The 110th Meeting of the Arkansas Presbytery

The Presbytery of Arkansas met yesterday in Clarksville. This was the meeting where our Presbytery voted on the overtures from the 218th General Assembly. The hot button topic was Amendment B. Many say this is the amendment about allowing the ordination of sexually active gays and lesbians. It is more accurate to say this amendment allows for the nomination to ordained office for gays and lesbians.

Some would say this is just parsing the amendment, but I believe the distinction is important. Even if selected by a nominating committee, it is always up to the congregation to elect--led by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit--who will lead them as Decons, Elders, and Ministers of the Word and Sacrament.

This is what I said on the floor of Presbytery yesterday aout this motion:

Madam Moderator, Paul Andresen, Minister of Word and Sacrament, First, Berryville, speaking in favor of the amendment.

From the Pulpit of the Riverside Church, William Sloane Coffin said "we still have the intellectual problem of how to incorporate the latest thinking into the old faith." Quoting Harry Emerson Fosdik he continued, "how to believe in abiding stars and changing astronomies." He also said "The purity of dogma is second to the integrity of love. Creeds are the sign posts, but love is the hitching post."

I believe the Lord our God is sovereign. God never acts out of character; the character that so loves the world that he gave his only son so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. (John 3:16, NRSV)

The same love on which hand all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40)

By the love of God, I cannot vote to deny a class of Christians the opportunity to be nominated to serve in ordained ministry.

If we believe God will call whom God will call to the good ends of the kingdom-including ordained ministry-then this exclusion is contrary to God's loving sovereignty.

Given one minute for remarks, this is where I ran out of time. Though I did have more to say.

As it has long been, it is up to our congregations, Sessions, nominating committees, committees on Preparation for Ministry, and Pastor Nominating committees to discern God's will for those called to ordained ministry.

This should be based solely on the call of God on the life of the candidate and the calling body.

Paul's letter to Timothy tells us that Elders should be judged by how well they manage their households--for if we cnnot manage our households, how can we manage the church? (1Timothy 3:5)

This is true regardless of the household.

Madam Moderator, thank you.

This motion was supported by the Youth Advisory Delegates 19-8 and by the Presbytery 116-64. There was no show of joy or rage with the passage of the amendment. People who were overjoyed kept it to themselves, those who outraged did too.

As for me, I was shocked that it passed, and even more shocked by the margin. My amazment has nothing to do with the conservative vs. liberal tendencies of the Presbytery. It has to do with prior votes on this same issue over the past fifteen years. The Arkansas Presbytery has consistently voted against such amendments, so passing at a 9 to 5 margin was a shock.

The most important thing that was said was from the Reverend Jeff Parker, First Rogers, who quoted the Book of Ruth telling the assembly, "Regardless of the outcome 'Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.'"

The problem with any "adverserial" form of polity is that there are winners and there are losers. This is the sorrow if not the shame of the system. Still, we are all people of the Lord, the Triune God.

As of yesterday, the amendment must be affirmed by 72 more Presbyteries to pass. Regardless of the outcome, where the church goes I will go because the Presbyterian Church (USA) is a part of the body of Christ. This is what matters.

William Sloane Coffin on Presidental Speeches

This too comes from Volume I of The Collected Sermons of William Sloane Coffin, The Riverside Years, page 221:

"Anytime a president wants to be moral, he has only to point out that ancient faiths are confirmed by emperical events. A crisis always means that morality has again become pragmatic."

By the way, he said this about one of President Carter's speeches in 1979. It's still fresh today though.

Tales of Mystery and Imagination

Today, I sent this email to an Editor at Westminster/John Knox Press:

While I suspect someone else has brought this to the Editor's attention, I want to point out an error I found in "The Collected Sermons of William Sloane Coffin" Vol. 1.

On page 217, citing John 8:11, my copy reads "...'Neither do I condemn you; go and sin more.'" Within the text of the sermon that follows the references to this verse cite it properly.

As you can imagine, it caught my attention...and my imagination.

In Christ,Rev. Paul A. Andresen
First Presbyterian, Berryville, Arkansas

When I read it the first time, I thought Coffin might have been going for one of those "gotcha" twists. I love a good twist, and that one got me paying attention. In the end it turned out to be an error instead of a "gotcha." Oh well, mistakes happen--I make enough of them to be sure of that much.

Still...imagine if you will...

The Wisdom of William Sloane Coffin

"Had Jesus heeded both his parents and the religious authorities of his day, instead of saving the world he would have become the best carpenter in Nazareth. Were our chldren to heed us and the religious authorities of our day, they'd all become nicely packaged citizens--safe, polite, and obedient."

This pearl comes from "Credo" by William Sloane Coffin (Westminster John Knox Press, 2004, page 131). Coffin was Head of Staff at the Riverside Church in New York City during a tumultuous time in the life of our nation.

When I read this, I know what I think he is saying. What do you think?

Love and Fear

I am reading The Collected Sermons of William Sloane Coffin (Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, 2008) because one way to preach better sermons is to expose yourself to better sermons. Whether listening or reading, finding better semons improves preaching.

Coffin was Senior Pastor and Head of Staff at Riverside Church in New York City from 1977 to 1987. Riverside is one of America's premier pulpits. Harry Emerson Fosdick preached from this same pulpit.

Reading the other day, in a sermon named "A World Fit for Children," I found this gem: "love seeks the truth, fear seeks safety." (vol. 1, page 11)

Go in love, not in fear.