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VOW
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Another Point of View
Every three years Presbyterian women from all across the nation and around the world travel to a Triennial PW Gathering expecting to have a “mountaintop experience”. Once again, this year’s event was disappointing in many ways, two notable exceptions being:
THE THEME The theme for Gathering 2003 was "God‘s Vision / Our Calling". The Scriptural
references included these words from Ephesians 4:1-6:
"I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all."What a glorious vision for Presbyterian Women in 2003! In this time of contentious disobedience within our denomination, we are reminded that our oneness is in Christ. Through Christ -- and only through Christ -- can we lead lives worthy of God’s calling. However, the pervasive disappointment experienced by so many women during this four-day event was the ubiquitous manipulation of this Scripture to advance various specific political agendas. As many attendees observed, this year’s Gathering was more of a political rally than a spiritual event. THE CHANCEL In stark contrast to the beautifully designed chancel area at the previous Triennial Gathering, the stage this time was bare. There was a lighted backdrop suggestive of windowpanes and there were several large pieces of colored fabric hanging from the rafters, but not a single Christian symbol on the stage to suggest a chancel in a worship space. Once again, as was the case three years ago, there was no cross -- which should have been our visual focal point at the center of everything else we saw and heard, just to remind us of why we thousands of women were gathered there together. Sadly, this time the Bible was missing as well. There was no Christ candle -- nothing but a bare stage with a podium. It has been observed that funding has become critical and that perhaps the lack of worship symbols was a result of economic hard times. On the other hand, how difficult would it have been to put a cross and a Bible (and maybe even a Christ candle and a baptismal bowl) on a cloth-covered table on the stage? Surely, those items are readily available in Louisville, given that Louisville is the administrative seat of the entire PC(USA). THE BIBLE SCHOLAR The Bible scholar for Gathering 2003 was Janice Catron, who authored the Horizons Bible study on Job. What an engaging speaker she was! Most of what she said rang true and consistent with reformed theology. One notable exception was her faulty premise in her opening speech that death (sin) existed from the very beginning, as opposed to entering creation with the disobedience and fall of humankind. (Makes one wonder whether or not she would consider human beings responsible for their own sinful behavior and in need of the atoning work of Christ -- pretty basic to reformed faith and an essential part of what it means to be a Presbyterian.) THE MUSIC The music leaders, sisters Jacqueline Pharr Robinson and Jocelyn Pharr Thompson, were extremely well-qualified and did a wonderful job with just their voices and an acoustic piano. However, much of the material they had to work with was less than inspirational. We sang a lot of ethnic hymns of non-western cultures, and I understand the importance of doing so to make the Gathering meaningful for women from all around the world! In addition, I realize that many people like to sing new songs with simple tunes and contemporary language in the lyrics, and I recognize that there is a need to include some of that newer music. In fact, that’s how great new hymns come along -- every one of our traditional hymns had to be new at some point in history. Still the ratio of ethnic and “pop” music to the great hymns of the church was more than 5 to 1. I believe the “mountaintop experience” that those thousands of Presbyterian women were expecting would have been helped along considerably had that ratio been reversed. THE WORKSHOPS I attended two workshops, both of which I sought out because I wanted to be open to the points of view of others on issues of controversy. I went primarily to listen and to learn. Christian Feminism This workshop, presented by Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos, intrigued me because I consider myself a Christian and a feminist. I was quick to jump on the feminist bandwagon back in the 1970’s because the clarion calls for equal rights, equal respect for women, equal opportunity and equal pay for the same work resonated with me. Things were not fair in our society (and still aren’t, though we’ve made significant progress). At it’s inception that movement, as I understood it, was largely about choices -- particularly career choices. As time passed the movement was co-opted by women who wanted to make it about lesbianism and abortion, and finally I had to cancel my subscription to Ms. magazine. What we’re seeing in our church today is women’s liberation run amok. Radical feminism is replacing one evil (the denigration of women) with another (the worship of woman-ness: womanism). In her seminar presentation Ms. Wijk-Bos had some very interesting material to share on Old Testament times, and she even debunked some of the radical feminist myths about patriarchy in the Hebrew culture before the time of Christ. “The Bible reflects a patriarchal world,” she said, “which was in some ways a milder patriarchy than ours today.” Her position is that “we have institutionalized patriarchy.” She went on to say that “the Old Testament reflects patriarchy but not sexism,” defining “sexism” as the ideology that declares one gender to be inferior to the other. She began her talk by characterizing three groups of thinkers (Left, Right and Middle), commenting that those on the “Left” are guilty of “a lot of dismissal of Scripture” while those on the “Right” simply “are not into fresh appreciations of Scripture” (as she is), and those in the “Middle” just “don’t know where to turn.” Some of what she said I liked -- for example, “We should not read our own situation back into the Bible.” Some of what she said was in stark contradiction to reformed theology -- for example, her claim that the concept of “original sin” was nowhere to be found in the Old Testament. She also declared that “today we try to pay more attention to historical context than Paul did” in his New Testament writings. In challenging the validity of New Testament writings on women’s behavior in the early church, she also managed to promote her opinion that the issues of women’s ordination and the ordination of unrepentant practicing “homosexuals” are one and the same issue. What she fails to realize is that they are not the same because the New Testament guidance regarding women’s roles in the church was based on cultural concerns at the time of its writing. Those injunctions did not address any timeless truths governing moral right and wrong, as do the numerous injunctions throughout Scripture against homoerotic behavior. In my evaluation of her seminar I suggested that Ms. Wijk-Bos read Brian J. Dodd’s The Problem with Paul -- one of the best explanations I’ve seen of why the “gay” issue does NOT belong in the same category as the issues around women (gender discrimination) and slavery (racial exploitation). Instincts of Love vs. Entrenched Social Norms The description for this workshop referenced “the need for support” where there is “the struggle within families” caused by a family member’s declaration of homoerotic desires. I attended this workshop, which was presented by Margaret Dee (Mardee) Rightmyer, because I care very deeply about the hurting human souls behind the continuing attack on the Biblically based Confessions and Constitution of our denomination. As I wrote three years ago, I had an “epiphany” experience at Gathering 2000. Specifically, it became clear to me that distressing movements (like “Re-Imagining” God, challenging the authority of Scripture and celebrating homoerotic behavior) don’t come out of a vacuum. These demands for the redefinition of sin and salvation are coming from suffering people and from their parents and other family members and friends who love them and who hurt for them. The clambering to declare homosexual behavior not only sinless but even something to be celebrated as God-ordained -- that cry originates in personal pain. These are hurting brothers and sisters in Christ. They have been subjected to incredible cruelty for decades, centuries even. Finally, they are “coming out” with their personal stories. As part of her presentation, Ms. Rightmyer showed a video which portrayed the personal testimonies of several of these individuals. One young man made the statement that he was “tired of lying to make others feel comfortable.” In the discussion that followed, I raised the point that for the thousands of Presbyterians who, having looked long and hard at the totality of Scripture, having prayed and dialogued and thoughtfully considered God’s guidance for us on this matter, and having come to the very clear understanding that homoerotic behavior never has been and still is not acceptable in God’s sight -- for us to pretend to be okay with the celebration of this sinful behavior would be “lying to make others feel comfortable.” It works both ways! While I am convinced that we are not called to redefine their sexual brokenness as God’s gift, nor to celebrate their homoerotic behavior as exemplary, we are called to respond in love to their cries of pain. While many of them will stubbornly uphold their choices as God-ordained, many more are truly in struggle. They are trying to deal with sexual confusion and, in their sexual wounded-ness, they are being told one of two cruel lies by our culture: Two Lies
Lie No. 1: “It's in your genes. You’re just wired that way. It’s not something you can make choices about, so just accept it.” This message falls on the ears of every young person who’s had a bad experience with a first date. Or who’s been turned down repeatedly for that first date. Or who’s been taught so to fear the opposite gender that he cannot bring himself even to ask for that first date. “Just accept it -- you're wired that way.” This message falls on the ears of every sexually broken adolescent who’s been so traumatized by abusive adults that she doesn’t know whom to believe or what to believe about the rightness and wrongness of sexual behaviors. “You feel a hatred for the opposite gender? -- just accept it -- you’re wired that way.” And where is the church in this? The PW Gathering seminars continue to be (at worst) a part of the message-sending and (at best) silent. My own church’s youth ministry doesn’t even present the notion that young people do sometimes experience confusion about their own sexuality and that even in their confusion they do have a choice. My own church and my Presbytery are silent. Not only is there no effort at all to minister to such as these -- there is not even the willingness to acknowledge officially that they exist. How loving is that?! Lie No. 2: The other cruel lie is a message to those who have lived in that lifestyle and have, with God’s help, rejected it. They’re being told this second cruel lie by a culture that wants to celebrate homosexual behavior: “You haven’t really changed at all. Just because you’re able to reject the behavior doesn’t mean you’ve won the sexual-orientation battle. You’re bound to have a relapse, it’s only a matter of time. Just accept it -- you’re wired that way.” That message falls on the ears of every healed and healing victim of sexual confusion. The culture won’t accept that “with God, all things are possible.” And what about all those individuals who have won the battle and are happily married and perhaps even parenting their own children. That message tells them their struggle wasn’t real. “You didn’t really overcome anything at all. You were never ‘homosexual’ to begin with -- you only thought you were.” How cruel -- how un-affirming of these brothers and sisters in Christ. And where is the church in this? My own church and my Presbytery are silent. Not only is there no effort at all to minister to such as these -- there is not even the willingness to acknowledge officially that they exist. How loving is that?! Ms. Rightmyer echoes the popular secular pronouncement that these transformational ministries (which she refers to as “reparative therapies”) do more harm than good. In our discussion I questioned her as to whether or not that can be said about those whose lives have been healed and transformed by the power of Christ through ministries like OneByOne (an affinity group within our own denomination). She responded that she has no first-hand knowledge of anyone in that category. Many in the “gay and lesbian community” who have made peace with a lifestyle of yielding to their homoerotic temptations accuse non-supporters of being cruel and hurtful. It seems to me that to repeat indictments against such a proven-successful ministry as OneByOne is cruel and hurtful to those who have been helped through that ministry. It works both ways! Attending Ms. Rightmyer’s workshop renewed my conviction that we as the church should be ministering to our hurting sisters and brothers. We must not deny the pain and suffering they’ve experienced, but we must also try to help them heal. We do not heal hurting people by declaring Scripture invalid, redefining sin and celebrating sexual brokenness. We must stand firm and continue to speak the truth in love. SUMMARY Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of this year’s Triennial Gathering was the abuse of the term “worship”. Over and over again, plenary sessions that were billed as “worship” were appropriated for political grandstanding. Although the theme was “God’s Vision / Our Calling”, the Gathering planners chose to build many of the plenary sessions around such political sub-themes as “Globalization”, “War and Peace” and “Antiracism.” One after another, speakers took the podium to promote a particular political point of view. The over-arching theme was that all the world’s problems are the fault of U. S. corporations. In a husband and wife kibitzing session over a kitchen table, we were instructed that, “Economic injustice is the sole reason for terrorism and violence.” And, of course, “it is the U. S. corporations that are responsible for economic injustice.” All we need to do is to redistribute the wealth from the producers to the needy consumers. (One wonders if these people already have forgotten that the former Soviet Union collapsed of its own dead weight because communism as an approach to economics is NOT the right answer.) Other recurring refrains were that the U. S. Department of Defense and the U. S. State Department need to be told by the PC(USA) how to do their jobs properly. And wherever there is war in the world, it is the U. S. and its big corporations that are behind it and that are benefiting from it. At least speaker Anna Rhee had the good sense to state clearly that, “Sometimes war is justified”. She, like many others from eastern cultures, used the word “lucky” (she considers herself “lucky”), and I wished each time that the speaker had chosen instead to consider herself “blessed”. It’s a small thing, I know, but such language hints at the religious pluralism that threatens our mainline denominations, and that’s no small thing! A Peace Education Program session on education and self-control as a tool for improving the lives of young women of color was, essentially, a primer for these young teenagers in “womanist” theology. No mention was made anywhere in that entire presentation of God, Christ, prayer, faith, sin, repentance, transformation through faith and prayer, change for the better through the power of Christ -- it was all about pride in Self. It was the old image of pulling up oneself by one’s own bootstraps. Speaker Gloria Tate slammed the “melting pot” concept that has characterized our nation’s development from its beginnings. Her promotion of the preservation and celebration of ethnic differences seems to me to be tantamount to promoting segregation. She continued by condemning recent efforts to contain the spread of the SARS epidemic as an example of racial or ethnic discrimination. As the Gathering continued each speaker became more and more the performer, playing “the crowd” for applause, and less and less a contributor to the worship of God. One of the most pathetic moments was when a young boy lead a beautifully-read Call to Worship. His little boy voice was strong, and his words were carefully and clearly spoken. It was so spiritually moving that the brief silence that followed it was profoundly appropriate. It was as if those thousands of women had momentarily escaped from the entertainment mode that had become the norm, making every “worship service” a series of staged acts, one following another. Then, sadly, someone jolted from her spiritual reverie, went into auto-pilot and started the applause. I suppose the thought was, “Well, we’ve applauded everything and everyone else, and we certainly don’t want this sweet little boy to feel that he didn’t perform as well as all the others.” Pathetic -- for him and for all of us “worshippers”. By Saturday evening, women were walking out in droves as they refused to listen to further defamation of our country and, particularly, of our men and women in the military -- many of whom were at that very moment in harm’s way in the Middle East. Thankfully, many of those women who walked out during the evening plenary sessions found their way to the VOW Hospitality Suite. Our Message The VOW team communicated a consistently positive and proactive message to our sisters to stay involved, to stand firm, and to hold accountable those in positions of leadership. It has become increasingly clear that the pluralism of our culture is seeping into our main-line Christian churches. We now are facing a broad-based campaign to re-imagine every aspect of our faith, and our national PW leaders have been enabling this campaign, giving it a national forum in the Triennial Gatherings, and funding it with our money. They are mis-using buzzwords like “inclusivity” and “tolerance” and “diversity”. They are confusing the distinction between embracing a diversity of ethnic heritages and cultures with the embracing of false gods and sinful behavior. As Sylvia Dooling, Executive Director of VOW has said, “As Christians, our unity is found in ‘the knowledge of the Son of God’ (Ephesians 4:13), not in the unthinking celebration of diversity.” The inevitable extension of this pluralistic trend is the notion that Jesus Christ becomes a way, (not THE way, as He clearly declares in John 14:6), a truth (not THE truth), a life (not THE life). If we (who are the church) allow this trend to prevail, then the path we are witnessing to the world will have ceased to be that narrow path to heaven of which Jesus speaks in Matthew 7:13 but instead will have been transformed into that broad, easy, all-welcoming and all-affirming slide into hell. If it comes to that, we no longer will be the church. Am I worried about this? Of course I am. Do I think the Re-Imaginers will re-imagine the PC(USA) right out of the Christian church? I don’t think so, but it could happen. What will prevent that from happening? Nothing, if the orthodox believers don't stand up for Jesus and start saying “yes” to positions of leadership in the PC(USA). Our polity does not permit us to tell our voting commissioners how to vote. Each person who has the power to vote on decisions that affect the entire denomination is charged to “vote his/her conscience”. If we women-in-the-pew are content to be just women-in-the-pew, we may wake up someday to a PC(USA) that we barely recognize and that has mutated into something of which we can no longer be a part. If we women of orthodox faith cannot accept the call to serve as ruling elders, we must make sure that we communicate with those who can. We must make sure that those who are nominated and elected to our Sessions are committed to upholding the Biblical and confessional tenets of our denomination and are not out to re-imagine them right out of existence. There were some God-glorifying aspects of this year’s Triennial Gathering,
but there were far too many disappointments. Our evening debriefings in
the VOW Hospitality Suite in Louisville always included words of encouragement
to the attendees to prayerfully consider and to thoroughly respond to the
Gathering evaluation form, adding specific comments to the mostly-multiple-choice
questionnaire. We are hopeful that the women in positions of national leadership
will hear and respect that feedback from those many women, all of whom
spent time, money, and energy to be there for PW Gathering 2003. And, with
trust in the transforming power of Christ alone, we look forward to a healthier
denomination and a much better experience for all in 2006.
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