wfn.org | Atlanta Conference Will Try to Solve Unity/Diversity Conundrum

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3-February-1999 
99055 
 
    Atlanta Conference in April Will Try to Solve 
    Unity/Diversity Conundrum 
 
    by John Filiatreau 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--The 1998 General Assembly, reacting to increasingly 
rancorous debates among single-issue factions on such matters as race, 
abortion, homosexuality and biblical interpretation, ordered up a 
church-wide conference on "the nature of the unity we seek in our 
diversity." 
 
    A suitably diverse committee of 14 members of the Presbyterian Church 
(U.S.A.) -  "people who had been in different corners of the nation calling 
each other devils," in the words of one conference organizer -- was 
appointed and given six months to plan the event. 
 
    The committee members had to begin by "trying to find the unity in the 
midst of our own diversity," said Assembly vice moderator the Rev. James E. 
Mead, adding that the group was determined "to do more than just choose up 
sides and argue." 
 
    The committee missed its original deadline but accomplished its 
mission. 
 
    The event, "What Is the Nature of the Unity We Seek In Our Diversity? 
Discovering Our Foundational Unity in Jesus Christ, A Churchwide Conference 
of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)" - popularly known as the 
Unity/Diversity Conference - is scheduled for April 29-May 1 at the Westin 
Atlanta Airport in College Park, Ga. 
 
    Mead said he hopes the committee's experience will be duplicated at the 
conference, which is expected to draw 500 or more Presbyterians, and 
eventually will serve as a model for the entire church. 
 
    "We began by sharing our own journeys in faith, making contact as 
Christian brothers and sisters," said Mead, who is executive presbyter for 
Pittsburgh Presbytery, "and that went a long way to building trust across 
lines. We found that we had a variety of things in common, including our 
love for Jesus Christ and for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). . . . We 
were able to work on controversial matters we don't agree about, and to 
build faith-based relationships in spite of our disagreements." 
 
    Eugene Turner, of the committee staff, said the most divisive issue was 
worship. "I didn't think they were ever going to agree on worship," he 
said. One group was for what Turner called "classical Presbyterian 
worship," while another favored services that would be more "open and 
free." 
 
    "There were clashes on that," he said. 
 
    The committee produced a color brochure about the conference that was 
sent recently to  every church in the denomination. Turner said it went out 
late because "getting all of these multiple people to agree on things" was 
harder and more time-consuming than expected. 
 
    He added with a sigh, "Christ did not call on us all to be alike." 
 
    Mead said he doesn't know what might result from the conference, which 
will feature nationally known theologians and church leaders and will offer 
ample opportunity for participants to work in small groups. 
 
    "We haven't prescribed all the outcomes," he said. "It isn't the job of 
the conference to produce an agreed-upon resolution. ... We have tried to 
leave the format open enough to allow the conference to find its own 
direction. Hey, the Holy Spirit may have an idea." 
 
    Mead said the conference will proceed from "an up-front acknowledgment 
that some aspects of our diversity go all the way back to the apostolic 
age," and will explore "the whole issue of boundaries. 
 
    "Are there boundaries to our inclusiveness?" Mead continued.  "Some 
would say immediately, no. Others would say yes, the church already has a 
lot of boundaries.  Are there edges beyond which we are not willing to go? 
To talk about that is frightening for us." 
 
    Turner said the committee's formation grew out of "a real fear ... that 
the church could divide, over issues of sexuality, morality and ethics." 
 
    "The negative energy that created the opportunity for the conference 
has turned into a positive energy for the conference itself," he said. 
"Maybe the Holy Spirit was working through this all along." 
 
    Turner said the committee members had a sort of epiphany. 
 
    "There's no question that the hearts of the people changed," he said. 
"There was some opening of hearts." 
 
    The conference registration fee (which doesn't include travel or 
lodging) is $235, discounted to $200 for applications received by March 1. 
Some financial assistance is available to people who otherwise could not 
afford to attend. 
 
    More information on the Unity/Diversity Conference is available by 
calling the General Assembly Meeting Service at 1-800-210-9371 or (502) 
569-5423, or by fax at (502) 569-8642. 

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