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06351 July 11, 2006
Building a new Presbyterian culture
Montreat conferees embrace trust, leader development, multiculturalism
by Toya Richards Hill
MONTREAT, NC * The hope for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) lies in a Christ-like love for people even when you are diametrically opposed, empowering young leaders and recognizing that being multicultural isn't simply absorbing those different from you into your religious culture.
Certainly not groundbreaking revelations, but deemed important enough to the survival of the denomination that PC(USA) leaders gathered to make sense of what's going on in the church repeated these themes * and others * again and again during a four-day conference here.
It was "The Hope of the Church: Celebrating Common Ground" conference July 5-8 at Montreat Conference Center, and it united an unprecedented body of PC(USA) heavyweights, including 16 general assembly (GA) moderators and nearly all of the 11 PC(USA) seminary presidents.
"It's time to build a new culture in this denomination," said Elder Barbara Wheeler, president of Auburn Theological Seminary and a member of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity & Purity (PUP) of the Church.
A culture in which there is less symbolic position taking, and instead "a church in which we honor each other's struggles," she told the group of several hundred conference attendees during a panel discussion.
The task force's report * five years in the making * was adopted by the recently concluded 217th General Assembly. Its recommendations * including a controversial "authoritative interpretation" of the Constitution that gives ordaining bodies greater flexibility in determining fitness for ordained office * has prompted widespread speculation about how and whether the PC(USA) can stay together.
Ultimately, everyone shares one faith, one baptism and one Lord, Wheeler said. It was one of the conclusions reached in the laborious process of creating the PUP report, and a conclusion that the task force has urged others to try and arrive at as they seek to strengthen the denomination.
The PUP report has left everyone disappointed, Wheeler said of the various groups who took issue one way or the other with the task force's conclusion s. "But all of us * are still in the church. I think that is deeply pleasing to God," she said.
Others, like the Rev. Jack Rogers, echoed the theme.
The Holy Spirit is calling us to transform into an "opening, welcoming and accepting family," said the moderator of the 213th (2001) GA. Then, once that happens, that becomes the setting for evangelism, he said.
Recognizing that people come to the table from different places also builds trust, something that has eroded in the PC(USA) particularly since reunion in 1983 of the northern and southern streams of the Presbyterian Church, said the Rev. Joan Gray of Atlanta, the current PC(USA) moderator.
"We need to pay attention to the level of trust in our church," she said. "If we don't have trust, we don't have anything."
Integral also to the conference discussion was the role the next generation of pastors plays in serving the denomination in the future, with various seminary leaders and one former moderator leading that panel discussion.
Advocates for the poor, people of good humor, "biblical theological sense-makers" and strong preachers were just some of the attributes called for from the up-and-coming pastoral pool.
Hopefully the next generation "will learn to celebrate diversity," said the Rev. Douglas Oldenburg, former president of Columbia Theological Seminary and moderator of the 210th (1998) GA. "I, frankly, don't want a church all like me."
And, the Rev. Dean Thompson, president of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, talked about the need for younger pastors to have mentors and to "ask lots and lots of questions."
Ironically, no younger adults were included among the panelists originally scheduled to take part in the conference, and some at the event spoke openly about the lack of age diversity present.
But organizers quickly adjusted on site to hear from voices younger than 40 by calling on them specifically to ask questions during the panel discussion focused on the next generation of pastors. Conference planners also pulled from the group of under-40 participants to utilize them during a panel that looked at where the church needs to go from here.
The Rev. Joel Tolbert, pastor of Rehoboth Presbyterian Church in Decatur, GA, spoke of building younger people as leaders as the denomination moves ahead. Let young people "get a shot at ruling the church," he said.
Tolbert also spoke strongly about the divisive nature of lobbyist groups who separate themselves out within the denomination, and called on participants to question their allegiance to these sub-groups.
The Rev. Shannon Kershner, pastor of Woodhaven Presbyterian Church in Irving, TX, also talked about rebuilding the body that has been segmented out and divided. "We are the body of Christ. We have got to learn to live like it," she said.
The conference also addressed the issue of multiculturalism in the denomination.
Multiculturalism "is not about saving the church," said Elder Patricia Brown of Cincinnati, moderator of the 209th (1997) GA. It's about becoming "so much more" than what we already are through others, she said.
"We tend to put people into boxes too quickly," said the Rev. William Carl III, president of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. But, "Jesus never separated" out people who were different, he said.
"We need to cultivate a culture of embrace," said the Rev. Syngman Rhee, a professor at Union Theological Seminary/Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, VA, and moderator of the 212th (2000) GA, "a culture of mutual understanding."
"This is actually a very exciting time right now in the church," Carl said of the multicultural age. "I'm very confident about the future."
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