“Can I get a Witness” expresses God’s presence in the shared lives of marginalized people and dates back at least as far as Nannie Helen Burroughs, the early twentieth century African American educator and proto-feminist reformer in the Baptist church. As we memorized the spirit of the dead in my Church’s All Souls Day ritual this past Sunday, I thought about Burroughs and her circle of Baptist Church ladies calling for a witness as they shared their stories of suffering and liberation. Burroughs’ spirit lived on in Atlanta Georgia this past weekend and I was privileged to witness its power at the 2007 Covenant Network of Presbyterians Conference in Atlanta.
The Covenant Network, made up of clergy and lay leaders in the Presbyterian Church USA, proclaims a vision for an inclusive Presbyterian Church embodied in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. I must confess that in the past when I’ve imagined somewhat stogy, somewhat aloof Mainline Christians, I’ve thought first of Presbyterians. Yet, if this weekend’s conference is any indication of how the spirit is moving in the Presbyterian Church USA, such stereotypes will soon be obliterated from our collective consciousness. I have rarely seen a group of people so committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ and so thoughtful in their witness to his presence among us, than I did in the company of this group.
The Covenant Network has been working for change in the Presbyterian Church for 10 years and while they have suffered defeat they exude a spirit of hopeful promise not built on pie in the sky fanaticizing but grounded in faithful listening to the pain of so many Presbyterians who have been deeply harmed by the Church. By bearing witness to one another’s stories—stories such as Rev. Andy Cullen’s, a conservative Evangelical Presbyterian pastor who changed his mind about LGBT people and lost his parish as a consequence; or Ann Speer, a lifelong Presbyterian who was shunned by her Church community when she told members her son was gay—they have discovered in themselves a transformational love that is infectious and life giving and rings of Jesus’ spirit.
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3 comments:
Yes I know the Baptists are coming under great criticism, but are they alone in deserving it? There is a startling video on this very issue:
Is American Christianity, really Christian? Pastor Paul Washer
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2977907213395711239
The Presbyterians -- well, the PCUSA, anyway -- are such a funny mixed bag of people. It's true that they're not called "the Frozen Chosen" for no reason, but the progressive movement is really playing off it fantastically. For every group like The Presbyterian Layman, there's a group calling itself The Presbyterian Gayman waiting in the wings.
I think they're right behind the Episcopalians in terms of a denomination to watch.
Glad to see some positive words about the PC(USA). While it is true that there is much "wrong" with us, part of the slow movement is because of the vast diversity of thought. Time will tell who's time we have been on.
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