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Note #7963 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Theological Task Force releases video
03425
October 3, 2003

Theological Task Force releases video

Series is meant to help Presbyterians grapple with tough issues

by Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE - The Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity of the
Church (TTF) has released a three-part video on building trust in study
groups.

The idea is to help other Presbyterian groups reproduce the process that has
created such camaraderie among the task force members over the past two
years.

The video is the first of a series of tapes titled "Seeking Peace, Unity and
Purity" that the TTF intends to produce between now and 2006.

In part 1 of the new video, member Vicky Curtiss, the co-pastor of Collegiate
Presbyterian Church in Ames, IA, shares some of the tools the TTF has used to
build a community of trust within the framework of worship, Bible study,
prayer, and sharing.

Two-thirds of the tape is a presentation on Biblical authority and
interpretation by member Frances Taylor Gench, a professor of New Testament
at Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education
in Richmond, VA, who also leads viewers through a study of chapter 5 of the
Gospel of Matthew.

A discussion leader's guide is included with the video.

According to task force leaders, the video series will be designed primarily
for adults in theological reflection groups that might mirror the task force
in process and content. Other groups - including new-member classes, adult
study groups, officers-in-training and commissioned lay pastors - might find
the series helpful to adapt for more general use.

"It was made clear by many that the church does not want us to produce
another report that will be received, then sit on a shelf," said Jenny
Stoner, who co-moderates the task force with Gary Demarest. "So we are doing
these video resources as one way to offer the church something that is
clearly not a report to be filed, but a resource to be used interactively by
many groups.

"It is one way, we hope, to share with the church a small portion of our
experience of doing church in a new way."

Copies of the video have been mailed to presbytery resource centers, seminary
libraries and middle governing body executives. Tapes are available for $10
through PDS; call (800) 524-2612 and ask for item #OGA-03-069.

The next video in the "Seeking Peace, Unity, and Purity" series, scheduled
for release next spring, will focus on Christology. It will feature task
force member P. Mark Achtemeier, an associate professor of systematic
theology and ethics at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary.

For more information about the videos, contact Sharon K. Youngs,
communications coordinator in the Office of the General Assembly, by phone at
(888) 728-7228, ext. 5750, or by email at syoungs@ctr.pcusa.org.

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