wfn.org | Second Presbyterian Coalition/Covenant Network Bible study

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Note #6450 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

13-March-2001
01093

Second Presbyterian Coalition/Covenant Network Bible study touches on
divorce, women's ordination and biblical authority

Opposing camps disagree on whether to continue meeting

by Eva G. Stimson

GLEN ELLYN, Il. - After two days of intense discussions in a church parlor
here, 10 Presbyterians from opposite ends of the theological spectrum packed
up their Bibles and commentaries and headed home - without evidence that
anyone's mind had been changed and without plans for a future meeting.

	The March 8?10 meeting, hosted by First Presbyterian Church in Glen Ellyn,
a suburb west of Chicago, continued an experiment begun in September when
the same 10 people sat down together - a bit hesitantly at first - to dig
into the Bible in an open-ended quest for mutual understanding.  The March
meeting continued the pattern established in September: the participants
prayed and sang hymns together, shared several meals, and engaged in
wide-ranging conversations that always seemed to circle back to questions
about biblical authority and interpretation.

	The group remained sharply divided on what the Bible teaches about
homosexuality - the issue that prompted their meetings and loomed in the
background of all their discussions.  And in the end they could not reach
consensus on whether to meet again.

	The Rev. Deborah Block, co-moderator of the Covenant Network of
Presbyterians, a group that supports the ordination of gays and lesbians,
said she would like to continue meeting.  The four other Covenant Network
representatives also said they were willing to meet again.  But
representatives of the Presbyterian Coalition, a group that opposes gay
ordination, expressed reservations.

	"I'm questioning the benefit to the church of continuing what seems like an
interminable discussion," said Terry Schlossberg, executive director of
Presbyterians Pro?Life.  "It might be more fruitful for the church to engage
in this discussion in its deliberative bodies."

	Noting that each person present represented a particular interest group in
the church, she suggested the constraints of "operating in a political
environment" might put a damper on future conversations: "We're people who
will be perceived as betraying constituencies by any change we make in the
positions we hold."

	"I understand that," said Block, "but I feel I would be more faithful to my
network by continuing to meet - with no expectation that you would change
your mind, but that I would better understand your mind."

	"We can't ignore who we are and who we represent," responded the Rev.
Parker Williamson, executive editor of The Presbyterian Layman, an
independent publication that advocates theologically conservative points of
view.  "I guarantee the church isn't ignoring it."

	Williamson said he couldn't see much evidence that the two sides had come
any closer together theologically as a result of their discussions.  "We've
found we can be civil and enjoy each other's company," he said, "but if
anything, I've seen the lines between our positions become even clearer."

	With time running out March 10, Coalition members said they would make a
decision later about whether they wanted to schedule another meeting.
	
A model for the church?

	Several participants expressed concern that the Glen Ellyn meetings were
being misunderstood by others in the church.  They feared some were
interpreting the meetings as negotiating sessions in which the two parties
would try to reach a compromise on issues dividing the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.).

	"There's a fear that there's going to be some sort of negotiation or
resolution," said Mitzi Henderson, co?moderator of More Light Presbyterians,
a group that advocates for the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the
church.  "That's not our intent."

	On a more positive note, Block commented: "We have done the church an
immense favor in terms of putting the Scriptures at the center of our
discussion, of modeling that."

	Williamson sharply criticized a statement issued by 113 presbytery
executives and officers last fall, which urges the denomination to find a
"third way" - a way that is not legislative or judicial - to resolve debates
about sexuality.  "I was troubled by that letter," he said, explaining that
he understood it to support "finding a political solution for a theological
problem."

	He said he did not want the Glen Ellyn meetings to be interpreted in that
light.  "What we agreed to do was come together to share God's Word, not to
cut a deal or find a political solution."

	But Schlossberg reminded the group: "Each of us is involved in the politics
of the church.  When we come together, it's natural to ask what political
motivations we have, what is the hidden agenda. ...  I think we have to
examine ourselves on this matter.  To pretend that there's purity of motive
- I'm not quite sure that's getting all our cards on the table."

	 "We have to remember the context," said the Rev. Laird Stuart,
co?moderator of the Covenant Network,  "We're not just meeting for Bible
study.  We're meeting for Bible study in the midst of tremendous struggle."

	Stuart said he did not believe the "third way" proponents were arguing for
a political solution.  He understood them to be saying that "The only way
we're going to get through this [stalemate over sexuality issues] is that
God would offer some deliverance."

Divorce and remarriage: how the church changed its mind

	In September participants had decided they wanted to look at how the church
has changed in its interpretations of Scripture passages dealing with
divorce and the ordination of women.  Williamson presented to the group in
March a paper on "Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage." He summarized the
process by which the Presbyterian Church went from a position that allowed
divorce only in cases of physical adultery and "malicious desertion," to an
interpretation of Scripture that recognized the possibility of an "adultery
in the heart" that could lead to divorce.

	This interpretation led the church to conclude that "there is no innocent
party" in a divorce, but that "God's forgiveness in Jesus Christ can apply
to marital sin, just as it applies to sin in other circumstances."

	The Rev. Jerry Andrews, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Glen Ellyn
and co?moderator of the Presbyterian Coalition, noted that the church
changed its policy on divorce in response to a careful study of Scripture,
not because of pressure from the growing number of divorced people among its
members.

	"There were some social realities that prompted the reexamination of
divorce," he said, "but it was not social realities that determined the
outcome."

	And although the church now allows divorced persons to remarry, Williamson
said, "at no time has the Presbyterian Church celebrated divorce or
ceremonially blessed it."

The ordination of women: a personal story

	The Rev. Anita Bell, co?moderator of the Presbyterian Coalition, walked the
group through the process of biblical interpretation that convinced her 21
years ago that it was God's will for women to be ordained.

	"I was 19 years old, a senior in college, when I began sensing the first
nudgings of the Spirit toward pastoral ministry," she said.  Growing up in
conservative congregations, she "had never seen a woman in ministry."

	Bell added, "I never once questioned the position women had in the church
or wondered why men made all the decisions and exposited from the pulpit."

	Some of her evangelical friends urged her to drop the idea of being
ordained.  But Bell was determined to seek God's will by wrestling with the
Bible's most difficult passages about women and leadership.

	Several observations led to her conclusion that women could be ordained:
the number of women whose leadership gifts are celebrated in the Bible; the
witness of Jesus, "who raised women above the position they held in society;
light shed on difficult passages by study of the original Greek text and the
historical/cultural context in which they were written; a "fundamental
theology of equality" of the sexes that permeates Scripture.

	Bell said she approached the task of biblical interpretation with "fear and
trembling," aware that as an ordained woman she might let her biases
influence her reading of passages on women and leadership.  "Our temptation
is to make the Scriptures say what we want to hear," she observed.  "That's
the struggle we bring every time we go to the text.  It's hard for us to
come with open ears."

Biblical authority and interpretation: the bottom line

	The group looked briefly at statements on biblical authority and
interpretation adopted by Presbyterian General Assemblies in 1982 and 1983. 
While everyone agreed, as Stuart put it, that "interpretation is a necessary
exercise," Andrews was the only one to stake out a clear position on
biblical authority.  He said he believes the Bible is true in matters of
history and science as well as faith.

	"I don't think we ought to make a distinction between history and faith,"
he declared.  "How can we believe the Bible got the history wrong but got
the faith right?"

	But he said he would never apply the word "inerrant" to a piece of
literature, and "would never characterize the Bible as a book of inerrant
facts. ...  Having said that, I don't think I've discovered any errors in
the Bible - just parts that don't seem to fit in yet."

	Andrews said he preferred the word "infallible" to "inerrant," when talking
about the Bible.  "Infallible means it will not fail us - in history,
science, or anything it presents."

	Stuart reminded the group that "Scripture is inspired not just in the
initial writing, but in its transmission over the years and the reading and
understanding of it."

	"The remembered words of Jesus are not eyewitness news," Block added.  "How
the Gospel writers remember the words of Jesus into a story makes a
difference in how we interpret it."

	Pam Byers, executive director of the Covenant Network," agreed: "One of the
reasons we keep going back to a book that is 2000 years old is that we keep
discovering new insights."

	"Sometimes I experience Scripture being used as a lamp to illumine us,"
said Michael Adee, national field organizer for More Light Presbyterians.
"Other times I experience it being used like a club by those of us who
position ourselves as infallible interpreters of Scripture."

	"What I fear most," Henderson said, "is the belief that there's only one
interpretation of Bible passages, and unless we agree with that we're not
Christians."

	Bell: "There are two ways to handle difficult passages.  We can dismiss
them, or we can ask, What is the lesson here?"

	Stuart: "You don't have to be bound by the literal specifics of a text -
the issue is the message."

	Williamson: "If you and I have different interpretations of Scripture, it's
incumbent on us to go to the Word and engage each other."

	Stuart:  "If we go through that process and still disagree, what do we do? 
There's got to be some way to resolve these deadlocks about interpretations
of Scripture. . . .  One alternative is for one person to say, 'I've got it
and you're not there yet, but we'll wait for you to get there.'  Another
alternative is to say, 'We're both not quite there yet, maybe.' "

	Bell: "What I struggle with in the church is when we leave Scripture behind
and use other means that aren't authoritative for us."

	Block: "When Pilate asked Jesus, 'What is truth?' the great error of his
question was assuming truth was a what and not a who.  I believe I stand
under Scripture, but more importantly, I stand under the Lordship of
Christ."

Stalemate on sexuality issues

	Williamson's paper on divorce ended with a section refuting arguments in
favor of same?sex unions.  But Covenant Network representatives said they
did not want to discuss issues related to homosexuality until after a
thorough examination of women's ordination and principles of biblical
interpretation.

	On the last morning Adee and Henderson said they would welcome a study of
the biblical passages related to homosexuality.  This prompted Williamson to
direct a barbed comment to Henderson: "I don't think you stand under
Scripture.  I think you make judgments about Scripture."

	Visibly shaken, Adee reponded: "I think you just crossed a line, Parker,
and I'm terribly disappointed in you."

	After a moment of strained silence, Schlossberg said she did not believe a
discussion of the Bible and homosexuality would produce any fresh insights. 
"I have a very difficult time imagining that some new nuance of Scripture
will emerge that has not already emerged."
	
Can the church stay together?

	The Rev. Bill Giles, executive director of the Presbyterian Coalition,
observed that Presbyterians are deeply divided about sexuality issues. 
"Each side says they're standing under Scripture and are not willing to back
down or compromise. ...  As we're constantly tugging at each other, we're
tearing the church apart. ...  Is it not possible that the will of Christ
for the church today is an amicable separation or divorce?"

	Bell: "There's no such thing as an amicable divorce."

	Giles: "Certainly it's a sin to divide the body of Christ, but there are
times when an amputation has to take place for the good of the body."

	Williamson pointed out that around the time of the Council of Nicaea the
church fought for 56 years over the issue of the divinity and humanity of
Jesus Christ.  "I guess I'm really thankful," he said, "that the faithful
hung in there and that the truth prevailed."

	Henderson:  "A lot of people in the church don't feel called by God to make
a choice on this issue.  By splitting we would force them to choose between
two sides."

	Adee: "It's important to ask, 'Where is the church?'  Lots of people at the
local level don't care as much as we do about these divisive issues, and
they're out there doing mission.  I think the body of Christ is much more
durable than we imagine."

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