wfn.org | 21st Century Committee Succeeds in "Doing Theology"

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16-June-1998 
GA98051 
 
    21st Century Committee Succeeds in "Doing Theology" 
 
    by Midge Mack 
 
CHARLOTTE, N.C.-Committee #4, The Assembly Committee on the PCUSA in the 
21st Century brought its report to the General Assembly plenary late 
yesterday afternoon in the format of a pastoral letter addressed to the 
committee's fellow commissioners. As such no action was required, and the 
report was received, unanimously by the commissioners. 
    A motion to recommend that  the Committee on Theological Education 
arrange a similar opportunity for theological reflection at the 211th 
General Assembly passed. 
    Because of the committee's  title,  many assumed it was  doing 
"futuring,"  a specific process  attempting to envision possibilities and 
hopes for an organization some number of years down the road, with specific 
responses proposed in reaction to such a vision. 
    However, Committee #4 was charged with exploring theologically  the 
meaning of church membership.  After identifying dozens of facets of that 
subject, expressed through their own experiences, members divided  into six 
focus groups as follows: Diversity in Worship,  Education,  God's Love, 
Inclusivity,  Mission and Evangelism,  Presbyterianism and Ecumenism. Each 
focus group met with selected resource persons Tuesday morning, after which 
they prepared individual group reports. Later they blended these into a 
single report after selecting both its format and the content they felt was 
important to include. 
    It's possible this committee had more fun than any at the Assembly. 
It's possible, even likely,  that these committee members learned more, 
grew more,  and certainly enhanced  their experience of "church",  more 
than any other.  Beyond that, they took a risk,  they did something new, 
different, and, they feel, significant. 
    It was a floor  action of the 209th Assembly requesting the Committee 
on Theological Education to bring some area of theology to a designated 
committee of this Assembly, to allow a group of commissioners to do 
theological reflection, that started the process.   This committee 
received no material on which to take action. They could report or not to 
the plenary.  They voted to make a report because  they felt a need to 
share what they had done with the Assembly. 

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