Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry

8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/summer-1993-quarterly-review-theological-resources-for-ministry 1/118

t 4 »I- *

1 < 1

if ^ l

• 1 » •

I I . * I

'A t

1 »• •*

-( >•1 t-

(- • r4 r ')

f f t*

< f •!, •< »•

4 > ^f f t

•( t- 1

• I f . - <

» « f

•( h •<• ( >•< f 4

t • »J » J

» I t -I t *

: ^l O i l .

Ou.irter lv Re^' icu' /Simimer 1993 S5.00

.•\ joumaJ of Theological Rfsourccs for Ministry

• • f -J (•

i i t t t

• ^ •p '4 *

* * ^

• ^ I1 » •

• < I• ( * I

SIMavjorie H. Siichocki

A Learned Ministrij?

Leonard D, Hullei/

Methodism hi an Apartlicid Societi/

Andy Laiigford

A Lectioimn/ for the Next Generation



E d i t o r i a l B o a r d

L l o y d R . B a i l e y

D u k e D i v i n i t y S c h o o l

W i l f r e d B a i l e y

C a s a V i e w U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t C h u r c h

D a l l a s , T e x a s

P a m e l a D . C o u t u r e

C a n d l e r S c h o o l o f T h e o l o g y

E m o r y U n i v e r s i t y

F r e d B . C r a d d o c k

C a n d l e r S c h o o l o f T h e o l o g y

E m o r y U n i v e r s i t y

B r i t a G i l l - A u s t e r n

A n d o v e r N e w t o n T h e o l o g i c a l S c h o o l

J a n i c e R i g g l e H u i e

M a n c h a c a U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t C h u r c h

M a n c h a c a , T e x a s

R o g e r W . I r e s o n , C h a i rG e n e r a l B o a r d o f H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n

a n d M i n i s t r y

T h e U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t C h u r c h

T h o m a s W . O g l e t r e e

T h e D i v i n i t y S c h o o l

Y a l e U n i v e r s i t y

R u s s e l l E . R i c h e y


J u d i t h E . S m i t h

G e n e r a l B o a r d o f H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n



M a r j o r i e H e w i t t S u c h o c k i

C l a r e m o n t S c h o o l o f T h e o l o g y

J o h n L . T o p o l e w s k i

D i s t r i c t S u p e r i n t e n d e n t

W y o m i n g C o n f e r e n c e

D o n a ld H . T r e e s e

G e n e r a l B o a r d o f H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n



F . T h o m a s T r o tt e r

A l a s k a P a c i f i c U n i v e r s i t y

R o b i n W . L o v i n

T h e T h e o l o g i c a l S c h o o l

D r e w U n i v e r s i t y

W i l l ia m H . W i l l i m o n


R o b e r t C . N e v i l l e

B o s t o n U n i v e r s i t y S c h o o l

o f T h e o l o g y

S h a r o n J . H e l s , E d i t o r

N e i l M . A l e x a n d e r , E d i t o ri a l D i r e c t o r

J . R i c h a r d P e c k , P r o d u c t i o n E d i t o r

S h e i l a W . M c G e e , C o m p o s i t i o n E d i t o r



Q u a r t e r l y R e v i e wA Journal of Theological Resources for Ministry

V o l u m e 1 3 , N u m b e r 2

A Publication of Th e United M ethodist Publishing Ho useand the United M ethodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry



Q u a r t e r l y R e v i e w ( I S S N 0 2 7 0 - 9 2 8 7 ) p ro v i de s c o n t i n u i n g e d u c a t i o n r e s o u r c e s fo r s c h o l a r s ,

C h r i s t i a n e d u c a t o r s , a n d l a y a n d p r o f e s s io n a l m i n i s t e r s i n T h e U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t C h u r c h a n d

o t h e r c h u r c h e s . QR i n t e n d s t o b e a f o r u m i n w h i c h t h e o l o g i c a l i s s u e s o f s i g n i f i c a n c e t o

C h r i s t i a n mi n i s t r y c a n b e r a i s e d a n d d e b a t e d .

E d i t o r ia l O f fi c e s : 1 0 0 1 1 9 t h A v e n u e , S o u t h , B o x 8 7 1 , N a s h v i l l e , T N 3 7 2 0 2 . M a n u s c r i p t s

s h o u l d b e i n E n g l i s h a n d t y p e d d o u b l e - s p a c e d , i n c l u d i n g n o t e s .

Q R i s p u b l i s h e d f o u r t i m e s a y e a r , i n M a r c h , J u n e , S e p t e m b e r , a n d D e c e m b e r , b y t h e U n i t e d

M e t h o d i s t B o a r d o f H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n a n d M i n i s t r y an d T h e U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t P u b l i s h i n g

H o u s e . S e c o n d - c l a s s p o s t a g e p a i d a t N a s h v i l l e , T e n n e s s e e .

S u b s c r i p t i o n r a t e : $ 1 6 f o r o n e y e a r ; $ 2 8 f o r t w o y e a r s ; a n d $ 3 6 f or t h r e e y e a r s . A l l

s u b s c r i p t i o n o r d e r s , s i n g l e - c o p y o r d e r s , a n d c h a n g e - o f - a d d r e s s i n f o r ma t i o n m u s t b e s e n t i n

w r i t i n g t c t h e Q u a r t e r l y R e v i e w B u s i n e s s M a n a g e r , B o x 8 0 1 , N a s h v i l l e , T N 3 7 2 0 2 . O r d e rs

f or s i n g l e c o p i e s m u s t b e a c c o m p a n i e d w i t h p r e p a y m e n t o f $ 5 . 0 0 .

p o s t m a s t e r : A d d r e s s c h a n g e s s h o u l d be s e n t t o T h e U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t P u b l i s h i n g H o u s e ,

B o x 8 0 1 , N a s h v i l I e , T N 3 7 2 0 2 .

QR i s p r i n t e d o n a c i d - f r e e p a p e r .

L e c t i o n s a r e t a k e n f r o m Common Lectionary: The Lections Proposed by the Consultation on

Common Texts ( N e w Y o r k : C h u r c h H y m n a l C o r p o r a t i o n , 1 9 8 3 ) .

S c r i p t u r e q u o t a t i o n s u n l e s s o t h e r w i s e n o t e d a r e f r o m t h e New Revised Standard Version

Common Bible, c o p y r i g h t e d ® 1 9 8 9 b y t h e D i v i s i o n o f C h r i s t i a n E d u c a t i o n o f t h e N a t i o n a l

C o u n c i l o f C h u r c h e s o f C h r i s t i n t h e U S , a n d a r e u s e d b y p e r m i s s i o n .

Quarterly Review:

Summer, 1993

C o p y r i g h t ® 1 9 9 3 h y T h e U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t P u b l i s h i n g H o u s e

a n d T h e U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t B o a r d o f H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n a n d M i n i s t r y



V O L . 1 3 , N O . 2 S U M M E R 1 9 9 3

Contents

IntroductionSharon J. Hels i

Articles

A Learned Ministry?

Marjorie Hew itt Sucho cki 3

Methodism in an Apartheid SocietyLeonardo. Hulley 19

The RevisedCom mm on Lectionary 1992: A Revision for the Next Generation

Andy Langford 37

Beyond the New Common Lectionary: A Constructive Critique

Marjorie Procter-Smith 49

Being Formed by the WordDoug las Mills 59

The Coat of Arms and the Shield of Faith: Reflections on Pastoral Ministry

W. Aubrey Alsobrook 71

Wesley on Stewardship and EconomicsHarold G. Wells 85

QR Lectionary Study

Homiletical Resources from the Gospel of Matthew: Faith and DiscipleshipJ. Philip W ogam an 93





Introduction

y ^ n e of my most memorable ins tructors in graduate school was a

fe llow s tude n t , fur the r a long in the pro gram , who taught

in t roduc tor y Hebr ew . She was ex t r eme ly br igh t and v ivac ious—so

vivacious, in fact, that the word bulldozer comes to mind . But she

was pa t i e n t w i th my s low progr e s s i n the l anguage . Once , i n

r esponse to my f rus tra t ion , she quoted a l i t t l e aphor ism that has

s tayed w i th me through the y e a r s : educa t ion i s a p roce s s of

s ed imen ta t ion . She mean t s low down , you can ' t ge t th i s ove r n igh t ,

on ly by gradua l l y bu i ld ing of l ay e r a f t e r l ay e r o f compr ehens ion .

I f ge t t ing an educat ion is a s low, s teady process , then you have to

wonde r how tha t ' s eve r go ing to happen a t a s eminar y . P eople

working for an M.Div . degr e e have to s tudy a t a f eve r i sh pace jus t

to ke ep up . We l l - i n t e n t ioned ove rachi eve r s t yp ica l l y have the

s tuf f ing knocked out of them in the f i r s t semeste r . The message

seems to be : theological educat ion is fascinat ing but you have to

learn i t fas t because c lasses ar e many , t ime is shor t , and this school

i s expens ive . The r e ' s s imply too much going on for the

s ed imen ta t ion proce s s to be ve r y e f f e c t ive .

So the que s t ion r emains , how can we educa t e s eminar y s tuden t s i n

the i r own t rad i tion so that the y can gu ide e ve r y day Chr i s tians i n

matte rs of fa i th? Mar jor ie Suchocki argues that we must a l l think

about this toge the r , inc luding seminary facul t ie s and adminis t ra t ions ,

boards of ordained minis t r ie s , and c le rgy and lay Chr is t ians , Her l is to f sugge s t ions for improveme n t may jus t ho ld the ke y to ge n u in e

r e form in theo logica l e duca t ion .

This issue f eatures three ar t ic les about the Revised Common

Lect ionary (1992) . This lec t ionary is a product of the Consul ta t ion

on Common Texts (CCT) , an e cumen ica l g roup of wor sh ip

spec ia l i s t s tha t c r e a t ed the Common Lec t iona r y i n 1983 . Andy



Langford of f e rs a f ine background to the process of gene rat ing a

lect ionary . He te l ls us what was a t s take , some of the crucial

d i f f e r e nce s be tween approache s , and some of the advan tage s of the

n ew le ct ion ary . W hat is c lear is that this is not jus t chan ge for

change ' s s ake . The r ev i s ed Common Lec t iona r y shows the r e su l t o f

hard work and sol id theological r e f lec t ion that can se rve us we l l in

our congr ega t ions for y e a r s to come .

But that is not to say that this or any lectionary can satisfy all the

spir i tual needs of Chr is t ian communit ie s of fa i th . Mar jor ie

P roc t e r -Smi th was ca l l ed on by the Revis ed Common Lec t iona r y

committe e to give a f eminis t cr i t ique of the lec t ionary , and he r

ar t ic le is the subs tance of he r presen ta t ion to them. Procte r -Smith

asked . What doe s a l e c t iona r y r e a l l y do i n a communi ty? What

message does i t convey about what is normative , about whose s tor ies

r e a l ly coun t? How can w e i n c lude r e ad in gs about b ibl ica l wom en

that avoids pass ing on the patr iarchal ism of the texts themse lves?

I f Mar jor ie Procte r -Smith sees the lec t ionary agains t a large r

tapes try of Chr is t ian worship, then Douglas Mil ls se es i t agains t the

hor izon of the Bible as a whole . The lec t ionary is on ly a f ract ion of

the an thology of books that make up the scr ipture , and pas tors need

to be involved with the large r pic ture on a dai ly bas is . Thus he

argues for the deve lopment of a dai ly lec t ionary which wil l provide

orde r to r e ad ing and medi ta t i ng on God ' s word . A l though Mi l l s

wrot e i n 1986 , whe n the Com mon Lec t ion a r y had jus t comple t ed itsf i r s t comple te cycle , his words a lso apply to the r evised Common

Lect ionary . For tunate ly , l i turgical scholars ar e in the process of

deve loping a da il y l e c t iona r y that bu ilds on the r ev i s ion . O n e

ve r s ion , wr i t t e n by Hoy t H ickman , has be e n publ i shed ove r the pas t

few issues of Sacramental Life (years A and B only so far ) .

This summer , a s we con t empla t e our hope s and p lans i n mid- yea r ,

le t us r emember that we can plan t and wate r care ful ly , but God

gives the growth. May the bless ings of this r ich season be with you!

Sharon He ls



Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki

A Learned Ministry?

Long ago when Nor th Amer ica was s t i l l the colonies , the churches

es tabl ished schools for the express puipose of ensur ing that we

might have a l e a r n ed min i s t r y . S ince Un i t ed Me thodism had no t y e t

be e n bor n , the s e schools we r e In the Re fc rmed t r ad i t ion . M uch

late r , in the f i r s t third of the n ine te en th cen tury , Methodis ts a lso

turned to the need for e s tabl ishing theological seminar ies motivated

by a s imilar concern . With the growth of

increas ing leve ls of educat ion among the

Wes l e yan mode l o f educa t i ng c l e rgy i nd i

mentor ing pas tor was no longer suf f ic ien

the de nomina t ion moved toward the e s tab l i shmen t o f schools tha t

could in sure that we would have **an edu cated min is t ry am on g us .

And so the f i r s t such schools were e s tabl ished by the Methodis ts in

Newbury , Ve rmon t , i n 1840 , and by the

O h io , in 1871 .^

Some 110 y ea rs la te r , Robe r t Ly n n , then associated with The

Lil ly Foundat ion , argued for a r e turn to the paradigm of the pas tor

as a learned scholar who, through a solid

texts and t radi t ions , could chal lenge and

issues of life and faith." ' The argument for the re turn of such a model

was itse lf witness to the loss of this modtl. And its loss raises the

the de nomina t ion and the

Methodis t peoples , the old

îdually through a

. Not w i thout con t rove r sy ,

I

U n i t e d B r e th r e n i n D a y ton ,

unde r s tand ing of Chr i s t ian

û ide the con gr ega t ion on

M a r j o r i e H . S u c h o c k i i s A c t i n g V i c e P r e s i d e n t f o * A c a d e m i c A f f a i r s a n d D e a n o f t h e

S c h o o l o f T h e o l o g y a t C l a r e m o n t , C l a r e m o n t , CA.



uneasy que s t ion : I f cha l l e ng ing and guid ing a congr ega t ion on i s sue s

of l i f e and fa i th through a cr i t ical unders tanding of our texts and our

t r ad i t ions c eas e s to be dominan t i n the mode l o f the c l e rgy , can we

assume that congregat ions wil l r ece ive such pas tor ing? Or is i t the

cas e tha t we w i l l have con gr ega t ions who have l it tl e kno wled ge of

the ir his tory , e i the r as Uni ted Methodis ts or as Chr is t ians with a

two- thousand-yea r -o ld h i s tor y? Wi l l we have congr ega t ions who

know the sh ibbole ths of doc t r i n e w i thout any unde r s tand ing of the

compl ica t ed proce s s whe r eby doc t r i n e s come i n to be ing? Wi l l

congregat ions be bibl ical ly l i t e ra te? The l iving nature of the

Chr i s t ian t r ad i t ion depends upon the answe r s to the above que s t ions .

Only as we l ive f rom that t radi t ion in fa i thful openness to

con t emporar y n e eds can we be mos t de ep ly open to God ' s ca l l to

miss ion and , the r e for e , to our own t r ans format ion . A l e a r n ed c l e rgy ,de ep ly knowledgeabl e about t ex t s , t r ad i t ions , and t r ans format ion ,

can shar e such knowledge w i th a congr ega t ion and thus be t t e r equ ip

us all for ministry in the world.

A C r i s i s i n T h e o l o g i c a l E d u c a t i o n

1 sugges t that the contemporary cal l for a learned minis t ry , in i t ia ted

by Lynn and e choed i n va r ious ways by schola r s such as EdwardFar l e y , John B. Cobb, J r . , Jos eph Hough, and Char l e s Wood, i s a

witness to a cr is is in theological educat ion that threatens the viabi l i ty

of such a minis te r ia l paradigm. I s a learned minis t ry indeed poss i

ble? Given the condi t ions within which theological educat ion must

take p lace , can we expe c t the s e th r e e b r i e f y e a r s to c re a t e a suf fi

c ien t foundat ion for a learned minis t ry among us?

The factors working agains t a pos i t ive answer are as fol lows.

F i r s t , e n t e r i ng s eminar ians on ly r a r e l y come to us br i ng ing any

pr ev ious s tud i e s i n r e l ig ion . We can no longe r coun t on pe r sons

conve n i e n t ly r e ce iv in g a cal l to min i s tr y in t ime to choose a co l legemajor i n r e l ig ion s tud i e s ! And even i n thos e cas e s when pe r sons

dec ide on min i s t r y as t e e nage r s , the y a r e some t imes advis ed to

major more broadly in the hum an i t ie s , l eavin g studies in C hr is tian i ty

un t i l s eminar y . I n any cas e , mos t s tuden t s i n our e n t e r i ng c las s e s a r e

prepared main ly by the process of l iving dedicated Chr is t ian l ives in

congregat ions . Too of ten these s tudents ar e not famil iar with bibl ical



conten t , l e t a lone bibl ical scholarship; they are ignorant of Chr is t ian

his tory in e i the r i ts pos i t ive or i ts negat ive dimens ions , and they

know l i t t l e of theology beyond creedal phrases . This means , of

cour s e , that al l s emin ar y cour s e s mus t p re sum e a bar e e n t ry - leve l

knowledge , so that we begin **maste rs" s tudy a t an in t roductory

s tage .

A second factor is the eve r - increas ing cos t of theological

educa t ion . O ur n eophy t e s tuden t s , eve r caught in the s itua tion of too

littie f inan cial aid, mu st often wo rk up to a forty -hour we e k in orde r

to main ta in home, family , tui t ion , and books . The educat ional r e sul t

is that c lass ass ignments such as r eading are of ten given a low

pr ior i ty . Class lec tures increas ingly car ry the whole burden of the

educat ional task.

The f inal and most cr i t ical factor is the increas ing complexi ty ofminis t ry itself, such that f rom ten to four te en dif f e r en t discipl ines , a

small host o f de n omina t iona l r equi r e me n ts , and some a t te n t ion to the

varie ties of minister ial se ttings must be supposedly **mastered'*

wi th in th r e e academic y ea r s . Mos t mas t e r s degr e e s focus upon a

s ingle subject ar ea , but minis t ry is l ike an eve r -dive rs ify ing

vocat ion , r equir ing more and more subject ar eas to provide a

beg inn ing compe t e nce l eve l . I f many subj e c t s mus t be t aught a t the

in troductory leve l to s tudents with bare ly enough t ime to s tudy , is

the re not a bui l t - in chal lenge to the goal of a learned minis t ry among

us?

Models of Ministry

How did we ar r ive a t such a s ta te , and what is to be done? I sugges t

that a br ie f explorat ion of the mode ls of minis t ry produced over

these past decade s wil l c lar ify som e of the prob le ms. Fur th e rmo re ,

the church as a whole , and not the seminar ies a lone , must toge the r

approach a r esolut ion; for I am not wil l ing to give up on the neces

s i ty that the church indeed shal l know a learned minis t ry among us ,

both c le r ical and lay .

The probing of di ff e r e n t mode ls of min i s t r y be gan i n e a r n e s t

midcen tur y w i th the groundbr eak ing work ca l l ed The Church and Its

Ministry by H. Richard Niebuhr ."^ The new mode l proposed was the

minis te r as pas toral dir ector . Deeply embedded in this mode l was a



vis ion of the congregat ion i tse l f engaged in minis t ry , with the pas tor

exercis ing the role of faci l i ta tor of minis t ry . Niebuhr saw such a role

as be ing deeply theological in nature . But one of the major e f f ects of

the mode l was the increas ing tendency to t rans la te i t f rom the

proposed pas toral dir ector to pas toral adminis t ra tor .

Cor r e spon din g ly , i t be came impor tan t to i nc lude s tud ie s i n

adminis t ra t ion in seminary cur r icula . I n this modes t way, the

prol i f e ra t ion of subject matte rs to be maste r ed began .

A decade la t e r , Hans K i ing proposed a s e rvan t mode l o f

minis t ry ,^ and about the same t ime in Amer ica the l ibe rat ion

theo logi e s began coming i n to be ing . The s e rvan t mode l pos ed the

pas tor unde r the image of "d iacon ia , " and as s e rvan t w i th the

church to the oppressed within socie ty . The not ion of the r e ign of

God as preached by Jesus was in te rpre ted as a dominant cal l to thesocial good . In Kun g ' s words , "G o d ' s cause is [ human i t y ' s ]

we l l -be in g" ; ^ in l ibe r a t ion pa r lan ce , " God has a pr e f e r e n t ia l op t ion

for the poor . " Wi th in Nor th Amer ican churche s , th i s ca l l mean t

preparat ion of seminar ians to par t ic ipate in social causes , so that the

f ie ld of sociology, both of cul ture and of knowledge , became

essen t ia l to minis te r ia l educat ion . Eventual ly sociology of r e l igion

spawne d s tud i e s i n e thn ography , an thropology , and theo logy of

cul ture , as we l l as s tudies in the new l i te ra tures of l ibe rat ion

theologies . Not a l l s eminar ies could af ford the addi t ion of a

sociologis t on the ir facul t ie s , in which cases the new subject matte rwas of ten subsumed within the f ie lds of e thics or theology. But

however i t was deal t with, the age of theological innocence was

over : hence for th, a l l theological s tudies must pe r force deal with a

cul tural and pol i t ical cr i t ique of theology by br inging to l ight the

h idden norm of pr iv i l ege . And the cur r icu lum was e n la rged

accord ing ly .

I n the s eve n t i e s y e t ano the r mode l o f min i s t r y came to

promine nce , tha t o f the min i s t e r a s the one un ique ly e n t rus t ed w i th

the ca r e o f souls . Hen r i Nouwen ' s book . The Wounded Healer^

captur ed the e s s e nce of th i s mode l , r e i n forc ing the movemen t

a l r e ady begun i n the l a t e s ix t i e s to i nc r e as e the impor tance of

pas toral care in the cur r iculum. Clin ical pas toral educat ion courses

and i n t e r n sh ips we r e c r e a t ed , and de nomina t ions began making such

expe r i e nce a r equi r emen t for o rd ina t ion , which i n tu r n r equi r ed

sem in ar ies to include such off e r ings in the ir cu r r icula .



In the ear ly e ight ies , the mode l of the minis te r as evange l is t was

promulga t ed , pa r t l y i n r e spons e to a pe r ce ived ove r emphas is upon

the social minis t ry of the church and par t ly due to the pe rdur ing cal l

to proclamation in word as we l l as dee d that is a t the he ar t of

Chr i s t ian i t y . Cha i r s i n evange l i sm we r e accord ing ly e s tab l i shed , and

cour se s i n evan ge l i sm cor r e spondin g ly mu shroome d, e ach w i th

claim to inclus ion in cur r icula r equir ements .

By this t ime , the mode l of minis t ry was not a matte r of success ive

formulat ions , each of which r eplaced the othe rs , but a matte r of

accre t ion . For ce r ta in ly each mode l s t r essed an essen t ia l face t of

minis t ry : pas tors are cal led upon to be adminis t ra tors , to be se rvant

leaders in the social mission of the church, to be carers of souls, to

be evange l i s t s . Thus , cour s e s we r e no t d ropped f rom the

curr icula—ând indeed, s ince facul t ie s now included tenuredprofessors who were exper ts in each of these discipl ines , how could

the cours e s be droppe d? Ra the r , the nu mbe r of d i scip li n e s r equi r ed

to equip pe rsons for the eve r more complex vocat ion of minis t ry

s imply increased. A typical r equir ed cur r iculum in seminar ies

i nc luded O ld Te s tamen t , New Tes tamen t , h i s tor y , theo logy ,

phi losophy , evange l i sm, e th ics , soc io logy , admin i s t r a t ion ,

preaching, worship, psychology of r e l igion , pas toral care , r e l igious

edu cat ion , den omin at ional s tudies (usual ly three course s) , f ie ld

educat ion , and of ten c l in ical pas toral educat ion—and each of these

discipl ines had to begin a t the in t roductory leve l .But this was hardly the end of it . During all this t ime the

un de rs tan ding of al l r e l igion , and n ot jus t Chr is t ian i ty , was rapidly

increas ing in the academy through the even t of the his tory of

r e l igions school . The impact on preparat ion for Chr is t ian minis t ry

l ie s in the hard fact that un t i l one unders tands a r e l igion othe r than

one ' s own , one doe s no t fu l l y unde r s tand one ' s own . To r e ad the

re l igious texts of another cul ture and to see the formation and

function of an other r e l igion increase s on e ' s sen s i tivi ty to the in ne r

structure and social functions of Christianity as a re ligion and gives

Chr is t ian leaders a new perspect ive on the r e la t ion of Chr is t ian i ty to

other r e l igions (of ten in our ne ighborhoods , and no longer

conven i e n t l y ove r s eas ) . Such knowledge a l so i l lumine s the r e la t ion

of s t ructures within Chr is t ian i ty to the sur rounding cul ture . One

ponde r s an ew some of the poss ib l e ex t e ns ions of John Wes l e y ' s

e cumen ica l l y w is e advice to " th ink and l e t th ink" i n our cur r e n t age



of r e l igious plural ism. Preparat ion for minis t ry in today ' s small

wor ld is no longer adequate i f future pas tors do not begin to

unde r stand a t l e as t on e r e l ig ion o the r than Chr i s tian i t y .

There is ye t one more area that is of increas ing impor tance to a

contemporary mode l of minis t ry : the role of the ar ts in cul ture and

re l igion . This is mediated by the dominance of f i lms in our socie ty ,

but in t ruth a ful l unders tanding of l i turgy , church archi tec ture , and

even the us e of me taphor i n p r e aching r equi r e s some formal

unde r s tand ing of the a r t s . And so once aga in , an a r e a of und isputed

impor tance is in t roduced in to seminary educat ion , vy ing for i ts own

space on our facul t ie s and in an increas ingly crowded cur r iculum.

Meanwhi l e , a l so i n the e igh t i e s , cons t i tue nc i e s and de nomina t ions

asked that the seminar ies include such things as courses in f inancial

management , spir i tual i ty , minis t ry with pe rsons with handicappingcondi t ions , urban minis t r ie s , rural minis t r ie s , and var ious e thnic

h istori e s in cur r icu la r equi r em en ts . As a s emin ar y de an a t Wes l e y

Theologica l S em inar y i n Washin g ton , D . C , I was regula r l y

bes ieged by earnes t individuals or groups s t rongly urging us to add a

par t icular course to the r equir ed cur r iculum, or a t l eas t to make i t

avai lable as an e lec t ive . They found i t hard to comprehend, of

cour s e , tha t by now the M.Div . s tuden t had pr ec ious f ew e l e c t ive s ;

e lec t ives ar e large ly the luxury of s tudents in the othe r programs of

our schools . But without e lec t ives , of course , s tudents ar e

hard-pressed for the oppor tuni ty to go beyond the in t roductory leve lo f r e qu i r e m e n t s .

I s i t any wonder , then , that Edward Far ley ' s 1983 inquiry in to the

uni ty of theological educat ion , Theologiay was so avidly read by

semin ary facul tie s and admin is t ra tors? Far le y called a tten t ion to the

f ragmentat ion of theological educat ion and arguedin par t that the

un i ty of theological educat ion is the " ha b i t us " of vir tue inculcated

through the s eminar y e xpe r i e n ce . M ean whi l e , i n the School of

Theology a t Cla r emon t , John B. Cobb, J r . and Jos eph Hough

proposed a mode l of the minis te r as a theological pract i t ione r and

pract ical theologian and sugges ted a cor responding control over the

cur r iculum that would put f ie ld educat ion in to a pos t-seminary

in te rnship, thus f r e e ing up some of the packed cur r iculum for fur the r

work in bibl ical s tudies , his tory , and theology.^ Char les Wood at

Pe rk ins School of Theology deve loped a complemen ta r y mode l o f

minis t ry in his book Vision and Discernment that also called upon



the minis te r to lead the congregat ion in to t ransformative miss ion .

And a t Candle r , J ames Hopewe lPs work i n congr ega t iona l min i s t r y

was public ized pos thumo usly in a book called Beyond Clericalism^

ed i t ed by Jos eph Hough and Barbara Whee l e r .

Throughout this l i t e ra ture runs the assumption that minis te r ia l

educa t ion has somehow gone awry i n our t ime and tha t by a t t e nd ing

to the paradigm of minis t ry and fashioning theological educat ion

accord ing ly , we might be ab le to s t re n g the n a s y s t em d ia t n o lon ge r

seems to work as we l l as i t once did. A second theme is the r enewed

emphasis upon the congregat ion as a lso involved in the minis t ry of

the church. This in t roduces a third theme , which is the role of the

pas tor in equipping the congregat ion for minis t ry . And this , of

course , is the crux of the problem. Minis t ry is not an end in itself,

nor i s the congr ega t ion the e nd purpose of min i s t r y . Ra the r , the e nd

of minis t ry is the miss ion of the church in the worship and work of

God. If all of these disciplines are required for effective ministry ( in

which the congr ega t ion i s a l so e ngaged) , the n a r e the y no t i n some

sense r equir ed for the congregat ion as we l l as the c le rgy? But i f the

cle rgy ' s educat ion has included al l of these discipl ines a t an

in troductory leve l , how is the c le rgy able to share them with the

congregat ion , much less be exper t in each of these discipl ines he r or

himself? So we re turn to the original question: Is i t realistic any

longe r to expec t s emin ar y e duca tion to provide a l e a r n ed min i s t ry

among us?

A Rationale for Ministry

Given the cur r icula logis t ics I have he re out l ined, i t is probably evi

den t that I f e e l some r e luctan t cyn ic ism with r egard to this ques t ion .

I f ear that under these condi t ions , a l l of our seminar ies tend to gradu

ate s tudents who know a l i t t l e about a lot but not much of any thing.

We provide an e thos ra the r than an educat ion . But I am not a t a l l

r e ady to g ive up on the hope of a le a r n e d m in i s t ry . I us e d i e r em ain

der of the ar t ic le to out l ine the r easons for my zeal and my hope that

toge the r we might f ind ways to approximate the goal .

Why do I cons ide r a learned c le rgy so vi ta l for the church? As in

eve r y age , we l ive i n "pe r i lous t imes , " I have be e n working for the

pas t year on a book on or iginal s in , which is i tse l f a depress ing



subject . But to deal with the r ea l i ty of s in is to face head-on the

violat ion of the image of God that pe rvades our wor ld. Of course ,

this has a lways been the case , but today the wor ld is so much

smalle r , our capaci ty for des truct ion is so much greate r , and the

damage we actual ly inf l ic t is increas ingly disas trous . I ment ion only

the needless s tarvat ion in Somalia ; the new Auschwitz that is be ing

created in Bosnia-Herzegovina; the Los Ange les r iots or upr is ing

(depend ing on one ' s pe r spec t ive ) ; the S&L scanda l which has

impover ished many and wil l cont inue to do so; the apparen t increase

in chi ld and woman abuse ; the e scalat ing violence among chi ldren as

wel l as adul ts ; and, of course , our par t ic ipat ion , a long with the r es t

of the wor ld, in lay ing waste this good ear th and i ts a tmosphere .

Redeve lopmen t o f the doc t r i n e o f o r ig ina l s i n n eve r s e emed so va l id .

But what does this have to do with a learned minis t ry?I accept Hans Kiing ' s dic tum that God's cause is humani ty ' s

we l l -be ing and that the task of the church in the wor ld today is the

de e p wor sh ip of God through miss ion . John We s l e y sa id , "O n e of

the pr incipal rules of r e l igion is , to lose no occas ion of se rving God.

And s ince [God] is invis ible to our eyes , we are to se rve [God] in

our ne ighbor ; which [God] r ece ives as i f done to [God's own] se l f in

pe r son , s tand in g v is ib ly be for e u s . " ^ ^ We are cal led to worship God

through our se rvices of worship and through that othe r kind of

worship, which is s imply se rvice . I am convinced that God cal ls the

church to the dee p min is t ry of be in g a t ransformin g force toward the

good in socie ty .

But such s ta tements ar e eas i ly s ta ted and harder to car ry out . Such

ministry requires more than a modest effort; i t calls for

congregat ions to l ive deeply in to the ir Chr is t ian iden t i ty and f rom

the ir Chr is t ian iden t i ty . I t cal ls upon congregat ions to be sens i t ive to

our own participation in the il ls of socie ty that we are called to

address ; i t cal ls on congregat ions to know the ir his tory as a people

ever involved both in the pe rpe tuat ion and t ransformation of

his tory ' s sor rows; i t cal ls upon congregat ions to be deeply immersedin the gospe l texts that of f e r courage and empowerment for minis t ry ;

i t cal ls upon congregat ions to br ing theological assessment to the

issues of the ir t ime and place . And i t cal ls upon congregat ions to use

the ir var ious exper t ise in a l l the vocat ions that make up our socie ty

in se rvice to God's cal l to humani ty ' s we l l -be ing. In shor t .



congregat ions need to ut i l ize the ir secular abi l i t i e s and theological

abi l i t i e s i f they are to be e f f ect ive ly engaged in miss ion .

But by and large our la i ty , while qui te in te l l igen t and highly

educated, ar e r e l igious ly i l l i t e ra te . Do not our seminar ians come

from the la i ty? And i f those f rom the congregat ions who f ee l cal led

to ordained se rvice ar e r e l igious ly i l l i t e ra te , can we r eal ly hope that

the congregat ions have a much higher leve l of r e l igious l i t e racy?

And why should we expect i t? We teach our chi ldren the things of

God one hour a we ek ; s e ldom do we r equi r e homework or

accoimtability for what is learned. If we taught mathematics or

r eading in the same way that we teach r e l igion , paren ts would r ise in

a furor , demanding change . But se ldom do paren ts protes t that

educat ion in Chr is t ian i ty is not r igorous enough; knowing l i t t l e

themse lve s , the y r equi r e l i t t l e o f the i r ch i ldr e n . We havecongr ega t ions who a r e de ep ly commit t ed to ca r i ng for one ano the r ,

to par t ic ipat ing in Sunday worship, and to be ing fa i thful in the ir

g iv ing—but the y ac t ou t o f bapt iz ed common s e ns e and do no t eve n

r e a l iz e tha t mor e might be n e ce s sa r y .

How is the c le rgy to equip the congregat ion for minis t ry? For

given the prol i f e ra t ion of subject matte rs , the pas tor has se ldom had

the luxury of more than one or two courses in any subject .

Congregat ions of ten think the pas tor does not share bibl ical or

theological s tudies with them because the subjects ar e too complexand too deep to be shared. The r eal i ty is more apt to be that the

pastor is too unsure of the subject matter to begin to share it , lest his

or he r so-cal led exper t ise be exposed. Ins tead, the pas tor fa l ls upon

the pract ical funct ions of minis t ry in adminis t ra t ion and the

individual care of souls , taking cont inuing educat ion courses in these

subjects to increase e f f ect iveness in these vis ible f ie lds , as opposed

to the invisible f ie lds of biblical studies, church history, or theology.

I s e e i t i n our D .Min . p rograms : he r e I th ink we s e e the c r e am of

the min i s t e r ia l c rop , exce ed ing ly f i n e and dece n t people , w i th a

work week unbe l ievably f i l l ed with the complex tasks of minis t ry ,

coming back to s eminar y hungry to l e a r n . For i nde ed , eve n though

they have be e n i n min i s t r y for a numbe r of y e a r s , the i r knowledge i n

bibl ical s tudies , theology, and, above a l l , church his tory is s t i l l

r ud imen ta r y . We do no t have a l e a r n ed c l e rgy ; how can we expec t a

learned la i ty?



Practical Suggestions

for Renewing Theological Educat ion

But what is to be don e? O ur facul tie s ar e e xpe r t a t juggl in g cu r r icu la ; we f i nd i nnova t ive ways to package the many cour s e s we a r e

cal led upon to of f e r so that we might increase the e f f ect iveness of

any one cour s e . We a r r ange the s equence of cour s e s to maximize the

cont inui t ie s of the discipl ines . And we work long hours in individual

consul ta t ions with s tudents , he lping them to deve lop the ir theologies ,

all the while see ing how diff icult a task that is on the basis of but one

backgroun d co urse . The fact is that n o matte r how w e jugg le the cur

r iculum, we are stil l faced with the logistical fact that given the num

be r of cour s e s we mus t o f fe r , we can n eve r g ive our s tuden t s e n ough.

Fur the rmore , i t is not r ea l ly poss ible for us to decrease the

requir ements of the cur r iculum for the s imple pol i t ical r eason that by

now we have facul t ie s whose areas of exper t ise l i e in a l l these

var ious discipl ines . And indeed, each discipl ine is by now essen t ia l

to that complex vocat ion , minis t ry . To r equir e a cur r iculum, then , is

to r equi r e tha t e ach d i sc ip l i n e be r epr e s e n t ed among the

requir ements . Nor is the problem solved i f we move to an e lec t ive

cur r iculum, s ince this r equir es specify ing areas in which the

e lect ives must be taken; and, again , logis t ics mit igate agains t depth

c ove r a ge .Ye t i f we are to have a learned c le rgy among us , i t is e ssen t ia l

tha t s eminar ians go be yond a rud imen ta r y knowledge of b ib l ica l

s tudies , church his tory , an d theolog y , for the pas tor must be the

beare r of the texts and the t radi t ions to the congregat ion .

Fur the rmore , the pas tor must be capable of doing so not toward the

s imple r epe t i t ion of the texts and t radi t ions but in a l l the l iving

dynamism of t ex t s which con t i nue to be t r ans format ive and he nce

con t i nue to tr ans form the l iv ing , on going t r ad i t ion .

I e a r li e r sugge s ted tha t the s emin ar ie s a lon e can n o t adequa t e l y

addr e s s the probl em but tha t s eminar i e s and de nomina t ions working

toge the r might . S ince I am much impr e s s ed by John Wes l e y ' s hab i t

of o f f e r i ng "advice s" conce r n ing h i s own theo logica l s ta t emen ts , I

dare to fol low his example he re . But ul t imate ly the r esolut ion to the

problem must be a corporate r esolut ion , worked out toge the r , so that

my sugge s t ions can be on ly s ta r t i ng po in t s .



First, i t might be that we need to follow the practice of some

other denominat ions by increas ing the r igor of our ordinat ion

examinat ion process . I f in fact we are convinced that a sol id

foundat ion in bibl ical s tudies is e ssen t ia l for min is t ry , w hy n ot

deve lop s tandards tha t r equi r e , l ike the P r e sby t e r ians , s eminar ians to

pass a Bibl e con t e n t exam a t the beg in n ing of the i r s em inar y s tud ie s?

I f professors could assume some knowledge of Bible conten t on the

par t of the ir s tudents , they could move on much more quickly to

deeper s tudies . And why should we not r equir e that prospect ive

e lde rs pass r igorous te s ts in bibl ical s tudies , his tory , and theology?

The e f f ect of such r equir ements would be that our future c le rgy

would have to use the ir deacon years to bui ld on the foundat ion

begun in s emin ar y , whe the r th rough con t i nued formal or i n formal

s tudy, in order to pass the exams.Second, we could increase the r igor of our cont inuing educat ion

r equi r em en ts , us ing th i s oppor tun i t y to he lp our c l e rgy to e n gage i n

l i f e long learn ing. Several years ago I under took a s tudy of

cont inuing educat ion programs. My f indings indicated that we

overut i l ize cont inuing educat ion for increas ing ski l ls in minis t ry and

underut i l ize the oppor tuni ty for increas ing our bibl ical , his tor ical , or

theo logica l knowledge . Fur the r , i f my own expe r i e nce i s any gu ide ,

the un i t s depend on ly on the ac tua l hour s spe n t toge the r , w i th n e i the r

pr epara t ion nor as s ignmen ts . I some t imes wonde r as to the r e a l

contr ibut ion to increased depdi of minis t ry of f e r ed through such

occas ions . But what i f we put te e th in to our cont inuing educat ion

programs? What i f we r equir ed that two years fol lowing seminary

educat ion , a pas tor must en te r a f ive -year pe r iod in which she or he

would take a t l eas t seven courses in one s ingle subject matte r

selected from the f ie lds of biblical studies, history, or theology? And

what i f the as s ignmen ts i n the s e cour s e s we r e no t academic pape r s

but adaptat ion of the subject matte r to the congregat ional se t t ing?

Wh at if the ass ignm en t is to incorporate the subject matte r in on e ' s

pr e aching min i s t r y? Or one ' s t e ach ing min i s t r y? And suppos ing the

congr ega t ion r a the r than the profe s sor " pa ss e d" the pas tor? But

that , of course , sounds dangerous .

To con t i nue my specula t ions , wha t i f upon the conc lus ion of the s e

f irst f ive years the pastor could take an academic rest for one or two

years and then commence a second f ive -year pe r iod of s tudy in

another discipl ine? Supposing this fa ir ly r igorous s t r e tch of



con t i nu ing educa t ion i n the t ex t s and t r ad i t ions we r e accompan i ed

with in tens ive workshop oppor tuni t ie s in the var ious minis te r ia l

tasks , such as adminis t ra t ion , preaching, educat ion , and pas toral

ca r e ? G iven the complex i t y o f min i s t r y and the i n t roduc tor y na tur e

of most seminary courses , could we not bui ld a sys tem of l i f e long

educat ion—ând in the process , se e to a vibrant ly learn ing and

l e a r n ed c l e rgy among us?

Ah, you might say, but if the pastor is involved in all this

learn ing, how is the pas tor avai lable to lead the congregat ion in the

miss ion you ear l ie r c la imed was so vi ta l? Ah, I might answer , i f the

pas tor is shar ing this learn ing with the congregat ion a long the way,

isn ' t it jus t poss ible that the con greg at ion wil l a lso capture the vis ion

of mis s ion w i th in i t s own communi ty i n eve r de epe r ways? Cannot

the Spi r i t us e the oppormni ty of de epe r e ngagemen t w i th the th ings

of fa i th to br ing about deeper engagement with Chr is t ian miss ion?

For miss ion is our iden t i ty .

Ye t a th ird sugge s t ion . W e have an e n ormous oppor tun i t y th rough

the para l l e l min i s t r y t r ack , the d iacona t e . S ince we n e ed a l e a r n ed

cle rgy for the sake of a learned la i ty , might we not concentra te

dir ect ly on the la i ty as we l l as on the c le rgy? Tradi t ional ly , the

diaconate focused on vocat ions such as music , educat ion , and

se rvice minis t r ie s within the church. But what about the poss ibi l i ty

of a new kind of deacon as a congregat ional scholar in Bible ,

h i s tor y , o r theo logy? I f r equen t l y mee t pe r sons coming to s eminar yfor a maste rs degree s imply because they want to learn more about

the Chr is t ian fa i th . They usual ly come to seminary as par t- t ime

s tudents , s ince they cont inue to main ta in the ir profess ions ; the ir goal

i s n o t to change occupa tions bu t to be come be t t e r - in formed

Chr is t ians . Supposing the re was a role for such persons in the

diaconate? Unl ike future e lde rs , such people have the luxury of

focusing upon a s ingle discipl ine in the ir maste rs program. Could we

not e ncourage such s tudy and orda in pe r sons comple t i ng such a

course as deacons? The ir work as congregat ional scholar would not

be a paid se rvice ; the ir l ive l ihood would cont inue to come f rom the irprof e s s ions . But would we no t have c r e a t ed a conve r sa t ion par tn e r

for the pas tor and a consul tan t in things theological for the

congr ega t ion as a whole?

Four th, we need to give greate r cons ide rat ion to mate r ia ls for lay

educat ion .^" ' Congregat ions may be r e l igious ly i l l i t e ra te , but



ignorance doe s no t mean s tup id i t y . Un i t ed Me thodis t s a r e commit t ed

to higher educat ion; why should we assume a low leve l of

in te l l igence when i t comes to adul t s tudies? Actual ly , of course , we

have made i nnova t ive progr e s s w i th our educa t ion programs , such asthe d i scuss ion we e ncouraged sur rounding the Bishops ' l e t t e r " I n

De f e ns e of Cr ea t ion" a f ew yea r s ago; we have a l so i n t roduced the

Covenan t -D isc ip l e sh ip concep t , and the cur r e n t D isc ip l i ng mate r ia l s .

But do we have s tudy guides that congregat ions may work with as

the y d i r e c t l y con f ron t John Wes l e y ' s wr i t i ngs? Wes l e y wrot e for

"p la in " peop le w i th a d i sa rmin g d i re c tn e s s and s impl ic it y . H is

s e rmons we r e wr i t t e n for l ay fo lk who we r e pr e aching ; why no t

ut i l ize them in ten t ional ly for lay folk cal led as congregat ions in to

minis t ry? I have of ten thought that A Plain Account of Christian

Perfection—marve lous docu me n t of Me thodism— should betaught in eve ry par ish, so that Uni ted Methodis ts can see f i r s thand

how Chr is t ian fa i th en ta i ls cont inued growth in love , even to the

poin t of be ing open to learn ing f rom those with whom we

theo logica l l y d i sagr e e . Wes l e y p i t s no oppos i t ion be tween "works of

p i e t y" and "works of me rcy , " bu t r a the r unde r s tands e ach as the

dep th d imen s ion of the o the r . Why no t t ake the s e p la in accoun ts to

congr ega t ions and expec t them to become who the y a r e—tha t

pecul ia r people among the Chr i s t ians known as Me thodis t s? Why no t

take as a goal that a l l Uni ted Methodis ts should be given the

oppor tun i t y and e ncouragemen t to s tudy the works of John Wes l e y?

Fif th, s ince in most of our institutions f inancial aid is never

enough to suppor t a seminar ian through school , could we not

r e cons ide r the propor tion of our de n omina t iona l budge t tha t goe s

toward that great mercy accorded to a l l our seminar ies and

seminar ians , the Minis te r ia l Educat ion Fund? I f the future of our

church depends upon a l e ade r sh ip tha t p rovide s "an educa t ed

minis t ry among us" for the sake of the whole miss ion and minis t ry

of the church, should not this fund be increased so that s tudents

might spend le ss of the ir t ime scrambling to mee t tui t ion , r en t , and

othe r expens e s and ga in mor e t ime for s tudy?

Sixth, with r egard to M.Div. educat ion itself, Jos eph Hough

shared with me a vis ion of cr eadng a Summer Ins t i tute for Par ish

Min is t r y . He r e c l e rgy and s eminar ians could s tudy toge the r the

complex of funct ions that make up the pract ice of

minis t ry—cer ta in ly not in isola t ion f rom bibl ical s tudies , his tory ,



and theology, but in such a way that these dimens ions of the whole

spectrum of min is try would be brought in to vie w. Would

denomina t ions suppor t a r edeve lopmen t o f the M.Div . cur r icu lum so

that the academic year was focused on the texts and the t radi t ions ,

cr i t ical ly unders tood in te rms of the ir cul tural context? The one

so-called practical discipline that would thread its way through such

study would be homile t ics , with eve ry c lass giving some focus to the

implicat ions of the s tudy for the preaching minis t ry of the church.

Meanwhile , the funct ional aspects of minis t ry could be deal t with in

the in tens ive summer ins t i tutes , not as par t of the cr edi t r equir ements

of the cur r iculum, but as par t of the denominat ion ' s expectat ions for

ordinat ion . The cont inuing educat ion c le rgy in the ins t i tute c lasses

could be ass igned mentor ing funct ions for the seminar ian

par t ic ipants , dius fos te r ing the connect ional aspect of minis t ry that isso n ece s sa r y w i th in a con f e r e nce .

Seventh and f inal ly—and perhaps as an a l te rnat ive to the

above—what i f we took the two y ea r s be tween M.Div . g r adua t ion

and ordinat ion to e lde r se r ious ly as a t ime of cont inued preparat ion?

Could we not then cons truct these f ive years in such a way that the

f i r s t three would be dedicated to an M.Div. degree that a imed

toward cr i t ical maste ry of the texts and the t radi t ions , with the two

years of pos t-M.Div. work becoming the t rue f ie ld educat ion of the

pas tor? Could we not ut i l ize this in tens ive pe r iod of beginn ingmin i s tr y as a t ime whe n con gr ega t ions w ho a r e w i l li ng to accep t the

chal lenge of be ing a teaching congregat ion would work with the

appoin ted pas tor as she or he began to maste r the funct ions of

minis t ry? Seminar ies and dis t r ic ts could provide monthly in tens ive

workshops in educat ion , adminis t ra t ion , and pas toral care , now to be

s tudied in the product ive pre ssure of par ish min is t ry .

None of the above sugges t ions is without i ts problems, and they

do not begin to exhaust the ways by which we might address the

issues . But i t s e ems to me that the chal lenge of providing the church

with a learned minis t ry is so great that the seminar ies a lone or the

c l e rgy a lone or the congr ega t ions a lone or the de nomina t iona l boards

alone cannot adequate ly address the issue ; we must address i t

toge the r . The problem can be so lved , and by the grace of God who

empower s our e f for t s , we w i l l i nde ed have a l e a r n ed min i s t r y among

us.



Notes

1 . G e r a l d O . M c C u U o h , Ministerial Education in the American Methodist Movement

( N a s h v i l l e : B o a r d o f H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n an d M i n i s t r y , 1 9 8 0 ) , 2 0 . M c C u U o h c i t es t he

1 8 3 4 e d i t o r i a l p u b l i s h e d b y J o h n P. D u i h i n i n the Christian Advocate and Journal.

2 . T h e N e w b u i y B i b l i c a l I n s t i t u t e w a s e s t a b l i s h e d i n 1 8 2 9 , b u t t h e fi rs t c l a s s a d m i t t e d

f o r t h e p u r p o s e o f e d u c a t i o n was in 1840.

3 . T h i s was in an a d d r e s s g i v e n t h r o u g h t he A s s o c i a t i o n o f T h e o l o g i c a l S c h o o l s ; I

a m no t a w a r e o f i t s p u b l i c a t i o n .

4 . H , R i c h a r d N i e b u h r , i n c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h D a n i e l D a y W i l l i a m s an d J a m e s

G u s t a f s o n , 7 7 1 ^ Church and Its Ministry ( N e w Y o r k : H a r p e r & R ow , 1 9 5 6 ) .

5 . H a n s K u n g , The Church ( G a r d e n C i t y : D o u b l e d a y & C o . , 1 9 6 7 ) . See e s p e c i a l l y

S e c t i o n E. , * * T h e O f f i c e s o f t h e C h u r c h . "

6 . T h i s t h e m e i s d e v e l o p e d e v e n m o r e f u l l y b y K i i n g i n On Being a Christian ( G a r d e n

C i t y : D o u b l e d a y & C o . , 1 9 7 4 ) , p a r t i c u l a r l y i n S e c t i o n C I V , T h e C o n f l i c t . "

7 . H e n r i N o u w e n , Vie Wounded Healer ( G a r d e n C i t y : D o u b l e d a y , 1 9 7 2 ) .

8 . E d w a r d F a r l e y , Theologia: Vie Fragmentation and Unity of Vieological Educa-

tion ( P h i l a d e l p h i a : F o r t r e s s P r e s s , 1 9 8 3 ) .

9 . J o s e p h C . H o u g h , J r . , a n d J o h n B . C o b b , J r . Christian Identity and Vieological

Education ( C h i c o , C A : S c h o l a r s P r e s s , 1 9 8 5 ) .

1 0 . C h a r l e s W o o d , Vision and Discernment: An Orientation in Theological Study

( A t l a n t a : S c h o l a r s P r e s s , 1 9 8 5 ) .

1 1 . J o s e p h C . H o u g h , Jr . , and B a r b a r a G . W h e e l e r , e d s . . Beyond Clericalism: Vie

Congregation as the Focus for Vieological Education ( A t l a n t a : Sc h o l a r s P r e s s , 1 9 8 8 ) .

1 2 . J o h n W e s l e y , A Plain Account of Christian Perfection ( L o n d o n : E p w o r t h P r e s s ,1 9 6 8 ) , 103.

1 3 . L o i s S e i f e r t , o f t he C l a r e m o n t U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t C h u r c h , w as a s k e d h o w w e

c o u l d i n s u r e a s t r o n g e d u c a t i o n a l p r o g r a m f o r our c h i l d r e n . Sh e a n s w e r e d , * * B y

p r o v i d i n g a s t r o n g e d u c a t i o n a l p r o g r a m f o r ou r a d u l t s . * '





Leonard D. Hulley

Methodism in an Apartheid Society

/

h a socie ty in which, s ince 1948, racia l pre judice was made par t

of the legal sys tem, the Methodis t Church of Southern Afr ica had

to f ind i ts way. I t must be said that the re was discr iminatory

legis la t ion on the s ta tute books be fore that date , but I shal l not even

at tempt to explain the extr emely complex nature of pol i t ical and

other r ights which be longed to the var ious groups . Suff ic ien t to say

that pol i t ical power was in the hands of the white minor i ty .

The National is t Par ty came to power in 1948 on an apar the id

t icke t and se t about t ry ing to unscramble the egg. They had a vis ion

of separat ing socie ty in to comple te ly discre te racia l components onthe pol i t ical , t e r r i tor ia l , social , educat ional , economic, and

eccles ias t ical leve ls . The idea was that the only contact be tween

members of dif f e r en t races would be where i t was unavoidable

insofar as the whites needed black^ labor . This except ion gives l ie to

the idea that was propagated by the National is t Par ty that eve ry thing

was to be separate but equal .

I n 1949 a con f e r e n ce was a rr ange d i n Ross e t e n v i l le ,

Johan n esb urg, by the Chr is t ian Coun ci l of South Afr ica, fore run n e r

of the South Afr ican Counci l of churches , to discuss the apar the id

pol icy of the n ewly e l e c t ed gove r nmen t . Me thodis t min i s t e r s p layed

L e o n a r d D . H u U e y i s P r o f e s s o r o f T h e o l o g i c a l E t h i c s at t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f S o u t h A f r i c a ,

P r e t o r i a , S o u t h A f r i c a .



l eading roles in that confe r ence , both organizat ional ly and as

speakers . I t was a mult i racia l confe r ence . Chie f Alber t Luthul i , a

Nobe l Pr ize winne r for his peaceful r es is tance to apar the id, be ing

one of the speake r s . The con f e r e e s a rgued tha t because God c r e a t ed

al l people in the divine image they possessed an essen t ia l un i ty

which t ranscended al l dif f e r ences . However , fol lowing a sugges t ion

in Chie f Luthul i ' s paper , the confe r ence a lso s ta ted:

We consider that in principle adult persons of all ra ces

should share in the responsibility of the government of the

country. This implies the exercise of the franchise. We recog

nize that at present many such persons are not ready for this

responsibility. We therefore agree to a qualified franchise

(Christian Council, 1949:76)

The par t ic ipants , the r e fore , he ld that a t that s tage not a l l blacks

had r eached the leve l of deve lopment or educat ion which would

enable them to ful ly par t ic ipate in the pol i t ical process .

Apartheid in the Methodis t Church

The Methodis t Church was , and s t i l l is , made up of a mixture of

people f rom al l par ts of the country , the major i ty of whom are

black. I t too was gui l ty of racia l pre judice . I ndeed, race pre judice is

something which is of ten pracdced unawares . I t is embodied in

at t i tudes and behavior pat te rns as we l l as in formal measures such as

the laws and discipline of the church or in i ts stadstics. I t is

a l l -pe rvas ive . The pract ice and legis ladon of die Metf iodis t Church

re f lec ted much of that unconscious pre judice .

The leadership of the church was in the hands of whites . From the

conc lus ion r e ached a t the Rosse t e n v i ll e con f e r e n ce it may be saf e ly

assumed that the leadership, a long with vir tual ly a l l the * ' l ibe ral"

leaders of the day, held to the idea of a qualif ied franchise . This

presumably meant that ce r ta in measures in the church would fa l l

away as and when the r e was no longe r a n e ed for them. As we sha l l

see be low, discr iminatory pract ices and legis la t ion in the church

we r e progr e s s ive ly r emo ved , n o t because whi t e s thought tha t b lacks

had deve loped suf f ic ien t ly to take fur the r r espons ibi l i ty , but because



the y we r e re cogn ized as un jus t. I am, howe ve r , r unn ing ahead of

myself, so le t me r e turn to the ear l ie r years .

Fundamental statements of principle

The 1948 con f e r e nce r e sponded to the s ta t ed i n t e n t ion of the n ewly

e lected National is t Par ty government to take away such pol i t ical

r ights as coloured s and Africans then e n joye d, widi a s ignif icant

**Dec la r adon conce r n ing Race Re la t ions . " The con f e r e nce s ta t ed :

In this mu lti-racial land we are bound to take accou nt of the

basic Christian principle that every human being is entitled

to fundam ental h um an rights and dign ity and belongs to the

family of God, . , . No person of any race should be de

prived of constitutional rights or privileges merely o n the

grounds of race, . . . Political and social rights, especially

of the under privileged [sic] groups, should not be reduced

but rather developed and expanded. (Minutes, 1948:143)

It deplored the loss of political r ights by people who had held

them previous ly . The confe r ence fur the r argued that oppor tuni t ie s

for educa t ion and employmen t for the s e groups should be expanded .

With rare ins ight they he ld t i ia t the we lfare of the whole community

depended on the poor be ing e nab l ed to shar e i n and make d i e i r

contr ibut ion to that we lfare (Minutes , 1948:143) .

The n ex t impor tan t s ta t emen t o f p r i nc ip l e came some t e n y e a r s

la te r . By then the archi tec t of what has come to be called * 'grand

apar the id , " Dr . H , F. Ve rwoe rd , was the P r ime M in i s t e r . H e

vigorously pursued his ideal of separat ing the races comple te ly widi

al l his cons ide rable in te l lec t and the pol i t ical powers he could muste r

in a par l iament that suppor ted his views. As Minis te r of Nat ive

Affair s , he had caused an uproar in the churches when he t r ied to

de te rmine by legis la t ion that blacks may not worship toge the r with

whi te s in " w h i t e " a r e as . The churche s i n t e rpr e t ed th is in a b roade r

sense , i . e . , that racia l groups would not be a l lowed to worship

toge the r and mixed church mee t ings could not be he ld. The

Me thodis t Conf e r e nce he ld tha t no gove r nmen t had the r igh t to

de te rmine who was to be admit ted to worship and that i t would



ignore the provis ions of the proposed law (Minutes , 1957:140) . The

Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, in his capaci ty as Metropoli tan

of the Church of the P rovin ce , wro t e to the P r im e M in i s t e r i n w ords

that have echoed down the years : '*We f ee l bound to s ta te that i f the

Bil l were to become law in i ts presen t form we should ourse lves be

un able to obey it o r to coun s e l our c le rgy and people to do s o "

(Paton , 1973:280) . The bi l l was not passed. The Dutch Reformed

church had said nothing in the debate to this poin t . This , i t ave r r ed,

was not because i t suppor ted die government in i ts s tance , but i t

stood aloof, l i t e ra l ly to one s ide , in such matte rs .

Ve rwoe rd became P r ime Min i s t e r shor t l y a f t e rwards when the

incumbent died. He was now in a pos i t ion to implement his vis ion

widiout hindrance . I t is probably s ignif icant that his next move in

r espect to the churches was to wr i te to them te l l ing them t i ia t hebe l ieved that it was in the be s t in te r e s ts of the blacks that separate

churches should be es tabl ished along racia l l ines . There would then

be a church for each e thnic group, as was the case in the Dutch

Re forme d church. I t had churches for whites , Afr ican s , co lore ds ,

and Indians . I sugges t that Verwoerd did not want to t ry to legis la te

for separate churches , which he had the legis la t ive power to do,

because he had once burned his f ingers in a conf rontat ion with the

so-cal led Engl ish churches , large ly churches es tabl ished by

miss ionar ies or se t t le r s f rom the Uni ted Kingdom. In r esponse to the

l e t t e r f rom Ve rwoe rd , the con f e r e nce r e so lved :

TJie Conference declares Us conviction that it is the will of

God for the Methodist chu rch that it should be one and un di

vided, trusting to the leading of God to bring this ideal to ul

timate fruition, and that this be the general ba sis of our

missionary policy. . . . Moreover, Conference believes that

an increase, not a decrease, in mu lti-racial co-operation is

God's Will} (Minutes, 1960:74)

The confe r ence appoin ted a s t rong mult i racia l committe e to deal

with matte rs that should ar ise f rom the implementadon of the pol icy .

Thr e e of the four lay pe r sons appoin t ed to d i e commit t e e we r e

black, two advocates a t law and one a medical doctor .

The s ta tement i tse l f has proved to be prophe t ic . I t has se rved as a

lodes tar in t imes of tens ion , r eminding us that a l l the par ts of the



Methodis t church be long toge the r . I n that sense i t has had a salutary

e f f ect . Although at t imes the re w e re s t ron g dif fe r en ces of opin ion

which divided the church along racial l ines, i t happens less often

the s e days . The r e i s an unde r l y i ng convic t ion tha t we be long

toge the r . I ssues are debated on the ir mer i t and vot ing takes place on

diose te rms. H ow e ve r , die full implicat ions of what i t me an s to be

one and und iv ided a r e s t i l l be ing worked out . The or ig ina l r e spons e

to die sugges t ion that separate churches be es tabl ished was taken in

te rms of the miss ionary pol icy of the church. S ince then i t has

transpir ed that die convict ion has s t rong socio-edi ical implicat ions in

the l i f e of the church. Traces of racism in die church have had to be

iden t i f ied and deal t with. We now turn our a t ten t ion to that .

Dealing with Apartheid in the Church

The church became aware dia t a ldiough i t was crusading agains t

apartheid it was itse lf s til l guilty of much that had developed in

socie ty . I ts pol icy had been to t ry to br ing the races togedie r , and i t

in t roduced var ious measures to do so. One of diese was "pulpi t

exchanges across the colour l ine" (Minutes , 1961:142) . I n 1961 i t

ins t ructed the secre tary of the confe r ence to consul t with

depar tme n tal secre tar ies witi i a view to r em ovin g "rac ial

de marcat ion f rom i ts off ic ia l r e cords and legis la t ion " (Min ute s ,

1961:148) . He r e we can de t e c t a n ew approach eme rg ing ; i t was no t

a matter of qualifying for cer tain r ights and privileges, but i t was

regarded as wrong to discr iminate or dif f e r en t ia te on the bas is of

race . Removing racia l tags f rom die r ecords and legis la t ion was to

take some years to comple te . So, for example , s ta t is t ics of

membe r sh ip we r e kep t and r epor t ed to con f e r e nce a long r ac ia l l i n e s

until 1978.

Removing racial tags from die off icial records and legislation had

impor tan t symbolic value , for i t s ignal led that we were one and

undivided. But i t had wider implicat ions than mere ly r emoving racia l

categor ies f rom the legis la t ion . Both minis te r ia l and lay

r epr e s e n ta t ive s to the Annua l Conf e r e nce we r e e l e c t ed by s ynods i n

equa l numbe r s f rom among b lacks and whi t e s , r e spec t ive ly .

Removing the racia l tags meant dia t synods voted for r epresen ta t ives

widiout taking account of die i r race . Today one s t i l l f inds whites



e l e c t ed as con f e r e nce de l ega t e s a l though b lacks ou tnumbe r them in

synods. This suggests diat the church's ideal of multiracialism is

w or k i n g .

The f i r s t black to head up a major depar tment in the church was

die Rev . Andr ew Losaba , who was e l e c t ed to be mis s ionar y

s ec r e ta r y in the mid-1970s . P r ev iously the r e had a lways be e n two

secre tar ies , one white , the othe r black, with the former doing most

of the adminis t ra t ive work. Black leadership has come more s t rongly

to the fore in r e ce n t y e a r s when s eve r a l b lack min i s t e r s have he aded

up major depar tments . The f i r s t black pres iden t was the Rev. Se th

MokiUmi , i n 1964 . N ine y e a r s l a t e r the Rev . Jo tham Mvus i was

e lected to dia t of f ice . I n die years s ince dien the numbers have been

about even . Bishop Stanley Mogoba (1982-1987) was the f i r s t black

secre tary of die confe r ence . Unt i l 1987 the pres iden t of theconfe r ence , who was e lec ted annual ly , a lso had circui t and dis t r ic t

r e spons ib i li ti e s . In 1988 , whe n the church change d to a d i re e - y e a r

pres idency , i t a lso included the pr inciple of a separated pres iding

bishop. Bishop Mogoba was the f i r s t incumbent . At the end of his

te rm he was r e - e lec ted for a fur the r three -year te rm. I t was wide ly

f e l t dia t he was the most outs tanding leader in die church and diat his

leadership was needed in these days . He is play ing a major role as a

peace facilitator among disputing political factions in South Africa

today .

Minis te r ia l s t ipend scales were se t on a racia l bas is unt i l 1976.

The Annua l Conf e r e nce de t e rmined the min imum s t ipe nds to be pa id

for the var ious categor ies . Whites had the highes t scale , fol lowed by

coloureds and Indians on a common scale with Afr icans br inging up

the r ear . I n 1974 a s t ipend augmentat ion fund was es tabl ished.

Circui ts which paid more dian die se t minimum s t ipend had to pay a

levy on the excess ; this went in to the f t ind to augment the s t ipends of

those on the lower scales . The s t ipends for 1977 were se t out on one

scal e on ly , approximate ly 10 pe r ce n t h ighe r than the pr ev ious

African scale , witii a target of parity above the higher white scale in1983. This placed t r emendous pressure on the poore r c ircui ts , which

gene r a l l y we r e d i e rura l c i r cu i t s i n the b lack communi ty . The ta rge t

was r eached none the less . I t is s t i l l common, however , for weal thy

circui ts to pay more than die la id-down minimum, aldiough this is

more usual in urban c ircui ts where incomes are higher .



The is sue of rac ism in the church is nea t ly summarized in a

s t a t emen t o f th e 1984 con f e r enc e :

Wh ile the Method ist ch urch has rem ained m ulti-racial and

has a consistent record of statements opposing a partheid, ithas to a large extent, conformed in practice to the pattern of

a racist society. With the emergence of a strong black leader

ship in the ]960's and 1970's the Method ist church started a

process of eliminating racist practices and programmes of

education to be truly ''one and undivided. " (Minutes ,

1984:279)

If diis applied in society at large, i t applied all the more in the

church . The r eco rd o f th e church i n mak ing s t a t emen t s oppos i ng

apa rthe id has b e en a good on e , bu t th e em e rgen c e o f s ign i f ican t

b lack l eade r s i n th e church was an impor tan t d eve lopmen t . Thes e

were o f t e n young b lack min i s t e r s who had been I n f lu enc ed by S t eve

Biko , who emerged a s th e p r e emin en t s tuden t l eade r i n d i e l a t e

1960s and a s pokes pe r s on fo r d i e B lack Cons c ious n es s movemen t .

Undl h is deadi in 1977, whi le in pol ice cus tody , Biko was die one

person who was able to a r t icula te the hopes and aspira t ions of b lack

peop l e a nd i n s p i r e d i em to embark on th e i r own l ib e ra t ion .

Black Consciousness [he said] takes cognizance of the delib-

erateness of God *s plan in creating black people black. It

seeks to infuse the black community with a new-found pride

in themselves, their efforts, their value systems, their culture,

their religion an d their ou tlook to life [sic]. (Biko, 1987:49)

This phi losophy of l i fe encouraged blacks to express the i r v iews

without hes i ta t ion , and they emerged as apologis ts for d ie b lack

caus e . Th i s d eve lopmen t was c l ea r l y no t i c eab l e i n s y nod and

c o n f e r e n c e d e b a t e s .

We tu rn now to an examina t ion o f th e " r eco rd o f s t a t emen t soppos ing apa r the id . "

Opposing Apartlieid in the Society-at-Large



The al l - embracing nature of the apar the id pol icy is something which

is diff icult to communicate . I t affected die whole of Soudi African

socie ty , but i t was die blacks in par t icular who bore the brunt of i ts

n ega t ive a f f e c t s . The law de t e rmined your ide n t i t y . Your ide n t i t y

de t e rmin ed y our de s t i ny . It p r ede t e rmin ed whe r e y ou could be born

and educated and where you could l ive , work, worship, par t ic ipate

in spor t , and where you could go on hol iday . I t la id down whom you

could mar r y , whe the r husbands and w ive s could l ive toge the r unde r

on e roof, and even where you could be bur ied. In fact , i t is dif f icul t

to think of one aspect of life that was free from the laws that held up

the edif ice of apar the id.

From the t ime diat die Nat ional is t Par ty took power in 1948 die

Mediodis t Church opposed i ts apar the id pol icy and se t out to bui ld a

un i f i ed soc i e t y bas ed on the "common membe r sh ip of the l iv ingBody of Chr i s t which knows no r ac ia l ba r r i e r s " (Minut e s ,

1948:144) . Whi l e in thos e e a r l y day s ve r y l i tt ie s e e me d to happen , i t

n eve rd ie l e s s c lung to it s idea l s . I n the e a r l y 1950s the com pr ehe n s ive

s tudy by the Toml inson Commiss ion was r e l e as ed . I t was broadly to

form the bas is of the homelands pol icy and he ld out the prospect dia t

a l l blacks would be r emoved f rom so-cal led white ar eas . The church

recognized the plan for what i t was and s ta ted:

We assert that the land of South Africa is not the possession

of the European minority, to be apportioned at their discretion to the various racial groups. Further, we are of the opin

ion that the whole policy of apartheid is an ex pression of

human arrogance and pride, and reveals a desire to assume

what is the prerogative of God alone, the planning of the fu

ture destiny of a people. fMinutes, 1957:137)

From this poin t of view the church cont inued to oppose the

government ' s l egis la t ive program in troducing the de ta i ls of die

aparthe id s ys t em . In s e e k ing to "b r in g the judge me n t o f the Gospe l

to bea r on the po l ic i e s and behaviour of men and na t ions" (Minut e s ,1960:153) , i t incensed die government to die exten t that i t accused

the church of be in g a commun is t o rgan iza t ion and , the r e for e , i n

t e r m s of t h e gove r n m e n t 's ow n un de r s ta n d i n g , s ubve r siv e . T he

church r e jec ted that accusat ion , holding that i t was mere ly spe l l ing

out the social implicat ions of the gospe l (Minutes , 1966:136) . The



church ' s oppos i t ion to apar the id con t inued over the years and even

i nc r ea s ed wi th d i e emergenc e o f th e s t rong b lack l eade r s h ip

men t ion ed ea r l i e r . The church con t i nued to s e ek nonv io l en t ways o f

changing the soc ie ty and averred tha t i t d id not s eek confron ta t ion

widi the s ta te . However , i t s c r i t ic ism of d ie behavior of the

governmen t ' s s ecur i ty appara tus so ra is ed the i re of the min is te r of

Pol ice and Pr isons tha t he publ ic ly a t tacked the church and the

s ec r e t a ry o f th e Chr i s t i a n C i t i z en s h ip Depa r tmen t i n a s pe ech

(Minu t e s , 1980 :197) .

Al though the church had long re jec ted the pol icy of apardie id , i t

was only in 1978 t i iat i t spelled out i ts opposit ion to one of the

pr inc iple aspec ts diereof, name ly , th e homelands . The id ea was tha t

blacks would be g iven cer ta in par ts of the coun try , in to ta l about 13

percen t of the surface a rea , which would be parce l l ed out to theva r ious b lack e thn ic g roups . Thes e homelands , non e o f wh ich were

economica l l y v iab l e , wou ld be g iven po l i t i ca l i ndependenc e . The

conference expressed i t s mind as fo l lows:

This policy:

(i) is designed to deprive South Africans of their citizenship

in the land of their birth;

(ii) has as its ultimate goal that there w ill be no black Sou th

Africans;

(Hi) supports and perpetuates a system of migratory labour

which does not accept full responsibility for the welfare of

such labourers or their families;

(iv) has a devastating effect on family life;

(v) will ensure subordination for man y years to com e of these

homelands to the Republic of South Africa;

(vl) has been instituted without proper consultation and w ith

out due consideration of the best interests of the people most

affected;

(vii) is divisive and d isruptive to the m ission and unity of the

Church. (Minutes , 1978:174)

In tha t resolut ion a number of importan t concerns about which the

church had approached the governmen t a t var ious t imes are



mentioned. These ar e : the ques t ion of South Afr ican c i t izenship for

blacks (Minutes, 1957:138); die ir lack of political r ights as citizens

(Minutes , 1948:144; 1981:217) ; migratory labour , widi i ts negat ive

e f f ect on family l i f e (Minutes , 1955:127; 1958:133; 1971:170/) ; and

the lack of consul ta t ion by the government with diose who are

aff ected by i ts pol ic ies (Min utes , 1960:149; 1964:152; 1975:167 ) .

Ins tead of di is pol icy the confe r ence advocated a uni tary s ta te

w id i a comm on c i t iz e n sh ip and the r emova l of "un jus t r e s t r ic t ion s"

on the citizenship r ights of all Soudi Africans without regard to the

color of ti ie ir skin. I t also advocated a civil r ights campaign,

a ldiough l i tde came of dia t (Minutes , 1978:174) . The r eact ion to the

re jec t ion of the homelands was swif t . The leader of the Transke i

homeland, himse lf a local preacher and former member of the

con f e r e nce , took umb rage a t the con f e r e n ce ' s dec i s ion and bann ed

the church in the Transke i . All i ts proper ty was conf iscated by that

s ta te and handed to diose minis te r s who went about se t t ing up an

independen t church . I n 1988 the ban was l i f t ed and The Un i t ed

Methodis t Church, the main body of those who broke away and

subsequent ly spl i t up in to several churches , was r euni ted with the

Methodis t Church of Southern Afr ica .

One of the aspects of the pol icy to separate blacks and whites was

the Group Areas Act . This legis la t ion was des igned to enable the

government to move people f rom one area to anodie r so as to create

a r e as whe r e people o f one p igmen t on ly we r e r e s ide n t o r do ingbusiness . The greates t suf f e r e rs under this legis la t ion were the black

people . They were moved f rom so-cal led black spots to more r emote

areas leaving whites to take over the land for r edeve lopment . Right

f rom the ou ts e t the gove r nmen t s e t about r emoving b lack people ,

a l though the group areas legis la t ion was not ye t in place . Already in

1949, within a year of the National is t Par ty ' s coming in to power , the

con f e r e nce expr e s s ed i t s "de ep conce r n about d i e i nd i sc r imina t e

e j e c t m e n t . . . o f A f ri ca n p e op l e fr om C r ow n a n d p ri vat e la n ds

widiout any provis ions made for the i r s e t t i emen t e l s ewhe r e "

(Minutes , 1949:112) . Af te r the pass ing of the Group Areas Act theconfe r ence pressed s t rongly for the r epeal of the legis la t ion as we l l

as the proclamations made in te rms thereof. It is important to be

aware dia t the government minis te r had the power to proclaim an

area for white or black occupation as he saw fit . This trend towards

de legat ing audior i ty to die var ious members of die cabine t to make



dec i s ions which had d i e power o f l aw became an i nc r ea s i ng l y

conspicuous aspec t of l egis la t ion, a mat t e r I sha l l r e turn to be low.

Given die fac t d ia t the conference d id not approve of what come to

be ca l l ed " r emova l s , " i t a sked tha t t h ey "be ca r r i ed ou t a s

sym pad ie t i cal ly a s pos s ib l e " (M inu t e s , 1958 :134) , which was

ostensibly the pol icy of the s ta t e , and tha t adequate compensa t ion be

given to vic t ims of removals . In many cases , fami l i es who had l ived

in t h e sa m e p l ac e fo r g e n e r a t io n s w e r e m o v e d . O v e r th e y e a r s

mi l l ions of people were a f fec t ed (Minutes , 1984:276) . Black towns

wer e bu i l t on th e pe r iphe ry o f whi t e c i t i e s . Wher e peop l e we r e

moved to home lands , d i e y o f t e n had no work o r had to commute

(Minutes , 1964:151; 1970:169) . As a resul t , b lacks of t en had to

t rave l long dis tances to work, considerably increasing the i r l iv ing

e x p e n s e s ( M i nu t e s , 1 9 5 8 :1 3 7 ) .Anodier nega t ive aspec t of the apardie id pol icy which was

exacerbated was migra tory labor . Workers who l ived in rura l a reas

which wer e t oo fa r f rom the i r p l ac e o f employmen t t o e nab l e t h em

to .commute became migra to ry l abor e r s . They would move to th e

c ides to work and l ive in s ingle-sex hoste l s whi l e away f rom home.

These worke r s , mos t l y men , we r e open to a l l so r t s o f t empta t ions

whi l e the i r fami l i es had to adapt to the absence of the man of the

house . In a s t rongly t radi t iona l and pa t r ia rchal soc ie ty th is c rea t ed a

host of problems. The law prevented men f rom taking t i i e i r fami l i eswidi them, even i f d i ey so desi red . The resul t was " ins tabi l i t y of

fami l y l i f e " (Minu t e s , 1955 :127 ; 1958 :133) . I nde ed d i e whol e

syst em of migra tory labor was to be regarded as "mora l ly

i nde f en s ib l e " (Min u t e s , 1965 :146). I n 1980 d i e conf e r e n c e ,

be l i eving tha t the count ry was in a s ta t e of na t iona l c r i s i s as resul t of

the various aspects of the apartheid policy, stated that

[the] economic and social policies . . , have reduced tens of

thousand s of people to extrem e poverty, hung er to the point

of starvation, and hopelessness; and have destroyed the fabric of both family and com mun ity life for the largest part of

South Africa's people. (Minutes, 180:195)

The pol i t ica l r ights of colored people were l ikewise reduced over

the yea r s . I n i t i a l l y d i e y we r e on th e common vo t e r s ro l l i n some

provinces , a l though they could not s tand for par l iament . When



suf f rage was ex t e nded to women th i s was l imi t ed to whi t e women .

Immedia t e l y a f t e r t h ey came to power , t h e na t iona l i s t s gave no t i c e

dia t they would reduce the pol i t ica l r ights of colored c i t izens . The

conf e r e n c e he ld tha t d i a t was con t ra ry t o d i e p r in c ip le o f " n o

taxa t ion wi thou t r ep r e sen t a t ion" (Minu t e s , 1948 :144) . They los t t h er ight to vote for par l iame n tary can dida tes , an d in the ear ly 1970s

die i r r ight to vote for c i ty counci l lors was a lso removed (Minutes ,

1970 :169) . Whe n the con s t it u tion was ame n ded in t h e ea r l y 1980s,

on e o f t h e t h r e e houses o f par l iame n t was to be compr i s ed o f co lo r ed

m e m b e r s .

I wan t t o men t ion th e I nd ian communi t y he r e a s we l l . Mos t

Indians had been imported to work as indentured laborers i n d i e

sugar p lanta t ions of Nata l f rom 1860 on w ards , a lthough the re w e re

a l so immigran t s among d i em. So , fo r exampl e , Maha tma Gandh il ived in South Afr ica for severa l years as a young man. He sparked

some r e s i s t a nc e , bu t g ene ra l l y t h e communi t y was po l i t i ca l l y

passive . Afte r 1948 the re w as a s t rong m ove to re pa t r ia te them to

Ind ia . Me rc ifu ll y , l it d e came o f t h i s . I n 1962 the conf e r e n c e no t ed

tha t I nd ians we r e henc e fo rd i t o be r ega rded a s pe rmanen t r e s iden t s

o f Soud i Af r i ca (Minu t e s , 1962 :141) . When d i e d i r e e -chamber

pa r l i amen t was i ns t i t u t ed , t h ey we r e g iven one chamber . The pa r t y

which cont rol l ed die whi t e chamber had ef fec t ive cont rol of a l l

l egis la t ion; and whi l e the o ther chambers could de lay die passage of

l egis la t ion they had no ve to powers . I t appears tha t the ru l ing par tythought tha t they would t ry to br ing the coloreds and Indians in on

the i r s ide of the pol i t ica l d ivide , but the low voter turnout i n those

e l ec t ions showed c l ea r l y t ha t d i e p eop l e r e j ec t ed d i e sys t em. The

con fere n ce re j ec t ed the const i tu tiona l proposals right f rom the

outset , cal l ing "for f t j l l and equal poli t ical r ights for al l African,

Colour ed , I nd ian a nd whi t e c i t i z ens" (Minu t e s , 1978 :175) .

The press a lso had curbs placed on i t . No repor t ing was a l lowed

on mi l i ta ry ac t ion odier d ian dia t which was provided by the

au thor i t i e s i n p r e ss r e l ea se s . So , fo r exampl e , some yea r s ago theres t of d i e world knew tha t d i e Soudi Afr ican army had pene t ra t ed

deep i n to Ango la , bu t t h e gove rnmen t d en i ed i t , a nd d i e l oca l p r e ss

could provide no informat ion about i t . Nothing could l ikewise be

repor t ed on the ac t iv i t i es of the pol ice as they t r i ed to conta in an

i nc r ea s i ng l y r e s t iv e popu la t ion . Notwi ths t and i ng the cu rbs , t h e

conf e r e nc e expr e ssed conce rn abou t t h e ac t iv i t i e s o f t h e a rmy and



pol i c e on s eve ra l occas ions , (Se e among o the r s Minu t e s , 1983 :270 ;

1985:234; 1985:298.) In the l ight of these concerns the conference

dec lared " i t s suppor t for a f ree and independent Press widi the r ight

to r epor t a nd comment upon cur r en t even t s i nc lud i ng the ac t ions o f

the S ta t e " (Minu t e s , 1976 :182) . Curbs on p r e ss f r e edom wer e s e enas a direat to just ice.

Detent ion widiout t r ia l , which enabled die audior i t i es to hold

people i ncommunicado for var ious per iods of t ime, was another

p i ec e o f l eg i s l a t ion which was condemned by th e conf e r e nc e . I t

expre ssed i ts abhorre n ce a t the law which a l lowe d "a lm os t unl imi ted

power to the Sta t e Secur i ty appara tus . . . [and] exc ludes protec t ion

by d i e Cour t s o f d i e l a nd" (Minu t e s , 1982 :241) . Dur i ng de t e n t ion

no contac t wi th the de ta inee e i ther by the fami ly , c l e rgy or l ega l

representa t ives was a l lowed. In fac t , most of t en d ie fami ly was not

no t i f i ed tha t a p e r son had be en de t a i ned , a nd no one knew wher e a

de t a i ne e was be i ng he ld when d i e y d id became aware o f i t . (Se e a l so

Min u t e s , 19 82 :241 ; 1983 :273 / ; 1984 :292 ; 1987 :307 . )

I n t e r na l r e s i s t a nc e to th e po l i c i e s o f t h e gove rnmen t was g rowing .

This l ed to die banning of b lack pol i t ica l movements such as the

Af ri can Na t iona l Con gr e ss a nd the Pan-Af r i can Con gr e ss in 1960 .

I n o r d e r to m ai n t ai n " l a w a nd o r d e r " d i e g o v e r nm e n t p as s e d

progress ive ly more autocra t ic l egis la t ion and cont inued to ar rogate

to i tself arbitrary powers.

Al r eady i n 1965 the conf e r e n c e e xpr e ssed conce rn about

the growing tendency to totalitarianism in South Africa, as

shown by police raids; bannings, arrests and imprisonment

without trial; increased arbitrary powers given to ministers

of state and to the police; and the interference of the state in

entertainmen t, sport and social life (Minutes, 1965:148f).

In 1986 i t was s t i l l a r t icula t ing concern a t the ent renchment of

to ta l i ta r ian powers by the s ta t e and i t s secur i ty appara tus . The

conference be l i eved tha t i n spi t e of these powers the c r i s i s i n the

country would not be resolved but that i t would rather lead to an

int en s if ica tion of the conf l ic t . (See M in ute s , 19 86:349.) That proved

to be the case .



Responding to the Problem

As the years passed, i t appeared that the church was fighting a losing

b a t d e . T h e g o v e r nm e n t s e e m e d to be e n t re n c h e d . W i di e a ch p a ss inge l ec t ion the whi t e voters gave increasing suppor t to the ru l ing par ty .

The church w as, howe ve r , con f iden t i n the just ice of i ts cause . It

now began to quest ion the author i ty of the government . I t f i rs t asked

tha t provis ion be made for bona f ide consc ient ious objec tors in 1959,

long before it be came an i ssue in the coun t ry (M inu tes , 1959:151) .

The law made no provis ion for consc ient ious objec t ion and to

advocate i t wa s an offen se. Nod iin g came of diat ini t ial app roach.

The mat t e r was again ra ised in 1971 af t e r consul t ing odier churches

(Minutes , 1971:174) . By 1974 the church was s ta r t ing to quest ion

the r ightness of d i e use to which the government was put t ing diesecur i ty forces and request ed tha t an objec tor be a l lowed to plead

"in abi l i t y to share or accept the re la t ive t ig ht n e ss ' of the cause for

which he i s ca ll ed to f ight" (Min utes , 1974:162) . In 1977 it agreed

widi the Soudi Afr ican Cadiol ic Bishops Conference , which he ld dia t

some people r egarded i t as "an ac t of d isobedience to God to be par t

of d i e mi l i ta ry s t ruc tures of th is count ry" (Minutes , 1977:189) . By

the e nd o f t h e decade nego t i a t ions we r e unde r way be tween d i e

churches and die author i t i es for d i e i n t roduct ion of the ca tegory of

general pacifists (Minutes, 1979:191^). Pacifists would have to

con vince a board dia t the i r be l ie f was ge n uin e and tha t i t a rose f romthe i r r e l i g ious conv ic t ions . They wer e t h en g iven "a l t e r na t ive

service ," but d i e churches compla ined tha t the per iod of se rvice was

puni t ive—indeed, i t was twice as long as the per iod of mi l i ta ry

ca l l -up. The conference found the provis ion for consc ient ious

objec t ion, taken as a whole , to be inadequate . I t ca l l ed for a l lowance

to be made for those who had ediical or philosophical object ions to

warfare , as we l l as the just -war objec tors (Min ute s , 1983:266) . He re

the church was cha l l e ng i ng d i e l eg i t imacy o f t h e gove rnmen t ' s

de f en se ope ra t ion . When in 1985 the conf e r e n c e con s ide r e d th e

impl ica t ions of dec lar ing i t se l f a peace church (Minutes , 1985:288) ,

i t so aroused the anger of the government d ia t the s tudy document

was at tacked on gove rn me n t -cont rol l ed t e l evis ion before it could be

discussed in Circui t Quar t e r ly Meet ings . That e f fec t ive ly k i l l ed the

deba t e , s i nc e t h e document was s e en by many a s subve r s ive even

before they had read i t .







The conference . . . supports the call of the Prime Minister.

. . for change and appeals to the governmen t, as a contribu

tion towards meaningful change;

1. to release Mr. Nelson Mandela, who has been imprisonedon Robben Island for seventeen years;

2. to review the cases o f all prisoners held for political of

fences;

3. to declare an am nesty for those wh o are exiles and refu

gees for political reasons only;

4. to convene a National Convention in which such leaders

of the black people will be able to participate. (Minutes,

1979:202)

Since Feb ruar y 1990 , when the S ta te P r e s ide n t , Mr . F . W . de

Kle rk , announced the beg inn ing of the r e form proce s s i n which we

ar e a t p r e s e n t e ngaged , a l l the s e condi t ions have be e n me t . Mos t

black pol i t ical par t ie s accept these condi t ions and are engaged in the

pr e s e n t n e got iat ion s . Even thos e who a r e ho ld ing out be l ieve d ia t a t

some s tage they wil l have to become involved in negot ia t ions . That

is a vindicat ion of the chu rch ' s pos i tion w hich i t has he ld ove r die

y e a r s .

Notes

1. In this paper I have, for the sake of clarity, had to make use o f racialcategories which I would not normally use. The term black usually refersto all those who would count themselves as belonging to that group, asdistinct from w hites. H ow ever , the term African refers to blacks of Africanorigin; coloreds refers to those of mixed parentage. In South Afticti Indiansrefers to people who came from the Indian subcontinent, from what todaywould include Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.

2 . In 1986 the conference again examined its own record and said;*'Conference adm its its ow n failure to grapple timeously with the issues ofgreat importance to the disadvantaged people of South Africa and acknowledges that well-intentioned decisions have sometimes been mistaken. Itasks for forgiveness for its failures and prays for grace to respond moreadequately" (Minutes, 1986: 322/). This attitude of self-examination hashelped to counter the growth of self-righteous complacen cy which developsall too easily.



Bibliography

Biko, Steve. / Write What I Like. Oxford: Heineman, 1987.

Christian Council. The Christian in a M ultiracial society. Strand, 1949.

Leatt, J. Kneifel, T, et al. Contending Ideologies in South Africa Cape Town.David Philip, 1978.

Marquard, L. The People and Policies of South Africa. Oxford: OUP, 1969.

Minutes, various dates, The Methodist Church of Southern Africa.

Paton, A. Apartheid and the Archbishop. Cape Town: David Philip,1973.



Andy Langford

The Revised Common Lectionary 1992:A Revision for the Next Generation

T fie United Method ist Book of Wo rship and The United Methodist

Hymnal a r e d ie c o r n e r st on e s of Uni t ed Mediodis t wor sh ip .

Toge the r , the y de sc r ibe and de f in e our corpora t e p i e t y , exh ib i t i ng

w ho we are as Uni t ed Me thodis t s and shaping our c om m on w or s h ip .

A t die hear t of The United Methodist Book of Worship s tands die

R e v i s e d C om m on L e c t i on a r y . T he R e v i s e d C om m on L e c t i on a r y is a

ca l e ndar of the Chr i s t ian y e a r and a table of sc r ip tur e r e ad ings . And

as with the book of worship, di is lec t ionary both r eveals how the

majority of Uni t ed Me thodis t s use scr ipture in worship and

prescr ibes how we r ead scr ipture in die ga t i i e r ed communi ty .

Re s ea rch for The United Methodist Book of Worship showed tha t

a pp r ox im a t e l y s e v e n t y p e r c e n t of al l Uni ted Methodis t pas tors

a lw a y s or r egula r l y use the l ec t ionary in p lan n i n g w or s h ip and

pr eaching . This w ide spr ead use of the l e c t iona r y has a n u m b e r of

bene f i t s : it pe rmi t s die sys t em at ic con s ide r a tion of large par ts of die

Bible , assists in l o n g - r a n ge p l a n n i n g for pas tor s , mus ic ians , and lay

worship l e ade r s , and facilitates die publication of m a n y o t h e r

r e source s to fos t e r e nhanced pr eaching and worship ( such as this

ve r y publ ica t ion ) . It w as not surpr i s i ng , the r e for e , when pas tor s in

A n d y L a n g f o r d was the G e n e r a l E d i t o r o f t h e 1992 United Methodist Book ofWorshipt

a n d C h a i r o f t he T a s k F o r c e t h a t c r e a t e d t he R e v i s e d C o m m o n L e c t i o n a r y . H e no w

s e r v e s as c o - p a s t o r o f F i r s t U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t C h u r c h i n C h i n a G r o v e , N o r t h C a r o l i n a .



local congregat ions r epor ted to The Uni ted Mediodis t Book of

Worship Comm it te e tha t the s i ng l e mos t impor tan t r e source d i e y

n e ede d in our n e w book of wor sh ip was a comple t e d i r e e - y e a r

l e c t iona r y .

Unfor tuna t e l y , many Un i t ed Me thodis t s , a long w i th numerous

pe r s on s i n oth e r c hu r che s w ho us e t h e R e v i se d C om m on L e c don a r y ,

have l i tde unde r s tand ing of d i e l e cdonar y itself. As if i t were manna

f rom heave n , d ie l e cdon ar y i s r e ce ived and we lcomed we ek by wee k

widiout any thought about i ts source or in ten t . I n r esponse ,

the re fore , this ardcle descr ibes die his tory of the lec t ionary and the

proce s s tha t c r e a t ed the Revis ed Common Lec t iona r y , an ove rv i ew

of di is lecUonary ' s major assumptions , and a summary of die major

i s sue s con f ron t ed by th i s n ew l e c t iona r y .

History

The Revis ed Co mm on Lec t iona r y 1992 is a ca l e n dar of the Chr i st ian

year and a table of scr ipture r eadings (The The Revised Comm on Lec

tionary, Abin gdon P r e s s , 1992) . This le c t iona r y i s bas ed on a ca l e n

dar and table produced in 1983: The Comm on Lectionary: The

Lectionary Proposed b y the Consultation on Com mon Texts. T h e

1983 Common Lec t iona r y was promoted by many publ i she r s , i nc lud

ing our Un i t ed Mediodis t publ i sh ing un i t s , f o r d i e l a s t n i n e y e a r s .

The revision is bodi faithful to and distinctively different from its

p r e d e c e s s o r .

The Consul ta t ion on Common Texts c r e a t ed bo th the 1983 and d i e

1992 lec t ion ar ies . The con sul ta t ion , s in ce the 1960s a forum for

worsh ip r e n ewal amon g man y C hr is t ian churche s i n the Un i ted

S ta t e s and Canada , cur r e n t l y con ta in s n i n e t e e n churche s and

communions . The s e churche s i nc lude the Un i ta r ian Un ive r sa l i s t

Chr i s t ian Fe l lowship , d i e Roman Cadio l ic Church , the Un i t ed

Chu rch of Chr is t , TTie Un i ted M etho dis t Ch urch , and dive rse odie r

communit ie s , each r epresen ted by major l i turgical scholars and

den omina t iona l bur e aucra t s re spon s ib le for wor sh ip i n the va r ied

communions . This e cumen ica l gadi e r i ng of l i tu rg i s t s sponsor s

projects and publicat ions , including praye rs and l i turgies for a

var ie t y o f occas ion s . It has becom e d i e for emos t p laye r i n wor ldwide

ecumen ica l l i tu rg ica l e n t e rpr i s e s .



The most visible of all the consultation 's efforts is i ts lectionary.

In 1979, af te r a major gathe r ing in Washington , D.C. , in which

Uni t ed Me thodis t s Hoy t H ickman and James Whi t e pa r t ic ipa t ed , the

Consul ta t ion decided to create a lec t ionary dia t would combine die

bes t of a l l the lecdonar ies dien used in die Uni ted States and Canada.

Af te r four years of work, in which Richard Esl inger of die General

Board of Discipleship r epre sen ted our de n omin at ion , the 1983

C om m on L e c t i on a r y w a s bo r n .

The 1983 Common Lec t iona r y was no t a whol ly n ew l e c t iona r y

but was a harmonizat ion and an ecumenical adaptat ion of the Roman

Lectionary for Mass (1969, 1981) and a number of denominat ional

var ian ts dia t appe ared be twee n 1970 and 1976, The publ icat ion of

the Roman lec t ionary in 1969 was one of the major achievements of

Vatican I I . The Romans des ir ed that

7 7 2 ^ treasures of the Bible are to be opened up more lavishly,

so that a richer share in God's word may be provided for the

faithful. In this way a more representative portion of holy

scripture w ill be read to the people in the course of a pre

scribed nu mber of years. (Vatican Cou ncil II, Constitution

on the Liturgy 4 December 1963 no. 51, tr. International

Comm ission on English in the Liturgy, Documents on the Lit-

urgy, 1963-1979: Conclllar, Papal, and Cu rlal Texts Col-

legeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1982, para. 51.)

This e f for t by the Romans inspir ed a hos t of lecdonar ies

throughout Chr is t e n dom, am on g di em a 1976 d i r e e - y ea r Un i ted

Methodis t l ec t ionary (based on an ear l ie r l ec t ionary by the

Consultation on Church Union) . A full discussion of ti iat work can

be found in the In t roduct ion to Com mon Lectionary: The Lectionary

Proposed by the Consultation on Com mon Texts, authored by

Horace Allen , Professor of Li turgy a t die Boston Univers i ty School

of Theology .

Afte r its publ ication in 1983, man y comm un ion s and ch urche s

adopted the Common Lect ionary for of f ic ia l and t r ia l use . I n

addi t ion to The Un i t ed Mediodis t Church , the s e de nomina t ions

included The Anglican Church of Canada, die Anglican Church of

New Zealand, the Episcopal Church of Scot iand, the Church in the

P rovince of Southe r n Afr ica (An gl ican ) , d i e P re sby t e r ian Church ,



U.S .A . , the Un i t ed Church of Chr i s t , d i e Un i t ed Church of Canada ,

die Chr is t ian Church (Disciples of Chr is t ) , die Uni t ing Church of

Austral ia , die Mediodis t Church of South Afr ica , the Ludie ran

churches in Nor th Amer ica ( for a l imited t r ia l use only) , and die

Episcopal Church (also only for a limited tr ial use) .

The on ly church d ia t d id n o t adopt d i e 1983 Com mon Lec t iona r y

for off icial or tr ial use was the Roman Catholic Church. While the

Roman Cathol ic bishops in the Uni ted States voted to accept this

lec t ionary for t r ia l usage , the Holy See in Rome objected to i ts use .

This r e jec t ion r e f lec ted a Roman Cadiol ic r e luctance to engage in

ecumenical dia logue about i ts own lec t ionary pr inciples , e special ly

the ro le o f the O ld Te s tamen t i n the s e rv ice of Word an d Tab le ,

advocated in its 1969 lec t ion ary . Becau se the Roma n s em phasized

the cen tra l i ty of the euchar is t in the ir l i turgy , they be l ieved thatse rmons should be based on the Gospe ls , and subsequent iy that Old

Tes tamen t l e s sons mus t be d i r e c t l y l i nked w i th the Gospe l r e ad ings .

Desp i t e the Roman Ca thol ic re j e c t ion , the 1983 Com mon Lec t ion a r y

had a major impact on a number of churches across die wor ld.

But the 1983 Common Lect ionary was not a f in ished work; i t was

a proposal for exper imental use . Using pr ior l i turgical assumptions ,

such as a dis t incdy Weste rn shape of the Chr is t ian year and the

ce n t ra li ty o f the Sy n opt ic gospe l s , d i e l e c t ion a r y was comple t ed ve r y

quickly . Immediate ly upon i ts publ icat ion , many churches and

individuals of f e r ed cr i t iques of the Common Lect ionary . Throughoutthe wor ld , dozens of de nomina t ions of f e r ed ex t e ns ive eva lua t ion and

hundreds of individuals , inc luding bibl ical scholars , l i turgis ts ,

pas tors , and worship leaders , r eviewed the lec t ionary in a var ie ty of

forms and forums. The cr i t iques gene ral ly f e l l in to several ar eas : the

translation used for versif ication; questions about particular

per icopes e idie r included or excluded f rom the lec t ionary ; the

l imited number of bibl ical nar rat ives including women; die shape of

the common ca l e ndar ; the n e ed for a n ew sys t em of O ld Te s tamen t

r eadings l inked with the Gospe l le ssons in die Sundays Af te r

Pentecos t ; the se lec t ion of psalms; and sens i t ivi ty to an t i - Jewish

readings f rom scr ipture . All of these concerns had to be addressed

by the consuUation .

I n r e spons e to the s e c r i t ique s , the Consul ta t ion on Common Texts

audior iz ed a r ev i s ion of Com mon Lec t iona r y th r e e y e a r s l a t e r , in

1986. The con su lta tion s e l e c t ed a Task Force of pe r son s w hose



churches ac t ive ly used the l ec t ionary , who tes ted the l ec t ionary , or

who had s e r ious in t e r e s t in adop t ing th e Rev i s ed Com mo n

Lec t iona ry fo r us e . The members i n c luded four t e en p e r s on s f rom the

Uni ted Sta tes , Canada , and Grea t Bri ta in , inc luding Roman

Cad io l i c s , Lu the ran s , Ang l i can s , a nd Un i t ed Me thod i s t s . Ove r a

pe r iod o f s ix y ea r s , th i s commi t t e e r ev i ewed , con s ide r ed , a nd

revis ed every sugges t ion g iven to i t . In ear ly 1992, the 1992 Revised

C o m m o n L e c t i o n a r y w a s c o m p l e t e d .

Major Assumptions

Becaus e d i e Rev i s ed Common Lec t iona ry i s a ha rmon iza t ion a nd an

ecumen ica l adap ta t ion o f th e Roman Lec t iona ry a nd a number o f

denomina t iona l var ian ts , i t shares widi these previous l ec t ionar ies

the fo l lowing ca lendr ica l and l i turgica l assumptions .

1 . The l ec t iona ry i s mean t fo r th e week ly Lord ' s Day c e l eb ra t ion .

Each Sunday is a fes tival day in i ts own right for the proclamation of

the Gospel of J esus Chris t . For d ia t reason , the Gospel reading is

a lway s the pr im ary l esson . Espec ia lly in the Sunday s f rom Chris t the

King (d i e Sunday be fo r e th e F i r s t Sunday i n Adven t ) th rough Tr i n i t y

Sunday ( the Firs t Sunday After Pen tecos t ) the Gospel l esson d ic ta tes

the f i rs t and s econd lesson of the day . The resul t i s a l ec t ionary wi tha s trong ch r is tocen t r ic focus. U n l ik e d i e Roman l ec t iona ry , d i e

Rev i s ed Common Lec t iona ry i s no t i n t e nded to b e a eucha r i s t i c

lec t ionary exc lus ive ly . I t does not , d ierefore , a lways prepare for the

Table but may a lso be used in l i turgies of the Word, as i s mos t of ten

th e ca s e i n ou r Un i t ed Med iod i s t congrega t ion s .

2 . The lec t ionary provides t i i ree readings for each Sunday and

ho ly day , t yp ica l l y on e each f rom the Old Tes tamen t ( exc ep t du r i ng

d i e Sundays o f Eas te r w hen th e Ac t s of th e A pos ti e s a r e r e ad ) .

Epis t l es , and Gospels . The on ly except ions to th is pr inc ip le a re for

par t icular holy days , such as d ie Eas ter Vigi l ,when addi t iona ll essons are employed, or when a l t e rna t ives to par t icular readings are

p rov ided .

3 . The Rev i s ed Common Lec t iona ry a f f i rms th e c l a s s ic Wes t e rn

ca lendar cons is t ing cen t ra l ly of d ie Sundays and s easons re la ted to

Chr i stmas (Adven t to Ep iphany ) a nd to Eas te r (Len t to Pe n t ecos t ) .



This ca lendar preserves d ie chr is to logica l bas is for d ie annual cyc les

o f I n ca rnadon (Chr i s tmas ) a nd Res ur r ec t ion (Eas t e r ) .

4 . The l ec t iona ry e s t ab l i s hes a th r e e -y ea r c yc l e o f r ead ings to

encourage a y ea r l y focus on each o f d i e Synopdc Gos pe l s . Becaus e

of i t s un ique l i t e rary and l i turgica l s t ruc ture , d ie l ecdonary p laces

the Gospel of John in the h igh chr is to logica l cyc les of Chris tmas and

Eas ter and a lso in Year B as a supplemen t to Mark.

5 . Th e le c t ionary , fa id iful to the in ten t of d ie ac t ion of Vat ican I I

a nd our own Wes l eyan emphas i s upon th e B ib l e , i n c ludes a w ide r

var ie ty and la rger por t ions of scr ip ture . The l ec t ionary ass is ts

congregat ions in hear ing more of d ie God ' s mighty ac ts of sa lva t ion .

6 . The Rev i s ed Common Lec t iona ry s e e s th e Sundays Af t e r

Ep iphany and th e Sundays Af t e r Pen t ecos t (wh ich may be n amed by

Un i t ed Me thod i s t s a l s o a s Ord ina ry T ime o r K ingdomt ide ) a s as i ng l e s equenc e o f c e l eb ra t ion s . Dur i ng d i i s Ord ina ry T ime d i e

Synopt ic Gospels and the Epis t i es a re read in a con t inuous fashion .

The Rev i s ed Common Lec t iona ry , l ik e th e 1983 Common

Lect ionary before i t , d i f fers f rom die Roman lec t ionary and i t s

var ian ts (such as those l ec t ionar ies now used in the Lutheran and

Episcopal churche s in the Un i ted Sta tes ) in on e major aspec t on ly :

th e us e o f d i e O ld Tes tamen t on th e Sundays Af t e r Pen t ecos t . I n th e

Roman , Lu the ran , a nd Ep is copal ia n l ec t iona r i e s , th e O ld Tes tame n t

is a lways chosen to re f l ec t or enhance the Gospel reading . As a

r e s u l t, d i e r e fo r e , it is pos s ib l e on e Sun day to have a n Old Te s tame n tlesson f rom Job, d ie next Sunday a reading f rom Isa iah , and the next

a r ead ing fo r Gen es i s .

According to some l i turgis ts , however , d ie l ec t ionar ies now used

by d i e Romans , Lud i e ran s , a nd Ep i s copa l i a n s i n th e Sundays Af t e r

Pen t ecos t d i s p lay a n i n appropr ia t e us e o f t ype /gos pe l th emes i n

s e l ec t i ng d i e O ld Tes tamen t t ex t s , employ too f ew na r ra t iv e O ld

Tes tamen t passages , use too few Old Tes tamen t passages i l lus t ra t ing

the ro le of wom e n in sacred h is tory , and provid e insuffic ien t

opportun i ty for con t inuous or s emi-con t inuous readings f rom the Old

Tes tamen t . Whi l e d i e Roman , Lu the ran s , a nd Ep i s copa l i a n s b e l i eve

tha t these c r i tiques to be inac cura te , the m ajor ity of par t ic ipan ts in

th e Cons u l t a t ion b e l i eved th e ro l e o f d i e O ld Tes tamen t i n th e

Sundays Af t e r Pen t ecos t to b e s ign i f i candy p rob l ema t ic .

I n 1983 , d i e Common Lec t iona ry b roke wid i d i e

Roman /Ep is copa l /Lu the ran mode l by choos i ng s emi -con t i nuous



r eadings f rom the his tor ical and prophe t ic mate r ia l in the Old

Te s tamen t in the Sun day s Afte r Pen tecos t . This mode l provided

more ex t e ns ive na r r a t ive r e ad ings f rom the O ld Te s tamen t . I n

summary , the 1983 lec t ionary included in Year A readings f rom the

Pe n te te uch, in Year B the Davidic n ar rat ives , and in Ye ar C,

prophe t ic wr idngs .

I n 1992 , the Revis ed Common Lec t iona r y con t i nued the pa t t e r n of

s emi-condnuous l e s sons and added an op t iona l n ew sys t em of O ld

Tes tamen t r e ad ings for the Sundays Af t e r P e n t e cos t mor e c los e ly

al igned with the Lutheran , Episcopal ian , and Roman lec t ionar ies .

The two mode ls for use of die Old Tes tament ar e cal led Sys tem 1

and Sys tem 2. In Sys tem 1, the r evised lec t ionary enables the Old

Te s tamen t to te ll i ts own s tory , con t inuin g the phi losophy of the

1983 lec t ionary . Sys tem 2 provides r eadings f rom the Hebrewscr iptures taken f rom die Lutheran , Episcopal ian , and Roman

lect ionar ies , which are more dir ecUy t ied to die Gospe l le sson each

day . The Revis ed Common Lecdonar y doe s no t f avor one s e t ove r

the othe r , but a l lows churches f r e edom to choose e i the r one or bodi

of these se ts of le ssons on the Sundays Af te r Pen tecos t .

TIte United Method ist Book of Worship employs on ly Sys t em 1 .

This r e f lec ts a Wesleyan pe rspect ive that scr iptures f rom bodi the

Old and New Tes taments ar e to be proclaimed and diat each

Tes tamen t may s tand on i t s own , as we l l a s the eme rgence ofna r r a t ive pr e aching i n our de nomina t ion . I n Year A , our Book of

Worship inc ludes semi-cont inuous nar rat ives f rom Genes is to

Judges , widi a focus on the s tory of Moses in Exodus . In Year B,

Davidic n ar rat ive s f rom 1 and 2 Samuel and Wisdo m l i te ra ture ar e

r ead. In Year C, the prophe t ic wr i t ings , with an emphasis on

Je remiah, ar e r ead. Other denominat ions are s t i l l deciding which

sys tem, or both, to use .

The Un i t ed Me thodis t Book of Worsh ip Commit t e e ' s dec i s ion to

us e on ly s emi-con t i nuous r e ad ings makes a d i f f e r e nce i n p r e aching

dur ing die Sundays Af te r Pen tecos t . Preachers who at tempt to r e la te

al l three le ssons and the psalm on these Sundays wil l be f rus tra ted.

Unl ike the othe r Sundays of the Chr is t ian year , the r e is no obvious

r e la t ionsh ip be tween the th r e e l e s sons on the Sundays fo l lowing

Pen tecos t . Preache rs must , die r e fore , choose whe the r to preac h f rom

the O ld Te s tame n t , E pisde , o r Gospe l l e s son of the day ,



Major Issues

Crit iques of the 1983 Common Lect ionary came f rom a var ie ty of

persons around the wor ld. As a lr eady s ta ted, the cr i t iques were inthe fol lowing gene ral ar eas : the t rans la t ion used for ve rs if icat ion;

ques t ions about par t icular pe r icopes e i the r included or excluded

f rom the lec t ionary ; the l imited number of bibl ical nar rat ives

inc luding women ; the shape of the common ca l e ndar ; the n e ed for a

new sys tem of Old Tes tament r eadings l inked with the Gospe l

le ssons in the Sundays Af te r Pen tecos t ; the se lec t ion of psalms; and

sens i t ivi ty to an t i - Jewish r eadings f rom scr ipture .

The publ icat ion of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible

in 1990 made i t necessary to r e examine the ve rs if icat ion of a l l the

r e ad ings in the l e c t iona r y . The NRSV made m inor change s i nvers if icat ion in the Bible and s ignif icandy a l te r ed the paragraph

br eaks th roughout sc rip tur e . For exam ple , the Son g of M ary in the

RSV began a t Luke 1:46b, while in die NRSV i t begins a t Luke

1:47 . Because the r e a r e ove r 1400 pe r icope s i n d i e l e c t iona r y ,

checking the ve rs if icat ion took cons ide rable t ime and pat ience .

In addi t ion to s imply updat ing the ve rs if icat ion of the 1983

lec t iona r y , many pe r sons c rh ic ized d i e beg inn ing and e nd ing ve r s e s

of many le ssons . Breaks in die le ssons a t t imes des troyed the

In tegr i ty of par t icular pe r icopes and sometimes made l is ten ing to and

unders tanding a par t icular passage dif f icul t . For example , acon gre gation usin g pe w Bibles may f ind it difficult to follow lesson s

that jum p ove r ve rse s . As a r esul t , the task force looked at ev e ry

r e ad ing and made numerous ad jus tmen ts . For example , the anc i e n t

hymn in Phi l ippians was changed f rom 2:9-13 to 2 :5 -1 1 , and die

f ir st cr eat ion story was chan ged f rom Ge n es is 1 to Ge n es is l : l - 2: 4a .

In this work, nar rat ive and canonical cr i t ics played a major role in

he lping the task force in i ts work.

Choosing which scr ipture le ssons f rom the Old Tes tament would

be r ead in die Sundays Af te r Pen tecos t caused the task force to

cons ide r se r ious ly the canonical shape of scr ipture . As die r esul t of

much dialogue , the most s ignif icant changes to the lec t ionary occur

in d i e O ld Te s tame n t l e s sons on d i e Sunday s Aft e r P e n t e cos t. Whi l e

the r evis ion of the Common Lect ionary af f i rms the pr inciple of

s emi-con t i nuous r e ad ings , i n a l l th r e e y e a r s major change s a r e made

to r e f lec t die emphases of scr ipture itself. In Year A, the le ssons



provide a wholis t ic t r ea tment of the Penta teuchal mate r ia l , with a

spec ia l f ocus on d i e Mosa ic Covenan t . Un l ike the 1983 l e c t iona r y ,

which emphas ized on ly the pe r son and work of Mose s , the l e s sons i n

the r ev i s ed l e c t iona r y beg in w i th c r e a t ion and e nd w id i d i e s to r y of

Deborah . The l e s sons i n Year A inc lude : the c r e a t ion , Noah , the ca l l

of Abraham, Abraham and Sarah, Hagar ' s r e jec t ion , the sacr if ice of

I saac , d i e e ngagemen t o f Rebekah and I saac , J acob and Esau ,

Jacob ' s l adde r , J acob wid i Leah and Rache l , J acob and the ange l ,

Joseph sold in to s lavery , Joseph 's r econci l ia t ion with his family ,

b i r th of Mose s and n in e mor e l e s sons on Mose s , Joshua , and

D e bor a h .

In Year B, while die 1983 lec t ionary focused on the Davidic

mate r ia l and r e la ted wisdom mate r ia l , die r e was a lack of a t ten t ion

to othe r pe rsons in die Davidic nar rat ive and to the whole of diew isdom l i t e r a tur e . I n r e spons e , d i e Revis ed Common Lec t iona r y

con t i nue s a focus on David and w isdom mate r ia l , whi l e expanding

and s t r e ng the n ing both . The l e s sons focus on the deve lopmen t o f the

monarchy f rom Samue l th rough Solomon , fo l lowing the canon ica l

s t ruc ture of 1 and 2 Samue l . The r e ad in gs d ie n con t i nue w id i

mate r ia l f rom Job and Proverbs . Of par t icular note , die r evised

lect ionary , for the f i r s t t ime ever in a lec t ionary , has a four -week

cycle of r eadings f rom Job diat deal widi dieodicy . The r eadings

conc lude w i th two Sundays on Ruth , who pr e f igur e s Mary as r e ad i n

Luke ' s Adven t na r r a t ive s i n Year C .Year C makes major change s to the O ld Te s tamen t r e ad ings a f t e r

Pen t e cos t . I n the 1983 l e c t iona r y , the emphas i s was on the

Eli jah-Elisha nar rat ive ( ten Sundays) , fol lowed by Je r emiah (dir e e

Sundays ) , Ezek i e l ( two Sundays ) , and d i e minor prophe t s cons ide r ed

in canon ica l o rde r ( t e n Sundays ) . The va lue of th i s s y s t em was an

emphasis on prophe t ic mate r ia l and especial ly the minis t ry of the

minor prophe t s . The Revis ed Common Lec t iona r y a f f i rms th i s

emphas is whi l e r eorde r i ng and r epr ior i t i z i ng the s emi-con t i nuous

texts in order to r epresen t more fa i thful ly the whole of the prophe t ic

tradi t ion . F irs t , die role of El i jah, a major prophe t , is s t r engdiened,

while the role of El isha, a minor prophe t , is diminished. Two, the

revised lec t ionary places each of the prophe ts in die i r cor rect

chronologica l o rde r . Th r e e , Je r e miah be come s d i e c e n t ra l figure i n

th i s y e a r . Whi l e r e cogn iz ing d ia t S econd I sa iah and Ezek i e l a r e a l so

impor tan t , both I saiah and Ezekie l ar e covered we l l e lsewhere in die



l e c t iona r y , e spec ia l l y dur ing the Chr i s tmas and Eas t e r cyc l e s .

J e r emiah i s now r e ad for n i n e Sundays i n th i s Ordina r y T ime . Four ,

Lame n tadon s i s added to d i e le c don ar y . And f ive , the l e c t iona r y

recognizes that I saiah was wr i t ten by a t l eas t dir e e dif f e r en t authors ,

a t dif f e r en t dmes , and uses mate r ia l f rom Isaiah Firs t , I sa iah

Ssecond , and I sa iah Thi rd i n the cor r e c t chronologica l s equence .

A n od i e r m a jo r c on c e r n a m on g m a n y m e n a n d w om e n w a s a bou t

the p lace of women i n sc r ip tur e i n the l e c t iona r y . Whi l e no t i ng tha t

d i e b ib l ica l cu l tur e was pa t r ia r cha l , many expr e s s ed the conce r n tha t

lec t ionar ies pe rpe tuate a bias agains t the role of women in scr ipture .

F o r e xa m pl e , th e fo l low in g w om e n ha ve n o t b e e n r e p r e s e n t e d in a n y

pr ev ious l e c t iona r i e s : Sarah , Hagar , Rebekah , Leah , the J ew ish

midwive s , Mir iam, Deborah , d i e good woman of P rove rbs 31 ,

Hannah , the woman wid i the i s sue of b lood , the Sy rophoen ic ianwoman , Dorcas , and Lydia . I n addi t ion , whi l e the household code s

of Ephes ians 5 have be e n i nc luded i n p r ev ious l e c t iona r i e s ,

n a r ra t ive s about s exua l v io le n ce aga ins t wo me n , such as the r ape of

T a m a r , w e r e om i t t e d .

The Revis ed Common Lec t iona r y now inc lude s a l l d i e women

l is ted above by expanding pe r icopes or subs t i tut ing one nar rat ive for

anodie r . The l e c t iona r y a l so now de l e t e s the household code s .

Unfor tuna t e l y , the r ev i s ion doe s no t i nc lude the r ape of Tamar . This

lesson was avoided pr imar i ly to r espect those t radi t ions ( especial lythe Roman Ca thol ic ) which do no t p r e ach on O ld Te s tamen t l e s sons .

This pr even t s a r e ad ing about s exua l v io l e nce , f o l lowed by d i e

acclamation : '*This is the Wo rd of the Lo rd ," and upon which a

s e rmon would the n no t be pr e ached . Anothe r ge ne r a t ion w i l l t e l l

whe ther di is was a wise omiss ion or not .

One of the major e f for ts of the task force was a comprehens ive

review and r evis ion of the use of die Psalms diroughout the whole

lect ionary . I n i ts work, the task force adopted a new se t of pr inciples

r egard ing d i e s e l e c t ion of psa lms :

1. The psalm shal l be chosen as a l i turgical r e sponse to the F irs t

L e s s o n .

2 . The psalm shal l f i t harmoniously within die gene ral t enor of

the c e l ebra t ion of the day .

3. The l e c t iona r y should draw upon the br e addi and d ive r s i t y o f

die Psal te r , and cant ic les (bibl ical songs found outs ide die Psal te r )



will be used when sui table . I n this r evis ion , 105 psalms and 10

cant ic les ar e included.

4 . There wil l be pe r iodic r epe t i t ion of a number of more famil iar

psalms for pas toral , cateche t ical , and musical r easons .

5 . Through die use of bracke ts , an opt ional ful le r r eading of a

psalm por t ion may be indicated.

In Tlie United Methodist Book of Worship, w he n e ve r t h e R e v i s e d

Comm on Le c t ion a r y sugge s ts a psa lm n o t i nc luded i n The United

Methodist Hymnal, the book of worship l is ts the lec t ionary psalm

and then sugges ts an a l te rnat ive psalm which may be found in our

hymna l . Of Un i t ed Me thodis t i n t e r e s t , many of the dec i s ions r e ached

by die consul ta t ion on the use of the psalms were an t ic ipated and

encouraged by the pe r sons who worked on our own Un i t ed

Methodis t Li turgical Psal te r as found in our new hymnal .The shape of the common ca l e ndar pr e s e n t ed some problems i n

the r evis ion of the lec t ionary . Not a l l churches which fol low the

W este rn l i turgical cale n dar , n otwidis tandin g die major dif fe r e n ces

be tween the Wes t e r n and Eas t e r n ca l e ndar s , c e l ebra t e e ach holy day

on die same day and indeed, the var ia t ions are af f i rmed widi par t isan

in t e n s i t y . For example , some Angl icans and the Roman Ca thol ics

ce l ebra t e the Trans f igura t ion e ach y ea r on the Second Sunday i n

Len t , whi l e od i e r s c e l ebra t e d i e Trans f igura t ion on d i e Las t Sunday

Af t e r the Epiphany . The Revis ed Common Lec t iona r y a l lows both

poss ibi l i t i e s . I n addi t ion , the r evis ion adds two more days to the

y ea r l y ca l e n dar : a N in th Sun day Af te r E piphan y , for thos e r a r e

y ea r s when such a Sunday i s n e eded because of the da t e o f Eas t e r ,

and Holy Sa turday , The United Methodist Book of Worship adopted

this calendar as die s t ructure for i ts r e sources for the Chr is t ian year ,

w i th m in o r e xc e p t i on s . U n l i k e t h e R e v is e d C om m on L e c t i on a r y , TIte

United Methodist Book of Worship does not include in i ts calendar

the chr is tological , specia l days of Annunciat ion , Vis i ta t ion ,

Presen ta t ion , and Holy Cross , a l though r esources for these days are

located e lsewhere in the book of worship.A whole hos t of problems ar ise because scr ipture le ssons , wr i t ten

in the cul tural and r e l igious context of the ancien t Middle Eas t , ar e

now r e ad i n con t emporar y congr ega t ions . A numbe r of pe r sons

noted that r eadings emphasizing God's promise of die land to I s rae l

i n today ' s wor ld can be un de r s tood as Z ion i s t and us ed aga in s t

Chr is t ians of Arab descen t . Odie r r eadings , e special ly some f rom



John and Paul , may e ncourage Chr i s t ian an t i - s emi t i sm. Whi l e

at tempts were made to be sens i t ive to these issues , a t hear t is the

mo re profoun d diff icul ty of how to r e la te a dis t in ct ive ly Chr is t ian

l e c t iona r y to o the r r e l ig ions .

The Future of Lectionary Revision

Work on the 1992 Revis ed Common Lec t iona r y has be e n comple t ed .

The r e i s cur r e ndy no pe r son or group unde r tak ing a s e r ious c r i t ique

of this par t icular lec t ionary with an eye toward future r evis ion . For

United Methodis ts , di is lec t ionary wil l probably r emain e f f ect ive

throughout the l if e ( some twen ty - f ive y e a r s ) o f The United Methodist

Book of Worship.

Ye t , l e c t iona r y r ev i s ion i s n eve r ove r . On goin g e f fort s a r e

unde rway i n Gr ea t Br i ta in to c r e a t e a four - y ea r l e c t iona r y . The

Br i t ish lec t ionary would give one year to each of the four Gospe ls

and radical ly a l te r the shape of the Weste rn Chr is t ian year . Work

has a lso begun to create a dai ly lec t ionary dia t wil l r e la te to die

Revis ed Common Lec t iona r y . This work , by Hoy t H ickman and

othe r s , has s ign i f ican t impl ica t ions for example on the deve lopmen t

of the dai ly of f ice in the Wesleyan t radi t ion . Other languagel i turgical groups (par t icular ly German and Spanish l i turgical groups)

are inves t igat ing lec t ionary r e form. And the Wor ld Counci l of

Churche s and the Pon t if ical Co un ci l for Promotin g Chr is tian Un i ty

(Roman Ca thol ic ) have be e n asked to e ngage i n a wor ldwide ,

mul t i na t iona l , and e cumen ica l d ia logue on l e c t iona r y r e n ewal and

r e form. The dr e am r emains a l ive d ia t one day the r e w i l l be among

a ll who ca ll them se lve s Chr i s t ian a true C omm on Le c t iona r y .

Bibliography

Common Lectionary: The Lectionary Proposed by the Consultation on CommonTexts. The Church Hymnal Corporation: New York. 1983.

The Revised Common Lectionary. Abingdon: Nashville. 1992.



Marjorie Procter-Smith

Beyond the New Com mon Lectionary:

A Constructive Critique

We live our lives through texts. They may be read, or chanted, or

experienced electronically, or come to us, like the murm uring of

our mothers, telling us what conventions demand. Wha tever their

form or medium, these stories have formed us all; they are what we

must use to make new fictions, new narratives, (Carolyn Heilbrun,

Writing a Woman's Life, 37)

No high steeples, no single word, no same announcement Sundayafter Sunday, Rather the images explode in the aesthetic play of

comm unity, commu nion. Word, grace: wom en disciples speaking

and being heard, mem ories of wom en recalled and celebrated,

Deborah's song and Mary's Magn ificat, Esther's beauty and

Mary's adornment, chatting, laughing, weeping, singing, feasting.

(Rebecca Chopp, The Power to Speak, 88)

/

h creat ing a lec t ionary a church plots i ts own nar rat ive , t e l ls i ts

own s tor y , r emembe r s i t s mean ing-bea r ing eve n t s . I n p roc la iming

and r e ce iv ing the r e ad ings of a l e c t iona r y , a wor sh ipping commun i ty

creates i ts own iden t i ty , s e es i tse l f r e f lec ted, projects i tse l f in to die

future . The bibl ical s tor ies which the church pr ivi leges and honors in

Marjorie Procter-Smith is Associate Professor of Worship at Perkins School of

Theology, Southern Methodist University , Dallas ,TX.



the publ ic r e ad ing of sc r ip tur e have formed us and con t i nue to form

us all.

Any lec t ionary is in te rpre ta t ion , for in a lecdonary a bibl ical text

is r emoved f rom i ts l i t e rary context and placed in a

l i turgical /homile t ical context . And in this context die text is radical ly

r e i n t e rpr e t ed by a l t e r i ng the ge n r e f rom wr i t t e n to ora l , by

combin ing the t ex t w i th o the r sc r ip tur e t ex t s , by c r e a t i ng beg inn ings

and e nd ings for d i e t ex t , by provid ing non -b ib l ica l commen ta r y i n

the form of psa lms , hymns , p r aye r s , and s e rmon , and by p lac ing the

text in a large r l i turgical context which i tse l f may be governed by a

theological theme or occas ion of the church or secular year .

The purpose of this in te rpre ta t ion is to c la im the ongoing

impor tance of the s e t ex t s for the con t emporar y church , eve n for the

con t em porar y w or ld . By ' ' p lay in g" l i tu rg ica ll y w i ti i b ib lica l t ex t s ,the church at tempts to f r e e diem f rom die i r apparendy t ime-bound

place , eve n f rom the i r l i t e r a l l y bound p lace be tween the cove r s of a

book.

But whe r e a r e the women i n the s e s tor i e s , and how do the

in te rpre ta t ions of the lec t ionary r e f lec t and create l ibe rat ing s tor ies

for women who proc la im and r e ce ive the s e s tor i e s? How much a r e

l e c t iona r y s ys t ems bound by the p lo t s o f women ' s l ive s found i n d i e

scr iptural s tor ies , and how can we make new plots f rom old s tor ies?

To beg in w i th , we mus t acknowledge the male - ce n t e r ed charac t e r

of the bibl ical texts themse lves and the patr iarchal social context inwhich the y we r e to ld , wr i t t e n , and ed i t ed . The p lo t s o f women ' s

l ives found in those texts ar e patr iarchal plots : marr iage and

m othe r hood ; s e r v it ud e a n d d e p e n de n c e ; b e a u t y a n d pow e r o r be a u ty

and evi l ; vic t imizat ion and suf fe r ing. The occas ional Es the r or

De borah s tands as the exce p t ion to the s e p lo t s who prove s the ru l e :

women are pe r ipheral to the s tory , which is a s tory of the words and

de e ds o f m e n .

C on t e m por a r y l e c t i o n a r y s y s t e m s , i n c lud i n g t h e n e w C om m on

Lect ionary , r ecognize and accept this characte r of the bibl ical texts .

Be cause they must ex clude som e texts they focus on major f igures :

Abraham, Mose s , E l i jah and E l i sha , David , Paul , P e t e r , John .

B e c a use t h e y c a n n o t i n c lude e v e r y e v e n t i n th e B ib l e , t h e y m us t

focus on major even ts : the Exodus , the sacr if ice of I saac, die

pr eaching a t P e n t e cos t , and so on . By focus ing on the major eve n t s

and themes of the bibl ical nar rat ive , l ec t ionar ies actual ly in tens ify



the androcen t r i sm and pa t r ia r cha l i sm of the Bib l e . The odd ,

anomalous s tor y—the daughte r s o f Ze lophehad demanding the i r

i nhe r i tance , the d iv in e annunc ia t ion to Samson ' s modie r , f o r

ex amp le— has n o place in such a sche me . But it is jus t such s tor ies

which modi iy or cha l l e nge the ove rwhe lming androcen t r i sm of the

Bib le as a whole by showin g wom en s t epping out o f d i e i r a s signed

roles , r e s is t ing patr iarchal l imita t ions .

To the ex t e n t tha t the l e c t iona r y s e rve s to r emind the as s embly of

our common he r i tage , to r e n ew our s e ns e of common ide n t i t y , and

to unders tand our presen t l i f e in l ight of our pas t , the in tense ly

androcen t r ic r e nde r i ng of tha t he r i t age i n con t emporar y l e c t iona r i e s

d is tor t s the communi ty ' s ide n t i t y by sugge s t i ng tha t women we r e

marginal to that his tory and pass ive ly accepted the ir marginal izat ion .

To the exten t dia t the purpose of die lec t ionary r eading in worship isto bui ld up die community , dia t purpose r emains unfulf i l led i f the

n e eds and i n t e r e s t s o f women i n the communi ty a r e no t a l lowed to

be r e f lec ted in die bibl ical s tory .

This cr i t ique of lec t ionar ies is motivated by theological , pas toral ,

and e th ica l conce r ns . Theologica l , because d i e omiss ion of such

texts and the inclus ion of texts which suppor t women ' s subordinat ion

to men provide d i e e cc l e s ias t ica l con t ex t w i th in which women ' s

theo logica l conce r ns a r e muted or marg ina l iz ed . Pas tora l , because

such a pa t te r n of i n c lus ion and exc lus ion de l eg i t imize s wo me n ' s

sp i r i tua l and r e l ig ious n e eds and conce r ns and pe rpe tua t e s

r es tr ic t ions on women ' s access to r e l igious leadership and author i ty

in die prese n t . Ethical , because die patte rn of inclus ion an d

exclus ion appears to give divine and eccles ias t ical legi t imation to the

pr e s e n t oppr e s s ion of wome n and odi e r s in church and soc i e t y , an

oppr e s s ion which i nc lude s de n ia l o f e conomic , soc ia l , educa t iona l ,

and hea ld i - ca r e be ne f i t s on d i e bas i s o f ge nde r .

But this cr i t ique is a lso motivated by hope . For within the

liturgical re interpretation of biblical texts lies the possibility of a

form of in te rpre ta t ion which does not r epl icate the patr iarchalbibl ical plot . I n di is sense , dien , die idea of a lec t ionary as a radical

r e i n t e rpr e ta t ion of anc i e n t t ex t s for d i e con t emporar y church and

wor ld holds promise . I n order for di is promise to be r ea l ized,

howeve r , we mus t beg in to take i n to accoun t bodi the work of

f eminis t and l ibe rat ionis t bibl ical scholars and die presen t sense of

a l i e na t ion f rom di e b ib l ica l s to r y expe r i e nced by many women .



Revis ions of the Common Lect ionary

The Com mon Le c t iona r y and i ts cur r e n t r ev i s ion can be c r i tiqued

widi r egard to i ts choice of texts by the fol lowing categor ies : (1) acr idque of inclus ion; (2) a cr i t ique of omiss ion; (3) a cr idque of

combinat ions of texts . A f ew examples of each wil l have to suf f ice .

The 1983 ve r s ion of the Comm on Le c t iona r y i nc luded s eve r a l

texts which af f i rm or imply women ' s subordinat ion to men, most

no tab ly Eph. 5 :21-33 ( "Wive s , be subj e c t to your husbands , a s to

the Lord") . This t ex t i s now omi t t ed f rom the r ev i s ed Common

Lec t ionar y . The Gene s i s 2 t ex t on the c r e adon of woman f rom the

s ide of die man, former ly pair ed widi the Matdiew text on the

indissolubi l i ty of marr iage , now appears only as an a l te rnate text .T he s e c ha n ge s a r e im pr ove m e n t s . O n t h e o th e r ha n d , o n e w on de r s

about the inclus ion of Prov. 3 1 : 1 0 - 3 1 , **A good wife wh o can

f ind?" W hile the text praise s a wo ma n , she is be in g praised for

adapt ing we l l to what Carolyn He i lbrun cal ls **die marr iage plot ," a

patr iarchal plot which de f in i te ly se rves men ' s in te r es ts , in this case

die husband who **has no lack of g ai n ."

The e a r l i e r ve r s ion of the Common Lec t iona r y omi t t ed a numbe r

of t ex t s about women which have be e n i nc luded i n the n ew r ev i s ion :

Mir iam a t the Red Sea , Hagar , Rache l and Le ah , De borah , and

Es the r , Tabid ia , Lydia , the Sy rophoen ic ian woman , and d i e

be n t -ove r woman . Unfor tuna t e l y , the woman who ano in t s J e sus '

head and the women disciples ar e s t i l l marginal ized in the pass ion

n ar r at ive r e ad ings and a r e found i n no o the r p lace in the l e c t iona r y .

Pr isci l la and the prophe tess daughte rs of Phi l ip are s t i l l absen t .

I n sum, a l though d i e r ev i s ions of the Common Lec t iona r y

gene r a l l y i nc r e as e d i e numbe r of t ex t s which i nc lude women and

r educe d i e numbe r of t ex t s which t e ach d i e subord ina t ion of women ,

d i e change s made do no t cha l l e nge d i e ge n e r a l androcen t r ic and

patr iarchal pe rspect ive of die Bible itself. But such a lec t ionarywhich could include di is chal lenge would have to be cons tructed on

ve r y d i f f e r e n t p r i nc ip l e s than any of our cur r e n t s y s t ems .



Authority of the Bible

When the Bible is r ead in church, whedie r the r eadings fol low a

l e c t iona r y or no t , i t i s commonly unde r s tood , bo th by d i e r e ade r andby d ie h e a r e r s , as t h e "W or d o f G od . " T h e li tu rg ic a l a n n oun c e m e n t

of the r e ad ing by us ing such te rms , the us e of c e r em on ia l ac t ion s

such as process ing with die book, upl i f t ing i t , and so on , se rve to

em phas ize th i s un de r s tan d in g . I t is made e xpl ic i t i n d ie p r ay e r i n the

U n i t e d Me thod i s t H y m n a l w h ic h m a y p r e c e d e t h e r e a d i n g : " . . . a s

the sc r ip tur e s a r e r e ad and your Word proc la imed , we may hea r

wid i joy wha t y ou say to us to da y . " Such a con t e x t e n dows the

r e ad ing of d i e s e l e c t ed t ex t w i th con t emporar y au thor i t y i n the

c o m m u n i t y .

However , die work of f eminis t and l ibe rat ion bibl ical scholars

raises fundamental chal lenges to this view of the author i ty of the

Bible . These scholars dir ect our a t ten t ion to the dangers of uncr i t ical

acceptance of bibl ical audior i ty for women and odie r oppressed

people . They a rgue t i i a t d i i s unde r s tand ing s e rve s d i e ideo logica l

in te r es ts of the powerful , that die author i ty of the Bible is extr ins ic

and not in t r ins ic , and diat the ques t ion of bibl ical author i ty is f inal ly

an edi ical one . Soudi Afr ican bibl ical scholar I tumeleng Mosala

notes dia t " the Bible is the product , the r ecord, the s i te , and t i ie

weapon of c las s , cu l tura l , ge nde r , and r ac ia l s t ruggle s . " This v i ewis conf irmed by odie rs who poin t to the use of bibl ical in junct ions of

obedience to author i ty and af f i rmations of male dominance to jus t i fy

v io l e nce and oppr e s s ion of women , ch i ldr e n , and o the r subjuga t ed

pe r sons . (Se e the work of She i la Redmond on ch i ld s exua l abuse ,

Susan This t i e thwai t e on ba t t e r i ng , and V ince n t Wimbush on d i e us e

of the Bible to uphold s lavery . )

A t d i e sa m e tim e , m a n y w om e n a n d o th e r opp re s s e d p e op l e ha ve

also found impor tan t r e sources in die Bible for the ir own s truggles

for f r e edom and d ign i t y . Tex ts which proc la im emanc ipa t ion and

jus t ice can sometimes work to subver t patr iarchal author i ty whichwould use the Bible to cur ta i l die f r e edom of some. However , by

us ing the author i ty of the Bible agains t itself, the y a r e i n f ac t

chal lenging i ts author i ty , c la iming that author i ty for themse lves and

the ir s t ruggles . This approach to die author i ty of scr ipture se es the

biblical text as a living text which is to be of use to real people in

the ir s t ruggles ; the audior i ty of the Bible is "n o t that of a c lass ic ,



but as that of a cons t i tut ion ," as El isabe th Schuss le r F iorenza puts

i t . not as a se t of laws but as a se t of in te rpre t ive paradigms of a

l i v i n g c om m un i t y .

I t is not enough, then , s imply to r e jec t the Bible in i ts en t i r e ty as

use less and even harmful for women and othe rs . But ne i the r is i t

suf f ic ien t to accept i t unquesdoningly as audior i ta t ive text , as die

"Word of God" for us . Any s ys t em which a t t empts to make the

Bible use ful for the contemporary church and the wor ld must f ind a

th i rd way which goe s be yond pr e s e n t l e c t iona r y s ys t ems , which , a s

Rebecca Chopp sugge s t s , can a l low d i e images to " explode i n

c r e a t ive p l ay , " f r e e i ng the vo ice s of wom en i n the tex t s .

Constructing a Feminist Lectionary

Fre e ing up the vo ice s of wome n i n the t ex t s , o f fe r i ng a l t e r n adve

plots for women ' s l ives , and making new s tor ies out of die old

patr iarchal plots r equir e keeping in mind ce r ta in cr i t ical t ruths about

sc r ip tur e .

1. Any use of the Bible in worship must r ecognize that the Bible

is androcentr ic in i ts language and imagery and patr iarchal in i ts

or iginal and i ts contemporary social-pol i t ical se t t ing. To the exten t

tha t the Bib le as sumes or de f e nds the subord ina t ion of wome n tomen, i t must be r egarded as hos t i le to women ' s spir i tual and phys ical

we l l -be ing. To the exten t dia t i t assumes or de fends the ins t i tut ion of

human s lavery , i t must be r egarded as hos t i le to the spir i tual and

phys ica l we l l -be ing of Af r ican Amer icans and co lon ized people s . To

the ex t e n t tha t i t a s sumes or de f e nds unque s t ion ing obed i e nce to

author i ty , i t must be r egarded as hos t i le to the we l l -be ing of chi ldren

and al l oppressed peoples .

2 . The hos t i l i ty of patr iarchal texts in die Bible to women, to

ch i ldr e n , and to men who a r e oppr e s s ed should no t be sof t e n ed ,

glossed over , or othe rwise obscured, s ince i t is a formative par t of

our common he r i tage , and we con t i nue to l ive w i th i t s cons equence s .

3 . Th e human cos t o f host il e t ex t s should be r e cogn ized ,

lamen t ed , and r epe n t ed of i n the con t ex t o f common worsh ip , bo th

in the ancien t s tor ies themse lves and in the appropr ia t ion of those

t ex t s in the pr e s e n t .



4 . Canonica l b ib l i ca l t ex t s commonly mut e o r s i l e nc e women ' s

vo ic e s . The "whi spe r o f women tha t can be hea rd i n c e r t a i n p l ac es

in or under the b ibl ica l t ext ," i n the words of Jane Schaberg , should

be ampl i f i ed by means of f eminis t t ransla t ion and by means of

l i turgica l proc lamat ion in song, prayer , dance , poem, sermon.

5 . The bibl ica l s i l enc ing and e rasure of women f rom the t exts

should be recognized as an ideological move, and thus the biblical

canon must be acknowledged as d is tor t ed and incomple t e . This ca l l s

for an expansion of the t radi t iona l nodon of canon to inc lude

noncanon ica l wr i t i ngs bod i a nc i e n t a nd con t empora ry .

What would a lect ionary which recognized such truths look l ike?

I t would requi re a f eminis t t ransla t ion of scr ip ture , to begin wi th .

Whi le current i nc lusive t ransla t ion projec ts , which correc t

androcent r ic language to inc lude women, a re useful , these projec ts

a lone a re i nsuff ic i ent to dea l widi d i e absences , d is tor t ions , and

hosti l i ty in some texts. For di is. a feminist t ranslat ion is required

which can draw a t t ent ion to die s i l ences and missing s tor i es , r ead

behind the hosdl i ty , and subver t the misogyny of par t icular t exts .

Such a t ransla t ion would enable a congregat ion to read be tween the

l i n e s , as wel l as confront d i e host i l i t y i n many scr ip ture t exts .

The search, largely fut i le , for posi t ive scripture texts about

women would become l e ss u rgen t , a nd the church would be ab l e t o

accept and deal with die lack of such texts. A lect ionary whichrecognized these t ru ths , moreover , could a lso take note of s i l ences

and absences in the t exts , and a c rea t ive l i turgica l context could

provide die p lace where b ibl ica l women 's s i l enced voices could be

f r e ed .

Such a l ecdonary would inc lude host i l e t exts , but not to be

procla imed as "Word of God." Ins t ead, such t exts would be the

basis for se rvices of lament , r epentance , and exorc ism. Or diey

could be cont rast ed widi emancipa tory t exts i n such a way tha t the i r

host i l i t y would be c l ear and c l ear ly subver t ed , not only by

emancipa tory t exts but a lso by an emancipa tory l i turgica l context .

Be cause the l i turgica l conte xt is a t l eas t poten t ia l ly mul t i sen sory ,

the use of scr ip ture i n worship need not be l imi t ed to die r eading of

a fixed text . Already in moving die text from a writ ten form to oral ,

i ts medium has been al tered. I t also has the possibi l i ty of being

int e rpre t ed in image and ac t ion as wel l as spoken word.



Let me give two examples of how these pr inciples and proposals

might be put in to e f f ect . One example demonstra tes the amplif icadon

of s il e n ce s i n d i e tex t s . The s e cond exe mpl if ie s the subve r s ion of

hos t i l e t ex t s . Both we r e deve loped and us ed i n s eminar y chape l

s e rv ice s .

A s e rv ice i n t e nded to focus on women ' s ca l l to min i s t r y began

f rom Jane Schabe rg ' s obs e rva t ion r egard ing d i e l ack of women ' s ca l l

s tor ies in the New Tes tament . A f eminis t t rans la t ion of the Bible ,

she a rgue s , would i n c lude a b lank page w i th the head in g , "T he cal l

of the women d i sc ip l e s , " Such a dev ice would poin t to d i e s i l e nce s

in die texts . We took di is "blank text" for our text for di is chape l

s e r v i c e .

In order to draw at ten t ion to the s i lence , a r eader in t roduced

readings of the cal l s tor ies of die male disciples with thea n n oun c e m e n t , "H e a r how J e s us c a l l e d S im on a n d A n d r e w to b e

d isc ip l e s , " fo l lowed by the r e ad ing of the t ex t . I n t e r spe r s ed among

the s e r e ad in gs we r e " r e ad in gs " of d i e ca ll o f wome n d i sc ip le s .

The s e we r e i n t roduced w id i a s imi la r announcemen t : "Hear how

Je sus ca l l ed Mary Magda le n e to be h i s d i sc ip l e . " But th i s

announcemen t was fo l lowed by s i l e nce , dur ing which a ve i l ed

women e n t e r ed the chance l a r e a and took a p lace i n s i l e nce . The

women d i sc ip l e s we r e d ius named and pr e s e n t ed , one a f t e r anodie r ,

s i le n t and h idde n , un t i l a g roup of about t e n wom en s tood be for e the

c on g r e ga t i on .Fol lowing the s e rmon , which i nv i t ed the congr ega t ion to imagin e

die l ives and minis t r ie s of women disciples , a poem by Mir iam

T he r e s e W in t e r ( "A P s a lm f o r E ve r y w om a n , " f r om WomanWord)

was r e c i t ed l i n e by l i n e by d i e women r epr e s e n t i ng d i e s i l e nced

women d i sc ip l e s . As e ach woman spoke he r l i n e , she r emoved he r

ve i l . By the us e of word , s i l e nce , movemen t , image , and poe t r y , the

absence of women f rom the bibl ical text was presen ted to the

c on g r e ga t i on .

In fact , the congregat ion par t ic ipated in both the s i lencing and die

r e cove r y of vo ice by d i e us e of a hymn . Both d i e open ing and

c lo s in g hy m n w a s "H e r e I A m , L o r d , " a v e r y popu l ar h y m n

associated, a t l eas t in our seminary , with one ' s cal l to minis t ry . But

for the open ing hymn , the congr ega t ion was i n s t ruc t ed to s tand ,

hymna ls open to the hymn , bu t to r emain s i l e n t whi l e the organ i s t

played a l l the ve rses . At the c lose of the se rvice , the congregat ion



sang the hymn, t hus moving f rom be i ng s i l e nc ed to hav i ng a vo ic e ,

in solidari ty with die bibl ical women disciples and with many

w o m e n t o d a y .

Anod i e r s e rv i c e , a communion s e rv i c e , was ca l l ed "The S tones

Wil l Cry Out ." This se rvice drew a t t ent ion to the suppress ion of

women ' s wi t ne ss t o d i e r e su r r ecdon by con t ra s t i ng th e Gospe l t ex t s

which repor t the wi tness of d i e women widi d i e Paul ine t ext which

ignore s t iiem. A ref ra in , " I f we do n ot speak, l e t d i e s tone s c ry

out ," wove through the l i tany of scr ip ture r eadings as wel l as the

euchar is t ic prayer which was wri t t en for th is occasion. As

communicants r e turned f rom the a l ta r , they were offe red a smal l

s tone , which diey took away wi th diem. In d i i s way, bodi by

allowing the scripture i tself to cri t ique i ts own suppressions and by

the use of l i turgica l and poet ic i n t e rpre ta t ion, the congregat ion was

invited to hear scripture texts cri t ical ly and to commit themselves to

res is t ing a t t empts to suppress any voices .

These services a re but two examples of d i e possibi l i t i es open to

the church when a new approach to die const ruc t ion and use of a

l ec t ionary i s accepted . As Rebecca Chopp envis ions , images explode

i n c r ea t iv e p l ay , women d i sc ip l e s speak and a r e h ea rd , women a r e

remembered and ce l ebra ted . And the church i s be t t e r able to

procla im the gospe l to the world .

Bibliography

Chopp, Rebecca . The Power to Speak: Feminism , Langu age, and God* New Yo rk :

Crossroad Publishing Company, 1989.

Heilbrun, Carolyn. Writing a Woman's Ufe. New York: Ballantine Books, 1988.

Mosala, Itumeleng. Biblical H ermeneutics and Black Theology in South Africa, Grand

Rapids, Mich.: Will iam B. Eerdmans, 1989.

Procter-Smith, Marjorie. "Im ages of W om en in the Lectionary.'* In Women, Invisible

in Tlieology and Church, edited by Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza and Mary Coll ins .

Concil ium 18 2. New York: T. and T. Clkrk, 1 985.

. In Her Own Rite: Constructing Feminist Liturgical Tradition. Nash-

viUe: Abingdon Press , 1990.

. "Lectionaries—Principles and Problems: Alternative Perspectives .*'In Studia Liturgica 22 (1992): 84 -99 .

Redmond, Sheila. "Christian ^Virtues* and Recovery from Child Sexual Abuse.** In

Christianity, P atriarchy and Abuse, Edited by Joanne Carlson Brown and Carole

Bohn. New York: Pilgrim Press , 1989.



Schaberg, Jane. "Response: Special Section on Feminist Translation of the New

Testament.'* \n Journal of Feminist S tudies in Religion 6 (1990): 74 -85 .

Schussler Fiorenza, Elisabeth. But She Said: Feminist Practices of Biblical Interpreta

tion. Boston: Beacon Press , 1992.

Thistiethwaite, Susan. "Eve ry T wo Minutes: Battered Wom en and Feminist Interpretation." In Feminist Interpretation of the Bible, Edited by Letty Russell. Philadel

phia: Westminster Press , 1985.

Winter, Miriam Therese. Wom anWord: A Feminist Lectionary ar\d Psalter: Wom en of

the New Testament. New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 1990.



W . Douglas M ills

Being Formed by the Word

C C AW who des ir e die grace of God are to wait for i t in search-

j T l i n g d i e S c r ip tu r e s , " sa id J ohn W e s le y i n h i s s e r m on "T he

Means of Grace . "^ By an i nd iv idua l ' s r e ad ing , hea r i ng , and

medita t ing on the scr ipture , God has an open channe l dirough which

to speak to and by which to conve y g race upon h im or he r . Go d ' s

s tory , contained in scr ipture , is the s tory that cr eates the community

of God's people . Scr ipture ar t iculates die fundamental r e la t ionship of

people with God and with one another . Hear ing the word again , as i t

has been heard in a l l t imes pas t , die people of God are formed inGo d ' s cal l o f e l e c t ion , G od ' s judgm en t of t r ansgr e s s ion , and Go d ' s

word of r econci l ia t ion .

The people of God share in common die family he r i tage of the

pas t that is r ecal led a t ce lebrat ions and annive rsar ies . This is die

s tory dia t has brought be l ieve rs in to the presen t and that leads them

into tom orro w. Th e story told in scripture is the story of the family

of Christians as it s truggled to come into being, as it re joiced in i ts

conques ts , as i t cr ied in i ts sor rows, and as i t found hope in be ing

Go d's p eo ple . Ft is in the s tory of scr ipture that Chr is t ians discover

who the y a r e and who the y a r c mean t to be .

W. Douglas Mills is pastor of New Covenant United Methodist Church in Farmington,

New Mexico. This article is excerpted from his book, A Daily Lectionary: Scripture

readings for Every Day Based on the New Common Lectionary (Nashvil le: The Upper

Room, 1986), 2 2 - 3 5 . Used with permission.





off ice a lso presen ts a ce r ta in tens ion within the church ' s t radi t ion .

The his tory of die dai ly of f ice is a long and de ta i led problem which

scholars have not se t t led comple te ly . I t inc ludes the publ ic

gather ings of communides of Chr is t ians for dai ly praye r as we l l as

individuals or communit ie s e s tabl ishing f ixed hours for pr ivatepray e r . We may ca l l the publ ic ga the r i ngs of the e a r l y church for

dai ly praye r the cathedral of f ice and the pr ivate gadie r ings of the

mon ks the monas t ic of fic e .

Apar t f rom the Sunday s e rv ice of Euchar i s t (Holy Communion ) ,

the church or iginal ly gadie r ed for publ ic worship twice a day , in the

e v e n i n g a n d In d i e m or n i n g . F r e que n t l y , a n od i e r s e r v ic e w a s

scheduled on the eves of Sundays and major f es t ivals , but the bas ic

pa t t e r n of two publ ic ga the r i ngs r emained the mode l un t i l monas t ic

in f lue nce s changed i t .The monas t ic movemen t was a deve lopmen t tha t sprang f rom di e

la i ty in the church who se t themse lves apar t f rom die wor ld in order

to pract ice wit i i a l l in tens i ty the cal l of unceas ing praye r . The

ded ica t ion to cons tan t p r aye r r equi r ed mor e than two s e rv ice s a day ,

so die ear ly monks l ived a devot ional l i f e dia t was based on odie r

pr eceden t s for da i l y p r aye r . The r e a r e numerous war ran t s and

pr eceden t s for any numbe r of scheduled t imes for p r aye r , i nc lud ing

two, th r e e , f ive , s eve n , o r e igh t da i l y t imes for p r aye r . Howeve r ,

these monas t ic rounds were e s tabl ished for the edif icat ion of die

i nd iv idua l mor e than for the comm un i ty to jo in i n un i son adora t ion .

The shape of die monas t ic of f ice was cons tructed pr imar i ly for

medita t ion , while the cathedral of f ice was cons tructed more for

public supplicat ion and adorat ion of die presen t Chr is t . I n fact , die

public of f ice was shaped much l ike the euchar is t ic l i turgy , wit i iout

the se rvice a t the table . Dai ly praye r as we know i t is a fus ion of the

public cadiedral of f ice and the more pr ivate monas t ic of f ice .

The impor tance of l i s t e n ing to the word of God has be e n

r e cogn ized i n P ro t e s tan t c i r c l e s as we l l . John Wes l e y commended

his fol lowers to pract ice di is a t l eas t twice a day .^ Wesley knew t i ia tsuch has a lways been the pract ice of die church in i ts des ir e to pray

wit i iout ceas ing. In the pract ice of praying the dai ly of f ices ,

sc r ip tur e has a lways be e n a t d i e c e n t e r . L is t e n ing to the word of God

faci l i ta tes a deeper leve l of r esponse to the Lord. To this end, a dai ly

l e c t iona r y i s r equi r ed to provide an orde r l y s equence of l e s sons tha t ,



i n t ime, cover the whole of God 's s tory and ca l l the be l i evers i n to i t

to make God 's s tory the i r s tory .

The Historical Development of Lectionaries

At Vat ican I I the Roman Cadiol ic church asked for a new Sunday

l ec t iona ry . A new ca l enda r was th e p r e l imina ry s t ep i n t h e p rocess .

The Second Vat ican Counci l dec ided dia t , i n worship , ' ^d ie t r easures

of the Bible should be opened more lavishly so tha t r icher fa re might

be provided for die faidiful at die table of God's Word. In di is way a

more representa t ive por t ion of sacred Scr ipture wi l l be read to die

p e o pl e ov e r a s e t c y c le of y e a r s . T h e s tre n g t h of t he n e w c hu rc h

calendar i s i t s grasp of the cent ra l por t ion of Chr is t ian exper i enceand i ts abil i ty to reflect the vivid message of bibl ical salvation. The

st rength of a l ec t ionary based on such a church year i s i t s r ecovery

of scripture as central to Christ ian faidi . This principle diat affirms

the importance of scripture is at tract ive also to Protestants, and the

resul tant ecumenica l l ec t ionary i s a symbol of Chr is t ' s prayer tha t

* 'a ll may be o n e " ( John 17 :21 , K J V ) .

A l ec t ionary based on the Chr is t ian cyc le of f es t iva ls r e f l ec ts d i e

very na ture of our re la t ionship wi th God as present ed in scr ip ture .

When the ac ts of God are r e i t e ra t ed year a f t e r year and day af t e r

day , praise of God is de ep e n e d. Be l i evers a re saved from a fa lsespi r i tua l i t y based on works ra ther than on God 's mighty ac ts , A

lec t ionary i s needed for a l l d i e people of God to recover a sense of

communi t y a nd , mosdy , t o r ecove r a s e nse o f con t i nu i t y i n d i e

sweep of t ime. Dai ly t ime i s sanc t i f i ed by the re l iv ing of God 's

c la im upon his tory . Even pr iva te worship in common wi th the whole

church, made possible by a church year and ecumenica l l ec t ionary,

keeps prayer f rom be ing individual i s t ic . Such a l ec t ionary i s an a id

to spiri tual formation, a way to **proclaim the death of die Lord,

unt i l he comes" (1 Cor . 11:26, NEB), and a way to recover va l id

worship of God,

An o rde r l y s eque n c e o f scr ip tu r e s e l ec t ions used i n t h e pub l ic

worship of a re l ig ious communi ty i s not new. The synagogue i s the

mos t l ik e l y o rig in o f we ek l y r e ad i ngs . Some scho la r s eve n a rgue

tha t New Testament books, such as Mark or Mat thew, are s imply a

col l ec t ion of per icopes once ass igned in some form to a l i turgica l



yea r . The s ynagogue mode l o f cyc l ica l r e ad ings deve loped i n anc i e n t

and medieva l t imes i n to l e cdonar i e s among Chr i s t ian communi t i e s .

The Apostol ic Cons t i tut ions of die fourdi cen tury c lear ly r e f e rs to a

f ive - l e s son s equence .

The Counc i l o f Tr e n t f ixed d i e Roman l e c t iona r y i n 1570 by us ingthose r e ad in gs tha t had evolved w id i me an ing ove r a thousand y e a r s .

The Angl ican l e c t iona r y , bas ed on the Roman r e ad ings , a l so wen t

through a pe r iod of chan ge . Archbishop Cran me r r ev i sed the Ro man

Brev ia r y i n to d i e Book of Common Prayer.^ Thre e sc r ip tur e l e s sons

we r e as s igned for morn ing praye r and two l e s sons for eve n ing .

Howeve r , the l e c t iona r y was de tached f rom the church y ea r and

began on Januar y 1. Th e orde r l y r e ad ing of sc r ip tur e was the ch ie f

function of the daily off ices in the 1549 Book of Comm on Prayer.

John Wes l e y , who us ed the Angl ican praye rbook, was ce r ta in l y

awar e of the be ne f i t s o f a l e c t iona r y . I n 1784 , when Wes l e yr e sponded to the de spe r a t e c r y for he lp i n d i e n ew Amer ican s ta t e s ,

he s e n t h i s r ev i s ions of the Angl ican r i t e s . Wes l e y ' s Sunday Service

was in tended to be die Book of Worship for the r ecen t iy born

Me thodis t s . I n th i s ex t e ns ive s e rv ice , Wes l e y provided prope r

l e s sons to be r e ad a t morn ing and eve n ing praye r on d i e Sundays

through the y e a r . Wes l e y as sumed tha t mor e t i i an one l e s son would

be r ead, t i iough how many le ssons more is not indicated. His

lect ionary provided only that the f i r s t l e sson be used a t bodi

s e r v i ce s , e xc e p t E a s te r S un da y , W hi ts un da y , T r in i t y S un da y ,

Chr i s tmas , Good F r iday , and Ascens ion Day , for which he provided

two le s sons ap ie ce . Tha t We s le y provided a Ne w Tes tame n t r e ad ing

as the s e cond l e s son for the s e days i s ev ide nce tha t Wes l e y expec t ed

mor e than one l e s son , bu t p robably on ly two, to be us ed r egula r l y i n

wor sh ip .

The Ecumenica l Sunday Lect ionary

The decis ion by the Roman Cathol ic church at Vat ican I I to openmore lavishly the r ich fare of God's word led to some of die most

radical changes in the long, long his tory of the lec t ionary . More t i ian

s imply updat ing, the Counci l fa the rs se t out many r e forms. The

e igh t e e n membe r s of th i s g roup as s igned to work on the l e c t iona r y

were ins tructed to make proposals , which they did only af te r years



of bibl ica l s tudies , exper imenta t ion, and revis ions . The fa thers s tud

i ed exis t ing per icope syst ems and sought the advice of many bibl ica l

scholars . A rough draf t was comple t ed by 1967 and revis ions made

in 1968. The f ina l product was decreed to begin on November 30,

1969. The new orde r o f r ead i ngs was based on a d i r e e - yea r c yc l e i nwhich th r e e r ead i ngs—an Old Tes t amen t , a Gospe l a nd an ep i s t i e—

w e r e a s s i g n e d .

S i nc e many Pro t e s t a n t s had be en consu l t ed i n t h e deve lopment o f

th is new l ec t ionary, d i e l ec t ionary immedia te ly caught the in t e res t of

Protes tant denomina t ions . Hai l ed by some as the f ines t l ec t ionary in

Christ ian history, i t was natural that other t radit ions adopt much of

i t . The Episcopal church first used a revision of i t in die Book of

Common Prayer of 1970 . The Pr e sby t e r i an Church in t h e U ni t ed

Sta tes and die Uni t ed Presbyter ian Church in d i e Uni t ed Sta t es of

America a lso adopted i t , widi r evis ions , i n 1970. Other

denomina t ions fol lowed sui t .

In d i e fa l l of 1972, d i e Consul ta t ion on Church Union (COCU)

Commiss ion on Worsh ip began work on a l e c t iona ry to s e rve a s a

symbol of church unity and as an aid to those churches without a

recent l ec t ionary.^ The f i rs t necess i ty before d i e commission, d i e

adopt ion of a ca lendar , r esul t ed in the acceptance of the ca lendar

out i ined above . The commission then a l igned die four common

lec t ionar i es (Roman Cathol ic , Episcopal , Presbyter ian, and

Lutheran) i n para l l e l columns according to Sunday and season. Thelec t ionary tha t was put for th by the commission i s a consensus using

the l ec t ions on which sources agreed or , i f d i e sources d id not agree ,

using die l ec t ion tha t bes t f i t the sequence . Dupl ica t ions were

avoided. The product fo l lows the Roman ca lendar , a three-year

cyc l e , a nd th r e e r ead i ngs pe r Sunday sys t em.

Fina l approval was given to the COCU lec t ionary in 1974.

Meanwhi le , d i e Sec t ion on Worship of d i e Uni t ed Mediodis t Board

of Disc ipleship had begun work on new worship resources . See ing

no r ea son to r ecommend a l ec t iona ry o the r t han th e COCU one , t h e

sec t ion proposed i t s use among Uni t ed Methodis ts . Responding to

the desi re tha t a psa l t e r be inc luded, Hoyt Hickman and James Whi te

p r epa r ed a conse n sus psa lt e r fo r th e CO CU commi t t e e , which was

adopted and inc luded in the package for Uni t ed Mediodis ts

Part of the struggle to be a more vi tal and fai thful church is the

ongoing re form and renewal of worship . Renewal i s a good s ign of a



heal thy and l ive ly fa idi . I t s igna ls , a t every turn , d i e d iscovery of

Christ in the l i fe of the church and in the mission of die church in

the world . Though die t ime has been shor t s ince the in t roduct ion of

the l e c t iona ry . Uni t ed Med iod i s t s now a r e g iven th e oppor tun i t y t o

accept a re f inement of tha t l ec t ionary. The previous l ec t ionary wasve ry good ; none o f t h e o lde r l e c t iona r i e s , e spec i a l l y t hose on a c yc l e

of one or two years , could match the new order i n t e rms of

approach, coverage , and ba lanced t rea tment of b ibl ica l mater ia l .

I nde ed , d i e success o f t h e new ca l e nda r a nd l ec t iona ry was g r ea t e r

than had eve r b e en a n t i c ipa t ed . Howeve r , d i e d eve lope r s o f d i e

COCU lec t ionary had in t ended a l l a long to reconsider d i e i r work

after two full cycles. Cri t iques of the methodology and the

ecumenica l s ta t e a l lowed eva lua t ion to happen sooner .

I n 1978 d i e Consu l t a t ion on Common Tex t s (CCT) c r ea t ed a

commi t t e e t o r ev i s e t h e l e c t iona ry . ' *The gu ide l i ne s we r e c l ea r :

c r ea t e a consensus ca l e nda r a nd l ec t iona ry fo r a l l t h r e e yea r s , do no t

d i s tu rb th e Gospe l l e s son a r rangemen t exc ep t i n v e r y spec i a l

c i rcumstances , and re ta in d i e pr inc iple of themat ic corre la t ion on

f e s t iva l days a nd dur i ng the Adven t /Ep iphany and Len t / Eas t e r

cy c l e s" ^ The ecumen ical commi t t e e p roduced a po li shed con sen sus

lec t ionary for Sunday worship services , which was in t roduced to

The Uni t ed Methodis t Church on the f i rs t Sunday of Advent , 1983.^

Lectionary Criticisms

Lect ionar i es as a whole have met wi t i i considerable c r i t ic i sm.^ The

most verba l compla int comes f rom preachers and worship l eaders

who fee l tha t f reedom in worship has been sacr i f iced . The pastor i s

d i e h i nge on which the communi t y r evo lves a round d i e sc r ip tu r e . Id e

a l ly i t i s the pastor ' s job to re la t e the context of the communi ty to d ie

iden t i ty of the fai thful as i t is shape d by the can on ; the re fore , im

posed l ec t ions may be a t odds wid i congr ega t iona l n e eds . Howeve r ,lack of biblical knowledge, t i ieological misperception, pastoral sub

j ec t iv i ty , and a host of o ther i ssues keep th is idea l f rom be ing rea l

i t y . A minis t e r who reads and preaches f rom a wel l -ba lanced

lec t ionary covers most major b ibl ica l themes and i s forced away

f rom r edundan t , bu t f avor i t e , t h emes . Lec t iona ry p r each i ng i s good

disc ipl ine .



An other c r it ic ism of a three - read in g l ec t ionary is d i e of ten

s t ra ined re la t ionship be tween t exts . In the chr is to logica l cyc les , the

Gospel l esson idea l ly de t e rmines a theme to which the Old

Tes t amen t l e s son and some t imes d i e ep i sde l e s son r e l a t e . I n r ea l i t y ,

t h e r e l a t ion i s some t imes awkward . Al so , t h e r e a r e many OldTes t amen t t h emes tha t canno t b e ma tched wid i a New Tes t amen t

text . This problem is al leviated if a greater port ion of die Old

Testament is used and if al l real ize that i t is not necessary for al l the

l e ssons to be i n congruenc e .

There wi l l a lways be doubt among some tha t the in t egr i ty of d i e

whole of scr ip ture can be preserved widi a l ecdonary tha t , of

necessi ty , must exc lude por t ions of scr ip ture . This i s a par t icular ly

crucia l quest ion in r egard to the Old Testament . Choosing only

themes d i a t a r e congruen t wi th New Tes t amen t t ex t s , a nd then on l y

by al lusion or incidental matter , does not al low important thrusts of

the Old Tes t amen t t o be d i scove r ed . Congruenc e i t s e l f d ep r ives d i e

canon of i t s s t r ength in d ivers i ty . In r esponse , i t must be sa id over

and over d ia t , whi l e l ec t ionar i es a re a posi t ive and ext remely useful

tool , they cannot subst i tu t e comple t e ly for a s tudy of the Bible in

toto. There i s a sense i n which a l ec t ionary wi l l be of grea tes t va lue

only when i t i s projec t ed against the whole of scr ip ture .

Methodology for a Dai ly Lect ionary

In the h is tor ica l r eview of the ecumenica l ca lendar and l ec t ionary

and the theological just if icat ion for the use of both of these, certain

methodologies have surfaced which govern the deve lopment of a l ec

t ionary. I t must be kept i n mind dia t the l ec t ionary (COCU or CCT)

in use in Uni t ed Methodism and ecumenica l c i rc l es i s a l ec t ionary

pr imari ly of Sunday, euchar is t ic t exts . What i s not to be found in the

ecumenica l a rena or i n Uni t ed Methodism in par t icular i s a l ec t ion

ary of daily bibl ical lessons.If die number of Bible study guides, lay helps for bibl ical

in t e rpre ta t ion, and smal l group s tudies i s any indica t ion, then there

is certainly a revival of interest in studying the word of God at i ts

source . Severa l quar t e rs have heard the ca l l for b ibl ica l preaching,

and od ie r s have he ede d the de s i r e fo r sc r ip tu re -c e n t e r ed Sunday

school l i t e ra ture . The body of be l i evers wants to rec la im i t s



scr iptura l ident i t y and discover i t s b ibl ica l roots . Men and women

everywhere a re asking for a guide to Bible r eading, and a l l the

reasons ci ted for die acceptabil i ty of l i turgical renewal are

mot iva t ion enough to provide for th is need . A program of Bible

study would indeed furdier discipl ine, foster spiri tual formation,

emphasize God 's g i f t of sa lva t ion whi l e r eeva lua t ing human

ach i evemen t , a nd g ive subs t anc e to th e un i t y o f d i e church .

The methodology used in past ca lendar and l ec t ionary

deve lopments can, wi th addi t ions and revis ions , be used to a t ta in th is

goal of an ecumenica l da i ly l ec t ionary.

1. I t is important and necessary to fol low the Christ ian church

calendar . This insures the reading of the fu l l sequence of God 's

mighty ac ts . Our present ca l endar , p ivot ing on two Chris to logica l

cy c le s , is the most re f ine d sy st em en abl ing us to '*know n othing . . .except Jesus Chris t and him cruci f i ed" (1 Cor . 2 :2) . Our ca lendar

presents the whole s tory of God 's se l f -disc losure , f rom God's ca l l i ng

of Israe l to God 's ca l l i ng of the New Testament church in Chr is t .

Two corollaries go along with this f irst principle:

a . Civic and na t iona l hol idays are to be omit t ed f rom the course

of readings . Not only do these hol idays de t rac t f rom die ecumenic i ty

and catholici ty of a lect ionary, but civic fest ivals tend to emphasize

the good works of humankind as opposed to the grac ious ac ts of

God , Even wi th i n Me thod i sm, th e e n t i r e d enomina t ion i s no t

geographica l ly l imi t ed to one count ry , so some c ivic hol idays haveno mean i ng i n o the r pa r t s o f d i e church . Fur the rmore , t h e church

wid i i n one coun t y ne eds to r e examine i t s obse rvance o f some

hol idays . Whi le we may not be able to s top the recogni t ion of t i i e

U . S . I ndependenc e Day , we do no t ne ed to tu rn d i a t i n to ido la t rous

worship of civi l rel igion.

b . I t i s necessary to reach an agreement on da t ing in d i e Chr is t ian

ca lendar . For the most par t , a l l a re i n agreement d ia t d i e church year

beg i ns wi th Adven t . The CCT l ec t iona ry commi t t e e has r eached

gene ra l ag r e emen t wid i o the r t roub l e a r ea s , a l so , Lu the rans hadadopted a d i ffe ren t me diod of da t ing Sund ay s af te r Pe n tecost ,

causing some summer l essons to be *'off," or different from the

Roman-Ca tho l i c , Ep i scopa l i a n , a nd Uni t ed Med iod i s t sys t ems by

two o r t h r e e weeks . Agre emen t mus t b e had d i a t r equ i r e s t h e

r enumber i ng o f Ord i na ry T ime be fo r e d i e s ea son o f Len t t o accoun t

for the movable da te of Easte r .



2 . Tradi t ions which a l ready have a da i ly l ec t ionary a re a lso using

the ecumenica l Sunday l ec t ionary, thus present ing two se ts of t exts

assigned on Sundays . The Sunday t exts f rom the individual da i ly

l ec t ionar i es do not coinc ide widi the Sunday euchar is t ic t exts f rom

the CCT or COCU lec t ionar i es . To a l l evia t e d i i s problem, die

Sunday euchar is t ic l ec t ions need to be d ie def ini t ive ass ignment .

This may crea t e problems in t radi t ions tha t have morning and

even i ng p raye r a s we l l a s a eucha r i s t i c s e rv i c e . Tha t conce rn ne eds

s tudy and expe r imen ta t ion ; i nnova t ions may be th e a nswer . I n t h e

meant ime, d i e euchar is t ic t exts should s tand as the Sunday

a s s i g nm e n t .

3 . It is t radit ional diat certain books be associated widi certain

seasons . Lessons chosen for Lent r e f l ec t the anc ient prac t ice of

prepara t ion for bapt i sm, for example . Job and Jonah have long been

associa t ed wi th Good Fr iday. The COCU lec t ionary has even

conv i n c ed us d i at in t h e t h r e e - y ea r c y c l e , M a t thew is a ssoc ia ted

widi year A, Mark wi th year B, Luke wi th year C, and John

int e rspersed in the chr is to logica l cyc les . The CCT lec t ionary goes

even fur ther to associa t e the Penta t euch and Mosaic narra t ives wi th

year A, the Davidic narra t ive wi th year B, and the El i jah-El isha

narra t ives a long wi th wisdom l i t e ra ture wi th year C. There a re good

reasons fo r t h e se a ssoc ia t ions bu t none a r e above r ev i ew.

Neverdie l ess , some recogni t ion of d i i s must be mainta ined in a da i lyl ec t iona ry .

4 . Although l ec t ionar i es of d i f fe rent churches have not a lways

been th e same , two r e l a t ed p r i nc ip l e s gove rn d i e s e l ec t ion o f t ex t s :

a . The best l ec t ionary in t e rms of coverage i s a lectio continua.

Cont inuous reading of a b ibl ica l book fac i l i ta t es comple t e encounter .

As a ge n era l ru l e , con t inuous re ading s are to be the n orm for a da ily

l ec t iona ry .

b . A lectio continua makes th e be s t s e nse dur i ng Ord i na ry T ime

of th e ca l e n da r . Dur i n g the Chr is to log ica l c yc l e s (Adven t -Ep iphany ,

Len t -Eas t e r ) , d i ema t i c co r r e l a t ion be tween Gospe l a nd Old

Testament l ec t ions a l lows users to see the in t e r re la t edness of

scr ip t t i r e . Granted , the congrui ty of themes must be considered

careful ly . St i l l , r e la t edness i s important . In a da i ly l ec t ionary, not a l l

three l essons must be congruent , though tha t i s prefe rable .

Fur the rmore , when th e Sunday th eme wi l l b e con t i nued fo r s eve ra l





c . Cer ta in weeks const i tu t e an oc tave and these days should guide

the se l ec t ion of t exts . Holy Week i s such an oc tave and t radi t iona l

texts are associated with each day of that week. Oti ier such octaves

occur after Christmas and after Easter .

d . Repet i t ion i s to be minimized. This wi l l be best accompl ished

by obse rv i ng a lectio continua when the season a l lows for i t .

A dai ly l ec t ionary based upon such methodology would be

compat ible widi the CCT lec t ionary and would be easi ly accessible

for those using die Sunday euchar is t ic r eadings .

Notes

1. John W esley , **The Mea ns of Gr ac e," Works (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book

House, 1978 [rep. of 1872]) , 5: 192.

2 . John Wesley, **Explanatory Notes on the Old Testament," Works, 14: 252-53 .

3 . Constitution on Sacred Liturgy, Article 51.

4 . John Reumann, **A History of L ectionaries: From the Syna gogu e at Nazareth to

Post-Vatican II," Interpretation'iX (April 1977): 118.

5. G. J. Cuming, **The Office in the Church of England." The Study of Liturgy,

ed . Cheslyn Jones, et al .( New York: Oxford, 1978) , 390.

6. C onsultat ion on Church Un ion, Com mission on Worship, A Lectionary (Prince

ton, 1974) , 2.

7. Richard L. Eslinger, "Introducing the New Common Lectionary," Worship

Aliye\ Discipleship Resources W115L, (Nashville: /) , 2.

8. James M. ScheUman, Com mon Lectionary: Vie Lectionary Proposed by the

Consultation on Common Texts (New York: Church Hymnal Corporation, 1983).

9. Cf. Lloyd BaUey, "The Lectionary in Critical Perspective," Interpretation 31

(April 1977): 139-153.





said, "H ad I purchase d . . . a coat of arm s, I think probably I would

have included a ' soapbox' in one of the quadrants , in view of my

a dd ic don to ope n - ai r p r e a c h i n g . "

In shar ing my choice of symbols for the four quadrants of my

own shie ld, I wil l r e f lec t on those aspects of pas toral minis t ry that

expr e s s my unde r s tand ing of d i e e s s e nce of d i e pas tor ' s r o l e i n our

f r a gm e n t e d c on t e m por a r y c u l t u r e .

The Centrality of the Cross

The cross is the axis of the Christian faith, and it is by the cross diat

life is brought into its true focus. Dr. Albert Ouder te lls the story of

the warr ior -king Char les XII , who in 1716 vis i ted a l i tde vi l lage sea

por t town named Ys tad i n the south of Sweden . K ing Char l e s a r

r ived unexpec t ed ly a t the v i l l age church for wor sh ip . When the

pas tor r ea l ized diat the king was a t the se rvice , he r e f lec ted on what

he should do r egard ing h i s s e rmon . Should he pr e ach the message he

had prepared or take this oppor tuni ty to praise King Char les and the

royal family for the ir l eadership of Sweden? He decided to lay as ide

h is s e rmon . Af t e r d i e s e rv ice the k ing gr e e t ed d i e pas tor and wen t on

his way. A shor t t ime la te r the church r ece ived a special gif t f rom

the king. The pas tor cal led the congregat ion toge the r to share in dieopen ing of the g i f t . When the l a rge box was opened , the r e was a l i f e -

s ized crucifix. A ttached to the cross was a n ote from the kin g: "L e t

this crucif ix hang on the pillar opposite the pulpit , so that all who

shal l s tand the re wil l be r eminded of the ir proper subject ."^

I n h i s p r e f ace to Kar l He im ' s book . The Gospel of the Cross,

John Schmidt wr i te s : "The s t r ength of the gospe l of Chr is t l i e s in

the Cross and the Empty Tomb. I n d i e forme r i t f ace s hone s t i y and

boldly the t ragedy of s in ; in the la t te r i t r ises to die glory of

v i c t o r y . " ^ Theologia crucis is not an inciden ta l note in theology;

i n s te a d , it p e r m e a t e s t h e w ho l e . "W he n on e w a n t s t o s e w , " w r o te

Sje ire n K ie rkeg aard , "o n e m us t kno t the th r e ad . " T he c ross is the

knot in die thread of Christian faith. I t is t i ie point of departure and

ar r ival for the pas tor ' s minis t ry . I n a pas tor ' s l i f e , devot ion ,

theo logy , and s e rv ice mee t and a r e i n t e rming l ed because the y mee t

a t the cross .



As pas tors we are not withdrawn f rom the wor ld but l ive in the

mids t of i t . This gives us the oppor tuni ty to in te rpre t human

exper iences in such a way that they wil l be i l lumined by the cross .

We are cal led to be pe rsons for odie rs . Pas toral minis t ry is not for

those who s e ek to d i s tance themse lve s f rom othe r people . I n any

par ish ti ie r e is en ough s in , anxie ty , sor row , and suf fe r ing to kee p a

pas tor up at n igh t, o ff e r ing i n t e r ce s sor y pray e r . J e sus sa id , " T h e

Son of man came not to be se rved but to se rve , and to give his l i f e

as a ransom for many" (Matt . 20:28) . Paradoxical ly , we f ind l i f e by

los ing i t in se l f -giving love . Lif e is a lways a los ing bat t le when i t

r evo lve s a round oneself.

In his book Gospel Characters Leonard Gr if f i th te l ls the s tory of

Cardinal Leger , who r es igned his pos i t ion as archbishop of Montr eal

to becom e a mis s ionar y pr ie s t amon g the l epe r s in Af rica, ^ Some

would say he demoted himself. But it is an ope n que s t ion whe the r

achieving the top pos i t ions in the eccles ias t ical ladder is super ior to

working among Chr i s t ' s l epe r s . The c ross r ed i r e c t s one ' s l i f e f rom

the de s i r e to be s e rved to d i e de s i r e to s e rve . "The beg inn ing and

the e nd of a l l Chr i s t ian l e ade r sh ip , " wr i t e s Hen r i J . M. Nouwen ,

"is to give your l i f e for othe rs ." ' ^

The cross cal ls us to r e f lec t on our r easons for be ing in minis t ry .

As we s t ruggle to proclaim and l ive the Word, the drama of our own

cross is acted out . I n our burden for odie rs to be l ieve and have l i f e

i n h i s name ( John 20:31) we draw nea r to d i e c ross . When we lookat l i f e dirough the lens of the cross , the mult i face ted and sometimes

f ragmentary aspects of our minis t ry ar e put in to proper focus .

Prayer Desk and Study Table

Prayer and s tudy are crucial to an e f f ect ive minis t ry , so in the f i r s t

quadrant of my shie ld of fa idi I would put my praye r desk and my

study table . As pas tors , we are workers toge the r with God in praye r

and s tudy . Regardless of the pressures on our t ime , we must give a t

t e n t ion to the s e ac t ivh i e s .

Praye r in i ts highes t form comes when the Spir i t prays dirough

us. On e eve n ing I v i si ted w i th a wom an w hose husban d w as

un de r go i n g s u r g e r y t h e n e x t m or n i n g . L a t e r , w he n h e w a s

r ecove r ing , she sa id , "As you prayed , I had d i e f e e l i ng tha t he



would come d i rough d i e su rge ry . " Ki e rkegaa rd wro t e t ha t " the t rue

re ladon in prayer i s not when God hears what i s prayed for but when

the pe r son p ray i ng con t i nues to p ray und l h e i s t h e one who hea r s

what God w i l l s ." Wh ateve r we do tha t has e i ther substan ce or

results is bound to die ministry of our Lord. He prays for us, for

those to whom we minis t e r , and for those we seek to enl i s t as

Chris t ian d isc iples . " I t i s i n the minis t ry of prayer d ia t we ent e r

most d i rec t iy i n to die minis t ry of Chr is t ."^

The r e a r e ex i s t e n t i a l moment s a t p raye r when a c loud o f God ' s

p r e senc e su r rounds us a nd fd l s our hea r t s . I n d i e s e d e ep moment s o f

prayer d i e Spi r i t prays through us and God meets us in d i e depth of

our be i ng . T ime and e t e r n i t y impinge upon one a no the r , a nd we

catch a gl impse of l i fe 's e ternal significance. I t may well be that

more is accomplished as we l if t persons to the throne of grace inprayer than takes p lace in some hurr i ed vis i t . I be l i eve the power of

i n t e rc e sso ry p ray e r is f ar g r ea t e r than we imag ine . "P ray e r i s fo r

the re l ig ious l i f e ," s ta t es P. T . Forsyth , "what or ig ina l r esearch i s

for sci e n c e . . . by i t we ge t in d ir ec t con t ac t wi th r e a l i t y . " ^

In the Methodis t parsonage a t the Ci ty Road Chapel i n London

diere i s a smal l prayer room widi a prayer desk fac ing a window. In

dia t room where John Wesley wai t ed upon God and offered his

pray e rs , grea t th ings be gan , i nc ludin g fundamen tal chan ges in

Wesley ' s l i f e and minis t ry which l ed to a spi r i tua l awakeningthroughout England and North America . Kar l Bar th has wri t t en:

"T h e f irs t and basic ac t of theologica l work i s pr ay e r ," and

t i i eologica l work must have "die manner and meaning of prayer i n

a ll i ts d ime n s ions , re l a t ionsh ips , a nd mo ve me n t s . " ^ I n p ray e r we a r e

catapulted into die front l ine of batde in die Christ ian l i fe . The form

of your minis t ry i s shaped by your prayer l i f e .

The ca l l of God to preach the Word and be a pastor demands

int egr i ty of hear t and mind. Paul ' s words to the young minis t e r

Timothy go to the core of th is r esponsibi l i t y : "Do your best to

present yourse l f to God as one approved by him, a worker who has

no need to be ashamed, r ight ly expla ining the word of t rudi"

(2 Tim. 2:15). The cal l to preach is at the same t ime a cal l to die

best of prepara t ion. Comple t ing a theologica l seminary degree i s

only one mi les tone in the pastor ' s cont inuing theologica l educat ion

and prepara t ion for minis t ry .



Books are essent ia l tools i n the minis t e r ' s workshop. Prayer and

study are wings for minis t ry . I t i s important to have a reading

agen da; d ie pastor who n egle c ts readin g and s tudy has bee n

compared to a shopkeeper who forgot to replace inventory as sa l es

condnued.^ Pastors must f eed die i r own minds i f they a re to feed the

minds of odiers . A broad range of genera l and in-depth reading in

bibl ica l s tudies and theology go toge ther .

The disc ipl ines of prayer , s tudy, and re f l ec t ion are components of

the good soil in which the Word takes root and comes forth to bless

(Mark 4:3-8) . The resul t of wresding widi d i e t rudis of the gospe l i n

one ' s s tudy becomes vis ib le to the congregat ion in the pulpi t . The

pulpi t , i n turn , sends the preacher back to the s tudy for anodier

word. Just as the preacher cannot bypass the s tudy on the way to the

pulpi t , there i s no way around the road tha t l eads back to die s tudy.One Sunday i s soon fol lowed by anodier widi oppor tuni t i es to preach

the Word .

When I shared the genera l idea of the four quadrants of the

pas tor 's shield of fai th widi a se min ary profe ssor, h e imme diately

r e sponded , " I n one o f t h e quadran t s I would have th e t e ache r ' s

desk , bu t I would be s t a nd i ng on th e s tuden t ' s s id e . " The bes t

t eache rs a re those who rem ain l e arn e rs . On e of d i e joy s of Chr is t ian

minis t ry i s tha t the doors of l earning and exper i ence a re a lways

open . Min i s t r y i s n eve r a dead e nd . Backed by p r iva t e p raye r a nd

ser ious s tudy and prepara t ion, d i e Word comes wi th open power .

Proclamation of the Word

In the second quadrant of my shield of fai th I would put the pulpit .

Preaching the gospe l i s more demanding than i t may appear . Kar l

Bardi def ine d preachin g as "m an 's langu age about God, i n which

and through which God Himsel f speaks about Himself." God inChrist is not si lent but has a word for the world today, and die

preacher is cal led to proclaim that word. "Faith comes from what is

he a rd ," wro t e S t. Pau l, " an d wha t is h ea rd comes by d ie word o f

Chris t" (Rom. 10:17 ) . The pastor as preacher i s ca l l ed by God to

procla im the word. I t i s by the Holy Spi r i t tha t the preacher ' s words

and l i f e become die occasion for God 's Word to be spoken and



heard. The Word t ranscends bodi pulpi t and pew to revea l d i e won

de r a nd g lo ry o f God ' s p r e s enc e .

The h i s to r i c Re fo rmed church i n Debr ech i n , Hunga ry , has a n

e l eva ted pulpi t widi a winding s ta i rcase and pulpi t doors on which

por t ions of scr ip ture have been inscr ibed. At the foot of the s ta i rs

are the words, "You shal l be my wi tnesses" (Acts 1 :8) . The f i rs t

l an d i ng is marke d , " G od , be merc iful t o me a s i n n e r ! " (Luke

18:13). On the wal l fu rthe r up a r e d i e words , "1 am pray i n g . . . for

those whom thou has g iven m e " ( John 17 :9 ). On the ne x t la nd i n g

the p r eache r f ac es t h e p romise , "Eve ry one who acknowledges me

be fore me n I a l so wi l l ackn owle dge be fore my fadier w ho is i n

heaven" (Mat t . 10:31) . On die r ight and l e f t pane ls of d i e double

doors open i ng in to th e pu lp it ar e th e wo rds , " W e p r each C hr is t

c ruc i f i e d" (1 Cor . 1:23).^^Whe n eve r we come to th e pu lp it t o p r each the Wo rd , t h e

watchwords of d i e Reformat ion need to be kept i n mind—sola

Scriptura, sola fide, sola gratia, which means solus Christus. H e r e

our fee t a re f ixed on the Sol id Rock. Preachers a re not a vanishing

spec ies ; proc la iming the Word i s not anachronis t ic . The God who

had a word for King Zed e kiah has a word for us in our dm e . Th e

spiri tual vi tal i ty of the church is always l inked widi the vi tal i ty of

p r each i ng . " W he n p r e ach in g is s t ron g and con f iden t , " a ff irms Alan

Walke r , " th e church is s t rong and e f f ec tiv e . W hen p r each i n g is

weak and uncer ta in , d i e church i s muted in i t s wi tness ."^^History records the impact of the gospe l i n br inging about soc ia l

t ransformat ion. In Adventures of Ideas Alfred Nordi Whi tehead

remarks dia t the preaching of the Wesleys was the e f fec t ive force in

br ingin g about the abol idon of s lavery in Gre a t Br i ta in . Slavery

was seen for what i t was in d i e l ight of the gospe l—a denia l of

human digni ty and die r ea l i t y d ia t a l l persons are c rea t ed in d i e

image of God. The Word of God has not been d iminished in i t s

power to t ransform persons and soc ia l s t ruc tures . The wal ls d ia t

a l i ena te and separa te g ive way to die impact of the gospe l .Aldiough the Bible i s beyond the comple t e r each of any preacher ,

d i e re i s an exhi la ra t ion dia t comes f rom studying and preaching die

Word. Fred B. Craddock has observed tha t "bibl ica l t exts move

forward toward us , not backward away f rom us." God is a lways

moving toward us in seeking love . Bibl ica l t exts a re i nexhaust ib le .

The t ru ths of God 's Word cont inue to spr ing for th f rom scr ipture .





Je sus a sked S imon Pe t e r , "Do you love me more than th e se?" ( John

21 :15 ) , and he a sks us th e same ques t ion . I f we answer ye s a s Pe t e r

d id , t h e comman d fo l lows: "F e e d my l ambs , t e n d my she e p , fe ed

my she ep" ( John 21 :15-17) . A genu i ne ca r i ng and love fo r peop l e

go widi d i e t e r r i tory of Chr is t ian minis t ry; they de t e rmine an

ef fec t ive minis t ry .

The minis t ry of d i e Word inc ludes not only d ie proc lamat ion of

the gospel from the pulpit but the work of the parish. Pastoral care is

an extension of d i e pulpi t . A pastor ' s minis t ry i s most needed when

die crucial hour str ikes in the l i fe of an individual or family. At such

a t ime the pastor must put o ther demands aside in order to be present

whe r e min i s t r y o f t e n coun t s t h e mos t . The ve ry p r e s enc e o f t h e

pastor i n such an hour speaks of God 's grace and car ing . At the

dea th of on e me mbe r o f a f ami ly , t h e r e s t can b r ea the e a s ie r whenthey know tha t d i e i r pastor i s widi them shar ing die i r pa in and loss .

The pastor communica tes God 's car ing and susta ining power tha t

enables them to face the i r immedia te t ragedy and sorrow wi th a

grea te r degree of acceptance . A pastor who fa i l s i n such a t ime can

never r ecoup the loss in minis t ry . More than once the fa i thful pastor

he a r s , " G o d m u s t h a ve se n t y o u . " " Y o u a l w ay s c o m e w h e n I n e e d

y ou mos t; y our vi si ts mean so much to m e ." An e lde r l y l ady in a

nursing home sa id to me as I was l eaving, "Come back soon. You

are a par t of my l i f e ." I r epl i e d , "Y ou are an important par t of my

l ife , and I wi ll se e y ou agai n be fo r e l o n g . "In The Anatomy of an Illness, Norman Cous i ns quo t e s Franc i s

Peabody ' s f amous r emark : "The s ec r e t o f t h e ca r e o f t h e paden t i s

i n ca r i ng fo r t h e paden t . " Cous i ns con t i nues , "The r e i s a

mi racu lous mome n t whe n th e ve r y p r e s en c e o f th e doc to r i s t h e mos t

e f fec tiv e pa r t o f t h e t r ea tm e n t . " ^ Dr . Curds Hame s , a n o ted he a r t

research spec ia l i s t and a member of my congregat ion a t Fi rs t Uni t ed

Methodist Church in Claxton, Georgia, i l lustrates this point . Often

he would ca l l me in the evening af t e r off ice hours and hospi ta l

rounds and ask, "Aubrey, would you l ike to make some ca l l s widi

m e ? " I a lways sa id yes . We would dr ive out i n the count ry and

nea rby communi t i e s a nd make home v i s i t s t oge the r . As we wen t i n

to see a pa t i en t , he would in t roduce me and then proce e d wi th his

med ica l examina t ion . When he f i n i shed , h e would a sk the paden t ,

"Would you l ike for Dr . Alsobrook to have a prayer before we

g o ? " The y a lway s agree d , and I would offer a pray e r of



thanksgiving for the doctor and die means of medica l sc i ence and

pray fo r God ' s h ea l i ng g rac e to be upon d i e paden t . Then we would

say good night and go to die next pa t i ent—somet imes severa l mi les

a w a y .

Two other pastora l func t ions a re i nc luded in my symbol ofsandals and staff. The f i rs t i s Chr isdan educat ion. The pastor ' s

aggress ive role in Chr is tian e ducat ion is v i ta l. "W he n the t e aching

elder does not teach, the effect is fel t throughout the ent ire Christ ian

congr ega t ion ." ^^ Teach i ng ch i ld r en , you th , a nd adu l t s i s a pa r t o f

J e sus ' Gre a t Comm iss ion . T he c en t ra l p lac e o f t e ach i ng i n t h e

pastoral office comes to us through the classical pastoral wri ters such

as Cl emen t o f Al exandr i a , Thomas Aquinas , Mar t i n Lu the r , John

Ca lv i n , John Wes l ey , a nd o the r s .

The second func t ion i s l eadership in worship and adminis t ra t ion.

Spec ia l se rvices and ceremonies ca l l for careful thought , prayer , and

prepara t ion . The we ddin g i s a t ime of joy whe n thre ads of sorrow

run through hear ts taking on s igni f icant change . The wedding

ce r emony b r i ngs toge the r t h e p r emar i t a l counse l i ng by d i e pas to r

and al l the preparat ions and fest ivi t ies of families and friends. As for

fun e rals, each of the m is differen t , and a pastor should give careful

thought to prepara t ion for each service . The l i turgy can be a

powerful source of comfort and strength for the family and,

l ikewise, an affirmation of the Christ ian fai th in the face of deadi . A

few weeks af t e r the funera l , I v is i t ed a woman who had lost herhusband after a long i l lness. I spent most of the visi t l istening to her

recount her exper i ence of d i e t ime around his deadi . I t was good

therapy for her to share her thoughts , f ee l ings , and dec is ions . Many

t imes the pastor ' s grea t es t minis t ry i s i n be ing a car ing l i s t ener ra ther

than ta lking .

Open Doors

In order to symbol ize the cont inuous unfolding drama of minis t ry , I

would put a pair of open doors in the fourth quadrant of my shield of

fa i th . These a re church doors tha t open ins ide and out . As pastors ,

we ent e r through diese doors for many forms of minis t ry , d i e chief

of which i s l eading the congregat ion in worship , preaching the

Word , a nd admin i s t e r i ng th e sac ramen t s . The doors swing ou t i n to



the world to al low pastor and people to fulfdl dieir ministr ies in die

workaday wor ld ,

G. K. Cheste r ton once to ld a s tory about having only vague

memories of h is fa ther . As a chi ld , he rece ived a toy thea te r as a

gi f t . The charac ters were cutouts i n cardboard, one of which was aman wi th a golden ke y . He was un able to reca l l just what ro le the

man wi th die golden key played, but he a lways associa t ed tha t

character with his father. He l inked his father with die golden key

because h is fadier was a lways opening doors for h im into worlds of

wonde r fu l a n d thr il li ng e xpe r i e n c es . H e open ed d i e doors o f h is

imagina t ion tha t exc i t ed his mind to search for t ru th . He opened

doors o f human unde r s t and i ng and doors o f God ' s r eve l adon .

Likewise , the pastor s tands a t the c ruc ia l p lace to open the doors

tha t a l low others to come to a knowledge of God. The doors of d i elocal church swing out into the world dirough i ts sharing in die

world mission of the church for Chr is t . Much depends on the mind

and hear t of the pastor i n the church 's out reach. The pastor ' s hear t

must be a f lame to make Chris t known beyond the wal ls of the

church. As the congregat ion l eaves the house of worship and fans

ou t i n to th e communi t y , t h e s e rv i c e con t i nues . The congr ega t ion tha t

seeks to bear i ts witness in society wil l reflect upon and draw

st rengdi f rom worship and s tudy. But no one can s tore up the

benef i t s of worship or se rvice . We need die r enewal of worship and

searching the scr ip tures on a regular basis , just as we must expressour vis ion of the gospe l i n l i f e ' s ongoing exper i ences .

I t i s a mystery of d ivine grace tha t God takes our words, however

imper f ec t , a nd speaks to peop l e ' s n e eds . When George Whi t e f i e ld

invi t ed John Wesley to preach for h im in the open a i r , i t turned

Wes l ey ' s whol e min i s t r y a round . Pr io r t o d i i s t ime , Wes l ey , l i k e

odier Angl icans , thought tha t the only p lace for the Word to be

pr eached was the church bu i ld i ng . The r e sponse to Wes l ey ' s

preaching in the f i e lds was so overwhelming tha t he condnued i t . As

Wesley preached to the coal miners , to those a t the marke t c ross ,

and to others i n the common walks of l i f e , he opened up the i r l ives

to the gospe l of Chr is t . In the ordinary c i rcumstances of l i f e d i e

gospel opens doors of e t e rna l meaning tha t br ing new l i f e i n Chr is t .

Wesley ' s l i f e r eminds us of d i e t rudi of Fred Craddock 's words:

**Life on i ts grandest scale comes to him who opens the doors to the

o r d i n a r y . "



There i s a paradox of the door of fa i th . On the one hand, fa i th i s a

gift of Go d, as die author of Acts states: " W h e n t i iey arrive d, die y

called die church togedier and related al l that God had done with

them, and how he had opened a door of fa i th for the Gent i l es"

(14 :27) . On the o the r hand , human be i ngs a r e f r e e t o open d i e door

of fai th with die help of the Spiri t (Rev. 3:20). The proposed

Presbyter ian confess ion he lps to ge t the paradox of fa i th in to focus:

God invites us to put our trust in Christ. He leads u s to aban

don our old way of life and to adopt Christ's way. We are

awesom ely responsible for this decision and ha ve the fearful

ability to say no to God. But when we have trusted and re

pented, we see very clearly that God's Holy Spirit worked

this in us. ^ ̂

Even before a pastor a r r ives to assume his or her r esponsibi l i t i es ,

the doors of d i e par ish are be ing opened to welcome the new pastor .

Open hea r t s a nd homes r ec e ive one who has come to be th e i r

shephe rd . Some t imes , eve n though the pas to r has jus t r ec e n t ly come ,

the doors o f h ea r t s burden ed wi th angu i sh a r e open ed f r e e l y . The

t rust ful r e la t ionship so soon es tabl i shed s tands upon die i n t egr i ty of

other pastors . A vi ta l par t of the hea l ing process can occur when

someone i s wi l l i ng to l i s t en wi th car ing and the assurance of

conf ident ia l i t y , "Bear one another ' s burdens , and so ful f i l l the law

of Chris t" (Gal . 6 :2) .

Doors a lso open to f r i endship and publ ic service tha t can las t wel l

beyond the a l lo t t ed years of formal pastora l minis t ry . The church

family and the pastor ' s fami ly a re bound togedier i n Chr is t ian

fe l lowship and service . In some cases , the pastor and his or her

family wil l develop t ies of fr iendship that are as close as those of

the i r own re la t ives . Doors of minis t ry a lso open in to the publ ic

arena , i nc luding publ ic educat ion, government , and c ivic l i f e . God

has a way of cont inuing to open doors for minis t ry for se rvants of

the Word, as God does for a l l who be l i eve . Even re t i r ement i s not awall diat del imits but a door that opens to other avenues of service

for Christ and the church.

In t ime we a l l come to the p lace where d ie doors of th is l i f e c lose

beh i nd us . Kar l Ba r th has wr i tt e n t ha t " . . . ou r be i n g in t ime wi ll

one day come to an e nd , when our p r e s en t wi l l n eve r aga i n be

followed by a future ."^ As the doors of l if e c lose , the doors of the



e t e r n a l ope n . As J e sus sa id to M ar tha , " I am d i e re su r r ec t ion and

the l i f e . Whoeve r be l i eves i n me , even though they d i e , wi l l l i v e"

(John 11:25) . In th is las t quadrant , the doors a re a powerful symbol

of hope .

As you re f l ec t fur ther on your fa i th and theology of minis t ry ,

what would you place in the four quadrants of your shield of fai th?

Wh at is the in t egra t ing ca ta ly s t tha t moves the d i f fe ren t aspec ts of

y our min is try toward fulfdlme n t?

Notes

1. A lbert Outler, T7ie Christian Tradition and the Unity We Seek (New York: Oxford

University Press, 1957), 141.

2 . John Schmidt, Translator's Preface to Karl Heim , Vie Gospel of the Cross (Grand

Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1938) , 113.

3 . Leonard Griffith, Gospel Cliaracters (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1976),

6 1 - 6 2 .

4 . Henri J. M. Nouwen, Vie Wounded Healer (New York: Doubleday and Co.,

1970) , 72 .

5. S>(ren Kierkegaard, Journals (New York: Oxford University Press, 1938) , 134.

6. Daniel T. Niles, Vie Preacher's Calling to Be Servant (London: Lutterworth

Press, 1959) , 93.

7. P. T. Forsyth, Vie Soul of Prayer (Grand Rapids, Mich: W. R. Eerdmans, 1916),

7 8 .

8. Karl Barth, Evangelical Vieology: An Introduction (New York: Holt, Rinehart

and W inston, 196 3), 16 0.

9. BatseU B. Baxter, Vie Heart of the Yale Lectures (New York: Holt, Rinehart and

Winston, 1963) , 69.

10 . George R. Sweazy, Preaching the Good News (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey:

Prentice Hall, 1976), 26.

11. Alan Walker, Vie New Evangelism (NashviUe: Abingdon, 1975) , 70.

12 . Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas (New York: Macmillan, 1933) ,

2 7 - 2 8 .

13 . Virgil P. Howard, **HomiIetical Studies: Exegesis and Exposition fo Gospel

Lections for Eastertide," Quarterly Review 2/1 (Spring, 1982): 86.

14 . Norman Cousins, Anatomy ofAfi Illness (New York: Bantam Books, 1981) ,

17-18 .

15 . Thomas C. Oden , Pastoral Vieology (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1983) ,

142.



16. John B. Hendrick, Vie Opening of Faith, (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1977),

17. Karl Barth, Church D ogmatics, Vo l. Ill, Part 2 (Edinburgh: T. and T. C lark,

1970) , 5 7 2 .





Harold G. Wells

Wesley on Stewardship and Economics

T h e o d o r e W . J e n n i ng s , J r . , Good News to the Poor: John

Wesley's Evangelical Economics. A b i ng d o n P r e s s , 2 40 p p . , $ 1 6 .9 5

/

' t is al l too evident in our t ime of colossal economic and

envi ronmenta l c r i s i s tha t Chr is t iani ty as a movement and the

historic church have fai led dramatical ly. This is so, at least , i f

Christ ian fai th has anything to do with the approximation of the

re ign of God in h is tory . Theodore Jennings asks , **How shal l we

expla in to ourse lves tha t near ly one- th i rd of the ear th ' s i nhabi tants

c la im to be l i eve d ie gospe l , whi l e l eaving human re la t ionships as

much cha rac t e r i z ed by g r e ed and v io l e nc e a s eve r t h ey we r e be fo r e

the gospel was first sounded fordi . . .? How is i t that die message of

good news to the poor has become a seda t ive for the pr iv i l eged

whi le the poor per i sh?"^ How do we face the fac t , he goes on, tha t

the wealdi i es t , most powerful , the greedies t , and most des t ruc t ive

na t ions on ear th are the most * 'Chr isdan," and tha t , for example , i n

the 1980s 100 mill ion children die d of starvation , maln utri t ion , and

re la t ed diseases? This a t roc i ty fa r exceeds die twelve mi l l ion deadis

of the Nazi war and holocaust . Meanwhi le , d i e spec te rs of nuc lear ,

g r e enhouse , a nd ozone d i sa s t e r s t h r ea t e n t h e ve r y l i f e o f t h e p l ane t . ^

Harold G. WeUs is A ssociate Professor of Systematic Theology at Emmanuel College,

Toronto School of Theology in Toronto, Canada.



Wesley's Theological Legacy

The quest ion of the prac t ica l r e l evance of Chr is t iani ty to the urgent

d i lem mas of t h e la te twen t ie th c en tu ry un de r l i e s The odore J e n n i n gs ' sb o o k o n W e s l e y : Good News to the Poor: John Wesley's Evangelical

Economics, Jen n i ngs , fo rme r ly a p ro f e sso r a t t h e Evange l ica l Me th

odis t Seminary in Mexico Ci ty and now Professor of Const ruc t ive

The ology a t the Chicago Theologica l Se min ary , has made an impor

t an t con t r ibu tion to th e r e n ew ed We s l ey schola rsh ip tha t has be e n

f louri sh in g s i n c e t h e s eve n t i e s , e spec i al ly spur red on by th e wide

spread percept ion of an a f f in i ty be tween Wesley and l ibera t ion theol

ogy . J e nn i ngs ' s book was an impor t an t sdmulan t t o th e Oxford

Inst i tu t e of Mediodis t Theologica l Studies a t Oxford in d i e summer

of 1992.

J enn i ngs th i nks tha t wha t Wes l ey had to say i n t h e e igh t e end i

c en tu ry abou t econ omic jus t ic e m ay p rovoke us to do our o wn

thinking about our s i tua t ion; d i i s may be espec ia l ly so for spki tua l

desc endan t s o f Wes l ey i n t h e Me thod i s t a nd Uni t ed churches a nd

odier i nher i tors of d i e Socia l Gospel and * ' r e l ig ious radica l i sm."

Wesley i s s t i l l i n t e res t ing because we f ind him st ruggl ing wi th the

gospel and i t s meaning for a world of t ransi t ion and overwhelming

pover ty and pa in , a world tha t was in many ways not so di f fe rent

f rom our own.

Wes l ey be l i eved the r e was power i n d i e gospe l t o change th e

wo rld . His goal was cer ta inly n ot to found a successful, prospe rous

and pres t ig ious denomina t ion. I t was to "spread scr ip tura l hol iness

throughout the lan d, " to t ransform l ives , and the reby a lso to

t ransform England and die world . Some his tor ians of Methodism

(Bready , Wea rmouth , Thompson , a nd Semmel ) a nd more r ec en t l y

some l ibera t ion t i i eologians (Miguez Bonino, Tamez , and Cone)

have credi t ed Wesley and Met i iodism wi th grea t h is tor ica l l ibera t ive

ef f icacy, whi l e odiers have contes t ed th is .^ But whatever

Me thod i sm ' s ach ieve me n t s in t h e pas t, human i ty is now fac ingdespera te c i rcumstances , and Chris t iani ty appears to be offe r ing

ne idie r e f fec t ive solut ions nor d ie spi r i tua l power to implement them.

Jennings th inks tha t we s t i l l have much to l earn f rom Wesley ,

both from his theology and practice and from his fai lures. The

rad ica l i sm of Wes l ey has be en conven i e ndy ove r looked by

Mediodis ts . That radica l i sm was based, i n par t , i n h is doct r ine of







accumula t ion of weal th by Methodis ts . His famous three ru les :

"G a in a ll y ou can , save a ll you can , g ive all y ou can " be came a g i

ant loophole through which Methodis ts par t ic ipa ted in the genera l

service of mamm on by ge tUn g it jus t two-t i ii rds r ight . Jen n ing s com

me n t s , "We s l e y ' s rhe to r ic s e l f -de s t ruc t s" (p . 167) . La t e r in l i fe

Wesley h imsel f seems to suggest d ia t perhaps the gospe l i t se l f self-

dest ruc ts :

. , . the Methodists in every place grow diligent and fru

gal; consequently they increase in goods. Hence they propor-

tionably increase in pride, in anger, in the desire of the

flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride of life. So, although

the form of religion remains, the spirit is swiftly vanishing

away. (Thoughts upon Methodism XIII, 258)^

Wesley, i n spi t e of h is grea t apparent success and fame, knew in

his o ld age dia t he had fa i l ed prec ise ly i n the growing economic

woridl iness of the Mediodis t people :

/ am distressed. I know not wh at to do. I see w hat 1 might

have done once. . . .But alas! the time is now passed; and

what I can do now I cannot tell. ("Causes of the Inefficacy of

Chrisdanity, VII: 287-88.)

Learnings

Our author , l ike o ther admir ing cr i t ics of Wesley , th inks tha t , of

course , he lacked an adequate sys t emic cr i t ique of h is context . He

was a man of the e ighteendi century , the age of d i e Individual . He

was pre-socia l i s t , pre-Marxian, hampered by off ic ia l Angl ican pol id

ca l theology. We might add (diough Jennings does not make di i s

point ) t i ia t Wesley opera ted wi th a faul ty doct r ine of s in , be l i evingtha t "C hris t ian pe rfe c t ion " w as possible i n th is l i fe . Close ly con

nected widi this was his lack of a sense of sin as structural and corpo

ra t e . Thus, we discern in Wesley today a k ind of i ndividual i s t ic

mora l i sm, na ive l y expec t i ng i nd iv idua l s t o be " en t i r e l y sanc t i f i ed"

whi l e ye t l iv ing in an exploi ta t ive and economical ly harsh and di rea t -

e n i n g e n v i r o n m e n t .



Today we have l e s s excuse , b e i ng ab l e t o d raw upon d i e human

sc iences and the ins ights of the soc ia l gospe l , neo-or thodoxy, and

l ibe ra tion th eo logy . J e n n i ngs make s a n umbe r o f spec if ic " f i r s t

s t ep" proposals for the a l t e ra t ion of d i e l i f es tyl e of Chr is t ians and

the churches: to s top bui ld ing expensive church bui ld ings unt i l there

are no more hungry chi ldren; to pay church s ta f f (c l e rgy, professors ,

admin is t ra tors , se cre ta r i es , jan i tors) on an ega l i ta r ian basis ; to

govern church schools and hospi ta ls according to the "opt ion for d i e

p o o r " ; t o r e no u nc e t h e " e c o no m y o f d e a t h " a nd t o g i v e p o v e r t y a nd

en v i ron me n ta l con ce rn s t op p r io ri ty in th e church ' s agen da . Th i s

would give c redibi l i t y to our e f for ts a t evange l iza t ion, proving once

again d ia t the gospe l i s not impotent . In a world where the Marxis t

hope has faded, what o ther hope i s l e f t? Jennings ' s message i s a

c h a l l e ng i ng o n e :

We have the possibility of learning something abou t evan geli

cal econom ics from the practice and teaching of Wesley. But,

as Wesley said, far more is at stake h ere than the faithfulness

of the people called M ethodists. Wh at is at stake is the truth

of the gospel and the h ealing of the earth.^

Jennings i s ca l l i ng us to radica l d isc ipleship , and his suggest ions

are i nspi r ing . Unfor tuna te ly most of us know tha t h is admirable

proposals for individual and inst i tut ional Christ ian l i festyle wil l notbe impl emen t ed , exc ep t by a ve r y f ew—at l ea s t no t i n t h e

fo re se eab l e fu tu r e . J e n n i ng s , li k e W es l e y , i s l oad ie to r ecogn iz e t h e

ha rd nu t o f p r ed ic t ab l e human s i n fu l ne ss . L ike Wes l ey , h e appea r s

to expec t some th i ng l i k e " en t i r e sanc t i f i ca t ion" f rom peop l e l i v i ng

in a harsh and t ii rea t ening soc ia l e n vi ron me n t . He re f l ec ts , I th in k ,

W e s l e y ' s in a d e q u a te d o c t ri n e o f s in a s " o r i g i n a l , " in th e s e n s e o f

r ec e ived , i n ev i t ab l e , p r ed ic t ab l e , a nd sys t emic . Al so , J e nn i ngs , l i k e

We sley , offe rs on ly a n asce n t , impli ed crhique of capi ta l is t

economic and soc ia l s t ruc tures . Chr is t ians need , do they not , a

la rger soc ia l v is ion, i ndeed a soc ia l i s t v is ion, of human socie ty

o rgan i z ed coope ra t ive l y? "Wher e d i e r e i s no v i s ion , d i e p eop l e

p e r i s h " ( P r o v . 2 9 : 1 8 K J V ) . W e n e e d t o b e g i n t h e e n o r m o u s ta sk of

b r i ng i ng economic power unde r t h e sway o f democra t i c s t ruc tu r e s .

Recent Lat in American dieologica l c r i t iques of capi ta l i sm in d ie face

of the col lapse of Sovie t communism (e .g . , tha t of Franz



Hinke l ammer t ) ^ make us ( e spec i a l l y t hose o f us ou t s ide th e Uni t ed

States) aware of just how complex a project i t is to resist die rule of

t r a nsna t iona l co rpora t ions , t h e Wor ld Bank and I n t e r na t iona l

M o ne t a r y F u nd , a nd t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s g o v e r nm e n t . I nd e e d , e v e n

widi in a s t ruc tura l ly t ransform ed socioecon omic world , work ablesolut ions to grea t problems wi l l a lways have to take account of

ordinary human weakness and se l f - in t e res t . The ca l l to d isc ipleship

must i nc lude a v is ion of sys t emic change and a modest , v iable

poli t ical strategy.

To be fa i r to Jennings , however , t i i e re i s no doubt t i ia t the process

of persona l sanc t i f ica t ion and individual commitment to l i f es tyl e

change on the par t of a f ew, and of church ins t i tu t ions , i s essent ia l

for the eventua l t ransformat ion of soc ia l and economic syst ems, and

who be t t e r than Chris t ians , and espec ia l ly Methodis ts , to in i t ia t e theprocess?

Notes

1. Theodore W. Jennings, Good N ews to the Poor: John Wesley's Evangelical

Eco/wm^cv (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1990) , 186.

2 . Jennings, Good News, 182-185.

3 . Cf. art ic les in Theodore Ru nyon, ed . , Sanctification and Liberationy and D. M,

M e e k s , Vie Future of the Metfwdist Vieological Traditions (HashviVic: Abingdon, 1981

and 1985) .

4 . Jennings, Good NewSy 109.

5. Thomas Jackson, ed. . Vie Works of the Rev. John Wesley^ 3rd ed., 14 volumes

(Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1979) .

6. Jennings, Good NewSy 193.

7. Franz Hinkelammert, **The Crisis of Socialism in the Third World," in Focus

104 (Sep t .-O ct , 1991): 1. See also Victorio Araya, **Good New s to the Poor in the

Wesleyan Tradition: An Ethical and Pastoral Reflection from the Third World on the

500th Anniversary of the European Invasion of Abya-Yala,*' (unpublished paper read

at the Oxford Institute of Methodist Theological Studies, Oxford, August, 1992), 1,





/. Philip Wogaman

Homiletical Resources

From the Gospel of Matthew:Faith and Discipleship

/

' n The Cost of Discipleship, Die t r i ch Bonhoe f f e r makes th e po i n t

tha t obedience to Chr is t i s both die consequence of fa i th and the

basis of fa i th : "only he who be l i eves i s obedient , and only he who is

obed i en t b e l i e ve s" (Rev i s ed e d idon , Macm i l la n , p . 69) , Bon hoe f fe r

was chal l enging die t ypica l Protes tant v i ew dia t fa i t i i a lways comes

before works. To the cont rary , he a rgues , i t i s of t en d ie o ther way

around, and our fai th follows from our act ions. Or, to put i t as

Bon hoeffer probably in t e n ded, fa ith and ac tion are two s ides of d i e

same co i n . We r ea l l y canno t have one wi thou t d i e o the r . Th i s means

tha t we r ea l l y do no t have one be fo r e d i e o the r .

The l ecdonary se l ec t ions f rom Matdiew for June 20 through July

25 draw us into the quest ion of how fai th is related to act ion in the

Chr i sdan l i f e . They a r e t aken f rom the Matd i ean chap t e r s on th e

ca l l ing and commissioning of the twelve d isc iples . Pr ior to the f i rs t

l ec t ion, the d isc iples have been named and given cer ta in i ns t ruc t ions

about the i r mission . N ow , in Mat t . 10:24^^. , Jesu s procee ds toexp lo r e t h e mean i ng o f d i sc ip l e sh ip . From one s ide , t h e se passages

cha l l e nge th e s impl e p r io r i t y o f f a i th to "works" tha t t r ea t s

J. Philip Wogaman is Senior Minister of Foundry United Methodist Church in

Washington , D.C.



"works" as a negot iable opt ion for people of fa i th . When fa i th i s

permi t t ed to s tand a lone , the resul t i s of t en narc iss is t ic . I may

st ruggle pa inful ly over i ssues of fa idi , endur ing even the "dark night

of the so u l . " But i t can be a ve ry subje c t ive th ing me asure d, f ina l ly ,

on l y by my own s ense o f sp i r i t ua l we l l -be i ng . Chr i s t i a ns a r e

perennia l ly t empted to reduce fa idi to whedier or not they fee l good.

Never mind tha t the sures t way to not feel good is to be wholly

caught up in oneself. We may acknowledge tha t s e l f - c en t e r edness i s

not consis t ent wi t i i fa i t i i ; do we f t i l l y unders tand tha t " fa idi"

de tached f rom ac t ion is se l f -cen t e red? Th e mo de m sociologica l

classic. Habits of the Heart by Rober t Bel lah and associa t es ,

exp lo r e s t h e b r eakdown be tween p r iva t e r e l i g ious expe r i e nc e a nd the

accep tanc e o f pub l i c r e spons ib i l i t y i n con t empora ry Amer i can

socie ty . One of d i e case s tudies i n tha t volume i s of a Shei la whoacknowledged, qui t e f rankly , tha t she had her own pr iva te r e l ig ion

which she ca l l ed "She i l a i sm." I t may no t have be en a n a l toge the r

sa t i sfac tory form of re l ig ion, but i t was authent ica l ly her own and

she was honest enough not to a t t r ibute i t to anything outs ide herself.

Chr i s t i a ns can deve lop the i r own fo rms o f "She i l a i sm" unde r t h e

name of Christ ian fai th or spiri tual i ty.

I t can be expressed in the pr ivacy of our d iscussions wi th a

counse lor or spi r i tua l d i rec tor or i n the corpora te exper i ence of a

prayer group focused pr imari ly upon itself. But can such

subjec t iv ism be audient ica l ly Chr is t ian?

Of course , fa i th and ac t ion can a lso be separa ted by emphasiz ing

only ac t ion. I t i s not what we be l i eve but what we do tha t counts .

Chr is t ian mora l ac t iv is t s can be very impat i ent wi t i i t ime wasted in

thought or prayer . The important th ing , r ea l ly the only th ing , i s the

work o f ca r i ng fo r t h e home l e ss o r f e ed i ng d i e hungry o r hea l i ng th e

s ick. That may, as a mat t e r of fac t , be be t t e r than re l ig ious

se l f -cent e redness . But ac t ion de tached f rom fa i th conta ins i t s own

forms o f s e l f - c en t e r edness . We s e ek to f i nd i nne r p eac e th rough

ou t e r d e eds ; we f i nd we can neve r do qu i t e e nough to qu i e t t h esp i r i t ua l uneas i ne ss . Moreove r , we f i nd ourse lves becoming

se l f - r ighteous. Our re la t ionships wi th others , even wi th those we

se ek to he lp , b ecome cor rup t ed . We ourse lves become cand ida t e s

fo r ea r l y burnou t . These consequenc es a r e bad e nough i n

themselves . But de taching our ac t ions f rom a grounding in fa i th a lso

depr ives us o f c l ea rheadedness abou t wha t ac t ions a r e ne eded . At





se l f -c en t e r edn ess a nd ma t e r i a li sm. They a lso s ta nd i n j udgme n t

aga i ns t i no rd i na t e l ove o f one ' s own g roup , even o f one ' s f ami l y .

Tha t j udgme n t may be e spe c ia l ly impor tan t i n a dm e w hen g roup

loya ldes have become abso lu t e god fo r so many peop l e . These

loya l t i e s do no t go de ep e nough . We a r e r equ i r ed to devo t eourse lves whol ehea r t ed l y t o th e One who i s t h e sourc e o f a l l b e i ng .

Mat thew, i n common wi th th e r e s t o f t h e New Tes t amen t ,

unde r s t ands tha t One to be r evea l ed i n J e sus Chr i s t . Devo t ion to

Chr i s t , obed i enc e to Chr i s t i s d evo t ion and obed i enc e to God .

That cent ra l pr inc iple of New Testament e th ics def ines the basis

and start ing point of the Christ ian l i fe; i t does not , by itself, supply

die de ta i l s . That we are to worship God and be obedient to Chr is t i s

g iven . Wha t , spec i fi ca ll y , obe d i en c e me ans may no t b e a s c l ea r . Th e

demand i s la id upon us as an accompaniment of our fa i th and our

sa lva t ion. Uldmate ly i t i s a demand conta ined wi thin grace , for i t i s

given widi and not pr ior to the news of our sa lva t ion. I t i s a demand

la id widiout qual i f ica t ion upon our whole be ing , just as the grace

tha t accompanies i t i s a g i f t wi thout reserva t ion. Never the l ess , what

it me ans in j udgm e n t , d e c i s ion , a nd ac t ion r e qu i r e s much fu rthe r

i nqu i r y . We can be c e r t a i n t ha t God loves us whol ehea r t ed l y a nd

tha t we must r espond wi th ut t e r devot ion. We cannot be as cer ta in

about what exacdy we should do. The la t t e r r equi res us to th ink

responsibly , to s tudy careful ly , to consul t wi th odiers , and to l earn

f rom our own expe r i e nc e a nd tha t o f o the r s .Such an e th ic may appear re la t ive , as sure ly i t i s : i t i s r e la t ive ,

a lway s, to Go d, who is the only abso lute . Eve ry par t icular

commandment , even those p r e sc r ibed i n spec i f i c b ib l i ca l wr i t i ngs ,

must be seen and judged in the l ight of the deeper d isc losure of God

in th e pe r son o f J e sus Chr i s t .

The Third Sunday af ter Pentecost : Matthew 10:24-39

I t happens tha t d i e th i rd Sunday af t e r Pentecost of 1993 i s a lso the

t radi t iona l Fa ther ' s Day. I do not know whether tha t occurred to the

Common Lec t iona ry commi t t e e , bu t i s i t no t a wicked co i nc idenc e

tha t we he re en coun ter the l i n e , **I have com e to se t a man against

his fa t i i e r" (10:35 a)? W e are forced to confron t d i e se n t ime n ta li ti es

and ido la t r i e s o f f ami l y l oya l t y wi thou t much c e r emony . "Whoeve r



loves fa t l i e r or mother more than me i s not worthy of me; and who

ever loves son or daughter more d ian me i s not wordiy of me. .

(10:37) . So much for d ie fami ly- l i f e emphasis fondly embraced by

some po l i t i c i a ns . I nde ed , "one ' s foe s wi l l b e members o f one ' s own

househo ld" (10 :36) . Can the words be t aken l i t e r a l l y?Wel l , yes and no. The whole passage i s about our f i rs t loya l ty ,

the one tha t se t s the context for a l l the res t . Family t i es , no mat t e r

how fulfi ll in g, should n ot be com e die basis for a form of

henothe ism. I f they a re , they can become socia l s in i n the guise of

human t enderness , as Reinhold Niebuhr suggests i n h is c lass ic Moral

Man and Immoral Society. Even Mafiosi a re r eputed to have

wonderful fami ly re ladonships , on the basis of which demonic evi l i s

inf l ic t ed upon persons outs ide d iose t i es . The somewhat obscure

verses 24-25 underscore the point tha t we are idendf i ed by and wi th

those whom we acknowledge to be our masters . Chr is t must be d ie

master of the house ; then everything e l se wi l l be c l ear .

But if on e 's f irst loy alty to God, in Christ , is clearly e stablished ,

the ha r sh words conce rn i ng fami l y r e l adonsh ips mus t no longe r be

taken l i teral ly. Jesus' own favori te metaphor for God is, after al l ,

drawn di rec t ly f rom family l i f e . That metaphor i s des igned, not to

establish the superior status of fathers to mothers nor to treat God as

more mascu l i ne t han f emin i ne , bu t r a the r t o convey some th i ng o f d i e

t en de rn ess of God. Th re e of d i e most beaut iful verse s in the N e w

Tes tamen t , con t a i ned wid i i n t h i s l e c t ion , unde r scor e God ' s ca r i ng :"A re not two sparrows sold for a pe n n y ? Ye t n ot on e of them wi ll

fa l l to the ground apar t f rom your Father . And even the ha i rs of

your head are a l l counted . So do not be a f ra id; you are of more

va lue d i an many spa r rows ." Pr e sumably , pa r en t s can ca r e fo r t h e i r

children on that basis as can children dieir parents. But to say that is

to place al l members of family uni ts in the fai th context . Each is

important to God. The va lue of each t ranscends pure ly human

affec tion . That does not se t human affec t ion as ide ; i t de e pe n s it widi

a more ul t imate status.

The r e r ema ins th e ques t ion o f whe the r l oya l t y t o Chr i s t r equ i r e s

the sacrifice of al l other t ies and loyalt ies. What does i t mean that

"whoever does not take up the c ross and fol low me i s not worthy of

m e " (vs. 38) or that "those who find their l i fe wil l lose i t , and those

who lose their l i fe for my sake wil l f ind i t" (vs. 39)? No doubt there

have been Chr is t ians who, taking those words qui t e l i t e ra l ly , have



played havoc widi persona l r e la t ionships and responsibUides . Is tha t

the in t ent ion? Note tha t the words are " lose the i r l i f e for my sake**

and " lo se the i r l if e for the sake of losin g die i r l i f e ." Losing

one 's l i fe is not the point ; giving i t over to Christ is. Who, th en , i s

this Christ to whom the disciple is to give over his or her l i fe?Is this a self-absorbed fanatic , a rel igious cult leader bent upon

exploi t ing gul l ib l e fo l lowers? Of course not . This i s the one whose

whol e be i ng i s consumed by love , t h e one who has become the

bearer of God 's grace . This i s the one who gave himsel f over to

dea th on die c ross in fa idi f l i l ness to God and in obedience to love .

Obedience to th is Chr is t , d i en , i s a l so obedience to th is love . Sure ly

those wid i whom one has mos t immedia t e con t ac t , i nc lud i ng one ' s

own fami ly , a re to be loved and cared for . That i s not i n compet i t ion

with obedience to Christ ; that is a part of die meaning of obed i enc e

to Christ!

But if obedience to Christ does not require the sacrifice of al l

odier t i es and loya l t i es , our a t t i tude toward them must be

t rans fo rmed . No longe r a re th ey a n e nd in th em se lve s . No longe r a re

they a l lowed to shut out the wider spheres of loya l ty to which we are

summoned by Chr i s t . No longe r can th ey be a mask fo r

se l f - c en t e r edness . Some t imes , i nde ed , Chr i s t may ca l l us t o abandon

re la t ionships and responsibi l i t i es we had thought to be very

important . More often, Christ 's cal l comes widiin the fabric of l i fe

wh e re i t f in ds us .I wri t e these words where I l ive and work, i n a grea t but t roubled

Amer i can c i t y . Wha t migh t such words mean he r e? Sur e l y d i e y do

no t mean th e abandonment o f home and fami l y . Bu t i t s e ems to me

ra ther d ia t d i ey mean tha t I cannot abandon die hur t and broken c i ty

in order to preserve a l i t t le island of familial bl iss. Christ 's cal l is to

ident i fy myse l f widi the whole met ropol is as a God-int ended

commun i ty o f love and jus t ic e a n d to make my con t r ibu t ion s ,

however meager d i ey might be , to the hea l ing of th is c i ty . I cannot

al low my loyalty to family to be pi t ted against that more inclusive

loya l ty ; the two must now go togedier . Simi lar ly , as a Chr is t ian

d i sc ip l e , my ca r i ng now mus t e ncompass th e whol e wor ld . I canno t

solve a l l the world 's problems, but I can become a par t of the

solut ion.

The conc luding l i nes of th is l ec t ion are deeply ins ight ful . They

evoke the empt iness of a se l f -cent e red l i f e i n cont rast to the



abundance of a l i f e bas ed upon lov ing commitmen t . One of the

deepes t conundrums of theological e thics is die ques t ion how to

r e la t e God ' s g race to Go d ' s judgm en t . I f Go d ' s g r ace i s f re e l y

g ive n , abso lu t e l y and w id iout p r e condi t ion , the n wha t becomes of

Go d ' s r igh t eous judgm en t? Can w e , lay ing c la im upon grace , s a fe l y

fudge on die demands of jus t ice? Can we , wit i i Volta ir e , t rus t t i ia t

"Oh, God wi l l f o rg ive , tha t i s h i s bus in e s s"? On the o the r hand , i f

Go d's r ighteousn ess and jus t ice ar e e f f ect ive , wh at about grace ?

Doe s God, a t some poin t , conc lude tha t g r ace jus t hasn ' t worke d

out , so this poor s inne r wil l , af te r a l l , have to be cons igned to

e t e r n a l damn a t ion? Some grace ! I t s e e ms to me d ia t it d imin i she s

grace even to t r ea t i t s imply as the divine r esource making i t poss ible

for us s inne rs to conform to God's r ighteous demands . That does not

qui te capture the depth of God's af f i rmation of each of us , in spi te of

our pe rs is t ing inabi l i ty to l ive r ighteously .

T he r e l a t i o n s h ip s b e tw e e n g r a c e a n d w or ks r e m a i n a c on un d r um .

But ve r s e 39 poin t s the way out . God ' s g r ace i s and r emains

absolute ly t rus twor thy; God's mind wil l not change . But a

se lf -absorbed l i f e shuts die door upon grace f rom our s ide , while a

l i f e f r e e ly given to God keeps i t wide open . Thus the paradox: by

seeking, in a se l f -cen te r ed way, to f ind fulf i l lment we shut the door

to the grace without which the re can be only f rus tra t ion . But by

giving ourse lves over to the l i f e of love we open ourse lves to the

only thing t i ia t makes fulf i l lment poss ible . We cannot r ece ive loveun lov i n g l y .

The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost: Matthew 10:40-42

The lec t ion for this Sunday is ve ry brief. I t e s tab l i she s the connec

t io n b e tw e e n t h e m a s te r a n d th e d i sc ipl e . "W hoe ve r w e l c om e s y ou

w e l c om e s m e , a n d w hoe ve r w e l c om e s m e w e l c om e s t h e on e w ho

sen t m e . " True d i sc ip le s a r e em is sa r ie s o f Chr i s t , who, i n tu r n , isf rom God.

Tha t l ays a heavy demand upon a l l who would be d i sc ip l e s . We

are , in e f f ect , to be Chr is t to othe rs . I am not sure I want othe rs to

judge Chr i s t by my behavior ! I nde ed , my d i sc ip l e sh ip , no mat t e r

how hard I work at i t , is bound to fall far short. But if I bear die

name Chr i s t ian , people w i l l make the connec t ion . I t i s i n ev i tab l e tha t



they should . How e lse can the world f ind Chris t than through his

disciples? To put di is different ly, how could one speak meaningfully

of the love of Christ without there being manifestat ions of that love

visibly at hand? Just as Christ 's own teachings about the love of God

had to be expressed in h is own l i f e , so must the t eachings of

Chris t ians about Chr is t r esona te i n the i r own l ives . The proclamat ion

of the gospe l r es t s f ina l ly upon demonst ra t ion.

The spec i f ic i l lust ra t ion ment ioned in the t ext , "Whoever g ives

eve n a cup of cold wate r to one of the se l it tl e on e s" (vs . 42 a) ,

connec t s t e ach i ng wi th expe r i e nc e . I n a s e n t e nc e a n t i c ipa t i ng

M at the w's parable of the las t judgm e n t (Mat thew 25) , the dee d of

kindness i s taken to be the c r i t e r ion of everyt i i i ng e l se . I t suggests

the image of vu l ne rab le p eop l e ( " the se l it tl e on e s" ) i n th e i r n e e d ,

and how the cup of cold water g iven " in d i e name of a d isc iple"(who, i n turn , r epresent Chr is t , who, i n turn , r epresents God) i s

ult imately the gift of God.

What i s the reward of the r ighteous, r e fe r red to here? The

passage does not say. I should l ike to think i t intr insic to the act i tself

and not some externa l th ing given for th is good behavior . Is i t not an

outgrowth of verse 39 from last week's lect ion; i .e . , is i t not the gift

of l i fe i tself? By contrast , an extrinsic reward would become an

externa l r eason for doing the good deed. I g ive the cup of cold

water , not because of my love for d i e weak person who needs i t , but

because I want something in r e turn . I want to be recognized. I , i n

turn, want lots of cold water to be given to me. I want to go to

heaven, and I f ear tha t God wi l l not l e t me go to heaven i f I neglec t

th is person 's need for cold water . In a word, I may not care

anything at al l about this poor person for his or her own sake. I t is

for my sake that I act . Surely that is not consistent wit i i verse 39.

There i s anot i i e r i ssue for modern readers lurking in th is passage .

Is our discipleship always contained in the direct , individual act of

goodness , or can i t (or need i t ) be expressed through corpora te

inst i tut ional structures?The di rec t ac t of k indness has an undeniable pr ima fac ie appea l . I t

is pe rson a l . It en ta il s d i rec t comm un ica t ion be twee n the on e who

rece ives and the one who gives , so tha t the reason for g iving (die

love of Christ) can more readily be seen as a part of the gift . In the

cont rovers i es over provis ion of food, c lothing, she l t e r , and medica l

care to indigent persons in contemporary North America , i t i s of t en



claimed that these we lfare bene f i ts should be provided not by cold,

im pe r s on a l gove r n m e n t bu t r a t h e r b y "ha n ds - on " c ha r i t a b l e

agenc i e s , p r e f e r ab ly church- r e la t ed , tha t can take a pe r sona l i n t e r e s t

i n d ios e be ing he lped .

I n my own c i t y , con t rove r sy has r aged for some y ea r s ove r the

e f f icacy of large publ ic she l te r programs for die homeless ra the r

than smal l - sca l e she l t e r s p rovided by n e ighborhood churche s .

Church-re la te d hospi ta ls ar e s imilar ly r e garde d as die place for r ea l

car ing; publ ic hospi ta ls ar e sometimes unders tood, by de f in i t ion , to

be impe r sona l . I n one of h i s c e l ebra t ed u t t e r ance s on pove r ty ,

forme r P r e s ide n t Rona ld Reagan r emarked tha t i f eve r y church i n

Amer ica would take r espons ibi l i ty for jus t one poor family the re

would be no furd i e r p robl em. Tha t s e emed to e as e wha teve r t e n s ion

he may have f e l t over the ideological f laws in government we lfareprograms . But , s i nce i t was a lway s i ncon ce ivabl e tha t eve r y church

in Amer ica r eal ly would accept that chal lenge , die poor were le f t

about where they s tar ted out .

I am impressed by die object ive concre teness of the scr iptural

illustration. Thirst is real and so is a cup of cold water . I wonder

whedie r dia t is not the c lue we need to t rans la te di is demand of

lov ing obed i e nce i n to d i e complex i t i e s o f mode r n l i f e . Do we no t

also face , diough in dif f e r en t form, the object ive ques t ion of what

"d i e s e l i td e o n e s " a ctua ll y need, along widi die fur the r ques t ion ,

what will actually, realistically m e e t t h e n e e d? G iv e n t h e v e r ydif f e r en t kind of economic order and the ve ry dif f e r en t urban

civi l izat ion , might we not need a dif f e r en t way of insur ing de l ive ry

of the cup of cold wate r? I vividly r emember one of the great bat t le s

my pas tor fadie r took on in a small Ohio community in the la te

1930s . The town had no wate r pur i f icadon and de l ive r y s y s t em,

r e l y i ng i n s t e ad on we l l s and c i s t e r n s which pe r iod ica l l y spawned

ep idemics of t yphoid f eve r and o the r malad i e s . I n tha t e nv i ronmen t ,

on e might we l l g ive the cup of co ld wate r— an d t y phoid feve r a long

widi i t ! The issue was whe ther l i t t l e Winches te r would tax i tse l f to

issue bonds to match New Deal grants and have i tse l f a wate r sys tem.

Was that , could that be , an act of giving done in the name of

Chr is t? Chr is t might not be expl ic i t enough in the t ra i l of

gove r nmen t acdon and f i nance to be r e cogn izabl e to thos e r e ce iv ing

the wate r—though Chr i s t sur e l y would be pr e s e n t in d i e m ot iva t ions

of Chr is t ians suppor t ing such a program. But suppose Chr is t ians



were to oppose such p rograms on th e g rounds tha t t h ey we r e no t

specifical ly enough Chrisdan and diat , as a result of di is opposit ion,

die programs would fai l , and diat , as a result of die fai lure, "diese

l i tde on e s" w ould not have die i r cup of cold water or would have a

case of t yphoid fever a long wi th the i r cup taken f rom the wel l .Would i t not then be c l ear d ia t the love of Chr is t had been turned on

i t s h ead and become d i sobed i enc e i ns t ead?

This is die point at which scripture does not , by itself, provide us

widi specific instructions for i ts own fulfi l lment . That is a good

reminder that discipleship entai ls the discipl ined (or discipled) mind

as wel l as the obedient hear t and wi l l . A par t of our obedience i s our

commitment to th ink through the problems of our age , be they loca l

or global , in l ight of God's love and to seek what wil l actually work.

The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost: Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

In 1993 the f ifdi Sunday after Pentecost fal ls on July 4 which, in die

Uni t ed Sta t es , i s d i e day of c ivic ce l ebra t ion of na t iona l i nde

pendenc e . Those p r each i ng i n t h e Uni t ed S ta t e s may wi sh to r e l a t e

the i r message to di i s na t iona l observance , i n which case Psa lm 72,

a lso appoint ed by the l ec t ionary for th is Sunday, may provide a be t

t e r homiledcal oppor tuni ty . That psa lm resona tes wi th the spi r i t of

"Am e r i ca th e Be audfu l " a nd some o f t h e de epe r va lues i n t h e n a

t ional ethos, including the responsibil i ty of rulers to care for the

weak and poor and die na t ion ' s r esponsibi l i t y to be a b less ing to

od i e r na t ions .

Matthew 11 is not as easi ly related to the civic agenda of t i i is day.

( Int e re s t in gly , the w ord of judgm e n t upon c i t ies i n M at t . 11:20-24 is

omit t ed f rom the se l ec t ed readings!)

The appo i n t ed r ead i ngs , howeve r , ca r r y t h e i r own message .

Verses 16-17 conta in tha t cur ious re fe rence to the chi ldren ' s p layful

chant : " W e play ed the f lu te for y ou, an d y ou did not dan ce ; We

wai l ed , a nd you d id no t mourn ."

The mean i ng o f t ha t emerges i n t h e nex t v e r s e . J e sus i s r e f e r r i ng

to the "do ub le b in d" in which popular a tt itudes d ismiss e i ther a

rigid or an open style of l i fe . John the Baptist is dismissed as crazy

for l iv ing asce t ica l ly ("ne i ther ea t ing nor dr inking") . But Jesus i s

a lso condemned for be ing open to a l l k inds of people and for not



be i ng a sc e t i c . E i the r way you tu rn , you wi l l b e condemned . The

chi ldren ' s chant says , i n e f fec t , tha t you won' t r espond to us when

we a r e j oyfu l, bu t n e id i e r will you r e spond w hen we a r e mournfu l .

Jesus rounds out the per icope by implying tha t these popular

a tt itudes do n ' t mat te r ; w hat matt e rs is the en d resul t : "W isd om is

v i nd i c a t e d b y h e r d e e d s . "

At the very l east , d i i s per icope i s a r eminder tha t we cannot

def ine fa i th by negat ives . Our fa i th i s not summed up in what we are

against or what we avoid doing. We need to be against some th ings

and we need to avoid doing some diings, al l r ight . But diat is

because of die posi t ive claims of faidi and l ife . Clearly, Jesus was

not afraid to associate with al l kinds of people, no matter how

disreputable they were ; c l ear ly , a l so , he d id not avoid ea t ing and

dr inking, r egardless of d i e c r i t ic i sm of some.The second ha l f of d i e Mat thew l ec t ion points more deeply in to

J e s u s ' message . I t i s easy to imagine d i i s be ing spoken to ordinary

peasan t s , t h e "peop l e s o f t h e l a nd ." Ve r se 25 says ve r y p l a i n l y t ha t

ordinary people can grasp the t ru ths tha t mat t e r , somet imes be t t e r

than t i i e more l earned . Is tha t not so? I have been a t eacher of

theo logy fo r more than th i r t y yea r s ; a nd , i n my expe r i e nc e , a ny

theologica l point can be made and unders tood by vi r tua l ly anybody

above , say, twelve years of age—^provided i t i s expla ined in a

familiar vocabulary. That is a word of reassurance to humbler folk

n ot to be in t imidated so easi ly by the " e xp e r t s . " I do n ot r ead th is

as an Invitat ion to the kind of ant i- intel lectualism that substi tutes

sent imenta l i t y for se r ious thought . I unders tand th is to mean tha t

everybody is capable of serious thought. The work of die t i ieology

expert is a work of service, helping us to sort out issues and

problems in our fai th and to ident ify some of the intel lectual pi tfal ls

in to which we can fa l l . I t i s not to do everybody 's th inking for them.

But Je sus ' poin t cuts e ve n de e pe r, for he make s i t clea r that fai ti i

i s more than our d i inking. Essent ia l t rudi i s present even wi th

" i n fan t s , " t hat i s , eve n by those who cann o t ye t expr e ss i t inabstract forms. If love is at die heart of the fai th, then clearly we can

see what Jesus in t ended to convey here : Love i s grasped, both in i t s

p r e s e n c e and its a b s e nc e , b y " i n f a n t s , " A n d , un f o r tu na t e ly , l ov e

can be ove r looked a l toge the r by ve ry l e a r ned peop l e .

The final verses, 28-30, are a scriptural gem. We can think of t i i is

as a word of grace to al l upon whom life has dumped i ts worst



garbage , the oppressed , d i e suffer ing , d i e sorrowful . I t i s a word of

caring that helps establish, up front , that the gospel is especial ly

di rec t ed to people i n the i r need . In context , i t probably re fe rs to the

burdens of low se l f -es t eem la id upon the humble by the self-

r ighteous. In Jesus ' t ime and in ours , the demands of fa idi have been

la id on in such a way tha t many people a re exc luded a lmost by

def ini t ion. In our dme, I d i ink of women who are of t en put i n a

doub l e b i nd be tween th e demands o f ca r e e r ( you canno t f i nd r ea l

ful f i l lment unless you are pursuing a successful career ) and the

demands of home (you cannot f ind rea l fu l f i l lment except as a wife

and mother) . In t ime, we may hope tha t cul tura l expec ta t ions wi l l

accommodate the fu l l equal i ty of women whi l e def ining roles more

manageab l y . I n t i i e mean t ime , women a r e e n t i t i ed to a word o f

hope . Simi lar ly , homosexual persons are i n a double b ind . On dieon e han d , i t is acknowledge d eve n by conse rva tive s t hat p eop l e have

l i tde cont rol over the i r sexual or i enta t ion—and tha t some may have

no cont rol a t a l l . On the odier hand, homosexual persons are advised

tha t i f t h ey canno t change—âs many c l ea r l y canno t—they have no

other mora l a l t e rna t ive but to ta l abst inence f rom sexual express ion.

Much we s t i l l do not know about sexual or i enta t ion. But can we, i n

die spi r i t of verses 28-30, lay a burden upon homosexual persons

tha t the res t of us a re not expec ted to bear? The word of verses

28-30 i s a word of reassurance . Nobody i s r equi red to do or to be

what they cannot do or be . In a way, th is br ings us back to the l i t t l echi ldren ' s game of verse 17 , where d i e re i s no possibi l i t y of p l easing

odiers . But Jesus i s not p laying games. God 's car ing love l ibera t es

us to a l i fe of love and freedom; i t is not an impossible set of

d e m a n d s .

The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost: Matthew 13:1-9 ,18-23

Jesus ' i ns t ruc t ions to h is d isc iples cont inue widi the famous Parable

of the Sower, given first to the great crowd (vss. 3-9), then

explained privately to the disciples (vss. 18-23). For homilet ical

purposes the two passages can be used togedier , a ld iough i t seems

probable t i ia t only the f i rs t r epresents ac tua l t eaching by Jesus whi l e

the second i s more l ike ly a la t e r i n t e rpre ta t ion,





some regular i ty . When the gospe l i s t i ed too exc lusive ly to such

fads, i t goes down wi th them.

The seed among die d iorns of verses 7 and 23 warns us of the

world 's compet ing fa lse gods. Here the i ssue i s not lack of

unde r s t and i ng . The gospe l may be we l l e nough unde r s tood bu t

insuff ic i ent ly va lued. Compet ing de ides of wealdi , power , and

pr e s t ig e choke ou t t h e gospe l even among peop l e who unde r s t and

wel l enough dia t d i ese gods are u l t imate ly fa lse and dehumaniz ing .

More subt l e a re the compet ing va lues of fami ly or na t ion, the

henodie isms of which H. Richard Niebuhr speaks. When those

va lues a r e made uUima te , d i e y i n e v i tab ly choke ou t t h e de e pe r , more

l ibera t ing love of God. Love of God and love of count ry cannot be

s impl e pa ra l l e l s , a s t h e "God and coun t r y" th eme sugges t s . One o r

the o ther wi l l necessar i ly come f i rs t . That i s t rue of every o thergroup loya l ty , i nc luding die church when die church i s e l eva ted

above God. When our group loya l t i es a re not subordina ted to and in

service of our deeper loya l ty to God, God ge ts choked out .

The seed sown on good soi l i nvi t es us to consider mature fa i th

and i ts precondit ions. Do fai t i i and act ion have to be pi t ted against

each odier? Must we choose be tween pie ty and cr i t ica l thought? Can

Christ ian fai th not be expressed in both i ts personal and i ts social

dimensions wi thout the one cance l l i ng out d i e o ther? Mature fa i th

expresses wholeness in which every aspec t of l i f e f i nds express iontha t enhances every o ther aspec t . I t i s of t en easi e r to preach a

t runca ted gospel tha t exaggera tes some th ings whi l e d iminishing

others . The deeper yearning of humani ty i s for a form of fa i th tha t

puts i t a l l toge ther . The seed landing on good soi l can symbol ize a

faith that brings all aspects of life into meaningful focus. That is a

notable chal l enge in an age tha t has confronted so many evi l s ; so

many soc ia l , economic , pol i t ica l , and t echnologica l changes; and so

many advances in sc i ent i f ic knowledge . A gospel t i ia t takes i t s p lace

as just on e m ore phe n ome n on amidst a ll of th is is see d landin g on

shallow or thorny ground. A gospel diat can help us draw all of thisinto crea t ive harmony, grounded in God, i s seed sprout ing in good

soil.



The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost:

Matthew 13:24-30 , 36-43

This l ec t ion i s another parable about the proclamat ion of the gospe l(vss. 24-30) accompanied , again , by pr iva te explana t ion to the d isc i

ples (vss . 36-43) . These passages , not d i rec t ly para l l e l ed in e id i e r

Mark or Luke , cannot be t r ea t ed pr ima fac ie as audiendc sayings of

Jesus ( though the f i rs t may wel l have i t s or ig ins in a s imple remem

bered parable of Jesus) . But , as express ions of the church 's fa i th ,

bodi have homilet ical possibi l i t ies.

The in i t ia l , under lying idea i s , of course , tha t the k ingdom of God

has e nemies . Not eve rybody i s i n f avor o f God ' s good purposes .

Whether or not we fol low the l ead of the second per icope in

personi fying evi l i n t i i e form of d ie devi l (many of us would not ) ,

the w hole poin t of d ie l e c t ion i s lost if ev i l i s n ot taken se r iously . I t

cannot be def ined away by t r ea t ing i t as a s imple mistake by

wel l - in t ent ioned but misguided people or be regarded as an i l l ness

s t emming f rom na tura l causes . I t i s de l ibera t e turning away f rom

God's i n t ended good. The radica l charac ter of evi l i s underscored by

the part icular weed chosen to i l lustrate i t in the parable. I t is not an

ann oy i n g bu t ha rmless dan de l ion o r c rabgrass ; it is da rn e l , a w ee d

r e sembl i ng whea t , which i s , howeve r , po i sonous . I t c an have th e

appearance of something good whi l e be ing , i n fac t , something verybad. That is what evi l is; that is what the good news of God's

k i ngdom encoun t e r s , i n many fo rms and on many l eve l s .

How a r e we to t e l l t h e d i f f e r e nc e be tween good and ev i l ? Tha t

may no t b e so ea sy! The whea t a nd d i e weeds a r e g rowing s ide by

side , c lose ly r esembl ing each other . The di f f icul ty of t e l l i ng them

apar t may be more impl i ed dian s ta t ed in the l ec t ion, but i t i s wordi

not ing tha t th is parable has somet imes been used in suppor t of

r e l i g ious to l e ranc e . (An e ssay by Roland Ba i n ton , "The Pa rab l e o f

die Tares as d ie Proof Text for Rel ig ious Liber ty to d ie End of the

S i x t e e n t h C e n t u r y " i n Church History, I [19321, pp. 3-24 exploresthis percept ive ly . ) Indeed, d i e d i f f icul ty of be ing absolute ly cer ta in

in drawing dis t inc t ions be tween t rudi and e r ror , good and evi l i s

possibly the very s t rongest basis for r e l ig ious f reedom. I f we cannot

be absolute ly cer ta in who is r ight and who is wrong about

eve ry t i i i ng , t h en we had be t t e r b e ca r e fu l l e s t un i n t e n t iona l l y we

s il e n c e th e on e who is r igh t . We may d i scove r , in t h e e n d , tha t we



have be en s i l e nc i ng God . A good dea l o f wha t was onc e l abe l ed ev i l

has turned out to be good (such as women assuming ful l equal i ty

widi men in the l i f e of the church) ; just so , much tha t we thought

good has turned out to be evi l (such as human s lavery) .

In a world in which di f fe rent sec ts and re l ig ions confront one

ano the r i n a nge r a nd i n which con t rove r s i e s ove r such th i ngs a s

abor t ion and homosexual i ty cont r ibute to mutual d isplays of

s e l f -r igh t eousne ss , p e rhaps th e pa rab l e o f whea t a nd we eds has a

l e sson fo r us . We mus t no t b e t oo su r e . We mus t b e more open . We

must be more pa t i e n t . God may su rp r i s e us i n t h e e nd .

Even i f we f e e l we can t e l l d i e whea t f rom the weeds , t h e pa rab l e

warns us not to hur t the wheat by going af t e r the weeds. Like a l l

me taphors , t h i s canno t a lways be app l i ed l i t e r a l l y . Some t imes ev i l ,

hav i ng be en id en t i f i ed , does ne ed to be conf ron t ed . The pa rab l eshould not encourage passivi ty i n face of i n just ice . But i t i s

neverdie l ess a good reminder tha t the b lows a imed a t evi l can a lso

s t r ik e t h e good . Bombing a popu la t ion c en t e r may be th e mos t

ef fec t ive way to defea t an evi l mi l i ta ry power . But how much human

good will b e de s t roy ed in t h e p rocess? (The " jus t w a r" p r in c ip le o f

propor t ion ra ises exacdy t i ia t quest ion.) Si l enc ing a here t ic may

remove an e r roneous opinion f rom publ ic debate . But wi l l i t a l so

i n t imida t e p eop l e , i nc lud i ng d i e h e r e t i c , who have od i e r va luab l e

con t r ibu t ions to make? (The a l l eged he r e t i c , Michae l Se rve tus , who

was burned a t t h e s t ake i n Ca lv i n ' s Geneva , was a l so one o f t h e

l eading sc i ent i s t s and a l l -a round int e l l ec tua ls of s ix t eenth-century

Europe .) Maybe i t would be be t t e r to wai t unt i l both t ru th and e r ror

have had ful l oppor tuni ty to revea l d i emselves; t i ia t may be t ime

enough to ha rves t t h e one a nd d i sca rd d i e o the r .

T h e e x p l a na t o r y p a s s a g e , v e r s e s 36- 43 , adds the fur ther

eschatologica l d ime n sion . Whi le phrase d par t iy in v iolen t form,

ev okin g images of a ven geful Chr is t and die torme n ts of he l l f ir e , the

ser ious message i s of the u l t imate t r iumph of good. At the end of the

age , evi l wi l l be defea t ed and God 's good wi l l preva i l . The seedstha t have be en sown can be t rus t ed , a s can th e expec t ed ha rves t . We

can t rus t wha t God has be en do i ng .

That may be the most important message of a l l i n t i i i s per icope .

Much of the re l ig ious animosi ty of our t ime has i t s source , not i n an

ove rbea r i ng conf idenc e i n t h e r igh t ne ss o f one ' s v i ew and the

wrongness of a l l odiers , but radier i n the inabi l i t y to t rust God 's







f i sh , both caught in the same ne t but des t ined to be separa ted out a t

th e e nd o f t h e age . I n t h i s s equenc e o f pa rab l e s , howeve r , t h e

Parable of the Good and Bad Fish punctua tes the message dia t

eve ryd i i ng depends upon be i ng among the good f i sh who a r e

devoted to the k ingdom and not among diose to be d iscarded.

Whe the r o r no t one wan t s t o t ake th e " fu rnace o f f i r e " image ry

l i teral ly (as I do not) , is i t not enough to contemplate what i t would

be to waste one ' s l i f e a l toge ther by embracing fa lse va lues and

pursuing goals tha t take one away f rom the cent ra l goal of the

k i ngdom? Wha t r emorse cou ld be de epe r t han th e r ea l i za t ion tha t

one has been a l toge ther wrong about l i f e—that one has missed the

po i n t compl e t e l y?

The f ina l parable of verse 52 i s about the householder who

"br i n gs ou t o f h i s t r ea sur e wha t is n ew and wha t is o l d . " Amon gthe wri t ings of d i e New Testament , the Gospel of Matdiew is

espec ia l ly careful to avoid the impression tha t the inher i t ed t radi t ions

did n ot mat te r . " D o n ot th ink dia t I have com e to abolish the law or

the prophe ts; I have c om e n ot to abolish but to fulfi l l" (M att . 5:17 ),

Neve r the l e ss , Ma t thew can a l so say , "You have hea rd tha t i t was

sa id . . . but I say to y o u " (e .g . . M at t . 5 :21-22 , 27 -28, 31-32) .

The con t e s t b e tween conse rv i ng the good o f t h e pas t a nd b r eak i ng

new ground i s as f rui t i ess as i t i s perennia l . A church body wi t i i

which I was associa t ed adopted the d ieme "C om mit t e d to Chris t ,

Cal led to C ha n ge " for it s program for a four-ye ar pe r iod. I could

agree with that , but st i l l considered i t only a half-trut i i . I could

equal ly wel l say tha t , as a consequence of my commitment to Chr is t ,

there were some changes I should res i s t to d ie dea th! The good

always has a h is tory tha t needs to be unders tood and ce l ebra ted . At

the same t ime there i s a lways room for improvement based upon

deepe r commi tmen t a nd g r ea t e r i ns igh t . James Russe l l Lowe l l ' s

poem (and hymn) r eminds us tha t " new occas ions t each new du t i e s ,

t ime makes anc i e n t good uncou th ," How of t e n we have had to s e t

as ide the absolute ver i t i es of our forebears in order to keep fa i thwi t i i the deeper loya l ty to God, whose spi r i t engages our spi r i t s

res t i ess ly . St i l l , the uncouthness of much anc ient good i s ba lanced by

much anc ient good tha t r emains good. Were i t not so , we would

have long s ince abandoned scr ip ture a l toge t i i e r . Ins t ead, we have

encountered in scr ip ture the basis of dramat ic new forms of

obed i enc e to th e God whom we mee t i n Chr i s t .

