Welcome To Fourth Presbyterian Church

Reflections

Introduction
Considering a New Form of Government for the PCUSA
Reaffirming a Commitment to Peace
Sharing Perspectives on Ordination Standards: The Church Orders Committee
One Church, Many Languages

Introduction
by Calum MacLeod
Associate Pastor

This week the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is meeting in San Jose, California, for its biennial General Assembly (GA), a gathering that brings together commissioners from every presbytery in the country to reflect on, discuss, and ultimately vote on where the church is and where it is going in the future. This is the highest ruling body in the PC (USA), and the ramifications of the decisions made will impact how the church functions in its mission in local congregations, presbyteries, and the world.

You often hear it said that this is a family reunion for the church, and nearly as often, it is noted ruefully that families often disagree about issues that affect them. More of that later and in other dispatches from those of us here in San Jose.

There are a number of folks from Fourth Presbyterian Church present at the Assembly. Serving in an official capacity are John Buchanan, who, as a former Moderator of GA, is a corresponding member (with voice but no vote), and Jeremy Lewis, who is serving as the Youth Advisory Delegate (YAD) from the Presbytery of Chicago. In that role, Jeremy can speak at the Assembly and cast advisory votes to inform the commissioners of the views of young people on the issues facing the church.

Here as observers are myself, along with our current Pastoral Residents, Hardy Kim and Martha Langford; our new residents, JC Cadwallader, Sarah Johnson, and Joann Lee (who officially begin their residency in August); Associate Pastor John Vest; and Elder Louise Howe, here as an observer with Presbyterian Women.

On Saturday night, the Assembly elected a new Moderator of the General Assembly. That person’s primary role is to moderate (or chair) the meeting—thus the title. After the Assembly, the Moderator acts as a kind of ambassador for the church, visiting congregations, attending ecumenical meetings, and traveling abroad to visit sister churches. There were four candidates for Moderator this year:

The Reverend Bill Teng, of National Capital Presbytery
The Reverend Bruce Reyes-Chow, of San Francisco Presbytery
The Reverend Cal Mazza, of New Castle Presbytery
Elder Roger Shoemaker, of Homestead Presbytery

After nomination speeches, addresses by each of the candidates, and questions from the floor, the commissioners voted. After two ballots, Mr. Reyes-Chow won the majority vote and became the duly elected Moderator of the 218th General Assembly.

Bruce is the pastor of a new church development, Mission Bay Community Church in San Francisco and is active in the emergent church movement. We wish him well for the next two years!

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Considering a New Form of Government for the PCUSA
by Martha Langford
Pastoral Resident

Intensive hearings, passionate advocates, intense advice on Constitutional matters, and lengthy debate—that was the experience of the Assembly Committee considering the new Form of Government (lovingingly nicknamed nFOG). With the committee faced with four options of dealing with the material—recommending dissaproval, recommending approval, recommending approval with amendments, sending it to presbyteries for study—we should not be surprised to find this document waiting our review as congregations and presbyteries in the very near future.

I think the single, most relevant objection voiced to the nFOG was that there simply was not enough time to do adequate study of the material before the February 2008 deadline for overtures to this General Assembly. Although a draft was ready last June, presbyteries didn’t receive the final work until late last year, in November. Still more than sixteen overtures came to GA, most with the intent of sending this document out for study.

Critics noted that the nFOG was missing some key elements of our present Book of Order: language, requirements, and prohibitions that found their way into our Presbyterian polity as “lessons learned.” Other voices began to harmonize around issues of trust; one overture advocate noted that sending this nFOG to the presbyteries for approval “may abrade old wounds” that held enough ambiguity to “impede trust.”

Other voices see the nFOG as a “top-down” movement, with one person asking, “Where were the presbyteries in all of this?” To this I would note that in a timeline stretching back to 1993 two different representative General Assemblies—made of up ministers and church elders elected by presbyteries—have asked for substantial revisions to our Book of Order, among those was the 217th General Assembly in Birmingham, which created the task force that brought us this document. To me that’s as far from “top-down” as it gets.

Back to top

Reaffirming a Commitment to Peace
by Sarah Johnson
Pastoral Resident, beginning August 2008

Reaffirming a commitment to active participation in peacekeeping around the world marked a large portion of the 218th General Assembly. During the early part of the week, the Committee on Peacemaking and International Issues spent the majority of its time debating topics related to the current war in Iraq and the ongoing conflict in Israel/Palestine.

The Assembly called for “responsibility” (rather than using language of immediate withdrawal) in bringing troops home and ending the conflict in Iraq. Overtures on continued study and active peacekeeping in Israel/Palestine passed with great approval. Included in this was the “Amman Call.” The Amman Call was created at a World Council of Churches conference in 2007. It affirms a two-state solution, a shared Jerusalem, human rights of refugees and occupied peoples, a call to resist extremism, and a push for reconciliation. It also encourages the world community of churches to work together for a just peace.

It was only by a narrow vote (32–29–2) that the Assembly passed the overture calling upon the PC(USA) to be “nonpartisan advocates for peace” in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Specifically, this means that the church is to “defer taking actions or making statements that align the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) with unilateral support of one side over the other.” A narrow vote also defeated an overture calling for the temporary removal of military aid to Israel due to documented atrocities against Palestinians.

I think what is most important to take away from the Assembly’s work on peacekeeping is an attitude that recognizes the church’s current commitment to peace around the world as good, but one that also leaves space for further growth. The church must always continue to challenge itself to discover where the Holy Spirit is calling it to do more.

One of the voices at the Assembly that challenged the church to do more was that of Elias Chacour, Archbishop of Galilee of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. Chacour is a Palestinian Arab Christian who is also a citizen of the State of Israel. As a priest in the Holy Land whose personal identity is full of contradictions, Chacour works tirelessly for peace and reconciliation. Preaching at the ecumenical worship service, Chacour encouraged Presbyterians to invest in projects that bring Jews and Palestinians together. He encouraged Presbyterians against neutrality. He preached that “some say, we’re not Jewish or Palestinian; we’ll not get involved.” But, he asked, “What would have happened if the Good Samaritan had not gotten involved? He got his hands dirty. And I invite you Presbyterians to get your hands dirty, to get involved.” Speaking about U.S. involvement, he also urged that weapons and money not be sent to the region.

Further reading about Chacour and his work for peace and reconciliation can be found in his two books, We Belong to the Land and Blood Brothers, both of which are in Fourth Church’s Borden Library.

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Sharing Perspectives on Ordination Standards:
The Church Orders Committee
by JC Cadwallader
Pastoral Resident, beginning August 2008

For the first few days of the General Assembly, commissioners and advisory delegates spend their time serving on committees. At this General Assembly, each committee had between fifty and sixty-five members, and each member, advisory delegate and commissioner alike, had voice and vote. I spent the first few days of the 218th General Assembly observing the Church Orders Committee. This committee prayed together and discerned together the overture that recommends to presbyteries to delete G-6.0106b and incorporate language that lifts up the existence of standards that persons are to adhere to when approaching ordained ministry.

As the Church Orders Committee approached several overtures concerning ordination standards, I heard a variety of individual testimonies. There were testimonies offered by at least twenty different people coming from twenty different perspectives. Some of them are gay or lesbian or transgender. Some of them claim the status of “ex-gay,” having had the experience of gay relationships in the past, seeking Christ and now they are straight. Some of them are parents of gay persons, children of gay persons, friends of gay persons. Some of them have been working in the church for inclusion for years; for some, this issue is brand new. Story after story was shared. One gentleman who was on the committee shared his struggle between believing that the church should not ordain persons who are homosexual and his love for his son who is gay. Another gentleman shared his experience of falling asleep beside his boyfriend and his boyfriend encouraging him to follow his call into ministry. Another lesbian woman shared her vision of the church, her understanding of the all-encompassing love of Christ and the call she understands that the church is charged with to serve. Each of these parishioners have much to share with and teach our church. They have taught me to listen, to pray, to seek compassion not only in myself but in others, and to sometimes simply live into the mystery of God.

Back to top

One Church, Many Languages
by Joann Lee
Pastoral Resident, beginning August 2008

As observers of the 218th, General Assembly we witnessed many exciting and heart-warming moments, but also some disappointing and frustrating ones. One of the motions that passed with my regrets was a resolution proposing the continuation of Hanmi Presbytery without term limit. Hanmi Presbytery is a nongeographic presbytery formed on the basis of language rather than location. These nongeographic presbyteries exist so that immigrant congregations have a space where they have voice, power, and the ability “to meet the mission needs (G-12.0102a; G-11.0103a) of identified racial ethnic or immigrant congregations.” While I understand the need for such presbyteries, I believe that the Assembly should have taken the recommendation of the Advocacy Committee for Racial Ethnic Concerns (ACREC) and allowed the continuation of Hanmi Presbytery with a sunset clause or a term limit.

Nongeographic presbyteries that exist without a term limit reflect a failure of our church to work towards an effort for full inclusion and integration in the life of the whole church. Rather than learning to work and minister together with immigrant congregations whose primary language is not English, we have indefinitely separated and segregated these congregations.

I understand the struggles and the power dynamics wrapped up in language. I grew up working for my parents at their drycleaners, and I often witnessed misunderstandings and arguments escalate as customers became more and more frustrated not only with the situation but with my parents’ broken, albeit fully comprehensible English. Thus, I am empathetic to Hanmi Presbytery’s desire to continue as a nongeographic presbytery. Continuation without a term limit, however, is damaging not only to those segregated congregations but to the whole of the denomination.

Emily McGinley, a Theological Student Advisory Delegate from McCormick Theological Seminary, spoke eloquently to this issue on the floor of GA, opening up conversation and dialogue from the commissioners. She brought up problematic issues such as the fact that many second-generation members cannot fully participate in the presbytery because of the language barrier. Furthermore, many of the budding second-generation churches aren’t all ethnically Korean, thus the decision to make Hanmi permanent results in the disenfranchisement and disempowerment of non-Korean members.

The church that confirmed me in Houston was a member of the Midwest Hanmi Presbytery located here in the Chicagoland area. Because of the distance, our church rarely participated in presbytery meetings, and our Associate Pastor for Youth, whose primary language is English, could not fully participate as an ordained clergy member of the presbytery. It is unfortunate that the nongeographic presbyteries set up to meet particular mission needs of immigrant congregations are actually excluding some of their own second-generation members.

ACREC also recognizes that the need for nongeographic presbyteries reflects the failure of the greater church to welcome, invite, and meet the needs of immigrant congregations. Its Advice and Counsel on this item states:

“The creation of nongeographic presbyteries on the basis of language is acknowledged as a compromise. It facilitates the life of immigrant congregations, but creates an institutional barrier to the inclusive welcome of all people in the life of geographic presbyteries. It is our fervent hope that this request from Korean congregations serves to remind the larger church that living into our vision of becoming a more diverse community of faith will require the larger church to change in ways that will enable greater participation of diverse communities in the life of the church as a whole (ACREC, Advice and Council on Item 03-07 and 03-18).

Despite Hanmi Presbytery’s continuation without a term limit, my hope is that the church will work in other ways to fully include all peoples, no matter the language, sexuality, or racial ethnic identity of a person. I saw the church striving to do just that in other parts of the Assembly and am hopeful that we will continue along that trajectory.

Assembly Website
For more information about the General Assembly,
visit the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s Assembly website.



Reflections Introduction Considering a New Form of Government for the PCUSA Reaffirming a Commitment to Peace Sharing Perspectives on Ordination Standards: The Church Orders Committee One Church, Many Languages Introduction by Calum MacLeod Associate Pastor This week the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is meeting in San Jose, California, for its biennial General Assembly (GA), a gathering that brings together commissioners from every presbytery in the country to reflect on, discuss, and ultimately vote on where the church is and where it is going in the future. This is the highest ruling body in the PC (USA), and the ramifications of the decisions made will impact how the church functions in its mission in local congregations, presbyteries, and the world. You often hear it said that this is a family reunion for the church, and nearly as often, it is noted ruefully that families often disagree about issues that affect them. More of that later and in other dispatches from those of us here in San Jose. There are a number of folks from Fourth Presbyterian Church present at the Assembly. Serving in an official capacity are John Buchanan, who, as a former Moderator of GA, is a corresponding member (with voice but no vote), and Jeremy Lewis, who is serving as the Youth Advisory Delegate (YAD) from the Presbytery of Chicago. In that role, Jeremy can speak at the Assembly and cast advisory votes to inform the commissioners of the views of young people on the issues facing the church. Here as observers are myself, along with our current Pastoral Residents, Hardy Kim and Martha Langford; our new residents, JC Cadwallader, Sarah Johnson, and Joann Lee (who officially begin their residency in August); Associate Pastor John Vest; and Elder Louise Howe, here as an observer with Presbyterian Women. On Saturday night, the Assembly elected a new Moderator of the General Assembly. That person’s primary role is to moderate (or chair) the meeting—thus the title. After the Assembly, the Moderator acts as a kind of ambassador for the church, visiting congregations, attending ecumenical meetings, and traveling abroad to visit sister churches. There were four candidates for Moderator this year: The Reverend Bill Teng, of National Capital Presbytery The Reverend Bruce Reyes-Chow, of San Francisco Presbytery The Reverend Cal Mazza, of New Castle Presbytery Elder Roger Shoemaker, of Homestead Presbytery After nomination speeches, addresses by each of the candidates, and questions from the floor, the commissioners voted. After two ballots, Mr. Reyes-Chow won the majority vote and became the duly elected Moderator of the 218th General Assembly. Bruce is the pastor of a new church development, Mission Bay Community Church in San Francisco and is active in the emergent church movement. We wish him well for the next two years! Back to top Considering a New Form of Government for the PCUSA by Martha Langford Pastoral Resident Intensive hearings, passionate advocates, intense advice on Constitutional matters, and lengthy debate—that was the experience of the Assembly Committee considering the new Form of Government (lovingingly nicknamed nFOG). With the committee faced with four options of dealing with the material—recommending dissaproval, recommending approval, recommending approval with amendments, sending it to presbyteries for study—we should not be surprised to find this document waiting our review as congregations and presbyteries in the very near future. I think the single, most relevant objection voiced to the nFOG was that there simply was not enough time to do adequate study of the material before the February 2008 deadline for overtures to this General Assembly. Although a draft was ready last June, presbyteries didn’t receive the final work until late last year, in November. Still more than sixteen overtures came to GA, most with the intent of sending this document out for study. Critics noted that the nFOG was missing some key elements of our present Book of Order: language, requirements, and prohibitions that found their way into our Presbyterian polity as “lessons learned.” Other voices began to harmonize around issues of trust; one overture advocate noted that sending this nFOG to the presbyteries for approval “may abrade old wounds” that held enough ambiguity to “impede trust.” Other voices see the nFOG as a “top-down” movement, with one person asking, “Where were the presbyteries in all of this?” To this I would note that in a timeline stretching back to 1993 two different representative General Assemblies—made of up ministers and church elders elected by presbyteries—have asked for substantial revisions to our Book of Order, among those was the 217th General Assembly in Birmingham, which created the task force that brought us this document. To me that’s as far from “top-down” as it gets. Back to top Reaffirming a Commitment to Peace by Sarah Johnson Pastoral Resident, beginning August 2008 Reaffirming a commitment to active participation in peacekeeping around the world marked a large portion of the 218th General Assembly. During the early part of the week, the Committee on Peacemaking and International Issues spent the majority of its time debating topics related to the current war in Iraq and the ongoing conflict in Israel/Palestine. The Assembly called for “responsibility” (rather than using language of immediate withdrawal) in bringing troops home and ending the conflict in Iraq. Overtures on continued study and active peacekeeping in Israel/Palestine passed with great approval. Included in this was the “Amman Call.” The Amman Call was created at a World Council of Churches conference in 2007. It affirms a two-state solution, a shared Jerusalem, human rights of refugees and occupied peoples, a call to resist extremism, and a push for reconciliation. It also encourages the world community of churches to work together for a just peace. It was only by a narrow vote (32–29–2) that the Assembly passed the overture calling upon the PC(USA) to be “nonpartisan advocates for peace” in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Specifically, this means that the church is to “defer taking actions or making statements that align the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) with unilateral support of one side over the other.” A narrow vote also defeated an overture calling for the temporary removal of military aid to Israel due to documented atrocities against Palestinians. I think what is most important to take away from the Assembly’s work on peacekeeping is an attitude that recognizes the church’s current commitment to peace around the world as good, but one that also leaves space for further growth. The church must always continue to challenge itself to discover where the Holy Spirit is calling it to do more. One of the voices at the Assembly that challenged the church to do more was that of Elias Chacour, Archbishop of Galilee of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. Chacour is a Palestinian Arab Christian who is also a citizen of the State of Israel. As a priest in the Holy Land whose personal identity is full of contradictions, Chacour works tirelessly for peace and reconciliation. Preaching at the ecumenical worship service, Chacour encouraged Presbyterians to invest in projects that bring Jews and Palestinians together. He encouraged Presbyterians against neutrality. He preached that “some say, we’re not Jewish or Palestinian; we’ll not get involved.” But, he asked, “What would have happened if the Good Samaritan had not gotten involved? He got his hands dirty. And I invite you Presbyterians to get your hands dirty, to get involved.” Speaking about U.S. involvement, he also urged that weapons and money not be sent to the region. Further reading about Chacour and his work for peace and reconciliation can be found in his two books, We Belong to the Land and Blood Brothers, both of which are in Fourth Church’s Borden Library. Back to top Sharing Perspectives on Ordination Standards: The Church Orders Committee by JC Cadwallader Pastoral Resident, beginning August 2008 For the first few days of the General Assembly, commissioners and advisory delegates spend their time serving on committees. At this General Assembly, each committee had between fifty and sixty-five members, and each member, advisory delegate and commissioner alike, had voice and vote. I spent the first few days of the 218th General Assembly observing the Church Orders Committee. This committee prayed together and discerned together the overture that recommends to presbyteries to delete G-6.0106b and incorporate language that lifts up the existence of standards that persons are to adhere to when approaching ordained ministry. As the Church Orders Committee approached several overtures concerning ordination standards, I heard a variety of individual testimonies. There were testimonies offered by at least twenty different people coming from twenty different perspectives. Some of them are gay or lesbian or transgender. Some of them claim the status of “ex-gay,” having had the experience of gay relationships in the past, seeking Christ and now they are straight. Some of them are parents of gay persons, children of gay persons, friends of gay persons. Some of them have been working in the church for inclusion for years; for some, this issue is brand new. Story after story was shared. One gentleman who was on the committee shared his struggle between believing that the church should not ordain persons who are homosexual and his love for his son who is gay. Another gentleman shared his experience of falling asleep beside his boyfriend and his boyfriend encouraging him to follow his call into ministry. Another lesbian woman shared her vision of the church, her understanding of the all-encompassing love of Christ and the call she understands that the church is charged with to serve. Each of these parishioners have much to share with and teach our church. They have taught me to listen, to pray, to seek compassion not only in myself but in others, and to sometimes simply live into the mystery of God. Back to top One Church, Many Languages by Joann Lee Pastoral Resident, beginning August 2008 As observers of the 218th, General Assembly we witnessed many exciting and heart-warming moments, but also some disappointing and frustrating ones. One of the motions that passed with my regrets was a resolution proposing the continuation of Hanmi Presbytery without term limit. Hanmi Presbytery is a nongeographic presbytery formed on the basis of language rather than location. These nongeographic presbyteries exist so that immigrant congregations have a space where they have voice, power, and the ability “to meet the mission needs (G-12.0102a; G-11.0103a) of identified racial ethnic or immigrant congregations.” While I understand the need for such presbyteries, I believe that the Assembly should have taken the recommendation of the Advocacy Committee for Racial Ethnic Concerns (ACREC) and allowed the continuation of Hanmi Presbytery with a sunset clause or a term limit. Nongeographic presbyteries that exist without a term limit reflect a failure of our church to work towards an effort for full inclusion and integration in the life of the whole church. Rather than learning to work and minister together with immigrant congregations whose primary language is not English, we have indefinitely separated and segregated these congregations. I understand the struggles and the power dynamics wrapped up in language. I grew up working for my parents at their drycleaners, and I often witnessed misunderstandings and arguments escalate as customers became more and more frustrated not only with the situation but with my parents’ broken, albeit fully comprehensible English. Thus, I am empathetic to Hanmi Presbytery’s desire to continue as a nongeographic presbytery. Continuation without a term limit, however, is damaging not only to those segregated congregations but to the whole of the denomination. Emily McGinley, a Theological Student Advisory Delegate from McCormick Theological Seminary, spoke eloquently to this issue on the floor of GA, opening up conversation and dialogue from the commissioners. She brought up problematic issues such as the fact that many second-generation members cannot fully participate in the presbytery because of the language barrier. Furthermore, many of the budding second-generation churches aren’t all ethnically Korean, thus the decision to make Hanmi permanent results in the disenfranchisement and disempowerment of non-Korean members. The church that confirmed me in Houston was a member of the Midwest Hanmi Presbytery located here in the Chicagoland area. Because of the distance, our church rarely participated in presbytery meetings, and our Associate Pastor for Youth, whose primary language is English, could not fully participate as an ordained clergy member of the presbytery. It is unfortunate that the nongeographic presbyteries set up to meet particular mission needs of immigrant congregations are actually excluding some of their own second-generation members. ACREC also recognizes that the need for nongeographic presbyteries reflects the failure of the greater church to welcome, invite, and meet the needs of immigrant congregations. Its Advice and Counsel on this item states: “The creation of nongeographic presbyteries on the basis of language is acknowledged as a compromise. It facilitates the life of immigrant congregations, but creates an institutional barrier to the inclusive welcome of all people in the life of geographic presbyteries. It is our fervent hope that this request from Korean congregations serves to remind the larger church that living into our vision of becoming a more diverse community of faith will require the larger church to change in ways that will enable greater participation of diverse communities in the life of the church as a whole (ACREC, Advice and Council on Item 03-07 and 03-18). Despite Hanmi Presbytery’s continuation without a term limit, my hope is that the church will work in other ways to fully include all peoples, no matter the language, sexuality, or racial ethnic identity of a person. I saw the church striving to do just that in other parts of the Assembly and am hopeful that we will continue along that trajectory. Assembly Website For more information about the General Assembly, visit the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s Assembly website.