End of 2005: Coordinator’s First Unofficial Memo

ACSWP is humming in response to serious Christian concerns and in anticipation of its January meeting. I have traveled frequently in the two months since my formal start (Oct 17), meeting with on-going work groups as much as possible and finalizing my move to Louisville. My three children will be joining me shortly now to see the new place and celebrate Christmas. It is still quite weird not to put the sermon together each week and to pray more proportionately for family and friends than congregation members, though that does not stop. On the other hand, the staff role as I see it is quite a bit like a pastor’s relationship to Session, Deacons and church committees. And this piece reminds me of my monthly Newsletter essays.

It has been a great joy to meet the people serving on our work groups: a few from Income Security for older Americans, Usury, Disabilities and Energy; most from Globalization, Social Creed, and Nature and Value of Human Life, to address these groups by their short topical titles. This last group with perhaps the longest title has the relative short task of reviewing the former Council on Theology and Culture study paper by that large name.

I have met with the Advisory Committee itself once, here in Louisville. Each member does double-or-triple duty, serving on work groups or task forces as well as the main Committee. This helps keep everything coordinated and keeps expectations somewhat uniform for the quality and approach of the material covered. Members of the Advisory Committee are already quite active Presbyterians and continue to speak at Presbytery meetings, conferences and other events. E-mail also helps the group stay on the same page, as it does for so many organizations and congregations.

Part of the pleasure of the post comes from fine colleagues, both in the GAMC structure where we are positioned administratively, and the Global Mission Division, among whom we are physically located on the third floor of 100 Witherspoon St. We also do receive some national and international visitors, such as the ecumenical officer of the Reformed Church of France last week (Preparez-vous a celebrer le 500ieme anniversaire de la naissance de Jean Calvin en 2009—en France!).

The to-read pile for ACSWP includes books by Presbyterian ethicists, many members of the Theological Educators for Presbyterian Social Witness (TEPSW), which has been so helpful as a think tank for the Committee. Primarily based in Presbyterian seminaries, this is a productive and collaborative group of scholars who know “the language of Zion” from their own worship and grounding in the Church. As I make the shift internally from pastoring to staff work, the mix of books and journals also includes less exegetical work, although a number of recent works on Church/State/Empire focus on Paul and the early Christian movement.

Bioethics and biotechnology are current interests, partly due to my involvement in the current NCC study and policy process. This may suggest elements for our Church’s long-standing concern for CERTAIN APPLICATIONS OF genetics research and the commercial enthusiasm for THOSE applications.

Deep grief for those killed in Afghanistan and Iraq affects the whole church, and ACSWP is no exception. I believe the General Assembly has been on target (so to speak) in its analysis of the predicament we and the Iraqis are in, partly because the UN and most other nations have not been heavily involved. My own reading in the field takes me back to Col. William R. Corson’s, The Betrayal, written about his experiences in the administration of our military presence in Vietnam in the period a bit before I got my draft card.

Other books of more current provenance shared with me and which I would pass on include: The Gospel According to America by David Dark, Losing Moses ON the Freeway by Chris Hedges, Conversations with the Confessions edited by Joe Small of Theology and Worship, In Search of the Good Life by Rebecca Todd Peters (chair of our Globalization task force), and The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken, which suggests ways for our culture to move toward environmental sustainability. My colleague, Belinda Curry, has also given me Barack Obama’s autobiography, Dreams from My Father, which moves swiftly to address both unique personal challenges and the continuing American Dilemma.

With blessings in Christ at the end of this Advent season,