As I watch the PC(USA) increase the speed of its precipitous slide away from Biblical faith and toward the humanist, "it's all about me," "I'll do it my way" orientation of our society, I recognize that such departures are not new.
When I was teaching military law to newly commissioned Lieutenants of Marines, one of the hardest concepts for them to accept was authority. The idea that they could give a Marine an order and he had to obey it was an alien concept in the society from which they came. The second half of the 20th Century was defined, in pertinant part, by a growing sense that "no one can tell me what to do!" Those of us who grew up in the 50s will recall that any Mom or Dad on the block could correct you and your best hope was that would end it. If word got back to your own parents, you got it again. We had no vandalism, no killings, no shootings, because we were taught that there was a "chain of command."
A small group of which I am a member is studying the broad topic of "What is Worship?" We have been reading 2 Samuel 6 and 1 Chron 15:1-16:6. In Samuel, David undertakes to bring the Ark to Jerusalem. He does it his way. Rather than having it carried as God had required, he put it in a cart. En route, the oxen pulling the cart stumbled and the cart driver reached out to steady the Ark. He was killed.
David became angry, but also recognized that he had failed to handle the Ark in accordance with God's commands. He then repents and begins to transport the Ark properly. The 1 Chronicles passage reports in detail this part of the journey and all of the minute details of the ceremony.
The lesson about authority is clear. We are called to submit to God's authority because He is God. No other reason. Any thought that we may have that we know a better way is doomed to failure. We obey because in so doing, we are worshipping the power and majesty and grace and magnanimty of God. It is all about Him.
When a denomination decides that its "worship" ought to be of modern trends, or what it thinks is "right," when it ignores God's Word as out-dated or irrelevant to this day and age, favoring its own discernment, it ought not be surprised that it is no longer prospering.
05 June 2008
03 June 2008
CONSTITUTION? WHAT CONSTITUTION?
The PC(USA) strikes again.
According to The Layman, Whitewater Valley Presbytery in Indiana is getting ready to launch a preemptive strike against First United Presbyterian Church (College Corner Presbyterian Church) in College Corner, Ohio, and Wallace Street Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. Both are considering ending their affiliation with the PC(USA). In so doing, the presbytery effectively amends the Book of Order by removing G-11.0103i and G-7.0304a(5).
At its stated meeting June 4, the Presbytery commissioners are scheduled to vote on a recommendation from the presbytery's committee on ministry to form administrative commissions for both churches. The ACs' powers would "take effect when it should become evident to the commission that minister(s) or congregation members are moving toward expressing a desire for separation and the reconciliation is not likely." (Emphasis added.)
They would have:
1. "Authority to dissolve the session and assume the full powers and jurisdiction of the session" as soon as the session "calls for a congregational meeting for the purpose of considering actions leading to separation from the PCUSA."
2. "Authority to dissolve the pastoral relationship upon evidence that the pastor has advocated separation from the denomination or upon renunciation of jurisdiction. . .."
In other words, a COM has now recommended that a presbytery ignore the constitutional right of congregations to ask to be dismissed, as well as the permissive power of the congregation to disaffiliate.
The report of the COM also contains a threat to any other churches that might consider exercising its rights to request dismissal or to disaffiliate. "The COM sincerely hopes that no other churches will seek separation."
The hypocrisy of the bureaucracy of the PC(USA) is stunning. When presbyteries adopted resolutions expressing their intent to enforce constitutional qualifications for ordination, the liberals rushed to the church courts to prevent enforcement of clear constitutional mandates. Now, when churches seek to exercise their constitutional right to leave the PC(USA), the same bureaucrats ignore tha constitution and plan to coerce those congregations.
It is all about centralized power in the curia in Louisville!
According to The Layman, Whitewater Valley Presbytery in Indiana is getting ready to launch a preemptive strike against First United Presbyterian Church (College Corner Presbyterian Church) in College Corner, Ohio, and Wallace Street Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. Both are considering ending their affiliation with the PC(USA). In so doing, the presbytery effectively amends the Book of Order by removing G-11.0103i and G-7.0304a(5).
At its stated meeting June 4, the Presbytery commissioners are scheduled to vote on a recommendation from the presbytery's committee on ministry to form administrative commissions for both churches. The ACs' powers would "take effect when it should become evident to the commission that minister(s) or congregation members are moving toward expressing a desire for separation and the reconciliation is not likely." (Emphasis added.)
They would have:
1. "Authority to dissolve the session and assume the full powers and jurisdiction of the session" as soon as the session "calls for a congregational meeting for the purpose of considering actions leading to separation from the PCUSA."
2. "Authority to dissolve the pastoral relationship upon evidence that the pastor has advocated separation from the denomination or upon renunciation of jurisdiction. . .."
In other words, a COM has now recommended that a presbytery ignore the constitutional right of congregations to ask to be dismissed, as well as the permissive power of the congregation to disaffiliate.
The report of the COM also contains a threat to any other churches that might consider exercising its rights to request dismissal or to disaffiliate. "The COM sincerely hopes that no other churches will seek separation."
The hypocrisy of the bureaucracy of the PC(USA) is stunning. When presbyteries adopted resolutions expressing their intent to enforce constitutional qualifications for ordination, the liberals rushed to the church courts to prevent enforcement of clear constitutional mandates. Now, when churches seek to exercise their constitutional right to leave the PC(USA), the same bureaucrats ignore tha constitution and plan to coerce those congregations.
It is all about centralized power in the curia in Louisville!
02 June 2008
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH
In my opinion, an American presidential campaign is the greatest spectator sport on earth. There are the money players, the utility players, scouts, front office staff, minor leagues, and rabid fans.
All this came to mind Saturday as I watched the DNC Rules and By-laws Committee in action. They spent the whole day deciding what they would do to two states who had intentionally broken their own rules. It made the "infield fly rule" seem simple by comparison.
I can sympathize with Florida to a certain extent. The Republican Party controls the legislature and the governorship. Of course, the Florida Democratic State Committee could have run their own primary in accordance with party rules, but it would have had to spend its own money. So, I have only a modicum of sympathy for them.
Michigan was another story. Senator Carl Levin ranted, in tones reminiscent of the State's rights arguments of the 1850's, another time that the Democratic Party failed the Nation, "We had to violate the rules because Michiganders are more important than those New Hampshiremen." Abe Lincoln must be rolling in his grave.
It is not the first time in recent history that Michigan has revived the issue of State's rights. Back in the 1980's, the Governor of Michigan claimed the right to prevent the Federal government from sending a Michigan National Guard engineer unit to Central America. Representative Sonny Montgomery of Mississippi, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee espoused the right of the federal government to control the Guard. Jeff Davis also did a few spins.
So, Senator Levin's claim that Michigan has a better right to be first than does New Hampshire rings hollow.
All this came to mind Saturday as I watched the DNC Rules and By-laws Committee in action. They spent the whole day deciding what they would do to two states who had intentionally broken their own rules. It made the "infield fly rule" seem simple by comparison.
I can sympathize with Florida to a certain extent. The Republican Party controls the legislature and the governorship. Of course, the Florida Democratic State Committee could have run their own primary in accordance with party rules, but it would have had to spend its own money. So, I have only a modicum of sympathy for them.
Michigan was another story. Senator Carl Levin ranted, in tones reminiscent of the State's rights arguments of the 1850's, another time that the Democratic Party failed the Nation, "We had to violate the rules because Michiganders are more important than those New Hampshiremen." Abe Lincoln must be rolling in his grave.
It is not the first time in recent history that Michigan has revived the issue of State's rights. Back in the 1980's, the Governor of Michigan claimed the right to prevent the Federal government from sending a Michigan National Guard engineer unit to Central America. Representative Sonny Montgomery of Mississippi, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee espoused the right of the federal government to control the Guard. Jeff Davis also did a few spins.
So, Senator Levin's claim that Michigan has a better right to be first than does New Hampshire rings hollow.
30 May 2008
START OF SUMMER MEME
Well, it has finally happened. I’ve been memed by Toby Brown over at The Classical Presbyterian.
The Start of Summer Meme
1.) What first tells you that Summer is here?
2.) Name your five of your favorite distinctively Summer habits or customs.
3.) What is your favorite smell of Summer?
4.) What is your favorite taste of Summer?
5.) Favorite Summer memory?
6.) Extreme heat or extreme cold? Which would you choose and why?
7.) What books do you plan to read for the season?
8.) How does the Summer affect your faith? Is it a hindrance or an ally?
Here goes:
1. That warm, grassy smell—with some freshly mown alfalfa thrown in, if possible—that hangs over country that has been baked all day. It is subjective, but there is that one evening each year when I step out on my deck, take a deep breath, and say “Summer’s here.”
2. Firing up the grill most nights of the week.
Sitting on the deck listening to the Phillies and/or the Cardinals (a benefit of XM Satellite radio)
The first firefly hunt of the season
The annual neighborhood trip to see our nearby double A ball club play in Reading.
The weekly Friday night gatherings at the head of one driveway or another and not getting into the house until 10 or 11.
3. Tie: fresh cut hay and the smell of the rain during a thunderstorm.
4. Tie: sweet corn grilled in the husk and fresh tomato slices.
5. Summers in my home town (Stanberry, Missouri). It was quintessential America in the 1950’s and early 60’s.
6. I’ll take the heat any time. As an infantry officer, I got to experience both. There is nothing more miserable in my book than being so cold that it seeps into your very bones. Plus, there is no snow in the Summer. As my Grand Dad used to say, “No one ever died of a heart attack shoveling sunshine.”
7. Re-read Romans to prepare for Senior High Sunday School
Newt Gringrich, Winning The Future
Newt Gingrich, Real Change
Complete J.J. Norwich's three volume history of Byzantium
David Halberstam's The Coldest Winter
Re-read Lloyd Lunceford’s A Guide to Church Property Law.
8. Summer neither advances nor hinders my faith, although I do like to take my Senior High class outside occasionally and it is a break for them. Additionally, I admit that it is easier to lay in my deck hammock and wonder at His universe when it is warm. (I have been out there on a cold January evening, too, but summer is easier.)
The Start of Summer Meme
1.) What first tells you that Summer is here?
2.) Name your five of your favorite distinctively Summer habits or customs.
3.) What is your favorite smell of Summer?
4.) What is your favorite taste of Summer?
5.) Favorite Summer memory?
6.) Extreme heat or extreme cold? Which would you choose and why?
7.) What books do you plan to read for the season?
8.) How does the Summer affect your faith? Is it a hindrance or an ally?
Here goes:
1. That warm, grassy smell—with some freshly mown alfalfa thrown in, if possible—that hangs over country that has been baked all day. It is subjective, but there is that one evening each year when I step out on my deck, take a deep breath, and say “Summer’s here.”
2. Firing up the grill most nights of the week.
Sitting on the deck listening to the Phillies and/or the Cardinals (a benefit of XM Satellite radio)
The first firefly hunt of the season
The annual neighborhood trip to see our nearby double A ball club play in Reading.
The weekly Friday night gatherings at the head of one driveway or another and not getting into the house until 10 or 11.
3. Tie: fresh cut hay and the smell of the rain during a thunderstorm.
4. Tie: sweet corn grilled in the husk and fresh tomato slices.
5. Summers in my home town (Stanberry, Missouri). It was quintessential America in the 1950’s and early 60’s.
6. I’ll take the heat any time. As an infantry officer, I got to experience both. There is nothing more miserable in my book than being so cold that it seeps into your very bones. Plus, there is no snow in the Summer. As my Grand Dad used to say, “No one ever died of a heart attack shoveling sunshine.”
7. Re-read Romans to prepare for Senior High Sunday School
Newt Gringrich, Winning The Future
Newt Gingrich, Real Change
Complete J.J. Norwich's three volume history of Byzantium
David Halberstam's The Coldest Winter
Re-read Lloyd Lunceford’s A Guide to Church Property Law.
8. Summer neither advances nor hinders my faith, although I do like to take my Senior High class outside occasionally and it is a break for them. Additionally, I admit that it is easier to lay in my deck hammock and wonder at His universe when it is warm. (I have been out there on a cold January evening, too, but summer is easier.)
27 May 2008
FEELIN' ALL THAT PC(USA) LOVE
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' 'Chuck him out, the brute!'
But it's 'Saviour of 'is country' when the guns begin to shoot;
"Tommy" by Rudyard Kipling. [Historical note: “Tommy” is Great Britain’s equivalent of America’s “G.I. Joe,” (as used in WWII, not the doll).]
Yesterday was Memorial Day. As I observed in my blog dated May 19, there is a lot of confusion amongst our citizenry regarding the meaning and intent of Memorial Day.
As usual, I attended the annual Memorial Day Parade and service at the Downingtown Veterans’ Memorial. It was a glorious day, sunny, warm, perfect. The huge flag hung limp at half-mast until the service began. A small breeze kicked up and the flag (19’ x 39’) billowed magnificently during the rest of the 90 minute service, falling still, as if in mourning, during the three volleys of musketry and Taps.
The MC made the same point that I have made so often—-Memorial Day is about our honored dead, those who fell on the field of honor. The WWI memorial at my university said it best: “They sacrificed all of their tomorrows for our today.”
So imagine all the Christian love I felt from the PC(USA) when they did the following on this hallowed weekend:
1. On the eve of the weekend, the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, released a recommendation to the upcoming GA that it undertake the task of getting our country to “Repent, Restore, Rebuild, and Reconcile” for the current war in Iraq.
2. The PC(USA) high point of the weekend was Presbyterian Peace Fellowship’s weekend-long retreat at a PC(USA) camp. Entitled “Resisting Militarism,” the purpose of the conference “. . . is to train students (ages 14 to 20) to . . . counter[] the military recruitment efforts on their high school and college campuses."
The ACSWP paper is a one-sided, “hate America first” document. It calls upon the United States alone to
1. To repent of engaging in an unnecessary war, to express remorse for the suffering, and to change the disposition to exercise power without understanding the lasting effects of coercion on both occupying and occupied peoples.
2. To restore responsibility for sovereignty and security to Iraqi civil authorities bolstered as necessary by international troops under UN auspices, with U.S.-built bases contributed to the multilateral effort and control.
3. To rebuild a battered Iraq through serious, well-managed, and accountable foreign aid, including massive healthcare assistance for the wounded and maimed.
4. To reconcile political, ethnic, and religious groups through diplomatic and peace-building measures based in truth-seeking, mutual respect, and peace with neighbors, including the supervised return of as many as three million refugees from Syria, Jordan, and other area countries and two million who have been internally displaced.
It is full of praise for the U.S. Constitution in its admiration of the First Amendment (the freedom of the press and the freedom of religion), ignoring the Preamble that recounts that a principle purpose of government is to “provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. . ..”
Careful reading of the report reveals its true purpose: to bolster the liberal desire that the United Nations be transformed into a world government and the end of our national sovereignty. In so doing, it ignores the reality of the threat to this country by a rabid fundamentalist association of Muslims whose intent is to destroy all believers in the risen Lord and all of western civilization that makes “social witness,” free from the control of intolerant religious courts, possible.
And in releasing its report when it did, it treads disrespectfully on the memory of the men and women who died to preserve the very liberties that make it possible for ACSWP to engage in the activities it espouses. (I’ll ignore the demand that all veterans of the Gulf War, and, by implication, all combat veterans, be given psychiatric care.)
In the late 60’s, former President Truman was asked whether he was ready to apologize to the Japanese for the use of atomic weapons to end WWII. He characteristically replied, “I’m still waiting for them to apologize for Pearl Harbor.” Likewise, I’m still waiting for an apology for the attacks on USS Cole, New York City and the Pentagon before I get into a repentance and reconciliation frame of mind.
The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship program is another product of muddle-headed thinking. There are those who are insulated from the real world by the freedom and security that come with American citizenship. They refuse to see that our country has enemies and therefore needs to defend itself. There is no way to counter such naïveté. A dangerous world will take care of that if they achieve their aims.
What really bothered me was that former Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase could expect us to believe that the scheduling of the training session on Memorial Day weekend was a mere coincidence. He said the scheduling " . . .is in no way intended to dishonor the valuable service and the great service that has been offered by so many people, Presbyterians and others, who have served in the armed forces, but to create alternatives for students who may not know that there are other, non-military options for living out a life of service to the Church... . . Actually, the significance of the timing was just that it was a long weekend when I thought I could get more participation," Rick Ufford-Chase told The Layman.
As my 11 year-old daughter would say, “Oh, puh-lease!”
First—Ufford-Chase (intentionally, I believe) perpetuates the myth that the weekend is meant to commemorate “the valuable service and the great service that has been offered by so many people, Presbyterians and others, who have served in the armed forces.” In his view, the weekend merely about all those poor misguided folks who never had the benefit of his guidance and actually wore their country's uniform.
If he conceded that Memorial Day recalls, in President Lincoln’s immortal words , those “who gave the last full measure of devotion,” then he would also have to admit the disrespect which his little program displays for those who made it possible for him to live in a society that protects his villainy.
But that's not all!!! He next turns the United States into that which he and those of his ilk claim to decry: a theocracy. He and his cohorts seek to “create alternatives for students who may not know that there are other, non-military options for living out a life of service to the Church.” Service to the nation and service to the Church are one and the same!
So, I am just not feeling all that PC(USA) love today. As Mr. Kipling reminded us “makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep, Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap.” I would simply remind Mr. Ufford Chase and the ACSWP that when they engage in this kind of conduct, the troops recognize it for what it is. “An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please; An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees!”
But it's 'Saviour of 'is country' when the guns begin to shoot;
"Tommy" by Rudyard Kipling. [Historical note: “Tommy” is Great Britain’s equivalent of America’s “G.I. Joe,” (as used in WWII, not the doll).]
Yesterday was Memorial Day. As I observed in my blog dated May 19, there is a lot of confusion amongst our citizenry regarding the meaning and intent of Memorial Day.
As usual, I attended the annual Memorial Day Parade and service at the Downingtown Veterans’ Memorial. It was a glorious day, sunny, warm, perfect. The huge flag hung limp at half-mast until the service began. A small breeze kicked up and the flag (19’ x 39’) billowed magnificently during the rest of the 90 minute service, falling still, as if in mourning, during the three volleys of musketry and Taps.
The MC made the same point that I have made so often—-Memorial Day is about our honored dead, those who fell on the field of honor. The WWI memorial at my university said it best: “They sacrificed all of their tomorrows for our today.”
So imagine all the Christian love I felt from the PC(USA) when they did the following on this hallowed weekend:
1. On the eve of the weekend, the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, released a recommendation to the upcoming GA that it undertake the task of getting our country to “Repent, Restore, Rebuild, and Reconcile” for the current war in Iraq.
2. The PC(USA) high point of the weekend was Presbyterian Peace Fellowship’s weekend-long retreat at a PC(USA) camp. Entitled “Resisting Militarism,” the purpose of the conference “. . . is to train students (ages 14 to 20) to . . . counter[] the military recruitment efforts on their high school and college campuses."
The ACSWP paper is a one-sided, “hate America first” document. It calls upon the United States alone to
1. To repent of engaging in an unnecessary war, to express remorse for the suffering, and to change the disposition to exercise power without understanding the lasting effects of coercion on both occupying and occupied peoples.
2. To restore responsibility for sovereignty and security to Iraqi civil authorities bolstered as necessary by international troops under UN auspices, with U.S.-built bases contributed to the multilateral effort and control.
3. To rebuild a battered Iraq through serious, well-managed, and accountable foreign aid, including massive healthcare assistance for the wounded and maimed.
4. To reconcile political, ethnic, and religious groups through diplomatic and peace-building measures based in truth-seeking, mutual respect, and peace with neighbors, including the supervised return of as many as three million refugees from Syria, Jordan, and other area countries and two million who have been internally displaced.
It is full of praise for the U.S. Constitution in its admiration of the First Amendment (the freedom of the press and the freedom of religion), ignoring the Preamble that recounts that a principle purpose of government is to “provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. . ..”
Careful reading of the report reveals its true purpose: to bolster the liberal desire that the United Nations be transformed into a world government and the end of our national sovereignty. In so doing, it ignores the reality of the threat to this country by a rabid fundamentalist association of Muslims whose intent is to destroy all believers in the risen Lord and all of western civilization that makes “social witness,” free from the control of intolerant religious courts, possible.
And in releasing its report when it did, it treads disrespectfully on the memory of the men and women who died to preserve the very liberties that make it possible for ACSWP to engage in the activities it espouses. (I’ll ignore the demand that all veterans of the Gulf War, and, by implication, all combat veterans, be given psychiatric care.)
In the late 60’s, former President Truman was asked whether he was ready to apologize to the Japanese for the use of atomic weapons to end WWII. He characteristically replied, “I’m still waiting for them to apologize for Pearl Harbor.” Likewise, I’m still waiting for an apology for the attacks on USS Cole, New York City and the Pentagon before I get into a repentance and reconciliation frame of mind.
The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship program is another product of muddle-headed thinking. There are those who are insulated from the real world by the freedom and security that come with American citizenship. They refuse to see that our country has enemies and therefore needs to defend itself. There is no way to counter such naïveté. A dangerous world will take care of that if they achieve their aims.
What really bothered me was that former Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase could expect us to believe that the scheduling of the training session on Memorial Day weekend was a mere coincidence. He said the scheduling " . . .is in no way intended to dishonor the valuable service and the great service that has been offered by so many people, Presbyterians and others, who have served in the armed forces, but to create alternatives for students who may not know that there are other, non-military options for living out a life of service to the Church... . . Actually, the significance of the timing was just that it was a long weekend when I thought I could get more participation," Rick Ufford-Chase told The Layman.
As my 11 year-old daughter would say, “Oh, puh-lease!”
First—Ufford-Chase (intentionally, I believe) perpetuates the myth that the weekend is meant to commemorate “the valuable service and the great service that has been offered by so many people, Presbyterians and others, who have served in the armed forces.” In his view, the weekend merely about all those poor misguided folks who never had the benefit of his guidance and actually wore their country's uniform.
If he conceded that Memorial Day recalls, in President Lincoln’s immortal words , those “who gave the last full measure of devotion,” then he would also have to admit the disrespect which his little program displays for those who made it possible for him to live in a society that protects his villainy.
But that's not all!!! He next turns the United States into that which he and those of his ilk claim to decry: a theocracy. He and his cohorts seek to “create alternatives for students who may not know that there are other, non-military options for living out a life of service to the Church.” Service to the nation and service to the Church are one and the same!
So, I am just not feeling all that PC(USA) love today. As Mr. Kipling reminded us “makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep, Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap.” I would simply remind Mr. Ufford Chase and the ACSWP that when they engage in this kind of conduct, the troops recognize it for what it is. “An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please; An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees!”
24 May 2008
THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF BIONICLE BOY
My nine year old son, Bionicle Boy, has hit a new milestone. After our bed time routine last night (bath, prayers, hug the number one and number two bears--Peanut and Poopsie, put Bobo Big Bear and his wife, Mrs. Bobo, on the chair where they stand guard at night, water, a story, more hugs), I left the room and went in to watch the Phillies give away a game to the Astros. (I hope Quotidian Grace is happy.)
I dozed off and awoke at about 11:30 to the sound of a tv from BB's room. I figured he had awakened and turned it on. He was sitting in his top bunk, happy as a clam, watching Sponge Bob. After a very short conversation, the tv was off and he and the bears were down.
At 3:15, She Who Must Be Obeyed woke up. "Is his tv on?" she asked. After SWMBO invoked Rule 1.1 of the Wive's Handbook ("Husband is at all times responsible for getting out of bed for nightime investigations and responses."), in I went.
More Sponge Bob was broadcasting merrily to the stuffed animals assembled on the bottom bunk. I turned it off, only to hear an agrieved cry of "Hey! I was watching that." This time I stood by his bed until he was asleep. (No sacrifice--it took about 20 seconds!)
It is now 11:00 am and he just came down, chipper and his usual merry little self. I am blessed by God to have the opportunity to do this Dad thing all over again.
I dozed off and awoke at about 11:30 to the sound of a tv from BB's room. I figured he had awakened and turned it on. He was sitting in his top bunk, happy as a clam, watching Sponge Bob. After a very short conversation, the tv was off and he and the bears were down.
At 3:15, She Who Must Be Obeyed woke up. "Is his tv on?" she asked. After SWMBO invoked Rule 1.1 of the Wive's Handbook ("Husband is at all times responsible for getting out of bed for nightime investigations and responses."), in I went.
More Sponge Bob was broadcasting merrily to the stuffed animals assembled on the bottom bunk. I turned it off, only to hear an agrieved cry of "Hey! I was watching that." This time I stood by his bed until he was asleep. (No sacrifice--it took about 20 seconds!)
It is now 11:00 am and he just came down, chipper and his usual merry little self. I am blessed by God to have the opportunity to do this Dad thing all over again.
23 May 2008
LEST WE FORGET
Next Tuesday, 27 May, marks the 39th anniversary of the death of PFC Jimmy Wayne Phipps, USMC. It is fitting that it always comes in the week of, and every so often falls on, Memorial Day.
I first met Phipps (it is a Marine Corps tradition that enlisted men below the rank of Corporal are routinely addressed by their last names) in February 1969. He was a combat engineer attached to Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division. I was the platoon commander of 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company. An NVA sapper team had infiltrated the 5th Marines regimental combat base at An Hoa and had destroyed the ammunition dump. We were dispatched to try to find and destroy them.
As we secured a small ville northeast of An Hoa, I came upon a fighting hole at the perimeter of the village. It was complete with overhead cover. In other words, the hole was dug and then logs, earth and finally sod were put in place to camouflage it and to provide cover from artillery and mortar air bursts. It had to be destroyed.
Who should walk up but Phipps. “Watcha got, Lieutenant?” he asked.
I showed him and we agreed that a C-4 charge would do the job. C-4 is a clay-like white substance that is commonly referred to as “plastic explosive.” It came packaged in satchel charges made up of numerous plastic-wrapped quarter pound sticks. All you had to do was punch a hole in the plastic wrap, insert a blasting cap, fuse and fuse lighter, ignite the fuse lighter, and run like hell.
I had a quarter pound stick in my pack. (I had scrounged it to use it to heat my C-Rations.) Phipps had another two sticks. We agreed that that should probably do the job. I peeled the sticky tape on the back of each stick and put them together, while Phipps cut a piece of fuse, inserted and crimped it into a blasting cap and then crimped on a fuse lighter. He pulled the pin, set the charge in the back side of the hole, and we took off, yelling “Fire in the hole!”
We soon learned that in our inexperience, we had slightly overestimated the amount of C-4 we needed. The ground erupted, and I suspect that some of that bunker is still in orbit. The Skipper had a few choice comments, fatherly and memorable, about adding to his age, about our judgment, and the future location of our posteriors if we did it again. Thereafter, Phipps and I laughed about it every time we saw each other.
By April, he had finished his tour in the bush and returned to his parent unit, Bravo Company, 1st Engineer Battalion in Danang.
In mid-May, 1/5 waded the Song Thu Bon River and began a six week operation in what was known as the “Arizona Territory,” a low area of rice paddies and tree lines between the Song Thu Bon and the Song Vu Gia rivers. It was a free fire zone, meaning that non-combatants had been evacuated to a refugee camp and only bad guys were left. Of course, it didn’t work that way, because the peasant villagers insisted on returning to their ancestoral homes. Nonetheless, it was an area in which at least two NVA regiments were operating. It was a very bad place.
At around midnight on 26-27 May 1969, Charlie Company made one of its patented night moves to a small village and established a cordon around it. At first light, we entered the ville, rounded up the inhabitants for an id check, and searched the hooches for weapons and ordnance. We then dug in for the day.
Third Platoon was ordered to conduct the morning local security patrol out to about three clicks (kilometers). We would make sure that there were no enemy forces in the vicinity and also recon the area for that night’s move. We found a couple of dud mortar rounds which we destroyed with C-4.
In the last ville we entered, we found a dud 175mm artillery round sitting next to a hooch. It had obviously been moved there. We also found a rusted sheet of scrap tin covered with a chalk diagram used to teach machine gunners how to lead an American helicopter in order to shoot it down.
I called it in and we then rounded up all the villagers (old men, old women, young women and kids—no young men), and herded them back to our perimeter for air evacuation to the refugee camp. I told the Skipper about the dud. I had no more C-4, so he told me to note the location. I understood that he would send the afternoon security patrol out that way to finish it off.
As we were moving back to the Company, we saw the resupply helicopter land and then take off. As we entered our lines, I told the platoon sergeant to get our people set in and to get them to work on their holes. I headed for the command post.
As I walked up the gentle slope, there was Phipps, with his usual shy grin on his face. He had come out on the resupply bird.
“Phipps, what the hell are you doing here?" I asked.
“Aw, you know me, sir. Me an’ the First Sergeant didn’t see eye to eye. I ain’t cut out to be a garrison Marine, so I told him ‘For two cents, I’d go back out with my friends in Charlie Company.’ Here I am.”
By then, we were both laughing. “Well, c’mon along while I brief the Skipper, ‘cause I’ve got some business for you.”
That afternoon, my OCS Bunkie, Lieutenant Neal Meier, took 1st Platoon out on the patrol. Phipps went along. His Medal of Honor Citation tells the rest:
Jimmy Wayne Phipps was 18 years, six month and 26 days old, the third youngest Marine to be awared the Medal of Honor in Vietnam. His name appears on the Vietnam War Memorial, Panel 23W at line 2. Phipps Hall at Marine Corps Base, Quantico is named in his honor.
The Marine’s Hymn assures us that the streets of Heaven are guarded by United States Marines. If so, I pray that the ultimate Sergeant of the Guard has given Phipps a special liberty for eternity.
Semper Fidelis
I first met Phipps (it is a Marine Corps tradition that enlisted men below the rank of Corporal are routinely addressed by their last names) in February 1969. He was a combat engineer attached to Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division. I was the platoon commander of 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company. An NVA sapper team had infiltrated the 5th Marines regimental combat base at An Hoa and had destroyed the ammunition dump. We were dispatched to try to find and destroy them.
As we secured a small ville northeast of An Hoa, I came upon a fighting hole at the perimeter of the village. It was complete with overhead cover. In other words, the hole was dug and then logs, earth and finally sod were put in place to camouflage it and to provide cover from artillery and mortar air bursts. It had to be destroyed.
Who should walk up but Phipps. “Watcha got, Lieutenant?” he asked.
I showed him and we agreed that a C-4 charge would do the job. C-4 is a clay-like white substance that is commonly referred to as “plastic explosive.” It came packaged in satchel charges made up of numerous plastic-wrapped quarter pound sticks. All you had to do was punch a hole in the plastic wrap, insert a blasting cap, fuse and fuse lighter, ignite the fuse lighter, and run like hell.
I had a quarter pound stick in my pack. (I had scrounged it to use it to heat my C-Rations.) Phipps had another two sticks. We agreed that that should probably do the job. I peeled the sticky tape on the back of each stick and put them together, while Phipps cut a piece of fuse, inserted and crimped it into a blasting cap and then crimped on a fuse lighter. He pulled the pin, set the charge in the back side of the hole, and we took off, yelling “Fire in the hole!”
We soon learned that in our inexperience, we had slightly overestimated the amount of C-4 we needed. The ground erupted, and I suspect that some of that bunker is still in orbit. The Skipper had a few choice comments, fatherly and memorable, about adding to his age, about our judgment, and the future location of our posteriors if we did it again. Thereafter, Phipps and I laughed about it every time we saw each other.
By April, he had finished his tour in the bush and returned to his parent unit, Bravo Company, 1st Engineer Battalion in Danang.
In mid-May, 1/5 waded the Song Thu Bon River and began a six week operation in what was known as the “Arizona Territory,” a low area of rice paddies and tree lines between the Song Thu Bon and the Song Vu Gia rivers. It was a free fire zone, meaning that non-combatants had been evacuated to a refugee camp and only bad guys were left. Of course, it didn’t work that way, because the peasant villagers insisted on returning to their ancestoral homes. Nonetheless, it was an area in which at least two NVA regiments were operating. It was a very bad place.
At around midnight on 26-27 May 1969, Charlie Company made one of its patented night moves to a small village and established a cordon around it. At first light, we entered the ville, rounded up the inhabitants for an id check, and searched the hooches for weapons and ordnance. We then dug in for the day.
Third Platoon was ordered to conduct the morning local security patrol out to about three clicks (kilometers). We would make sure that there were no enemy forces in the vicinity and also recon the area for that night’s move. We found a couple of dud mortar rounds which we destroyed with C-4.
In the last ville we entered, we found a dud 175mm artillery round sitting next to a hooch. It had obviously been moved there. We also found a rusted sheet of scrap tin covered with a chalk diagram used to teach machine gunners how to lead an American helicopter in order to shoot it down.
I called it in and we then rounded up all the villagers (old men, old women, young women and kids—no young men), and herded them back to our perimeter for air evacuation to the refugee camp. I told the Skipper about the dud. I had no more C-4, so he told me to note the location. I understood that he would send the afternoon security patrol out that way to finish it off.
As we were moving back to the Company, we saw the resupply helicopter land and then take off. As we entered our lines, I told the platoon sergeant to get our people set in and to get them to work on their holes. I headed for the command post.
As I walked up the gentle slope, there was Phipps, with his usual shy grin on his face. He had come out on the resupply bird.
“Phipps, what the hell are you doing here?" I asked.
“Aw, you know me, sir. Me an’ the First Sergeant didn’t see eye to eye. I ain’t cut out to be a garrison Marine, so I told him ‘For two cents, I’d go back out with my friends in Charlie Company.’ Here I am.”
By then, we were both laughing. “Well, c’mon along while I brief the Skipper, ‘cause I’ve got some business for you.”
That afternoon, my OCS Bunkie, Lieutenant Neal Meier, took 1st Platoon out on the patrol. Phipps went along. His Medal of Honor Citation tells the rest:
The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS JIMMY W. PHIPPS
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
for service as set forth in the following CITATION:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a combat Engineer with Company B, First Engineer Battalion, First Marine Division in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On 27 May 1969, Private First Class Phipps was a member of a two-man combat engineer demolition team assigned to locate and destroy enemy artillery ordnance and concealed firing devices. After he had expended all of his explosives and blasting caps, Private First Class Phipps discovered a 175mm high explosive artillery round in a rice paddy. Suspecting that the enemy had attached at the artillery round to a secondary explosive device, he warned other Marines in the area to move to covered positions and prepared to destroy the round with a hand grenade. As he was attaching the hand grenade to a stake beside the artillery round, the fuse of the enemy's secondary explosive device ignited. Realizing that his assistant and the platoon commander were both within a few meters of him and that the imminent explosion could kill all three men, Private First Class Phipps grasped the hand grenade to his chest and dived forward to cover the enemy's explosive and the artillery round with his body, thereby shielding his companions from the detonation while absorbing the full and tremendous impact with his own body. Private First Class Phipp's indomitable courage, inspiring initiative and selfless devotion to duty saved the lives of two Marines and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
/S/ RICHARD M. NIXON
Jimmy Wayne Phipps was 18 years, six month and 26 days old, the third youngest Marine to be awared the Medal of Honor in Vietnam. His name appears on the Vietnam War Memorial, Panel 23W at line 2. Phipps Hall at Marine Corps Base, Quantico is named in his honor.
The Marine’s Hymn assures us that the streets of Heaven are guarded by United States Marines. If so, I pray that the ultimate Sergeant of the Guard has given Phipps a special liberty for eternity.
Semper Fidelis
22 May 2008
COUNTING VOTES
I am an unabashed listener of XM Radio's POTUS 08 channel (130). A joint project of CSPAN and XM, it really does provide balanced coverage of the on-going campaign.
Since West Virginia and Kentucky, Senator Clinton's campaign has dug in for the final battle, adopting "count every vote" as its strategy. While I know that she must be in a state of disbelief that the wheels have fallen off her campaign, I think her latest ploy is a symptom of why so many folks have a visceral dislike for her. She is the epitome of the '60's generation, the "Baby Boomers."
Let me explain. I am one of the first Boomers. (I strongly suspect that I am the result of a VJ Day celebration!! In late November 1944, my Dad came back from 36 months at sea, including 5 opposed landings at Tarawa, Kwajelein, Saipan, Tinian, and Pelelieu. Mom wanted to start a family right away, but Dad said "No. When we invade Japan, they will send me back and I won't come home from that one. I've used up all my luck." I was born 9 months after the Japanese surrendered. The math works.)
Mom and Dad survived the Great Depression and the War. As did most Americans, especially those from the mid-west, they were folks who played by the rules. When Dad's business failed in 1949, they did not declare bankruptcy--they paid off every cent, making the last payment 4 months before he died in 1963.
We learned that breaking the rules was one thing that my Dad would not allow. It just wasn't done. These were folks who expected that if you played fairly, you would succeed. The cheaters (which in their world included those who shaded the truth) lost their respect and their trust.
But along about 1965, as my generation began to come of age, things changed. We had had it pretty easy. America post-war economy was booming. Things that would have seemed impossible in the 1930's were readily accepted in the 50's and 60's. There were guys in my dorm who had TV's in their room! Most Boomers gradually came to believe that we had a right to success and prosperity. Having the "right" meant that they could do anything to get what they wanted. Hillary was part of that generation.
So, fast forward to 2008. Hillary is losing the primary battle because the party rules that were in place when she started her campaign have worked against her. Michigan and Florida were warned that running their elections early would have dire consequences. They wanted the patronage advantage of being able to claim that they were key to the presumptive winner's effort. They adopted the "We have a right to do what serves our interests and the rules be damned" philosophy. They ignored the rules and scheduled early elections.
Most candidates abided by the rules--Hillary did not. Now she wants the rules changed so she can get what she wants, fair or not.
We'll see if the DNC has the courage to set a new example. I hope they do. It is a matter of trust.
Since West Virginia and Kentucky, Senator Clinton's campaign has dug in for the final battle, adopting "count every vote" as its strategy. While I know that she must be in a state of disbelief that the wheels have fallen off her campaign, I think her latest ploy is a symptom of why so many folks have a visceral dislike for her. She is the epitome of the '60's generation, the "Baby Boomers."
Let me explain. I am one of the first Boomers. (I strongly suspect that I am the result of a VJ Day celebration!! In late November 1944, my Dad came back from 36 months at sea, including 5 opposed landings at Tarawa, Kwajelein, Saipan, Tinian, and Pelelieu. Mom wanted to start a family right away, but Dad said "No. When we invade Japan, they will send me back and I won't come home from that one. I've used up all my luck." I was born 9 months after the Japanese surrendered. The math works.)
Mom and Dad survived the Great Depression and the War. As did most Americans, especially those from the mid-west, they were folks who played by the rules. When Dad's business failed in 1949, they did not declare bankruptcy--they paid off every cent, making the last payment 4 months before he died in 1963.
We learned that breaking the rules was one thing that my Dad would not allow. It just wasn't done. These were folks who expected that if you played fairly, you would succeed. The cheaters (which in their world included those who shaded the truth) lost their respect and their trust.
But along about 1965, as my generation began to come of age, things changed. We had had it pretty easy. America post-war economy was booming. Things that would have seemed impossible in the 1930's were readily accepted in the 50's and 60's. There were guys in my dorm who had TV's in their room! Most Boomers gradually came to believe that we had a right to success and prosperity. Having the "right" meant that they could do anything to get what they wanted. Hillary was part of that generation.
So, fast forward to 2008. Hillary is losing the primary battle because the party rules that were in place when she started her campaign have worked against her. Michigan and Florida were warned that running their elections early would have dire consequences. They wanted the patronage advantage of being able to claim that they were key to the presumptive winner's effort. They adopted the "We have a right to do what serves our interests and the rules be damned" philosophy. They ignored the rules and scheduled early elections.
Most candidates abided by the rules--Hillary did not. Now she wants the rules changed so she can get what she wants, fair or not.
We'll see if the DNC has the courage to set a new example. I hope they do. It is a matter of trust.
19 May 2008
MEMORIAL DAY 2008
And it rolls around once more. Memorial Day 2008 is but a week away.
And once again we will be bombarded with articles about the start of the “summer retail season,” advertisements for “GIANT Memorial Day Sale,” and a page in many newspapers for memorial messages, remembering Great Aunt Sadie or Cousin John’s fatal fishing accident. Almost assuredly, someone will wish me a “Happy Memorial Day,” confusing it with Veterans’ Day.
And I will grit my teeth and march on. Memorial Day is not about sales and Sales. It is a day on which we remember our honored dead who have given their all for our Nation. For some privileged few of us, it is the special day the Nation remembers those of whom we think every day: the men we were with when we forever put away our youth and became warriors and a band of brothers.
For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon (1914)
In Henry V, Shakespeare’s portrayal of “Harry the King” lays out what for the combat veteran is the true meaning of Memorial Day.
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
In Vietnam, my 18 year old radio operator, himself a poet, once told me, “Remember their names, Lieutenant. They ain’t really dead so long as we remember their names.” Here, then, are my names:
Classmates from Basic Class 12-68
2dLt Charles “Chip” Pilkington, USMCR
2dLt James “Jay” Simms, USMCR
2dLt Mike McCormick, USMCR
2dLt Mike Quinn, USMCR
2dLt Roy Phillips, USMCR
2dLt Bob Christian, USMCR
From Company C, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division ("The Old Breed")
2dLt Fred Andrew Hartman, Jr. USMCR (Chip was also in BC 12-68)
PFC Don Lucas, USMC
PFC Rich Zimmerman, USMC
LCpl Ernie Tews, USMC
PFC Jimmy Phipps, USMC (Medal of Honor) (Phipps was a combat engineer from Bravo Company, 1st Engineer Battalion, attached to Charlie Company 1/5 at the time of his gallant sacrifice.)
LCpl Barry Unfried, USMC
PFC Jimmy Wandro, USMC
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, indeed . . . Semper Fidelis..
And once again we will be bombarded with articles about the start of the “summer retail season,” advertisements for “GIANT Memorial Day Sale,” and a page in many newspapers for memorial messages, remembering Great Aunt Sadie or Cousin John’s fatal fishing accident. Almost assuredly, someone will wish me a “Happy Memorial Day,” confusing it with Veterans’ Day.
And I will grit my teeth and march on. Memorial Day is not about sales and Sales. It is a day on which we remember our honored dead who have given their all for our Nation. For some privileged few of us, it is the special day the Nation remembers those of whom we think every day: the men we were with when we forever put away our youth and became warriors and a band of brothers.
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”
For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon (1914)
In Henry V, Shakespeare’s portrayal of “Harry the King” lays out what for the combat veteran is the true meaning of Memorial Day.
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
In Vietnam, my 18 year old radio operator, himself a poet, once told me, “Remember their names, Lieutenant. They ain’t really dead so long as we remember their names.” Here, then, are my names:
Classmates from Basic Class 12-68
2dLt Charles “Chip” Pilkington, USMCR
2dLt James “Jay” Simms, USMCR
2dLt Mike McCormick, USMCR
2dLt Mike Quinn, USMCR
2dLt Roy Phillips, USMCR
2dLt Bob Christian, USMCR
From Company C, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division ("The Old Breed")
2dLt Fred Andrew Hartman, Jr. USMCR (Chip was also in BC 12-68)
PFC Don Lucas, USMC
PFC Rich Zimmerman, USMC
LCpl Ernie Tews, USMC
PFC Jimmy Phipps, USMC (Medal of Honor) (Phipps was a combat engineer from Bravo Company, 1st Engineer Battalion, attached to Charlie Company 1/5 at the time of his gallant sacrifice.)
LCpl Barry Unfried, USMC
PFC Jimmy Wandro, USMC
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, indeed . . . Semper Fidelis..
14 May 2008
PERMISSIVE POWERS (PART IX)
Note: The posts in this series are the opinion of the author. They do not reflect, nor should they be construed to reflect, the opinions or positions of Cozen O’Connor, Forks of the Brandywine Presbyterian Church, the New Wineskins Association of Churches, or the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
To wrap up:
A mandatory State-church is anathema to Americans. We cannot send out press gangs to force people to become members of the PC(USA), the EPC, or any other congregation or denomination. People may come and go as the Spirit moves them. If a majority of the individual members of a faith community collectively and collegially determine that they are called to move together, they have the right to do so with the property that they have purchased and maintained for that community and its ministry and mission. Cf., Genesis 12: 5. The suggestion that such a conscientious decision may be made only by individuals, rather than through a corporate decision, can only be the result of a truly bureaucratic mind.
Attempts to coerce continued membership through the use of unnecessarily bureaucratic and dilatory processes and the in terrorem effect of confiscatory “property trusts” are doomed to failure. Although parishioners are naturally emotionally tied to “their” church [building], faith and God’s call will ultimately lead faithful believers to abandon their baggage if faithfulness so requires.
The claim that power to sever relations with an entire congregation is reserved solely to the presbytery does not appear in the Book of Order. In order for such power to reside in the presbytery alone, Book of Order § G-11.0301 would have to read:
This wording is obviously unworkable when one applies it to the other 26 subparagraphs of § G-11.0301. Instead, a separate provision would be needed, for example:
Obviously, the PC(USA) has taken no such action to limit the decision to depart to the presbytery. In fact, the absence of such a clear and specific proscription led the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to recognize disaffiliation as a permissive option for a congregation. See, Presbytery of Beaver-Butler v. Middlesex, 489 A.2d 1317, 1324 (Pa. 1985) (“[t]he Constitution [of the UPCUSA] does not prohibit a congregation from disaffiliating . . .”; “when the local body voluntarily affiliated with the UPCUSA’s predecessor. . .”) (emphasis added).
In the ensuing 24 years, the PC(USA) has ignored that decision and its inherent warning and has taken no action whatsoever to remedy the absence of such a bar to disaffiliation. Until it does, the Book of Order is ambiguous and that ambiguity ought to be construed in favor of a reading of § G-7.0304a(5) to reserve to congregations a permissive power to disaffiliate.
Here endeth the lesson.
To wrap up:
A mandatory State-church is anathema to Americans. We cannot send out press gangs to force people to become members of the PC(USA), the EPC, or any other congregation or denomination. People may come and go as the Spirit moves them. If a majority of the individual members of a faith community collectively and collegially determine that they are called to move together, they have the right to do so with the property that they have purchased and maintained for that community and its ministry and mission. Cf., Genesis 12: 5. The suggestion that such a conscientious decision may be made only by individuals, rather than through a corporate decision, can only be the result of a truly bureaucratic mind.
Attempts to coerce continued membership through the use of unnecessarily bureaucratic and dilatory processes and the in terrorem effect of confiscatory “property trusts” are doomed to failure. Although parishioners are naturally emotionally tied to “their” church [building], faith and God’s call will ultimately lead faithful believers to abandon their baggage if faithfulness so requires.
The claim that power to sever relations with an entire congregation is reserved solely to the presbytery does not appear in the Book of Order. In order for such power to reside in the presbytery alone, Book of Order § G-11.0301 would have to read:
T h e presbytery is responsible for the mission and government of the church throughout its geographical district. It therefore has the sole responsibility and power
* * *
i . to divide, dismiss, or dissolve churches; . . ..
This wording is obviously unworkable when one applies it to the other 26 subparagraphs of § G-11.0301. Instead, a separate provision would be needed, for example:
G-11:0301.1
a. The presbytery has the sole responsibility and power to divide, dismiss, or dissolve churches within its geographical district.
b. Dismissal is the only constitutionally permissible means for a congregation to sever its relationship with the PC(USA) and its presbytery.
Obviously, the PC(USA) has taken no such action to limit the decision to depart to the presbytery. In fact, the absence of such a clear and specific proscription led the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to recognize disaffiliation as a permissive option for a congregation. See, Presbytery of Beaver-Butler v. Middlesex, 489 A.2d 1317, 1324 (Pa. 1985) (“[t]he Constitution [of the UPCUSA] does not prohibit a congregation from disaffiliating . . .”; “when the local body voluntarily affiliated with the UPCUSA’s predecessor. . .”) (emphasis added).
In the ensuing 24 years, the PC(USA) has ignored that decision and its inherent warning and has taken no action whatsoever to remedy the absence of such a bar to disaffiliation. Until it does, the Book of Order is ambiguous and that ambiguity ought to be construed in favor of a reading of § G-7.0304a(5) to reserve to congregations a permissive power to disaffiliate.
Here endeth the lesson.
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