PCUSA theologian plans study linked to ‘confusion about church’s identity’
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, September 27, 2005
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Joseph Small, associate director of the Office of Theology and Worship of the Presbyterian Church (USA), has undertaken a study of what he says may be the “most pressing theological issue before the church” – “the church.”
“The end of the church’s cultural eminence and the decline of its social influence have contributed to confusion about the church’s identity,” Small said in a report to the General Assembly Council’s committee that oversees the Congregational Ministries Division.
“Uncertainty about the church’s character and mission creates confusing purposes and strategies at every level, accompanied by doubts about most forms of church life,” he added. “Deeply ecclesiological questions require sustained attention to theological resources within the context of the church’s current social embodiment.”
Small said he intends to conduct research – within and beyond North American mainline Protestantism – that will “result in publications, focused speaking engagement and consultations that will assist pastors and denominational officials as they seek to understand and live out the church’s calling.”
He said he is “more convinced than ever that it makes no sense to try harder to do better what we have been doing. Neither does it make sense to imagine that new or improved management techniques will lead the way to a better future. Only a deep, enduring, theological inquiry into the character of ecclesial life holds the hope of renewed faith and faithfulness.”
Small said his recent sabbatical “has equipped me to contribute more usefully to the ongoing ecclesiastical work of Re-Forming Ministry,” which he called “an essential component of the work the PCUSA must do.”
Before his sabbatical, Small attended the World Council of Churches Faith and Order Plenary Commission and studied in London. “I was interested in discovering how people think about ‘church’ in a context that is pervasively secularized and in which the church is marginalized. I was particularly interested to learn more about the Church of Scotland’s ‘Church Without Walls’ initiatives. Thus, when the sabbatical period began I was already under way.” He participated in ecclesiastical work in South Africa, Cyprus and Germany.
He noted that he had completed several articles as a result of the sabbatical:
- “What Is Communion and When Is it Full?” will be published in the next issue of the journal Ecclesiology.
- “Making Sense of the Church” will appear in a book of essays on ‘full communion’ being edited by Ann Riggs.
- “Theology’s Passive Voice” will be published in the Reformed theology journal Perspectives.
In other business:
Pay raise for executive
On Jan. 1, the employees of the General Assembly Council got an across-the-board pay raise of 3 percent – with one notable exception. Someone forgot to make good on the 3 percent raise for John Detterick, the council’s executive director.
Before the council’s meeting in Sacramento Sept. 21-24, someone discovered the oversight, and the council voted to give Detterick his due – a 3-percent raise of $4,740 retroactive to Jan. 1. That brings his pay for 2005 to $157,989.23.
Task force report
The Governance Task Force of the General Assembly Council presented an updated list of options for the council to consider as possibilities for changing the council’s size and membership.
Currently, the council has 98 members – 71 elected by the General Assembly, 20 corresponding members, two ecumenical advisory members and five at-large members. The task force proposed consideration of two alternatives.
Alternative 1 would have 80 members – 60 elected, 18 corresponding and two ecumenical advisory. Alternative 2 would have 40 members – 27 elected, 11 corresponding and two ecumenical advisory.
There would be other changes as well. Currently, council members can serve one four-year term, which may be renewed for a total of eight years. Alternative 1 would limit service to a single four-year term. Alternative 2 would provide a six-year nonrenewable term.
Much of the council’s business is done by its executive committee, which has 20 members. Alternative 1 would have 19-20 members and alternative 2 would have 10 members.
Alternative 1 also has a new wrinkle. It would require that four seats on the council be allotted to presbytery executives. There is no such requirement for the current membership under Alternative 2.
The Governance Task Force will fine-tune its proposals for consideration at the February 2006 meeting of the council. If the council approves a restructuring plan, it will be presented to the 217th General Assembly meeting in Birmingham in June 2005.