people. Think about the photos taken through history with historic people in the middle.” He named Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela and Gandhi, and noted that they were rarely photographed alone.
“If you saw pictures of Gandhi or Mother Theresa, they were almost always reaching down, reaching out to lift up,” he said, adding that he thought a picture of Jesus would be the same. He spoke of Jesus’ reaching out to Zacchaeus and Matthew, the tax collector.
He then asked, “What picture would you take of the General Assembly? Some may tell you this photo task is a daunting one … They say the PCUSA, bless its soul, is torn apart with discord, schism. When people say to you pictures of our church cannot be taken with a wide angle lens, tell them to hold off hitting the shutter button.”
Bush told the crowd to think about selfies, which are photos taken by the photographer or himself or herself.
“This is not a week for selfies,” he said. “The PCUSA cannot be caught in a selfie. It’s bad theology.”
Bush said that taking a picture of only the people “we feel comfortable with” fails to capture what it means to be Presbyterian. “It’s a misunderstanding to what it means to be the Church of Christ.”
In an ordination service, he said, many use the text from I Corinthians, which speaks of a variety of gifts, but one God. “We translate that to mean diverse people in the church and those people fill a variety of roles. … The danger here is that we assume we are the ones creating the Excel spreadsheet that organizes the categories of diversity. We might exclude some who didn’t make the spread sheet — excluding the gifts of women, people of color, those who don’t speak English, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer. We are not in charge of the spread sheet.”
Bush asked a series of questions for those in attendance:
• “How do we propose severing communion with one another if we are never in charge of the communion table?
• “How can we break ties with the denomination if we cannot say Jesus Christ is Lord on our own?
“Now is the time for us as a church,” said Bush, “to discern together what the Holy Spirit is leading us to say together … to expand our church’s frame of reference … so that people who were excluded can be included.”
Marriage matters
Tricia Dykers Koenig, the national organizer for Cov Net, spoke about the organization’s General Assembly strategies.
Following Bush’s remarks, Tricia Dykers Koenig, the national organizer for Cov Net, spoke about the organization’s General Assembly strategies.
“If you have been reading Covenant Network communications for the last year you have heard a lot about how marriage matters,” she said.
She held up a pamphlet that Cov Net had produced, saying that when it was sent to the printers, there were 7 states and the District of Columbia that would issue marriage licenses to same sex couples.
“Before it could be mailed, there were 19 states,” she said, “and now there are 20. That’s how rapidly this is changing.”
“We urge this assembly to support an Authoritative Interpretation that clarifies that officiating a same-sex marriage is a legitimate pastoral duty,” she said.
She added that the AI that the Cov Net supports includes an “assurance that no teaching elder can be forced to conduct a same-sex marriage that violates their conscience.”
The second approach, she said, is “an amendment to the Book of Order to remove the gender language” from the definition of marriage. “It would make the Book of Order more accurate and loving.”
Marriage matters, said Dykers Koenig, but also ministry matters. “Ministers can follow their own best judgment as they practice pastoral care.”
Then she added that evangelism matters. When same-sex couples seek the support of the faith community and are turned away from their church, she said, “in their eyes, and in the eyes of their families and friends, all see the church of Jesus being more legalistic than loving.