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Executive presbyter
raises questions about Detterick statements
The following note was first shared on the
WITHERSPOON MEMBERS meeting on PresbyNet. The author has given
permission for us to share it with the wider audience on the Web. Our
thanks for his cooperation!
Dennis Maher is Executive Presbyter and Stated Clerk of Great Rivers
Presbytery.
11-14-00
Dean and other Witherspooners:
Some of us EPs and Stated Clerks are concerned about
the recent statements of John Detterick (at least as reported in News
Briefs, and of course, by the Layman).
One has written:
"It makes me very anxious when the best and
brightest minds of our denomination gathered as the executive
committee of the General Assembly Council, our most powerful national
mission entity, attempt to speak with a voice that up to this point
has been reserved to the Assembly itself. I don't believe it is within
the power of the executive committee of the General Assembly Council
"...to clarify matters by stating clearly the confessional stance
of the church..." The council and executive committee have
enormous power to do many administrative things -- all assigned and
approved by the assembly. But it is not the prerogative of the
executive committee to instruct the church or the world or an
individual congregation on the church's theology.
I think it is a danger to the whole when the
executive committee of the Council arrogates to itself the power to
interpret, "clarify", theological documents of the General
Assembly and Confessional documents adopted by the assembly and the
presbyteries. In the strictest, most conservative sense these
documents speak for themselves."
I replied as follows:
It sounds to me as if John is dangerously close to
denying Dirk's right to preach what he did. If this is the case, John
threatens every minister in the denomination! If GAC were to examine
every speaker for a GA sponsored event, isn't that censorship?
I read Dirk's sermon and didn't see anything in it
that I or several thousand other PCUSA ministers might not say. Let's
face it -- the Coalition leaders don't like any of the major theologians
of the 19th and 20th century. Which leaves us in the 18th century.
We need to ask John and Cliff to clarify these issues
in San Antonio this week....
Denny Maher, Delavan IL
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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,
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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
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You can post your own news and views,
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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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