Whole Gospel congregations

Whole Gospel project

United University Church in central Los Angeles exemplifies the idea of a whole gospel congregation -- reaching out to its ethnic mix of neighbors and helping their children broad their worlds and their skills. [2-20-02]

The whole gospel for our whole church ... to help make the world whole. [12-17-01]

The Witherspoon Society is developing a coordinated program designed to promote the theology of reconciling witness in the church, using the 35th Anniversary of the Confession of 1967 in 2002 as a take-off point. A conference will be taking place in February 2002, at Stony Point, New York, which will provide a first chance for discussion along these lines.

This conference, "The Hope of Reconciliation," developed in one presbytery with involvement from members of Witherspoon and other organizations, serves as an example of our intention of promoting discussion of the "whole gospel" for our whole church. We believe the church's heritage cannot be reduced to three or four 'fundamentals,' and our heritage must continue to be discussed and evaluated for its relevance to our changing world and church.

We hope you will consider participating in this event, and will encourage others to join in, too. You are welcome to circulate the information from the brochure, or ask for copies of the brochure itself (with a cover illustration and a registration form) from C-67 Conference Registrar, Box 35, Scarborough, NY 10510. The Registrar can also be reached c/o Scarborough Presbyterian Church 914-941-1142, and e-mail will be forwarded from Dr. Christian Iosso's church e-mail, ciosso@scarboroughchurch.org. The Presbytery website: www.hudrivpres.org also carries bios of the lead speakers for the February 3-4 event.

If you're a member of Witherspoon, you will soon be receiving a letter telling more about this program.

"A Call to the Whole Gospel"

by Kent Winters-Hazelton
11-28-00

Central Presbyterian Church of Louisville offers an example of a Whole Gospel congregation [6-21-01]

A CBS Religion and Culture special offers a look a 6 Atlanta congregations involved in the "Micah 6" project -- another whole gospel venture. [6-21-01]

We have a new report on a conversation aimed at clarifying this concept.

"Look, the tears of the oppressed -- with no one to comfort them. On the side of their oppressors there was power." Eccl. 4:1

Last week I went to a Presbytery meeting and a celebration broke out! Perhaps it was planned all along and I just missed the invitation. None the less, I was deeply moved by the joyous expression of thanks for the work of the Self-Development of People Committee of San Gabriel Presbytery. It was a wonderful moment to see such a wide array of groups receive funding from our Presbytery's committee.

How ironic that our General Assembly Council (GAC) recently voted Self-Development of People as "low" on its scale of priorities for programs of our national church.

The decision by the GAC represents a disturbing trend within the PC(USA) of narrowing rather than broadening our church's mission, outreach and theology. Many examples can be cited: suggestions from GAC Director John Detterick that some control may be needed on speakers at PCUSA sponsored events; the limiting of justice-oriented programs on the GAC lists of priorities, based on a narrow understanding of "Discipleship and evangelism"; attacks on the Women's Ministries Unit; efforts to curb the influence of Social Witness Policy; and the number of judicial cases being filed against Sessions and Presbyteries for their commitment to a church that reflects the whole body of Christ.

In response to these concerns, the Witherspoon Society wants to draw the attention of our denomination to the whole gospel of Jesus Christ: evangelism and social justice, corporate along with private confession, compassion as well as proclamation. Accordingly, the Executive Committee of the Witherspoon Society has adapted as its three-year theme, "Whole Gospel Congregations." Through this emphasis, we want to remind the church of one of the "Great Ends of the Church," which have been so effectively promoted over the past two years, the "End" which calls us to "the promotion of social righteousness." Furthermore, we hope we might be able to get beyond one-issue politicking within the church and affirm that our faith speaks to many issues that are currently not getting much attention.

The first event of our focus will be a consultation to help us identity the biblical, theological and confessional basis for a whole gospel proclamation. This consultation will be held at the Claremont Presbyterian Church, in Claremont, California, on May 4, 2001. Among our guests for this informal discussion will be Doug Ottati, John Cobb, Jane Dempsey Douglass, Jack Rogers and Gene TeSelle. Our goal is to produce a statement, perhaps something like a "Social Creed for a Multi-Cultural Church in the 21st Century," which will challenge the church to widen the discussion and debate about who we are and what we have to offer to our rapidly changing world. We hope this document would become the basis for conversation within our denomination, helping us engage with one another on theology and scripture beyond Amendments B and A and O.

Witherspoon Society will continue to work with congregations and seminarians, to identify tools and resources for local churches to become Whole Gospel Congregations. We have begun to explore the possibility of a book of essays and reflection pieces on the topic. All of this is designed to help and encourage congregations to carry out a variety of servant ministries to their communities and constituents.

Ultimately, we are aiming for a church wide conference in 2003, to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Witherspoon Society and its witness to justice, peace, inclusiveness and the integrity of creation, and to announce the formation of a Whole Gospel Congregation network. Stay tuned for more information on the Whole Gospel Congregations movement.

Meanwhile, for more information on the May 4, 2000 consultation, please contact Kent Winters-Hazelton, Pastor of the Claremont Church, at (909) 624-9693, or at KHAZELTON@claremontpres.com

Click here for an essay on this subject by GeneTeSelle.