A Call to the Church
[The Witherspoon Society
has responded positively
to this call.]
As ministers and elders with particular middle
governing body responsibilities, we come from the full spectrum of the
church. With one voice, we affirm the efforts begun by leaders of the
Presbyterian Coalition, the Covenant Network, and the More Light
Presbyterians. They have covenanted to study Scripture together at one
table and to seek the mind of Christ Jesus for our life in the
P.C.(U.S.A.). We believe the Church we love has a future, but it will
not be by determining winners and losers. It will be determined by
seeking a third way. We envision a third way which can come only from an
openness to the Spirit. We will rely on God's grace and refuse to leave
the table until a way is discovered.
We believe seeking a third way is critical and is
already present among us.
Do not remember the former things, or consider the
things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do
you not perceive it? Isaiah 43:18-19 (NRSV)
Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do
they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war
within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder.
And you covet something and cannot attain it; so you engage in disputes
and conflicts. James 4:1-2a (NRSV)
If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any
consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and
sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same
love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish
ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than
yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the
interest of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ
Jesus... Philippians 2:1-5 (NRSV)
We urge all leaders and members to continue what has
begun and to help us find a third way. That way cannot be dictated by
deadlines. The direction we seek will not come by judicial or
legislative actions. It will come only by seeking the mind of Christ in
prayer and discussion together. Such efforts will help us prepare for
the General Assembly meeting in Louisville and take us far beyond. We,
ourselves, covenant to look for a third way. In each of our presbyteries
and with each other, we will gather at a common table to pray and talk
together. We promise not to leave the table before a direction emerges.
We believe that the peace, unity and purity of the church becomes a
reality as we all gather around God's Table in communion as sisters and
brothers in Christ Jesus.
William H. Jordan, Virstan Choy, James DiEgidio,
Barbara Renton, Dian G. McCall, William A. Hawley, Paul K. Hooker, Jon
Shannon Webster, Edward D. Gehres, Jr., Phil Leftwich, James W. Strang,
Mary Elva, Deloteus Smith, George G. Wilkes, Richard E. Melin, W. Wilson
Bradburn, Tom M. Castlen, Philip J. Sorensen, W. W. Branch, Jr., Betty
Meadows, Lee J. Sankey, Lynn Longfield, Judith P. Kolwicz, Roger P.
Richardson, Jack D. Hodges, John A. McLaney, Robert C. Reynolds, Jane L.
Searjeant Watt, Robert Houser, Cheryl Ann Elfond, Brian A. Tippen, Peter
B. Funch, R. Richard Baldwin, Gay D. Mothershed, Boyd Stockdale, James
H. Monroe, Philip W. Barrett, Edie Gause, Tom Phillips, Cass L. Shaw, M.
Anderson Sale, Lorna Kuyk, Richard D. Brownlee, Kenyon G. Meeks, Jr., G.
David Lambertson, Sally J. Hinchman, Carl L. Schlich, III, James M.
Collie, Ed Albright, Neil W. Brown, Clinton A. McCoy, Jr., Robert J.
Rea, Jr., Paul T. Reiter, Margaret K. Haney, Samuel M. Cooper, IV, James
A. Mays, David W. McKee, Douglas A. Kelly, Philip C. Brown, Kenneth A.
Moe, David E. Meerse, David Carlson, Wayne A. Yost, David H. Johnson,
Wayne Purintun, H. Alan Elmore, H. Carson Rhyne, Jr., James R. Marlett,
Bruce Wilson Berry, Richard H. Craft, Don A. Petterson, Hugh B. Berry,
Gregory J. Coulter, Jr., Stephen V. Doughty, Samuel L. Edwards, Richard
A. Cooper, Harry D. Olthoff, John R. Goodman, Harold H. Shin, Terry S.
Nelson, William P. Saum, Dana Knapp, John D. Sharick, Richard A. Schempp,
Teri Thomas, Dennis L. Maher, Lucille Rupe Watt, Timothy F. Jones,
Barbara D. Worthington, Arabella Meadows-Rogers, John E. Strausz
Clement, John Rickard, Harold A. Rainey, William R. McSwegin, Marvin L.
Groote, W. Harvey Jenkins, Jr., Aaron A. Carland, Gary R. Weaver, Paul
J. Masquelier, Jr., James Vande Berg, David Van Dam, James F. Sanders,
Samuel E. Roberson, Carolyn B. Stephens, Sharon J. Johnson, Liza
Hendricks, James Foster Reese, Bart L. Brenner, S. David Stoner, Ralph
H. Booth, Barbara Campbell-Davis, James Choomack, Jr., Jill Hudson,
Sylvia Washer
The
Witherspoon Society has 