Living Faith in Korean
The General Assembly endorsed the Korean translation of Living Faith, commending it for use within the church.
“You are seeing the changing face of the Presbyterian Church in Canada and we rejoice in that diversity,” said Moderator Herb Gale.
The Korean Living Faith joins its French counterpart, Foi Vivante, as the second non-English version of the subordinate standard to be created and commended for use in Presbyterian churches.
Committee to Explore Han-Ca Presbyteries
A special committee was struck to study the life of the Han-Ca presbyteries, consisting of two members from the two presbyteries, and three members from the church at large.
The 2002 assembly ended the trial period for the church’s Korean presbyteries, but recommended striking such a committee in 2010 to review the 2002 report, and to survey both Han-Ca and non Han-Ca presbyteries about how they have addressed concerns raised in the report. The committee will bring their findings to the 2012 assembly.
The committee’s scope enlarged with two amendments proposed by Rev. Peter Bush, commissioner from the Presbytery of Winnipeg, and approved by assembly. The consultations will include presbyteries that contain Han-Ca churches within their geographical boundaries. The committee will also explore how congregations within Han-Ca presbyteries might transfer to geographic presbyteries, and how congregations in geographic presbyteries might transfer to the non-geographic Han-Ca presbyteries.
The vote was a close one, with Han-Ca members arguing that their presbyteries should be able to discuss such details on their own, without the influence of other presbyteries, and that such discussions could prove divisive within the Han-Ca presbyteries.
Presbyteries Urged to Plant Churches and New Ministries
In what became a highly debated motion, Rev. Peter Bush asked the assembly to urge all presbyteries to “be bold in taking risks in seeking the advance of the reign of God” and, more specifically, asked the Presbyterian Church to “commit itself to the vision of planting 10 congregations each year over the five years,” from 2012 until 2016.
The assembly voted to split the motion into two, endorsing the call to be bold in taking risks, but debating the church-planting clause.
Bush defended his motion’s 10-per-year figure, comparing setting a numerical goal with setting a wedding date; he suggested it was more likely to happen if there was a clear goal ahead. He emphasized that such planting did not need to be done in “traditional ways,” but could be done in “new and innovative ways” which may not need a lot of money to begin, and which can reflect new forms of ministry and new definitions of “church.”
“We have to focus on the dream, not the outcome,” argued Rev. Derek Macleod of the Presbytery of East Toronto, who suggested attaching numbers to a dream was not in the spirit of the recent Emmaus Project conference.
An amendment aimed at adding “alternative ministries” to the 10-per-year goal was eventually replaced; the final motion eliminated the numerical goal entirely. In the end, assembly passed a motion to “encourage presbyteries to be bold and imaginative in the development of new ministry opportunities, including the planting of new congregations.”
Committee to Review Funding Formula for Regional Staff
A special committee will review the funding formula used to allocate funds for synods’ regional staff, and will report to the next assembly.
The motion was made by Rev. Dr. Gerard Booy of the Presbytery of Westminster, a commissioner whose synod was hardest hit by funding cuts. Under a new funding formula, which will take effect in 2011, the grant to the Synod of British Columbia is set to fall by $74,000 — about 50 per cent of its total grant in previous years.
Regional staff are overseen by synods and supported by block grants from the Women’s Missionary Society and the Life and Mission Agency; the two organizations pooled their resources and personnel to create the regional staff model in 1994. Beginning in 2009, the WMS was forced to halve its original $390,000 portion of the grant to $200,000 yearly. The LMA covered the shortfall for 2009 and 2010 by drawing funds from undesignated bequests. A new formula — developed at a meeting of synod conveners in September 2009 — would provide each synod with enough money to support at least one regional staff person, with the remainder divided among the synods based on their membership.
“In making this amendment we’re not trying to be difficult,” said Booy. “We certainly understand that the LMA is in a difficult situation when it comes to the funding … I just think it’s not time to draw a line and say this is a done deal.”
“Synod conveners were asked for their direct participation in re-jigging the formula,” said Rev. Daniel Cho, outgoing convener of the LMA. “This is their product; for the court to ask the LMA to disregard the formula and come up with a new one is impractical. A lot of care has been taken in the process up to this point.”
Rev. Heather Vais of Oak Ridges presbytery described the two days of prayer and debate with synod conveners that led to the new formula, arguing that the decision was not made lightly. “The real problem is not the formula,” she told the court. “It’s the money, man. Give us the money and we’ll do something with it.”
The motion passed by a slim margin, and the new committee’s mandate will include seeking out ways to fill the shortfall. Vais, who was named convener, called on the members of the court and the church at large to help the committee find new sources of funding for “a ministry the court seems to think very important.”
Longtime Missionary to Nigeria Honoured
Assembly offered a minute of appreciation and a standing ovation for Rev. Arlene (Randall) Onuoha, who served as a missionary with the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria since 1978. Cho, outgoing convener of the LMA, called Onuoha “one of the living links of the partnership in mission of our two churches.”
“Sometimes I have seen things that look like they’re going to die — like projects, like people, like faith — because we start trying to figure things out for ourselves too much, and forget that we are in God’s hands,” an emotional Onuoha told the assembly. “And when we get to a point where we see that it is not us, it is God in us that we accomplish things, and we are able to let go and proceed in faith with the gifts God has given us, then I have seen things take off.”
Onuoha noted that during her send-off in Nigeria, they said they were sending her to Canada to be a missionary here. She will search for a call within the PCC.
Communion and the Laity
A major topic of debate at the 2009 assembly returned in 2010 as the Clerks of Assembly presented possible legislation which would allow ordained elders commissioned by their presbyteries to administer communion within specific congregations.
The legislation was accompanied by a study paper, and the clerks recommended that the report be referred to sessions, presbyteries, the committee on theological education and the committee on church doctrine for study and report. Another report will come before the assembly next year.
Christian Palestinian Document Worthy of Study
A document crafted by Palestinian Christians sparked debate when the ecumenical and interfaith relations committee recommended it be sent to congregations, presbyteries and appropriate committees for study and discussion.
The document, titled A Moment of Truth: A word of faith, hope and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering, and also commonly referred to as the Kairos Palestine Document, includes language some commissioners worried was too strong, and which some organizations, including the Canadian Jewish Congress, have criticized.
“Kairos can’t be sent on its own,” said Rev. Mark Lewis of the Presbytery of Waterloo-Wellington. He suggested the Presbyterian Church in Canada may choose to formally adopt the document in the future, and secular society will ask if the church considered dissenting voices as it came to its decision.
Following discussion, assembly chose to include several additional documents intended to give context to the Kairos Palestine statement. These include: a cover letter and study guide from the ecumenical and interfaith relations committee, and the responses of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, the World Council of Churches, the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Canadian Friends of Sabeel.
Doctrine Committee Explores ‘Supersessionism’ and ‘Inerrancy’ of Scripture
A report on supersessionism — the belief that the Christian New Covenant replaces or fulfills the Jewish Mosaic Covenant — will be sent to sessions, presbyteries and national committees who are urged to study the document and report back to the committee on church doctrine.
The 58-page report, titled One Covenant of Grace: A Contemporary Theology of Engagement with the Jewish People, contains a thorough overview of Old and New Testament principles as well as the views of prominent theologians throughout the centuries. It concludes with a proposed statement on the relationship between Canadian Presbyterians and the Jewish people who, it suggests, both “worship and serve the One Living God.”
In response to a question about the “literal inerrancy of scripture,” the committee suggested that while Christians should certainly read the Bible, it must be studied in light of the particular time it was written, and that “research into historical and cultural context is valuable for biblical interpretation in our own time … We need to understand practices and customs and languages not our own if we are going to be responsible to the authoritative text of the Bible.”
The words used to describe the Bible in Living Faith and A Catechism for Today are, “necessary,” “sufficient” and “reliable,” but not “inerrant.”
No to Biennial Assemblies
Without debate, the court reaffirmed the practice of annual assemblies.
“It must be Friday morning,” joked Rev. Bert Vancook, convener of Assembly Council, who expected more discussion when the issue came before the court.
