Cry Me a Peace River

PCUSA’s Peace River Presbytery has apparently decided to join Mississippi Presbytery in making wild and unsubstantiated charges against the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. At their last meeting, they passed this overture to the next General Assembly:

Whereas the Presbyterian Church (USA) is in correspondence with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) because both denominations are members of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), and

Whereas the Evangelical Presbyterian Church is actively pursuing a strategy to persuade Presbyterian Church (USA) churches to disaffiliate with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and be dismissed to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, and

Whereas the Evangelical Presbyterian Church has created a transitional Evangelical Presbyterian Church Presbytery to facilitate the process,

Now therefore:

Peace River Presbytery respectfully overtures the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to request the Executive Office of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches to investigate the actions and conduct of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church described above, and to take appropriate action.

Why don’t they just call in the FBI and be done with it? I have no idea how WARC is supposed to “investigate” this, especially when there is no evidence to examine except the bizarre imaginings of judicatory officials seeing ecclesiastical pirates under every bed. I also have no idea what “appropriate action” they might have in mind. Truth be told, I haven’t heard many EPCers who would be all that upset to find out that WARC thinks we’re a bunch of mean, naughty little fundies who should go off and play in someone else’s sandbox. We were told a couple of years ago at General Assembly that the EPC maintains membership in WARC primarily because PCUSA insists on it in order to be in “correspondence” with another Reformed denomination, which in turn was important because they wouldn’t dismiss a congregation to a denomination with which they weren’t in correspondence. Now, I’m not so sure, since I know of PCUSA churches that have been dismissed to the Presbyterian Church in America and Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, neither of which is in WARC. On the other hand, the United Church of Christ is a member of WARC, which probably tells you all you need to know about the latter organization.

What all of this amounts to is this: there are presbyteries in PCUSA that can’t stand the idea that there are congregations that are both serious enough about their faith and disturbed enough with the denomination (or their presbytery) to actually leave. Rather than admit that the fault lies in the introduction of an alien faith into the PCUSA, and the ascendency that alien faith has achieved in the upper reaches of the church, they lash out at convenient boogeymen, without the meddling of which all would supposedly be copacetic. Since it is primarily to the EPC that churches are fleeing, it must therefore all be EPC’s fault. All I can say is: in your dreams.

(Hat tip: Will Spotts.)

Party Like It’s New Year’s Eve (UPDATED)

In the wake of the horrendous attack on a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem last week, the World Council of Churches has finally bestirred itself to put out a statement:

“We express our sincere sorrow and sympathy to the families of those who were killed or injured in the shootings last week at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem,” said World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia on 10 March, joining his voice to those of the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem. “An attack on a Jewish seminary has a profound impact on all people of faith. The World Council of Churches strongly condemns this attack.”

Referring to a statement issued one week ago condemning the attacks on civilians in the Gaza strip and Israel, he reiterated his call for the “incessant violations of life and human rights to stop.” “Such acts of terror are abhorrent,” he said. “A grim reminder of the continuing cycle of violence, they increase the sense of grief, sorrow, anger and outrage among both Israelis and Palestinians.” [Emphasis added.]

“Despite the tragic consequences of this situation, rather than allow it to inflame more violence, we pray that it will encourage all those concerned to redouble their efforts, to all the more vigorously pursue peace.” said Kobia.

Did the attack in Jerusalem really “increase the sense of grief, sorrow, anger, and outrage” among Palestinians? See for yourself:

Grief, sorrow, anger and outrage that deeply felt must be awful.

UPDATE: Churches for Middle East Peace, a project of the National Council of Churches, got their statement out the day after the Jerusalem massacre:

We grieve the tragic loss of eight young lives in the attack yesterday by a Palestinian extremist against Israeli yeshiva students in Jerusalem. Such terrorism is never acceptable or justifiable. Unfortunately it is only the latest event in the current spasm of violence and retaliation that started in southern Israel and Gaza and that has led to scores of dead, mostly Palestinian. All efforts must now be taken to achieve an urgently needed cease-fire.

Deliberately murdering civilians=civilians killed in the process of striking at terrorists. That’s why they say that the recent casualties are “mostly Palestinian.” The latter are awful, of course. But the Israelis generally do everything they can to avoid civilian casualties (difficult when the terrorists live among, and are frequently assisted by, the civilian population), whereas virtually everything Hamas and its Fatah brethren do is designed to maximize them. Moral equivalence, anyone?

CMEP heads of churches and organizations sent a letter to Secretary Rice a week ago expressing concern for all civilians caught in the conflict, urging her to help “achieve a ceasefire, end the Gaza blockade and achieve real security at Gaza’s borders”. They warned of the danger of even greater confrontation and the risk this posed to the peace process.

By all means, after an event like this, open things up, give those who perpetrated this more freedom of movement. And the population that so wildly celebrated the killings should also be patted on the head.

Sadly history suggests one can expect more violence and killing in the months ahead as Israeli and Palestinian negotiators continue the peace process initiated by the United States at Annapolis last year. Both sides, Israeli and Palestinian, deserve respect and support for continuing to negotiate in the face of efforts to derail them.

While not underestimating the forces arrayed against peace and with ample reasons for skepticism, there is no acceptable alternative to pursuing a negotiated two state resolution of the conflict. We pray the time is coming soon for all the children of Abraham to live in peace and security in the land called holy.

Never lose sight of the goal, no matter how determined one side is to repudiate it.