wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Can Presbyterians hope to replicate Theological Task

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8873 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05451
Aug. 31, 2005

Becoming church

Can Presbyterians hope to broadly replicate
conversion experience of Theological Task Force?

Analysis by John Filiatreau

CHICAGO - It has been thrilling to see how the Presbyterians on the
Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church have
changed over the past four years.

	In the beginning they peered at one another through masks of dread
and girded their loins for an anticipated dust-up over the most contentious
issues facing the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), especially those related to
homosexuality and ordination. 

	Conservatives and liberals counted heads like legislative whips,
exchanged "talking points," looked for swing votes, gathered in whispering
clusters in hallways, drew lines in the theological sand. 

	Several seemed more conscious of representing constituencies
(conservatives, liberals, gays, Native Americans, Puerto Ricans, blacks,
pastors and professors, among others) than of representing the entire
PC(USA). Some were dismissive, even contemptuous, of colleagues they deemed
apostate or considered theological or scriptural illiterates. Members
exchanged sneers, glares, sniffs of derision.

	After four years of coming together to worship, pray, study scripture
and theology, review church history, break bread together and exchange
personal beliefs and visions of the future - maybe 2,500 hours of
community-building in all (not counting phone and email communications and
individual and small-group work on specific task force projects) - they
collectively realized, in the words of member Jack Haberer, a Houston pastor,
"that what we hold in common in our beliefs and practices is far greater than
what divides us."

	Now they treat each other with evident respect, even when they
disagree. They exchange smiles, share laughter, evince a genuine interest in
one another's lives and faith journeys. They clearly regard each other as
persons of intellectual depth, authentic faith and unfailing devotion to the
Presbyterian Church.

	In a word, they now treat each other in a way one might characterize
as Christian. 

	As they say in their final report, "By the grace of God and with the
Spirit's help, the task force grew into a Christian community."

	Its members came to love each other.

	And you can't despise someone you love. 

	(Just ask someone who has a gay or lesbian child.)

	One of the group's recommendations is "that the General Assembly urge
governing bodies, congregations, and other groups of Presbyterians to follow
the example of the task force ... through worship, study, community-building
and collaborative effort."

	"The intent of this recommendation ... is to invite the whole church
to participate in a season of discernment, not to mandate any particular
format or approach," the report says. "The task force resources may be
helpful starting points."

	It says two features of the group's work plan were especially useful:

	"One was the decision to lay a groundwork of general theological
understanding and engagement before taking up the more sensitive and
difficult specific topics. The other was the determination to seek to
understand positions other than our own by studying some of the best written
presentations of different perspectives by respected scholars and earlier
committees and commissions of the church."

	In a section of the report headed, "Spiritual Progress," the group
describes "two remarkable experiences ... one of pain and penitence, the
other of gratitude and joy":

	"First, in the course of our work, we have become increasingly aware
of the conflict and pain in the Presbyterian Church (USA), and we have
searched our hearts to determine how each of us may have contributed to the
church's problems."

	In the beginning, the report says, the task force members "shared a
tendency that is widespread in the church: to blame others, especially those
with whom we disagree, for the church's troubles. ... In the course of our
work we began to understand that our own actions as much as others' have
offended God, wounded the body of Christ, and caused pain to other
Presbyterians."

	The report lists a number of lessons the task force learned over
time:

	"Those of us associated with Anglo traditions ... came to understand
how much alienation and pain we have caused by past oppression of other
racial and ethnic groups and by currently maintaining barriers to the full
inclusion of those groups' members, cultures, and gifts.

	"Those of us who identify our views as liberal came to understand how
alienating it is for conservatives and evangelicals when their passionate
commitment to holy living and upright conduct are labeled rigid and
judgmental.

	"Those of us who identify our views as conservative came to
understand how alienating it is for liberals when their passionate commitment
to justice and compassion are labeled unbiblical.

	"Those of us who identify our views as moderate came to understand
how alienating it is when those with passionate concerns on either end of the
theological spectrum are labeled extreme and divisive.

	"Many of us came to understand how alienating it is for those who
support a ban on the ordination of non-celibate gay and lesbian persons to be
accused of prejudice, and how alienating it is for those who oppose such a
ban to be accused of moral laxity.

	"All of us came to see that the Presbyterian Church (USA), in its
current factionalized state that we all have created together by our mutual
stereotyping and misuse of power, fails to offer a suffering world a sign of
the peace, unity, and purity that is God's gift to us in Jesus Christ."

	"Second, in the course of our work, we have become increasingly
grateful for the gift of the church and for the ways that other persons and
perspectives make the whole body stronger."

	"Our faith was enriched and strengthened by the contributions of
those whose views on contested issues we do not share," the task force wrote.
"... Our experience of Christian faith and life has been extended and
expanded. Our trust in other Presbyterians and our respect for differing
perspectives has deepened. Most of all, our joy in believing has been greatly
increased by the work of the Holy Spirit. Our gratitude for the church has
grown because of the honesty, humility and faithfulness of other members of
the task force. ... Over our time together, a common conviction has grown
among us: different as we are, God has called us all to be part of the body
of Christ as it is manifested in the Presbyterian Church (USA)." (Task
force's italics.)

	The task force used two techniques mentioned only in passing that
seem to have been instrumental in its success: reaching decisions "by
consensus," rather than resolving disputes by up-or-down votes; and
conducting discussions by "mutual invitation," in which each member of the
group chooses the next person to speak, and no one speaks twice until
everyone has had a say.

	The first prevented the group from breaking down into groups of
"winners" and "losers"; the second prevented the members with more assertive
personalities from overwhelming their more diffident colleagues. 

	There is no question that the PC(USA) would benefit if governing
bodies, congregations and other groups could "follow the example of the task
force," but it isn't clear how its experience could be reproduced widely
throughout the church.

	You can't divide a denomination with more than 2 million members into
groups of 20 and have each of them gather for three- to five-day meetings
four to six times a year for four years, mostly out of the view of press and
public.

	Many have said what the Covenant Network of Presbyterians notes on
its Web site: "As it stands ... it is not yet clear how the salutary effect
of the Task Force's hard-won trust in one another and its mutual respect as a
group can be replicated in a practical way at the GA, synod, and presbytery
levels."

	The task force's experience suggests that whoever said familiarity
breeds contempt got it wrong. What it really breeds, in this context, is
understanding, sympathy, tolerance and community.
 
	I'm not sure that any member of the task force jettisoned or
compromised a single conviction that he or she held to when this experiment
began four years ago - yet it's clear that each of them has a moral compass
that now points to a somewhat different north.
 
	It's true that the task force has had innumerable advantages that
other groups may not enjoy: manageable size, ample budget, ready and able
staff assistance, and freedom to do its business in private (truly an anomaly
for a Presbyterian work group), among others.

	It also has had some crucial human assets that other groups probably
won't be able to match. To mention just a few:

	Betty Achtemeier, the Union Seminary Bible professor who died shortly
after the task force began its work - but not before persuading the group to
begin with theological study and community-building rather than divide into
factions and become disagreeable;
 
	Frances Taylor Gench, the New Testament professor at Union whose
passion for scripture, teaching talent and skillful use of the Socratic
method made the group's Bible studies engaging and illuminating;

	Barbara Wheeler, the sharp-tongued New Yorker and Auburn Seminary
president whose ready humor was welcome leaven at times when the pressure was
greatest;

	John Wilkinson, the New York pastor whose knowledge of denominational
history kept the group's work grounded firmly in context;

	Mike Loudon, the Florida pastor who held to his deeply conservative
convictions with a growing amiability;

	Scott Anderson, a gay Presbyterian who played a
sometimes-uncomfortable role with grace and forbearance;

	Milton "Joe" Coalter, the curmudgeonly Louisville Seminary library
scientist who always could be relied upon to challenge questionable
assumptions and challenge the common wisdom;
 
	Barbara Everett Bryant, the Michigan research scientist who insisted
on precision in language and logic;

	Victoria Curtiss, the Iowa pastor who suggested the "decision by
consensus" model and overcame other members' misgivings about it;

	Co-moderators Gary Demarest of California and Jenny Stoner of
Vermont, who gave up many of the prerogatives normally enjoyed by PC(USA)
leaders, helping to make the task force an assembly of equals.

	They and their fellows - ordinary Presbyterians - all made essential
contributions.

	Who's to say that other groups of ordinary Presbyterians, undertaking
similar voyages, would not discover qualities just as extraordinary in
themselves?

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