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A Witherspoon letter to the Stated
Clerk |
Responding to recent complaints about the work of the Stated Clerk,
the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, the Executive Committee of the
Witherspoon Society voted unanimously to send this letter of support.
[4-27-02]
Clifton Kirkpatrick
Stated Clerk
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
100 Witherspoon St.
Louisville, Kentucky
Dear Clif:
The Executive Committee of the Witherspoon Society, meeting in
Albuquerque April 21 to 23, has voted unanimously to thank you for your
leadership and efforts at reconciliation within our denomination. We may
not always have agreed with your positions on issues. But we appreciate
that you are the Stated Clerk for the whole church, so we do not attempt
to control or direct your actions. We appreciate that you not only
defend the constitution of the church, but are constrained by it and by
the checks and balances of our ecclesiastical structure and processes.
We appreciate your continuing respect for those processes and for
broad-based decision-making.
We thank you for following your call. We are confident
that God is working through you, and we pray you will be strengthened to
continue defending our constitution, which is indeed the primary
embodiment of the principles that give meaning to the word
"Presbyterian."
Jane Hanna
President
The Witherspoon Society
cc Outlook, Presbyweb, PNS, Horizons
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Visit
our lively
new website! |
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GA actions
ratified (or not) by the presbyteries
A number of the most important actions of the 219th
General Assembly have now been acted upon by the presbyteries,
confirming most of them as amendments to the PC(USA) Book of Order.
We provided resources to help inform the
reflection and debate, along with updates on the voting.
Our three areas of primary interest have been:
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Amendment 10-A,
which removes the current ban on
lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender persons being considered as
possible candidates for ordination as elder or ministers.
Approved! |
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Amendment 10-2,
which would add the Belhar Confession to our Book of
Confessions. Disapproved, because as an amendment
to the Book of Confessions it needed a 2/3 vote, and did not
receive that. |
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Amendment
10-1, which adopts the new Form of Government
that was approved by the Assembly. Approved. |
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If you like what
you find here,
we hope you'll help us keep Voices for Justice going ... and
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Please consider making a special
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Click here to send a
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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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