In Spirit and Truth
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About this blog
In Spirit and Truth seeks to encourage discussion and deeper consideration of representation issues in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). It is hoped entries will prompt reflection and dialogue on aspects of expanding representation and supporting full participation in the PCUSA, especially at the assembly and mid council levels.
This blog will occasionally feature content written by one of the fourteen members of the General Assembly Committee on Representation, who are church members, ministers (teaching elders) and ruling elders from across the country, as well as links and articles of particular interest. The ministries of advising, consulting, advocating, promoting inclusion, reviewing and recommending actions are vital to the life of the whole Body of Christ. Committees on Representation and/or their functions exists at all councils above session so from time to time we may highlight activities and insights from sister committees on representation at lower councils throughout the church.
Any views or opinions presented in this blog are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. or the General Assembly Committee on Representation.
Author/Facilitator Molly Casteel is an Assistant Stated Clerk and the Manager for Equity and Representation in the Office of the General Assembly. She is a teaching elder (a.k.a. Minister of Word and Sacrament) in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary.
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Toward a More Full Self-Understanding
Learning our shared history, strengthens who we are together
In the summer of 2011, a historical document of the PCUSA became quietly accessible again with its online publication.
The General Assembly Committee on Representation played a role in making that happen when it did. They were concerned about the ahistoricity of conversations around Presbyterian self-structures in light of the work of the Mid-Councils Commission in 2011.
For over one hundred years there were all-Black governing bodies (presbyteries and synods) in the Presbyterian Church. A history of these structures was written and adopted by the 205th General Assembly in 1993. This document provides a rich understanding of the diverse expressions of Black Presbyterian council life in the PCUSA's predecessor denominations.
I commend it to you for study, during Black History Month and beyond.
The document was commissioned after reunion and just after completing the move of the denominational offices to Louisville, KY (from New York City and Atlanta). It's origin is referenced in the foreword of the report:
The 201st General Assembly (1989), in response to Overture 89-2, directed Moderator Joan Salmon Campbell “..to appoint a task force of not more than six [persons] to document the history and contributions of all-black presbyteries of the South” (Minutes, 1989, Part I, p. 589).
As the forward concludes and I wholeheartedly agree,
This publication only represents a beginning of a history that continually unfolds. Individuals, sessions, congregations, and governing bodies must continue to identify, gather, record, and deposit the work and witness of the persons, programs, and activities of the all-Black presbyteries and synods of the predecessor denominations of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
It continues:
As Blacks continue to pursue their history in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the church should also encourage in-depth histories and contributions of Asians, Hispanics, and Native Americans and other ethnic or racial groups who have enriched this communion.
To this, the General Assembly Committee on Representation and I can only say, "Amen!" The wider church has a lot to learn from its particular histories and we hope that more of these experiences will be recorded and not silenced or disappeared. Knowing our Presbyterian witness and ourselves more fully, only prepares us for the complexities of being church now and in the future.
The report was originally published in 1996. It is available in PDF format here and on the OGA website under publications.
- Posted at 11:46 a.m.
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