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Do you still think the
mainline church fights are all
about SEX?
Isn’t it time to look at POWER and MONEY?
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| Lew
Daly, the author of A Moment to Decide, has prepared a careful analysis
of the 212th General Assembly which applies the analysis
of the book to our latest national meeting.
[posted in 2000] |
In response to the recent publication of A
Moment to Decide: The Crisis in Mainstream Presbyterianism, the
Presbyterian Outlook has provided a range of responses on its web
site.
The three respondents are:
 | G. Daniel Little, retired minister, former
executive director of the United Presbyterian Church's General
Assembly Mission Council and member of the Presbyterian Information
Project |
| Margaret Thomas, executive of the Lakes and
Prairies Synod |
| Jerry Andrews, moderator of the Presbyterian
Coalition Moderator and pastor, First church, Glen Ellyn, Ill. |
Click
here to see their comments. |
A
reader comments on A Moment to Decide on amazon.com
Reviewer questions the lack of response from moderates and progressives
to attacks from the right. |
|
Lynne
Reade reads the book through her experience with Presbyterian polity
and issues -- and says it points to crucial challenges. |
|
Who really wants to silence the prophetic
public voice and restrict the freedom of Christian conscience within
Mainline Protestantism — and why is this an important struggle?
A Moment to Decide: The Crisis In
Mainstream Presbyterianism,
does precisely this investigative work, in the first of a series of
book-depth denominational research reports.
With the support of the Presbyterian
Information Project, the Institute for Democracy Studies has produced a
180 page, 600-footnote guide to the five primary Right Wing
organizations active in the denomination. A Moment To Decide sets
the current struggle in historical terms, reaching back to the business
and political empire of J. Howard Pew in the 1930’s and tracing his
Anti-New Deal legacy through the funding of the Presbyterian Lay
Committee into the present. Also profiled are the history and leadership
of Presbyterians Pro-Life, Presbyterians for Renewal, The Presbyterian
Forum, and the Presbyterian Coalition — whose judicial task force is
initiating the disciplinary trials to enforce "Amendment B."
How closely do the different conservative
interest groups cooperate? How theological are their agendas? How much
are the attacks on gay ordination and feminist theology just the
beginning of a roll-back on the role of women in leadership and
theological freedom in the seminaries?
Not all those who cry "Bible,
Bible" are free of ideology. But what about the conservative
"war-room" at the General Assembly? The
"shepherding" of commissioners? The battering of national
staff? And the money — over $15 million annually going into Renewal
Network member budgets — what kind of church does that buy? Recent
General Assemblies have maintained that Theology, Mission and the Church
itself matter. How much? When the Lay Committee boasts of spending
$250.000 so influence the upcoming General Assembly alone ...
A MOMENT TO DECIDE
CALLS FOR PRAYERFUL REFLECTION, THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS, & DEMOCRATIC
ACTION: BUT YOU HAVE TO BUY IT FIRST.
Order it for $18.00 from:
Presbyterian Pipeline, at the
Presbyterian Publishing Corporation: 1-800-227-2872 or write:
Presbyterian Pipeline, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202.
e-mail: ppc@pcusa.org
Initial endorsers of this project include
Robert Bohl, Joseph Dempsey, Christian Iosso, Justin Johnson, G. Daniel
Little, Mary McNamara, Mary Jane Patterson, James Sanders, Byron Shafer,
and Eugene TeSelle.
|
| For a comment on this study by Gene
TeSelle, click here. |
| For more on the Institute for Democracy Studies, click
here. |
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Some blogs worth
visiting |
|
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.
Witherspoon’s Facebook page
Mitch Trigger,
Witherspoon’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.
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 member of
the Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North
Presbyterian Church in Flushing, NY.
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.
Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note,
and we'll see what we can do! |
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Plan now for ...
GHOST RANCH PEACE & JUSTICE
WEEK
July 27 - August 2, 2009
Now's the time to make reservations to be a part of
the 2009 Peace & Justice Week at Ghost Ranch, July 27-August 2.
There are eight seminars to choose among, including the
Witherspoon-sponsored class “New Eyes for Peace & Justice from the
World Church” led by Clifton Kirkpatrick.
More
information >> |
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If you like what you find here,
we hope you'll help us keep this website going ... and growing!
Please consider making a special contribution --
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Check out our report from the
Conference
on
Terror, Torture,
and Security |
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