Finding A Place At The Table

Summer is starting...

As we move toward summer,  here's some news about what's happening at West...

We invite you to join us for PeacePrayers, an informal time of worship and prayer, on June 1 at 5:00 PM.  We will also gather for PeacePrayers on the first Sundays in July and August as well.

On June 8, West Church begins our summer schedule, with our Sunday morning Service of Worship moving to 10:00 AM.  We will continue to worship at 10 AM on Sunday mornings through Labor Day weekend.  Following the Service of Worship on June 8 the congregation will journey to Fox Point State Park for our annual church picnic.

West Church is sponsoring Worship @ The Beach again this summer on a periodic basis.. Our gathering schedule is a bit more "relaxed" this year than last.  Please see the Worship @ the Beach website for more information about our gathering times and places during the summer.  To reflect some dreams and hopes for this gathering, we anticipate changing the name from Worship @ The Beach to Safe Harbor Community.

The PCUSA General Assembly meets in late June in San Jose.  Please keep the commissioners to the Assembly in your prayers.

West Church "adopted" a section of the beach in Cape Henlopen state park this year.   There's a picture of the sign on the beach on West Church's web site.  We recently had our first beach clean up day, and will have another one this coming fall.

Also, our our web site is a picture of some of the baptismal banners that were created by long-time member Marie Goss. 

New rulings

This past week the Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly issued decisions in three cases related to the movement toward inclusion in our denomination. The rulings are sad for those of us who work for, hope for, and pray for a day when the Presbyterian Church (USA) will demonstrate a love and a justice that is as big and as gracious as God's. These decisions represent a set-back. It appears that these decisions overturn the Authoritative Interpretation passed by the 2006 General Assembly by saying that candidates for ordination may be permitted to depart from an ordination standard related to belief, but not from a standard related to behavior.

Following these decisions, Michael Adee of More Light Presbyterians issued a statement which includes the following reflection on the particular paragraph in the Book of Order which has created so much pain (see More Light's web site for complete statement):

The anti-gay discriminatory ordination policy of G-6.0106b of "fidelity in marriage, chastity in singleness" was added to the Book of Order in 1997.  It has brought nothing but pain, division and discrimination in our Church.  It has worked against the principles and the realities of peace, unity and purity within our Church.  It has driven people out and driven people away from our Church.  It is a barrier to people knowing that they are children of God, created in the image of God, unconditionally loved by God and welcome in our Church.  It is an impediment to faith and grace.  It is a scandal to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

That All May Freely Serve says of these PJC rulings:

In a decision handed down on February 12, 2008, the highest court in the Presbyterian Church (USA) has ruled that the controversial ordination standard of fidelity in heterosexual marriage or chastity in singleness is a requirement for all persons in ordained office.  The ruling perpetuates the mistaken and destructive prejudice that sexual orientation is a matter of behavior and not identity.  Further, the ruling puts a wedge between faith and practice, as though to believe one thing and act differently were not the very definition of hypocrisy.  The ruling severely damages movement toward greater flexibility, graciousness, and discernment as put forward by the actions of the last General Assembly.

The decision, however, puts stark relief to the necessity for swiftly and finally removing the homophobic and heterosexist policies from the Presbyterian constitution.

The Witherspoon Society maintains a web site that includes links to the PJC decisions and other news covereage and analysis of them. 

West Church continues to work for, hope for, and pray for the day when all of God's children are truly welcomed by our denomination. 

Scruples and Departures

Recently there have been a couple of developments in our denomination that are of interest to those of us who are working and praying for a denomination that is inclusive and just. On January 15 the Presbytery of San Francisco approved Lisa Larges as "ready for examination with departure". Read more about this on TAMFS web site. See also More Light's statement and the Covenant Network of Presbyterians statement about this historic decision.

Lisa has been a candidate for ordination for 22 years. Although this is not the end of her journey toward ordination, it is a very significant step towards it, and towards that day when the Presbyterian Church truly welcomes all of God's children to serve the church and the world with the gifts God has given. 

The Presbyterian News Service reports that Presbytery of the Twin Cities restored the ordination of Paul Capetz as minister of word and sacrament. Capetz had laid aside his ordination in 2000.  According to the Presbyterian News Service, in asking for his ordination to be restored Capetz declared a "scruple" indicating that he could not affirm G-6.0106b  because it would require homosexuals to take a vow of celibacy if they wished to seek ordained office.  He indicated such vow is inappropriate because a person's sexuality is "inescapable"  and that a vow of celibacy would create a "false kind of works righteousness" according to the Presbyterian News Service.     The Presbytery of Twin Cities declared that his scruple did not constitute a failure to adhere to the essentials of reformed faith and they restored him to the exercise of ordained office.