wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Task force members say unity of body of Christ must be

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

Note #8928 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05510
Sept. 23, 2005

One chance

Task force members say every believer 
is an essential part of the body of Christ

by Jerry L. Van Marter

SACRAMENTO, CA - In their first national forum since the release of their
report late last month, members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s
Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church (TTF) laid
out their supporting case last night during a joint meeting of five
denominational agencies. 

	Their bottom-line message was clear: The church, wracked by
polarizing disputes, must stay together, because it's the body of Christ.

	"Our goal must be life together in discernment, rather than
head-to-head confrontation," said TTF Co-Moderator Jenny Stoner. "Our purpose
must be to know in our very being in the church the peace, unity and purity
that has been given to us in Jesus Christ, and that we are to demonstrate and
share with the world."

	The 20-member task force was created by the 2001 General Assembly "to
lead the PC(USA) in spiritual discernment of our Christian identity in and
for the 21st century." The group was specifically directed to address issues
of Christology, Biblical authority and interpretation, ordination standards
and power.

	The task force members will be itinerating extensively in synods and
presbyteries until next June's 217th General Assembly, when their report will
be up for adoption.

	The experience of the task force can be a model for the whole church
for living together with differences and disagreements, said the Rev. Gary
Demarest, the other co-moderator. 

	"We're a group of 20, chosen because of our differences and rooted in
our disagreements," he told the gathering, which included members of the
General Assembly Council, the Committee on the Office of the General
Assembly, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Foundation, the Presbyterian
Publishing Corporation and the Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program.

	In the end, Demarest said, the task force voted unanimously to
approve its report, "and a minority report was never considered." He said the
report's conclusion that "the differences on these matters are strenuous and
serious, but precisely because they are so important, we have been encouraged
to stay together, speaking the truth in love, learning from one another and
building up the body" is the heart of its discoveries.

	Another task force member, the Rev. Mark Achtemeier, reiterated the
group's fundamental affirmation that peace, unity and purity can only be
found in Jesus Christ, because Christ is the embodiment of that peace, unity
and purity. "The way we Presbyterians have been conducting ourselves is not
sustainable," Achtemeier said. "It is literally a matter of life and death
that, as we find ways to witness to our differences and disagreements, we
recover our witness by turning again to Jesus Christ, who himself is the
peace, unity and purity of the church."

	This isn't the first time the church has been threatened with
division by theological disputes. Task force member Barbara Wheeler commented
that "Presbyterians have a bad historical habit of choosing sides and
splitting up."

	One of the group's key recommendations is a proposed authoritative
interpretation of G-6.0108 of The Book of Order - which has its roots in the
formation of American Presbyterianism in 1729. At issue at that time, Wheeler
said, was an attempt to find balance between national standards for
ordination ("subscriptionism") and individual conscience ("scruple") on any
given theological tenet.

	That same balance is what is being sought today, Wheeler said,
particularly with regard to the ordination of sexually active gay and lesbian
Presbyterians. Noting that ordination standards have always been "a
flashpoint" in the church, she said "that original arrangement did create a
balance for the church to which we must return today."

	G-6.0108 grants to ordaining bodies the responsibility of deciding
whether any conscience-driven "scruple" with respect to church doctrine is an
essential "departure from scriptural and constitutional standards for fitness
for office." If the scruple is deemed not to be essential, then the candidate
may be ordained - subject, of course, to review by higher governing bodies.

	The proposed authoritative interpretation, coupled with another TTF
recommendation that no further changes to the constitutional standards for
ordination be entertained - particularly the deletion of G-6.0106b, which
requires "fidelity in the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or
chastity in singleness," and the 1978 authoritative interpretation that
supports it - "can guide to our life together, no matter what the
controversy," Wheeler said, "enabling us to hold on to each other while we
all hold on to our most deeply held convictions."

	Such an approach is not just "a polity tweak," Achtemeier insisted.
"Our study of the Bible shows there's no support for viewing the church as an
association of like-minded individuals," he said. "God creates the church by
filling people's hearts with love and faith for Jesus Christ, and God seals
us together through Baptism into one body with others who are very different
from ourselves."

	The TTF report is "a deeply penitential document," Achtemeier said.
"Christ calls us together, so responding to him means turning to each other
in our differences and diversity. This is enormously important, because it
reminds us that disagreements among us are not disagreements between
Christians and infidels, but between brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ -
Christians of good faith who are trying their best to be faithful disciples
of Jesus Christ."

	Finding the balance between "holding on to each other while we all
hold on to our most deeply held convictions" is the task of the "season of
discernment" the TTF is proposing to the church, Wheeler said. Another key
recommendation urges governing bodies, congregations and other groups of
Presbyterians to engage in processes of discernment, worship, community
building and study like those that have guided the TTF.

	Such engagement "adds up to far more than a 'winner-take-all'
battle," Wheeler said. 

	"No one will have everything they want, but we'll still have each
other," she said, "and we need each other to seek and find the truth."

	Such work by the whole church is "not a diversion from our true
mission, but integral to our proclamation of the truth of the gospel in word
and deed, that the world may believe," Demarest said.  "The world needs not
only to hear our witness, but to see and witness the embodiment of Christ's
love in us.

	"The task force is convinced that the world is watching the PC(USA)
as we engage in highly polarized debates," Demarest concluded. "And the world
will be persuaded, not by the absence of conflict or disagreement among us,
but by the quality of our life together and our ability to make visible the
unity that is ours in Jesus Christ."

	The text of the TTF's report and many resources related to its work
are available at its Web site: www.pcusa.org/peaceunitypurity. Printed copies
of the report and a study guide ($5 each) are available by calling
Presbyterian Distribution Service at (800) 524-2612 and asking for order
#OGA-05-088.

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