wfn.org | Semper Reformanda's theological conversaion addresses witnessing

[George Conklin <gconklin@igc.apc.org>]

29-June-1996 
 
GA96012 
 
     Semper Reformanda's theological conversation addresses 
witnessing in a changing world 
 
ALBUQUERQUE--Not fearing the risks that come with witnessing to the truth 
of an "inexhaustible" Gospel -- to quote Presbyterian theologian Doug 
Otatti -- is what it takes to face a changing world where the mainline 
church is no longer "the most influential kid on the block." 
 
    "We are in different circumstances ... It's a major cultural shift," 
Otatti told an already-persuaded gathering of Semper Reformanda just prior 
to the opening of the 208th General Assembly.  "What we need to focus on is 
what an opportunity this is ... 
 
    "It must be some kind of wake-up call [from God]," said Otatti, a 
sometimes controversial professor at Union Theological Seminary in 
Virginia.  "Will we participate fully in the world ... or will we retreat 
into the merely private and personal, the churchy and ecclesiastical?" 
 
    Semper Reformanda (Always Being Reformed) is a network of groups and 
individuals within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) formed to share 
information and support on issues tied to justice and liberation.  Its 
gathering here included an afternoon of theological conversation with 
Otatti, the Rev. V. Bruce Rigdon of Grosse Pointe, Mich.; Mary Jane 
Patterson, former director of the Presbyterian Washington Office; and two 
moderatorial candidates, John Buchanan and Norman Pott. 
 
     And while the conversation wandered from ecumenics to '60s marches to 
a "so-what" question from a younger generation, the core of the 
conversation never shifted.  Framed as, "What We See God Doing, Now," that 
translated loosely to: how does this church witness faithfully in a 
changing world? 
 
    "Friends, we've got to get busy," Patterson said, insisting that 
Christians are called to perceive, participate in and proclaim what God is 
doing to bring justice to the universe.  And that means Christians have to 
discern what Patterson called "the signs of the times." 
 
    Looking at previous models for ministry in urban areas, Buchanan said 
that a brownstone building with a fellowship hall just "doesn't work in the 
city now" -- citing his own congregation's struggle to discern how to be 
present in Cabrini-Greene, a troubled housing project in Chicago's 
downtown. 
 
    "Its going to take enormous intelligence, creativity and love ... to 
help reinvent what it means to be God's people," he said, citing the 
current paralysis of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) around a few 
polarizing issues and ideologies. 
 
    Rigdon was more forceful, attributing "the agonies of the present 
moment" to an increasing narrowness in Presbyterian circles.  "Somewhere in 
the last 50 years, we lost our life," he said, pushing both for a 
rediscovery of a public agenda and a renewed ecumenical life that includes 
"all of God's children.  Not just those we've baptized." 
 
     Despite nearly 2,000 years of church arguments about how Jesus is 
present at the table, Rigdon said the New Testament account is clear that 
Jesus opened the table to "all kinds of people."  It was Jesus' welcoming 
the whole community that, ultimately, led to his crucifixion.  Ridgon said 
that understanding is worth contemplating in a world engulfed by rising 
nationalism that is, sometimes, even affirmed by religious communities. 
 
    Attesting that creativity about complex issues exists on the local 
level, Pott told Semper Reformanda that his own understanding shifted about 
the ordination of gays and lesbians because "the providence of God has put 
some homosexual persons in my path ... 
 
    "How could we possibly justify biblically in the Presbyterian Church 
that some Christians among us are not equipped with spiritual gifts?" 
 
    While Pott said declining dollars and numbers are a reality 
Presbyterians are going to have to face, he also pointed out the hopeful 
news that those who do come to church are making "a conscious choice" and 
want to bring a Christian stance to the world. 
 
    Otatti affirmed the ongoing struggle to express a Gospel that can never 
be captured but, nevertheless, tells the truth about God and the world, 
about sin and good and about the church and the world.  "We're not to 
equate our witness with the Gospel itself ... That's an important thing to 
say to the Presbyterian Church right now," Otatti said.  "There are ways to 
talk [about the Gospel] other than our ways ... Its important to generate 
many perspectives ... 
 
    "And it's important to witness to the truth of the Gospel regardless of 
what the consequences are ... Its important to make a witness, even if its 
only a few [people]," he said in a question-and-answer time, adding that 
some call attempts to re-symbolize and re-incarnate the faith, heresy. 
"But unless the risks are taken, the fruits that are there won't be 
harvested." 
 
Alexa Smith 

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