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| Semper Reformanda dinner hears call for a spirituality
"that draws us into the muck and mess of real community"
Internship funding presented to Washington Office
7/7/00
by Doug King, with material from the PNS report by
Alexa Smith
At its General Assembly dinner on June 27, Semper Reformanda heard from
the Rev. Carol Wickersham, a Presbyterian minister who is an adjunct
faculty member at the San Francisco Theological Seminary and a former
staffer for the Justice, Peace and Creation Program of the World Council
of Churches.
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Carol
Wickersham
She began by announcing that "we need
spirituality in the first person plural," instead of the
"outrageously individualistic" variety that is so popular
today. There is a legitimate spiritual hunger in our time, she
said, but people look for some kind of community without accountability,
and without sacrificing their own freedom. The real problem with this
kind of spirituality, and its willingness to borrow from all sorts of
traditions and rituals, is that these can't satisfy our real hunger for
a transcendent reality that will draw us into relationships, and connect
us with "the muck and mess of real community."
This means that we need a new understanding of
community, she said -- one which draws people in rather than fencing
them out. In this realization of the "body of Christ," the old
lines between evangelism and service become blurred. She illustrated
this with the story of a refugee mother with five children.
A congregation in which she was involved began to care
for the family, who were not Christians but began attending worship.
When communion was served to the children of the church, these new
children suddenly found they were excluded from a group that had been so
welcoming before. This, she said, forced her and the congregation into a
new understanding of communion and of the body of Christ. Now belief was
not the determining factor, but the inclusive open-arms love of God that
we have seen in Jesus.
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Presenting the check
l to r: Nile Harper; Elenora Giddings Ivory, and
Walter Owensby in background
Before hearing from Wickersham, the
dinner group of some 80 people applauded as Nile Harper, vice moderator
of the group, presented a check for $10,000 to Elenora Giddings Ivory,
Director of the Presbyterian Washington Office. This money was the first
installment of the group's effort to fund an internship in the Washington
Office, to help compensate for some of the funding cuts which the
program has suffered recently.
The money will fund an internship for six months, but
Harper said the group is committed to supporting the project for the
long term.
The Internship Fund has been established to honor
Robert J. Stone, a longtime Presbyterian minister and one of the initial
organizers of Semper Reformanda. Contributions to the fund may be sent
to Extra Commitment Opportunity Account #051422, c/o Central Receiving,
100 Witherspoon St., Louisville, Ky., 40202-1396 and should be clearly
earmarked with the account number.
Semper Reformanda also honored the Rev. Walter Owensby
of the Presbyterian Washington Office, who is retiring. Author Lewis C.
Daly was also introduced. Daly is the author of the controversial book, A
Moment to Decide: The Time is Now, which researches the political,
ideological and theological struggles within the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.).
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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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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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