News and Views (unofficial!) about the 
Presbyterian Church (USA)

        The BigTent
Indianapolis, June 30 - July 2, 2011

[7-15-11]

I regretted not being at the Big Tent gathering of over 1,700 Presbyterians in Indianapolis from June 30 through July 2. From the many news reports reflecting a variety of the smaller conferences within the whole event, I know good things happened there.

You can see on one website page a quick listing of all the news reports. (At least I think it must be all of them!)

But here are a few of the stories that might be most interesting to friends and members of PVJ:

[NOTE: You’ll notice from the datelines that many of these reports were posted days after the event, but there are couched in “present tense” language. I have not tried to revise that to reflect the fact that they are now posted here about two weeks later.

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WERE YOU THERE??  If you were (or even if you weren’t!), and have comments or other reports you’d like to recommend, just send a note, to be shared here!

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‘We all belong to one God’

10 Years of PC(USA) multicultural ministry celebrated at Big Tent

Board members of the Presbyterian Multicultural Network told the group that the number of PC(USA) multicultural congregations and participation in the annual conference had seen significant growth over the past 10 years. The number of multicultural congregations has grown from 200 in 2000 to approximately 1,750 today. The first national conference drew 80 participants compared with 460 in 2010. More >>

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“Jesus was cross-cultural. In Christ, we should be too.”

July 2 – With this declaration, the Rev. Sterling Morse, coordinator for cross-cultural ministries and congregational support for PC (U.S.A.), reached the climax of a rousing sermon at the opening plenary of the Racial Ethnic and Immigrants Convocation at Big Tent. His preaching prompted a noisy standing ovation from more than 200 people of many cultures nearly filling a hotel conference room.

Morse, began his message by quoting from Psalm 133: “How good and pleasant it is when the people of God live together in unity.” More >>

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Children of La Oroya, Peru, advocate for environment, rights

July 2 – Two of the scheduled speakers for World Mission Matters’ Friday (July 1) plenary at Big Tent were missing. Sherly Echevarria and Pamela Cinta Arzapaolo Terrel, who work to bring awareness about environmental pollution in the Peruvian mountain town of La Oroya, were denied visas because they’re single, poor women.

In their place was Esther Hinostroza, Echevarria’s mother and a mentor to CAMBIALO, a children’s group in La Oroya. Founded in 2010, CAMBIALO is a group of about 20 children who use radio, film, art and communication like Skype to fight for the environmental protection and decontamination of La Oroya.

The central Peruvian town (pop. 35,000) is known as one of the 10 most contaminated cities in the world. It’s home to the Doe Run Peru smelter, which emitted 2 million pounds of toxic emissions a day until it shut down in 2009. The soil and water remain contaminated, and more than 97 percent of the town’s children have levels of lead in their blood that exceed the World Health Organization’s limits.

More >>

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Employment, income distribution, are human rights issues, Big Tent told

July 2 – In a time of slow recovery from the recession and growing income inequality among American workers, Presbyterians must not forget that God also has some ideas about economic theory and income distribution.

Human rights – employment for all, the elimination of hunger and poverty, universal affordable health care and social security in sickness and old age – are the hallmarks of God's oikonomia, or economy.

Gloria Albrecht, an ethics professor from Detroit, and Bill Saint of Fairfax, Va.,, a development specialist and former employee of the World Bank, told the National Elders conference Friday, July 1, that God has provided us enough to go around.

“If we do it right, there’s enough for all,” said Albrecht, co-moderator of the PC(USA)'s Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy. “It’s how we choose to distribute the ‘enough’ that's in God’s economy” that has created the sharp spike in income inequality and other serious problems over the past 30 years or so. More >>

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Peacemaking Conference focused on “Respectful dialogue”

New initiative seeks to improve communication in the public square

July 2 – Taking off from the Big Tent theme, “Grow Christ’s Church Deep and Wide,” the Peacemaking Conference was called on to consider its theme, “Growing Christ’s Peace.” ...

In the first plenary, Sara Lisherness, director of Compassion, Peace and Justice Ministry, focused on the theme of 1 Peter 3:11 — "Turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it." Lisherness led participants to consider the call to peacemaking, which she said "is not a project to be completed and checked off, but a vocation."

Using the biblical story of Esau and Jacob — their estrangement over Jacob’s deceit and their reconciliation after years of Jacob living in exile — Lisherness placed in relief the behaviors that led to reconciliation and peace. ...

The theme took on practical significance in the second plenary, when J. Herbert Nelson, director of the PC(USA)’s Office of Public Witness in Washington, DC, spoke on “Restoring Our Confidence to Speak Truth Freely While Loving Unashamedly.” Nelson addressed the tendency in the church to say, “We cannot talk about political issues in the church. That’s what’s killing us.”

He reminded the group that decisions that deeply affect our lives are made by politicians and can only be decided through political process in a society like ours. How can we not talk about schools and teacher quality, college loans, health care, Medicare and Social Security, marriage, zoning, transportation, and so on if we believe that God cares about and loves the world?

Don’t miss this story – which seems fairly relevant to our nation’s political life these days!

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Women as role models… yes we can!

As more women enter ministry, opportunities grow, Cynthia Campbell says

July 2 – When Cynthia Campbell was growing up, she never experienced a woman in a leadership role in the pulpit of her home church in Pasadena, CA.

“There were no role models of women; no women doing baptisms, weddings or funerals,” she said. Even when she started her faith journey at Harvard Divinity School, classes at theological seminaries were not taught by women.

Speaking at the Clergywomen’s Leadership Institute at the Big Tent, Campbell told of the day she was ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), June 30, 1974. “One thing that stuck in my memory was the ordination certificate,” she remembered. “San Gabriel Presbytery’s stated clerk had to add an ‘S’ to the printed ‘He’ on the certificate.” ...

“Leadership of women is at a tipping point. We are in a time of transition – a change from minority to majority status,” she said, adding that women entering ministry must be willing to accept responsibility and to anticipate change. More >>

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Faith meets action for Big Tent young adults

‘Pathways’ group helps convert bus stop into community greenhouse

July 2 – About five miles away from the excitement of Big Tent on the afternoon of July 1, a small group of Presbyterians worked with picks, shovels and wheel barrels to dig a hole about six inches deep, eight feet wide, and 20 feet long. The area will eventually serve as the floor of a greenhouse made from an old bus stop shelter.

“There’s no grocery store here, so all the people around here have is unhealthy or processed food,” Jordan Akin, a college student from Little Rock, AR, said. ... Akin and four other young adults were taking part in a unique trip to Urban Mountain Farms in Indianapolis. Through a combination of service and prayer, the organization is cultivating a garden to provide fresh produce for an underserved and impoverished area of the community.

The “field trip” was organized by Adrian McMullen, associate for collegiate ministry at GAMC, as part of the Pathways Conference at Big Tent. The conference focused on discipleship exploration and leadership development for youth, young adults, and collegiate ministry leaders.    More >>

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Social Justice evident in Big Tent Exhibit Hall

Exhibitors’ messages reflect wide-ranging PC(USA) commitments

July 5 – The exhibit hall at this year’s Big Tent here is full of support for social issues.

The usual pens, tablets, and refrigerator magnets are all around, of course, as is the variety of chocolates and mints, but the collective take-away message is the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s commitment to social justice.

Of the 32 booths, no less than 24 offer support and education on social issues such as human trafficking, poverty, multi-cultural awareness and illegal immigrants.   More >>

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An obstacle to inclusion

Race still a powerful force, pastor tells Big Tent

“Race is a powerful force in American culture that affects us in all kinds of ways,” said the Rev. Nibs Stroupe, who serves Oakhurst Presbyterian Church, a multicultural congregation in Decatur, Ga. Race, he said, is not a biblical, scientific, biological, genetic or cultural classification. “It’s a political construct like being a Democrat, Republican, a member of the Green Party or an independent,” he explained.

The workshop Stroupe led, titled “The Elephant in the Room: Race and Its Continuing Power in Multicultural Ministry,” was sponsored by the PC(USA)’s National Multicultural Church Conference.   More >>

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A tent big enough for all

Non-believer youth attends Big Tent, enjoys fellowship with Presbyterians

Eleanor Ferguson, who is the daughter of a Presbyterian minister mother and a newspaper reporter father in Lone Tree, Iowa, participated in the youth program at Big Tent. She describes herself as a “non-believer,” which gave her a unique perspective on this gathering. And it makes a refreshing comment on our church and our youth. More >>

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Bang, bang, shoot, shoot

Gun violence is a solvable problem, Big Tent peacemakers told

July 8 – What do you do to rescue the 100,000 people who are shot with a gun each year? What do you do to save the lives of 30,000 who die, half of whom by their own hand? What do you do to protect the nearly 70,000 who are injured?

What do you do when a solvable problem costs your society $1 billion a year?

One solution is to prohibit guns, but everyone knows that’s not going to happen in the United States.

In a Big Tent workshop, “Gun Violence, Gospel Values: Mobilizing in Response to God’s Call,” James Atwood, retired minister and mission worker; Rick Ufford-Chase, former moderator and director of Presbyterian Peace Fellowship; Katie Day of Lutheran Theological Seminary; and Bryan Miller from Heeding God’s Call discussed why and how people of faith should respond.    More >>

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Presbyterians stage pro-immigrants public witness during Big Tent

Demonstrators oppose Indiana legislation, seek comprehensive reform

July 11 – More than 75 Presbyterians in town for the denomination’s Big Tent event demonstrated their support of immigrants at the Indiana Statehouse Saturday afternoon (July 2).

Holding signs like “Jesus loves everyone, including the undocumented,” those gathered were reminded that Big Tent almost switched locations because of Indiana’s proposed immigration legislation, HB 1402.

“Presbyterians were able stop the most egregious part of the bill,” said the Rev. Tony Aja, coordinator of Hispanic/Latino Ministries for the Presbytery of Mid-Kentucky. Holding up a copy of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s policy statement on immigration, Aja reminded the gathering that “Presbyterians stand with immigrants, especially undocumented immigrants.”   More >>

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In it for the long haul

Reconciliation requires vision and commitment, Ireland peacemakers say

July 11 -- Reconciliation in cultures of violence requires vision and preparing for the long haul, said Presbyterians working for peace in Northern Ireland at a Big Tent plenary here July 2.

Northern Ireland’s violent culture is fueled by fear, anger and resentment about past wrongs, said Doug Baker, a mission co-worker in Northern Ireland and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s regional liaison for Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Although it’s small in relation to other violence in the world, the conflict between loyalists and republicans doesn’t feel small to those living with it, Baker said. It’s difficult for people to imagine a new reality because the move out of conflict is very slow.

Those working for reconciliation need to affirm the Apostle Paul’s statement that the present order of things isn’t all that’s possible, Baker said. Peacemakers must then act to bring about the change that God is calling for.

The Rev. Elizabeth Hughes, pastor of Whitehouse Presbyterian Church in Belfast, spoke of reconciliation in the aftermath of church arsons, common in the area.

More >>  

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‘The fertile ground of God’s graciousness’

Though world is violent, persist in peacemaking, says Bruce Reyes-Chow

July 12 – Though the world is scary and violent, people of faith are nevertheless called to be peacemakers, former General Assembly Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow told the closing plenary of the Peacemaking Conference at Big Tent July 2.

Preaching from Esther 4:14 – “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” – and the parable of the sower from Matthew 13, Reyes-Chow said God’s call to peacemaking can be problematic.

“All of this is scary stuff,” he acknowledged. “I’m prepared to go out and change the world until I realize it is impossible and the world sucks. It’s everyone for him or herself.”

Reyes-Chow said that we are tempted to bite back with righteous indignation, but graciousness is about understanding the dignity of the other. It is an understanding of God's claim on each of us. “What will happen to our seeds?” he said, referring to the parable’s sower, some of whose seeds fell in fertile soil and others on rocks. “Will we be choked and die?”   More >>  

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From success to significance

Preaching at closing Big Tent worship, Nelson says God is doing a new thing

July 12 – It’s time to move from worrying about success to significance, proclaimed the Rev. J. Herbert Nelson II, director of the PC(USA)’s Office of Public Witness at the July 2 closing worship of Big Tent.

“Truly, this has been a blessed event,” he said. “It’s been a Holy Ghost party in the name of the Lord. A time when we can declare the Presbyterian Church is alive and well. And now we are being moved to return to our places and to do greater things.”

We can draw courage from the story of the Hebrew flock suffering in exile. In fact, our Reformed faith tradition reminds us that suffering is part of the human experience. ...

When God gives a new start, God can do anything except fail. But our part is to give up our success model, which causes despair.

“We have two choices,” Nelson said. “We can lament what we use to be. We used to have clout. We used to have four million members. We used to be able to demand an appointment at the White House and get it.”

Those days of power are gone. In the place of the “top-down” model of success, God is calling the church to be significant, preaching a gospel of power and sharing the love of Jesus. ...    More >>

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WERE YOU THERE??  If you were (or even if you weren’t!), and have comments or other reports you’d like to recommend, just send a note, to be shared here!