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A number of people have asked me--and Presbyterians and others nationwide are asking--about recent news stories concerning a change to our Book of Order, which is one-half of our Church's constitution (the other being the Book of Confessions).

The following thoughts are intended to reflect little or none of my own beliefs or opinions on homosexuality. I am quite clear on this, though: no one is excluded from my understanding of who is entitled to receive the ministry of the Church. 

For clarity: there is nothing in the Book of Order that "endorses" homosexuality. Nothing to that effect was in there before, and nothing is in there now. The idea that we "approve" the ordination of gays is simply extrapolated from the fact that we have, effective July 11 of this year, removed language that was specific about elders and, to put it bluntly, their sex lives. As always, elders are called to live to the highest standards of faith and morality. It's just that our constitution has, this year, removed an item (added in 1997) that spoke specifically to that most private aspect of people's personal business.

I will be able to point those who are interested to other resources for further information, but just a few comments for those who are curious about what it means, or what I might have to say about it:  

First of all, always take everything you read about the Church in secular media with a very large grain of salt. Try as they might, it is very difficult for a reporter or anyone else without an intimate, first-hand understanding of Presbyterian governance to understand the labyrinthine process of changing our constitution, let alone describing it correctly for a mass audience. Add to that the need for editors to create eye-catching headlines from the stories they're given, and you have a recipe for a lot of misrepresentation and misunderstanding.

14 years ago an amendment was made to our Book of Order whose effect was specifically to bar practicing homosexuals (as well as sexually active singles, regardless of orientation) from being ordained as elders or ministers. Regardless of how one thinks theologically about that issue, I thought at the time, and still believe, that it was not a great amendment, quite apart from the question of its content. It placed the Book of Confessions on equal footing with Scripture--that idea itself is tremendously un-Presbyterian--and it had some other issues that I thought made it less than my favorite item in the Form of Government section of the Book of Order.

Which brings me to another point: over the past 20 years, the Book of Order has visibly inflated at about the same annual rate as I have during the same time frame. Our constitution was meant to make us a connectional church--in other words, all our local churches operating with the same principles--but it has become an ever more specific book of rules and regulations imposed by the will of sometimes very slight majorities of our national Church.

The wind of the Spirit blowing through our churches today is about returning more decision-making power to the local churches and their presbyteries--a concept at the very heart of the origins of Presbyterianism.

So my reaction, boiled down, is relief that a clause that I didn't think belonged there in the first place has been removed after its 14-year stay in the Book of Order. I prefer the majesty of our 222-year history as an American church, and our 451-year history as Presbyterians dating back to the Scots Confession of 1560. If a congregation or a presbytery believes that a person who is otherwise fit for ministry should not be ordained because he or she is homosexual, it is their prerogative to govern in accordance with their interpretation of holy scripture. Such has always been the case and continues to be so.

What is different now is that a church in a climate where that would not tend to be understood as necessarily a reason not to ordain someone has the authority, if their presbytery approves, to ordain whom they will, under the same condition: they must honestly, earnestly believe that the person they call to ordained office is someone who, in thought, word, and deed, lives in accordance with scripture.

All of us have not only the option, but the mandate: you must do as you believe God instructs you through the Word of Jesus Christ given in holy scripture.

Those who interpret scripture from the perspective that every word is meant to be read as scientifically, literally, historically exact and accurate--and every one of the rules listed in it, from all the ancient societies represented therein, is meant to apply universally, everywhere, eternally, exactly as written--they will not be inclined to ordain a gay person. They won't have to. 

At the same time, those who read the Bible as God's ultimate truth, wherein meaning is intimately related to context, revealing boundless love for humanity, spoken with nuance and in limited, human terms that point beyond themselves to the greater reality of God, may have an equally valid but opposite reading of what the Bible says to us today.

Either way, scripture alone guides the Church, meaning we have no greater means of intepreting God's will than the Bible; and God alone is Lord of the conscience, meaning different Christians acting in faithfulness and intelligence may come to vastly different conclusions about what the Bible directs us to do. These are foundational Presbyterian beliefs, and from my perspective, those beliefs have now been reinforced with the passage of this most recent amendment.

Those with questions or concerns are always welcome to speak with me, and I value your perspectives and insight, and will be happy to share with you more of the history, theology, and Biblical content and interpretation that inform this ongoing discussion in our Church.

Yours in Christ~

Keith

From time to time, you’ve heard me whine about the triteness of some Christian resources that generously call themselves “inspirational,” as well as the mucky pseudo-theology sometimes found in emails with too many “Fwd’s” in the subject line. Perhaps it’s time for me to back it up. Below are some of the resources that have been perused or consulted in the pastor’s study at CBPC.

For Reformed theology…

For information, analysis and commentary on church dynamics...

• The late William Sloane Coffin’s thoughts assembled in Credo (WJK, 2004) may hardly be in a league with Pascal’s Pensées, but they are illuminating and inspiring—well worth reading.
• On the other end of the church’s political spectrum, the late John Leith’s Crisis in the Church (WJK, 1997), while not exactly Kierkegaard, presents an argument worthy of consideration.
• I continue to find deep substance in an accessible book called Worship: A Searching Examination of the Liturgical Experience by my late theology professor at McCormick Seminary, John E. Burkhart.
• Few contemporary books on church dynamics and the condition of faith and religion can rival those available from the Alban Institute. Relevant especially for our congregation are Alice Mann's Raising the Roof: The Pastoral-to-Program Size Transition (2001) and The In-Between Church: Navigating Size Transitions in Congregations (1999).
• But I have found one in-depth analysis and application of a recent, far-ranging study of youth and their views on religion to be indispensable: Almost Christian by Kenda Creasy Dean (Oxford USA, 2010).
• James O. Chatham’s Is It I, Lord? (WJK, 2002) is aimed at those thinking about ministry as a vocation, but is a fine, short read for anyone interested in the subject of ministry.
• Of course there's a wonderful little 80-page book called On Any Given Day by Keith Grogg (2010) which reflects on the general topic in a way influenced more by Bill Bryson than any published theologian. Copies are available in the office at $12 each, all of which benefits the CBPC Building Fund.   

For prayers, poetry, and inspiration with substance…

• I notice that my Frederick Buechner books Wishful Thinking, Whistling in the Dark, and Peculiar Treasures are getting a bit yellowed; whether that’s also a reflection of their content I’ll leave for you to judge.
• The same can be said for the fine, but dated, Your God Is Too Small by J.B. Phillips and all those wonderful C.S. Lewis classics such as Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters.
• Henri Nouwen’s vast catalogue holds up well, years after his too-early passing in 1996.
• Anne Lamott made an appropriately huge splash with her autobiographical Traveling Mercies (Anchor, 2000). 
• More recent entries in contemporary spiritual literature such as Blue Like Jazz and Girl Meets God have received some acclaim.
• I am, apparently, the only person I know who was irked rather than inspired by William Young's The Shack. Most people raved, so take my reaction with a grain of salt. 
• Ted Loder’s poetic prayers in Guerillas of Grace (LuraMedia, 1984) continue to get welcome responses in worship.
• Ann Weems’ poetry collections Kneeling in Bethlehem (WJK, 1987) and Kneeling in Jerusalem (WJK, 1992) are regularly brought out at Christmas and Easter time, respectively, though her stridently repeated concern that Church has become too administrative seems more geared to two or three decades ago, when the Reformed churches had had a few generations to take their predominance in American life for granted, and so may have become overly focused on preserving the institution. Our loss of cultural predominance now has Church reclaiming the Spirit and seeking to redefine itself all over the place, so perhaps her hopes are beginning to come true.  
• I went on a Jane Kenyon kick after being introduced to her poetry collection Otherwise (Graywolf, 1997).
• Like Henri Nouwen, John O'Donohue died at an exasperatingly young age, in his prime as a human being and as a writer; To Bless the Space Between Us (Doubleday, 2008) is awesome, perhaps a bit more suitable for private meditation than public worship. 
• Rice & Williamson’s A Book of Reformed Prayers (WJK, 1998) is both inspirational and a nice historical sampling, from women and men of faith from the 16th century through the 1990s.
• Timeless wisdom is found in the readings of Lady Julian of Norwich; I treasure a small booklet published by The Julian Shrine in Norwich, England called Enfolded in Love (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1980).