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Committees report recommendations to
the Assembly
[6-13-02]
Here are just a few of the committee actions that are
going to the Assembly plenary sessions today, with links to the
Presbyterian News Service reports from those committees.
Demonstrations and affinity group reports
Baltimore Overture 01-5, which
would permit demonstrations at Assembly meetings, was disapproved by
Committee 2 on GA Procedures. The vote was 26 to 19.
Check the PNS
report.
The committee approved a resolution which asks
"affinity groups" (such as Witherspoon, the Lay Committee, and
such) to submit annual statements about their activities. This is a
response to Commissioners' Resolution 01-23.
National Council of Churches
Overture 01-40 from Savannah Presbytery was disapproved by Committee 5,
on Catholicity and Ecumenical Relations, by a vote of 45 to 3.
Reflecting conservative suspicions of the Nation Could of Churches, the
overture would impose very demanding strictures for financial reporting
from the NCC.
Study commission
Committee 7, on Peace, Purity and Unity of the Church,
responding to a variety of overtures calling for studies, a period of
discernment, and so on, as well as urgings from former Moderator Syngman
Rhee, Stated Clerk Clifford Kirkpatrick and Executive Director John
Detterick, is recommending to the Assembly the establishment of task
force of 17 members. This group would be charged to"lead the
Presbyterian Church (USA) in a spiritual discernment of our Christian
identity, in and for the 21st century," involving
presbyteries and congregations in the process, and reporting annually
until concluding its work in 2005.
See the PNS
report
The Witherspoon Society
commented on this issue a few weeks ago.
Funding priorities
The Presbytery of Savannah, in Overture 01-39, is
seeking to cut out all funding for at least three of the church's social
and justice programs. On the other hand, the Presbytery of Baltimore in
Overture 01-49 has sought to overturn the prioritization imposed by the
Executive Director through the General Assembly Council, by affirming
all the "great ends of the church" rather than just two as
criteria for budgeting. The committee has disapproved both proposals by
identical votes of 48 to 2, with 5 abstentions.
The Witherspoon
Society commented on the question of funding priorities last fall.
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Some blogs worth visiting |
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PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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