Covenant Network hears former
moderators set the tone for the Assembly
Louisville, June 8, 2001
The Covenant Network held a special "Commissioner
Convocation Dinner" at the Hyatt Regency Hotel this evening, with
over 250 people present -- including, by one estimate, some 15% of the
GA commissioners.
The aims of Covenant Network
John Wilkinson, newly installed pastor of Third
Presbyterian Church in Rochester NY, gave a sketch of the history and
the goals of Covenant Network to introduce the group to the
commissioners and others.
Asking "Who are we?", he underlined the
group's two goals: to remove Amendment B -- now G-6.0106b --
"because it is wrong for the church," and to preserve the
unity of the church. "We believe that the categorical prohibition
of the ordination of gay and lesbian people was a mistake, and we have
worked diligently to remedy that mistake. And we have also worked
diligently to build bridges -- bridges that span to the left of us and
bridges that span to the right of us."
Pam Byers, the Executive Director of Covenant Network,
urged people to look at the new document distributed to people at the
gathering, a statement by professors of Bible at Presbyterian seminaries
on "The Whole Bible for the Whole Human Family." They have
offered the statement to help commissioners and others in dealing with
issues facing this assembly, out of their concern that "the Bible
be heard, interpreted appropriately, and continue to guide us all in our
quest for understanding, reconciliation, and justice."
Two former moderators were the featured speakers for
the evening. Dr. Freda Gardner, moderator of the 211th
General Assembly, and Dr. Doug Oldenburg, moderator of the 210thAssembly,
addressed briefly and movingly the issues facing the assembly.
In introducing the two speakers, CovNet co-moderator
Deborah Block acknowledged that at the same time this evening, the
Presbyterian Lay Committee was offering a speech by conservative
columnist George Will. "We think George Will gets something like
$25,000 dollars for a speech," she noted, while "Doug
Oldenburg and Freda Gardner got a free dinner."
Gardner explores faithfulness to Jesus Christ
Freda Gardner, addressing the topic of what it means
to be faithful to Jesus Christ, explored dimensions of the popular
question, "What would Jesus do?" It's a question that she
thinks, in Ann Lamott's words, "make Jesus want to drink gin out of
the cat dish." Jesus really doesn't think that we, she suggested,
because he was "a person of no guile," whose life and actions
simply expressed his spirit with no distortion. She answered the
question, though, by "wondering" how Jesus might respond to
the question with questions to us -- about how many times we have to
wonder whom God loves, "how often does anyone have to wonder if
there are some people whom God gave no gifts for the common good,"
"when is it that we who proclaim 'one God' will begin to live as if
we really believe that, no matter by what name that God is named?"
She illustrated her understanding of "what Jesus
would do," and the powerful working of God's grace, by telling a
story from last year's General Assembly, and its continuation this year:
"It began at the Assembly last year, sometime
before the vote, the one where 17 more would have made the difference.
When I was leaving the floor of the Assembly after one meeting, an older
woman stopped me and asked me if she could speak with me. She said she
was a commissioner for the first time, and had been very nervous about
her ability to fulfill expectations. She'd read all the reports, and
prayed that God would see her through this very new experience.
"Then before coming, she'd heard about the
protests and the counter-protests that would be part of the Long Beach
meeting. She confessed that she had never been anywhere near a protest,
and was frightened about it, and prayed once again for guidance. On
Sunday morning she was walking toward the worship service when she saw
the signs -- signs with words of hate and scorn -- and she was
frightened to tears. She told me, 'I asked God to please get me through
this.'
"Then she told me how when she turned away from
some, she saw other men and women with linked arms, heads up, smiling
and making eye contact with those who looked at them. By now tears were
in her eyes as she grabbed my hand and said, 'I was wrong. I knew I'd
been wrong. How do I go back to my church?'
"We talked for a few more minutes and she went
back to her seat and I went to where some of you were very upset about
the latest attempt to thwart your efforts by an act of violence and in
my words, cowardice. I shared the story of that woman with you, and I
thought the story was ended."
Less than two months ago at a meeting of Presbyterian
Women, Dr. Gardner was surprised to meet this woman again, and heard her
tell the story of her experience at last year's Assembly. She went on to
tell the rest of the story: On returning home she had tried to share her
experience with her church friends. Just a few weeks later, her daughter
came home from where she was living and working, to tell her mother that
she was a lesbian.
"What would Jesus do -- What does Jesus
do, if sometimes he takes the most awful language and the most blatant
hatred, and uses it to prepare a woman for a new walk of discipleship,
and a mother for a daughter who is ready to claim herself, and trust
that love will sustain such a revelation?
"Maybe indeed God's purpose is being worked out,
as year succeeds to year. Maybe indeed the time is drawing near, the
time that shall surely be. And maybe the time that will make it possible
for the whole story to be heard and shared."
She concluded: "It takes more courage to love
than to hate. And it takes more grace. I think that's what Jesus has
done for us ... and what he will do."
Oldenburg explores implications of God's
sovereignty for what we do here
Doug Oldenburg suggested that the purpose of this
event was to "set a tone for this Assembly," and proceeded to
do that by exploring some of the basic tenets of our faith, and what
they imply for our present critical situation.
For instance, "we believe in the sovereignty of
God, and that means we allow nothing else to be an absolute" --
even if is a rule in our Book of Order or a particular understanding of
morality or doctrine.
The real issue, he said, is not about sex, but about
being faithful to Jesus as Lord. And we approach that concern knowing
the only God is God, and that we are always limited, fallible, sinful
human beings. "We know that," he said, "but we often need
to be reminded!"
For this Assembly, this means we approach with deep
humility what we have to say and do, and "all our statements about
God and God's will must be somewhat tentative." We will make our
decisions and cast our votes, he said, "but we will hold them with
a healthy degree of humility," and so will listen seriously to the
answers that others may offer to these difficult questions.
To believe in the sovereignty of God, he concluded,
means we must "be open to surprise, and even in our discouragement,
be open to hope." Only such a hope can help the church to be what
God intends it to be: a provisional demonstration of God's will for the
world. So "we must hope for a great sea-change, a healing in the
church. And God, let it begin with this General Assembly."
