wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] PFR speaker says he sees 'signs of hope' in PC(USA)

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Note #7765 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

PFR speaker says he sees 'signs of hope' in PC(USA)
GA03076

PFR speaker says he sees 'signs of hope' in PC(USA)

by Nancy Rodman

DENVER, May 28 - "I see signs of hope," the Rev. Thomas W. Gillespie,
president of Princeton Theological Seminary, told his audience at the annual
Presbyterians for Renewal (PFR) Breakfast Wednesday morning.

	Reminiscing about the church in the middle of the 20th century,
Gillespie said the church was growing then. "All you had to do was open the
doors, and the people poured in," he said. "It was a great time to begin my
ministry. 

	"Now the church has gone from being mainline to being sidelined."

	We live in the "postmodern" era, he said, contending that
"postmodern" is a term that describes a burdensome mood, a "spirit of
suspicion." 

	"The quintessential proverb for postmodernism is 'different strokes
for different folks,'" he said. 

	This is the culture of today, he said, and it inevitably affects the
church.

	This mood has Biblical precedents, he said, speaking specifically of
the period of the Babylonian captivity. The question then, he continued, was
how could the people of God, living in what " suburban Babylon," continue to
claim the promise when the priesthood and temple were gone? 

	As president of Princeton Seminary, Gillespie said, he has been
invited to speak in many churches across the country. "You feel palpably the
energy in those congregations," he said. "They're alive. They're well. The
church is growing."

	Speaking of the Presbyterian Church (USA), he added: "We have a
useful denomination. There are things we can do together that we can't do
apart." 

	He recalled a story about a tourist in Washington who wanted to see
all the important places. When his cab driver pulled up in front of the
National Archives, the tourist read the words carved over the front door,
"The past is prologue." The driver explained, "That means, 'Buddy, you ain't
seen nothing yet.'" 

	Speaking of the PC(USA), he concluded, "With the power of the Holy
Spirit, you ain't seen nothing yet."

	PFR presented the Lydia Fund Award, a scholarship for evangelical
women attending seminary, to Kristin Johnson, a student at Gordon Conwell
Seminary.

	The PFR's Bell-Mackay Prize for mission leadership was presented to
the Rev. Niles Reimer and Ann Reimer, missionaries in Ethiopia from 1955 to
1995.

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