Theological Task Force defines its
mission
Group OKs six-item agenda, and seems to omit the
issue of "power"
by Jerry L. Van Marter, Presbyterian News Service
DALLAS -- March 4, 2002 - The Theological Task Force
on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church (TTF) has written a mission
statement and approved a six-item agenda to guide its work over the next
four years.
The 20-member task force was created by last year's
General Assembly to work toward a resolution of numerous theological
disputes that have caused turmoil in the Presbyterian Church (USA) in
recent years.
Those who hoped for quick results are apt to be
disappointed, said the Rev. Milton ("Joe") Coalter, a
professor at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and a TTF
member.
"What is needed …… is patience and
perspective," he said. "It's taken a while to get into this
predicament -- and it will take a while to get out of it."
Leaders of the TTF, whose Feb. 28-March 2 meeting in
Dallas was its second, told thePresbyterian News Service that they are
satisfied with the progress that has been made so far.
"I'm very pleased," said Jenny Stoner, of
Craftsbury Common, VT, a co-moderator of the group. "Each task
force committee has taken ownership, and there's a real energy among us.
We're working well together, informally as well as formally."
The other TTF co-moderator, the Rev. Gary Demarest, of
Glendora, CA, said "the growing level of mutual respect and
trust" among the broadly diverse group of Presbyterians is
"surely a sign of the moving of the Holy Spirit."
The task force will meet three times a year until it
makes its final report to the 2005 Assembly.
Demarest, calling the mission statement a
"significant outcome of this meeting," characterized it as
"a creative condensation of the Assembly's mandate that this task
force now owns."
The mission statement reads:
The Task Force, led by the Holy Spirit, will seek to
discover a basis for peace, unity and purity that advances the
traditions of Christian and Reformed theology and Presbyterian
government and responds to current issues that divide the church. The
Task Force will use a process of consultation and discernment that can
lead the whole church to a renewed sense of identity and mission.
Barbara Wheeler, the president of New York's Auburn
Theological Seminary, praised the mission statement as an expansive
expression of what the PC(USA) needs.
"If we want …… to discover a basis for peace,
unity and purity, we've got to do more than heal the divisions,"
she said. "We have to create a renewed sense of Presbyterian
community that embraces Presbyterians' hopes and aspirations."
Demarest said the task force must "come off as
more than just another study group."
"I believe this task force has hope in a future
none of us has yet discovered," he said. "We know the
political model of the last 20 or 30 years just isn't working anymore.
We have to give some signals of how to do church differently. … We
have every hope, I believe, in finding unity in our differences without
sacrificing an ounce of theological integrity."
The TTF has established four subcommittees, on
historical and ecclesiological issues; theological issues; discernment
issues and processes; and communication and consultation.
Stoner said the group also "mapped out a sequence
for addressing the issues before us; and while we've not decided how
we're going to approach the issues, we've certainly clarified and
discussed our approach."
The Assembly instructed the task force to address, but
not be limited to, "issues of Christology, Biblical authority and
interpretation, ordination standards and power."
The task force has settled upon an
agenda that includes six items:
Members' initial reactions to the list were expressed
most often in the form of questions:
The Rev. Jong Hyeong Lee, of Itasca, IL, addressing
issues of salvation and Christology, asked: "What about other
faiths and our relationship to them? How do we discern the word of God
in (an increasingly) complex cultural milieu?"
The Rev. Jack Haberer, of Houston, TX, reflecting on
confessions and theological boundaries, asked: "How do we deal with
the affirmation of essential tenets when they aren't delineated as such
in our Book of Confessions? … Where are the specific and generalized
boundaries?"
The Rev. Joe Luis Torres-Milan, of Aguadilla, Puerto
Rico, referring to historic understandings of ecclesiology and
denominationalism and the absence of trust, asked: "What does it
mean to be a confessional church without trust in each other? How do we
find or maintain and consensus amid ever-wider diversity and
conflict?"
Stoner said the task force has discovered "that
the historical and theological issues confronting the church are
interrelated, and have come together in very interesting ways." She
said the historical and theological committees will work closely
together.
Demarest said he is especially pleased that the TTF
"has come together on a Trinitarian platform."
One important benefit of "not being stampeded
into quick-fix solutions," Stoner said, is that the task force has
had time to develop "an unusual bond of trust in a short amount of
time." She said worship has been a key element of that process.
"Our experience of using Scripture and worship as
the framework for building community has helped us build trust, have
thoughtful conversations together and … move toward consensus about
how we're going to do our work," she said. "Everyone's
treating each other with great respect, and is treating this task force
as a priority.
She added: "We are humbled and empowered by the
outpouring of prayer all across the church. We hope they'll keep it
up."
The task force asked the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, the
General Assembly stated clerk, and John Detterick, the executive
director of the General Assembly Council, to include two questions in
their ongoing consultations with leaders of the church's middle
governing bodies:
