NATIONAL GATHERING OF PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN
AMES, IOWA
JULY 13, 1994

JOHN M. BUCHANAN, PASTOR
FOURTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, CHICAGO

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON
GENERAL ASSEMBLY COUNCIL REVIEW MEY FOR
APPROXIMATELY FIFTY HOURS IN WICHITA
LAST MONTH. THE LEADERSHIP TEAM SPENT
AT LEAST THAT MUCH TIME, BEFORE AND
AFTER HOURS, PLANNING, STRATEGIZING,
WRITING, DISCUSSING, ARGUING, PRAYING,
LAUGHING, WEEPING. THE REPORT IT PRO-
DUCED WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. THE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY ITSELF APPROVED IT BY
AN UNPRECEDENTED MARGIN, PROBABLY CLOSER
TO UNANIMINITY THAN WE PRESBYTERIANS

WILL COME ON ANY ISSUE.

THERE WAS LITTLE TIME IN THE MIDST
OF IT TO REFLECT ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF
WHAT HAPPENED, BUT FROM THE MOMENT THAT
FRIDAY AFTERNOON WHEN I SETTLED INTO MY
SEAT FOR THE FLIGHT BACK TO CHIcaGo, [I
HAVE BEEN THINKING AND ASKING, "WHAT
HAPPENED AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN?”

I'M GRATEFUL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO
THINK OUT LGUD WITH YOU... AND TO THANK
PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN, LOUZSVILLE STAFF
PERSONS, OFFICERS, AND MANY, MANY INDI-
VIDUALS FOR THEIR STRONG SUPPORT AND
PRAYERS. OF ALL THE PEOPLE WHO EXPERI-~
ENCED PAIN, IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, AS A
RESULT OF THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE PRES-
BYTERIAN CHuRCH (U.S.A.) TO THE RE-
IMAGINING CONFERENCE, NONE WAS MORE
PERSONAL THAN THE PAIN OF WOMEN WHO
PLANNED THE CONFERENCE, ATTENDED IT,
LOVED IT, AND WHO FOUND THEMSELVES

CRITICIZED, MALIGNED, THEIR PERSONAL

JUDGMENT QUESTIONED AND THEIR FAITH
JUDGED AS HERETICAL. I AM GRATEFUL THAT
THE RESULTANT ANGER WAS NOT EXPRESSED
VINDICTIEVELY, THAT PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN,
EVEN WHEN THE REPORT WAS EVOLVING IN A
WAY THAT DID NOT SAY WHAT SOME WANTED IT
TO SAY, OR LEFT UNSAID THINGS THAT SOME
HOPED WOULD BE SAID LOUDLY AND CLEARLY,
WERE UNFAILING SUPPORTED, PRESENT WITH
THE COMMITTEE, EAGER TO BE HELPFUL ~ IN
THOUGHT BECOMING FOR THE WHOLE CHURCH
SOMETHING OF A MODEL OF HOW CHRISTIAN
WOMEN AND MEN MIGHT JUST FIND A WAY TO
STAY TOGETHER EVEN WHILE THEY ARE EXPE-
RIENCING DIFFERENCES, SEPARATION, HURT
AND ANGER.

WHAT HAPPENED? WHEN ONE OF MY
COLLEAGUES WAS DELIVERING THE CONCERNS
OF THE CHURCH IN WORSHIP LAST SUNDAY, HE
WAS ANNOUNCING THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

REPORT I WILL GIVE DURING THE ADULT

EDUCATION HOUR NEXT SUNDAY AND HE SAID
SOMETHING LIKE "JOHN BUCHANAN WILL
EXPLAIN HOW HIS COMMITTEE RESTORED
HARMONY TO THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH."
WELL, THAT IS A VERY NICE THING FOR A
COLLEAGUE TO SAY, BUT IT WAS AND IS A
BIT EMULATIVE(?). IN FacT, MY 31 YEARS
AS AN ORDAINED CLERGYPERSON HAD ME TO
CONCLUDE THAT LIKE AIRLINE FOOD, DEPEND-
ABLE POSTAL SERVICE, AND SIMPLE ASSEMBLY
INSTRUCTIONS ENCLOSED, "PRESBYTERIAN
HARMONY" IS SOMETHING OF AN OXYMORON.

My OWN EXPERIENCE, AND MY READING OF THE
PRESBYTERIAN PRESENCE IN AMERICAN AND
BRITISH HISTORY SUGGESTS THAT HARMONY IS
NOT OUR THING: THAT THERE IS SOMETHING
ABOUT US - AND ABOUT THE WAY WE RE-
IMAGINED THE CHURCH AT THE TIME OF THE
REFORMATION WHICH SUGGESTS THAT SOME-
THING GOOD AND HEALTHY AND MAYBE EVEN

OCCASIONALLY HOLY HAPPENS WHEN GOD'S

PEOPLE CARE DEEPLY ENOUGH ABOUT JESUS
CHRIST AND LIVING FAITHFULLY, TO CONTEND
WITH ONE ANOTHER, TO GET WORKED UP AND
RED IN THE FACE... SO WE DIDN'T RESTORE
HARMONY. AND IF YOU THINK WE DID, TAKE
A LOOK AT WHAT WE ARE FACING AS A
CHURCH, THE DIFFICULT DECISIONS WHICH
LIE AHEAD AND THE DEPTH OF OUR DISAGREE-
MENTS WITH ONE ANOTHER.

SO - IF NOT HARMONY ~ WHAT HAP-
PENED? I THINK WE, QUITE SIMPLY, REDIS-
COVERED WHO WE ARE ~ AD I THINK IT WAS A
GIFT, A MOMENT OF GRACE WHICH HAD FAR
MORE TO DO WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT THAN
ANYONE ELSE, WE REMEMBERED, OR WERE
REMINDED, OR RE-EMAGINED, IF YOU WILL,
WHOSE WE ARE, THAT IN LIFE AND IN DEATH
AND IN ALL THE ARGUMENTS BETWEEN, WE
BELONG TO JESUS CHRIST. AND IN THAT, WE
MAY HAVE REDISCOVERED A METHODOLOGY FOR

OUR LIFE TOGETHER IN THE DAYS AHEAD.

WE CAME TO WICHITA WITH OUR MINDS
NOT QUITE MADE UP, BUT CERTAINLY HAVING
STAKED OUT SOMETHING OF A POSITION ON
THE ISSUE BEFORE US. WE HAD, EACH OF
US, BEEN LOBBIED, CALLED, WRITTEN TO,
AND INSTRUCTED BY FRIENDS, COLLEAGUES
AND PEOPLE WE DIDN’T KNOW - OR TO WHAT
WENT WRONG IN MINNEAPOLIS AND LOUISVILLE
AND WHAT WE OUGHT TO DO ABOUT iT.

HAD WE BEGAN OUR PROCEEDINGS THERE
- WITH GUR POSITIONS ON THE
IDEOLOGICAL/ THEOLOGICAL SPECTRUM STAKED
OUT, DEFENDED, BUTTRESSED, AND OUR
ATTACK STRATEGIES IN THE PROCESS OF
FORMULATION, WE WOULD HAVE FRACTURED,
COME APART. SOMEONE WOULD HAVE WON.
OTHERS WOULD HAVE LOST. Pat BUCHANAN
WOULD HAVE BEEN PLEASED AT A SUCCESSFUL

SKIRMISH IN A PRECIOUS CULTURAL WAR.

INSTEAD WE INTENTIONALLY STAYED
SOME DISTANCE FROM THE ISSUE AND GOT TO
KNOW ONE ANOTHER: CATTLE RANCHER WHO
WANTED SOMEONE TO PLEASE TELL HIM WHAT
IN THE WORLD FEMINIST THEOLOGY IS; YAD
FROM THE Rocky MOUNTAINS WHO WANTED
EVERYBODY TO PRAY MORE AND WAS HANDING
OUT HEGH SCHOOL GRADUATION PICTURES; LAY
COMMISSIONER FROM THE SOUTHEAST WHO
INTRODUCED HIMSELF TO US BY SAYING “I
HAVE RELEVANT INFORMATION, SOPHIA IS OK
BY ME. I'VE BEEN MARRIED TO HER FOR 38
YEARS AND WE HAVE FIVE CHILDREN.”

WE LISTENED TO THE CHURCH - THE
OVERTURE ADVOCATES FROM THE 50 PRESBYTE-
RIANS WHO WISHED TO BE HEARD, AND MANY
OF WHOM WERE ALREADY ANGRY ON THE BASIS

OF THE ASSUMPTION THAT THEY WOULDN'T BE

HEARD - AGREED TO CLUSTER INTO FIVE
GROUPS AND THE COMMITTEE LISTENED VERY
CAREFULLY TO FIVE SUBSTANTIVE PRESENTA~
TIONS.

WE LISTENED TO INDIVIDUAL PRESBYTE-
RIANS ALL DAY SUNDAY, 102 OF THEM TWO
MINUTES EACH...EACH ONE OF WHOM FELT
DEEPLY ENOUGH ASOUT THE ISSUE TO WATT IN
LINE AND SAY HER OR HIS PIECE.

AND WE BEGAN TO HEAR, I THINK, AND
TO SEE THESE PEOPLE NOT SO MUCH AS
IDEOLOGICALLY ADVERSARIES WHO WERE
EITHER RIGHT OR WRONG, BUT SISTERS AND
BROTHERS WHO LOVE GOD AND THE PRESBYTE-~
RIAN CHURCH AND CARE VERY MUCH ABOUT ITS
FAITHFULNESS.

AND THEN WE HEARD FROM AUTHORITIES
~ PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN LEADERS, THEOLO-
GIANS: THE Apam, SALLY HILL,
RoBertaA HOEST . AND WHEN FINELY

THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS BEGAN TO TALK TO

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ONE ANOTHER ABOUT WHAT WE HAD HEARD AND
WHERE WE WERE, IT WAS APPARENT THAT
SOMETHING WAS HAPPENING. POSITIONS HAD
SOFTENED AND SOMETHING OTHER THAN WIN-
NING AND LOSING EMERGED AS A COMMUNITY
VALUE, NAMELY THE FACT THAT IT JUST
MIGHT BE POSSIBLE TO STAY WITH ONE
ANOTHER, MAYBE EVEN TO LOVE EACH OTHER.
WE DECIDED TO SIMPLY GO AROUND THE ROOM
AND ASK EACH MEMBER TO CHECK IN ~ TO SAY
WHERE HE OR SHE WAS AT THE MOMENT. It
WAS A POWERFUL EXPERIENCE: THERE WERE
LOTS OF TEARS. PEOPLE SAID IMPORTANT
THINGS TO ONE ANOTHER LIKE "J LOVE THIS
CHURCH.” "I WANT THIS TO BE A CHURCH
LIKE THIS FOR A LONG TIME." “THIS MIGHT
BE MY LAST G.A. AND I’b LIKE IT TO
MATTER. "THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH SAVED
MY LIFE - TOOK ME IN WHEN NO ONE ELSE

WOULD...WE GOTTA HELP SAVE IT." Etc.

AND SO, A GIFT OF GRACE: UNANIMITY
IN A REPORT BUT MORE IMPORTANT A REMINDER
THAT GoD'S PEOPLE CAN SURVIVE CONTROVER-
SY, WHEN THEY REMEMBER WHO THEY ARE.

THE REPORT IS NOT PERFECT. It
TRIES TO AFFIRM THE GIFTS, DEDICATION
AND LEADERSHIP OF NATIONAL STAFF PER-
SONS, AT THE SAME TIME IT SUGGESTS THAT
MUCH OF THE CHURCH WAS NOT HAPPY WITH
THE WAY ITS NATIONAL LEADERS RESPONDED
TO THE MATTER. IT NAMES NO NAMES.

THERE WERE SUGGESTIONS THAT IT LAY BLAME
OR THAT IT DEFEND AND EXONERATE INDIVID-
UALS ACROSS THE SPECTRUM - BY NAME. THE
COMMITTEE DECIDED NOT TO DO THAT. I bo
NOT KNOW WHETHER OR NOT IT WOULD HAVE
CHANGED ITS POSITION, BUT THE COMMITTEE
WAS NOT AWARE OF THE CONTENT OF Mary ANN
LUNDY'S SPEECH ABOUT HER LEAVING HER
POSITION - WHEN IT WAS EDITING AND

APPROVING ITS REPORT.

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THE REPORT AFFIRMS THE PRESBYTERIAN
THEOLOGICAL TRADITION, PARTICULARLY AT
THE POINTS SOME THOUGHT THE TRADITION
WAS CRITICIZED, OR RIDICULED. IT TRIES
TO DO SO, NOT DEFENSIVELY, BUT JOYFULLY
AND GRATEFULLY. AND IT SAYS CLEARLY
THAT IMAGINATION IS PART OF THE THEOLOG-
ICAL TASK IN EVERY AGE. AS IT HAPPENED
- I FLEW FROM WicHITa To Rome. AND ONE
OF MY LASTING MEMORIES WILL BE STANDING
IN THE BASILICA OF ST. PETER, JUST HOURS
AFTER THE CONCLUDING COMMUNION SERVICE
OF THE 206TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AND FEELING DEEPLY
GRATEFUL THAT JOHN CALVIN RE-IMAGINED
THE CHURCH.

THE REPORT UNEQUIVOCALLY AFFIRMS
THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE CHURCH, AND
SPECIFICALLY THE VOICES OF WOMEN IN THE

ONGOING TASK OF THEOLOGY.

il

THE TOUGHEST QUESTION OF ALL IS -
DID WE COMPROMISE? Dip WE SELLOUT? WERE
WE BLUDGEONED BY IDEOLOGICAL WARFARE

ACCOMMODATING TOO MUCH? DID WE

SACRIFICE TOO MUCH JUSTICE FOR THE SAKE
OF UNITY?

I DON'T THINK SO. I THINK THAT
WHAT WE DID, IN FACT, IS A FAITHFUL
EXPRESSION OF THE VERY THEOLOGY WE HOLD
DEAR.

IN HIS PROVOCATIVE THEOLOGY, THINK-

ING THE FAITH, JOHN HALL SAYS THAT

MODERN - POST - CONSTANTINIAN CHRISTIANS
HOLD ONE OF TWO POSITIONS ABOUT BELTEV-
ING, HAVING FAITH.

ONE IS THE OBJECTIVE POSITION. I
KNOW INTELLECTUALLY THE TRUTH OF MY
BELIEFS. Gop Is, Gop’s SON IS JESUS.
THE ___—s—séBEARS WITNESS TO JESUS CHRIST
AUTHORITATIVELY. THESE IDEAS ARE OBJEC-

TIVE TRUTH.

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THE OTHER POSITION IS SUBJECTIVE:
J BELIEVE BECAUSE I FEEL THE TRUTH. I

EXPERIENCE Gop'S LOVE AND

AND PRESENCE. I BELZEVE BECAUSE I FEEL.

Proressor HALL SAYS BOTH OF THESE
CLASSIC POSITIONS ARE INADEQUATE.
BYBLICAL FAITH, HE SAYS, IS NOT A MATTER
OF KNOWING OR FEELING $0 MUCH AS TRUST-
ING. FAITH IS A RELATIONSHIP WITH ONE
WE KNOW TO BE TRUSTWORTHY. "FAITH IS
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE KNOW OURSELVES

ENCOUNT ; JUDGED, AND ACCEPTED BY A

GRACIOUS Gop."

I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE REDISCOV~
ERED: THAT THE COMMON GROUND ON WHICH
WE STAND AND CAN STAND - IS TRUST IN
Gop: TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST AND RESPECT
FOR ONE ANOTHER WITHIN GOD'S BROAD AND

INCLUSIVE GRACE.

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WHEN YOU START THERE, CREATIVE AND
REDEMPTIVE THINGS HAPPEN, WHEN YOU START
ON THE BASIS OF FAITH, NOT AS A WELL TO

ELECT ON AND THE DAR OUT,

BUT A PERSONAL AND COMMUNAL TRUST IN
JESUS CHRIST, YOU ARE ABLE SUDDENLY TO
TALK, TO SPEAK AND LISTEN: TO ENGAGE IN
THAT CIVIL DISCOURSE CORNEL WEST SAYS IS
THE ONLY THING THAT CAN SAVE OUR NATION.
IT SIMPLY iS Gop'S WAY OF SAVING A
CHURCH - 1 BELIEVE. AND IT JUST MAY BE
NOT ONLY A WAY TO MOVE FAITHFULLY INTO
THE FUTURE, BUT ALSO OUR GIFT TO GIVE TO
THE WORLD, AND OUR WORD TO SPEAK TO THE

WORLD,

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