wfn.org | Stotts Urges Covenant Network to Persevere

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15-June-1998 
GA98028 
 
    Stotts Urges Covenant Network to Persevere 
 
    by Jerry Van Marter 
 
CHARLOTTE, N.C.--Jack Stotts, recently retired president of Austin 
Presbyterian Theological Seminary, urged the Covenant Network of 
Presbyterians to persevere in their efforts to make the Presbyterian Church 
(U.S.A.) more inclusive during his keynote speech at the organization's 
inaugural General Assembly luncheon June 15. 
        More than 450 persons turned out for the luncheon, including a 
dozen of the 17 former moderators who have endorsed the Covenant Network's 
call to a more inclusive church.  Current moderator Douglas W. Oldenburg 
also greeted the gathering and indicated that he, too, will sign on to the 
network's call. 
        The Covenant Network was formed last summer to advocate in the 
presbyteries for the passage of Amendment A -- the commonly called 
"fidelity and integrity" amendment -- to "The Book of Order."  The 
amendment was defeated, 114-59, by the presbyteries, but Stotts pleaded 
with the audience not to give up. "I have had a lot of dreams that did not 
come true," he said, quoting a favorite author, "but I have had enough 
dreams come true that I still believe in the dream." 
        Stotts said the proper relationship between unity and diversity "is 
a human issue and promise...and is symptomatic of the same issues in 
American society."  He described the tension between seeking unity and 
seeking diversity as "an underground current that sometimes creates 
turbulent waters on the surface -- like now."  In such times, he added, 
unity and diversity become "opposing virtues." 
        Stotts warned that when the two virtues are out of balance, "the 
dark side of unity is exposed, which is imperialism, and the dark side of 
diversity is exposed, which is the loss of identity." 
        He offered three theological principles for finding balance between 
unity and diversity: 
        * "unity precedes diversity" -- Stotts cited Gal. 3:28 and said 
oneness in Christ "is a costly unity because it means giving up our 
enemies." 
        * "unity presumes diversity" -- Stotts said that unity without 
diversity is uniformity, which is static "and even worse, boring."  Unity 
in Christ is dynamic, he added. 
        * "unity presupposes reaching out to the margins" -- Stotts said 
"being conscious of our center is to be aware of the margin...to draw from 
the strength of the weak." 
        Former General Assembly moderator Robert W. Bohl, who is 
co-moderator of the Covenant Network with John M. Buchanan, also a former 
General Assembly moderator, was equally insistent that those seeking 
greater diversity in the church continue their struggle. 
        Saying he had "never borne the brunt of so much vicious mail" 
because of his support for Amendment A, Bohl said, "We must find a way to 
be faithful....We're the church, remember that, and we will not allow 
ourselves to victimized and villainized." 
        Growing more combative, Bohl said "the issue here is not so much 
ordination standards as it is control, domination and ultimately, the 
destruction of the church as we have known and loved it.  We must not let 
this denomination become captive as the Southern Baptist Convention has 
become captive to those who systematically exclude and purge from 
leadership those who disagree with them." 
        "I don't know how," Bohl said, "but God will show us a way to be 
together in this church, to be a church that is open and inclusive of all 
people." 
        Covenant Network executive director Pamela Byers of San Francisco 
announced plans for a network-sponsored national conference, Nov. 5-7, 
1998, in Denver. 

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