t 4 » I- * 1 < 1 if ^ l •1 » • I I . * I 'A t 1 »• •* -( >• 1 t- (- • r 4 r ') f f t * < f •! , • < » • 4 > ^ f f t •( t- 1 •If. -< » « f •( h • < • ( > •< f 4 t • » J » J » It- I t * : ^l O i l . Ou.irterlv Re^'icu'/Simimer 1993 S5.00 .•\ joumaJ of Theological Rfsourccs for Ministry • • f -J (• i i t t t • ^ • p '4 * * * ^ • ^ I 1 » • • < I • ( * I SI Mavjorie H. Siichocki A Learned Ministrij? Leonard D, Hullei/ Methodism hi an Apartlicid Societi/ Andy Laiigford A Lectioimn/ for the Next Generation
118
Embed
Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for 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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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?
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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 .
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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—^and 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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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 ,
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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.
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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 .
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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 .
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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.
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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 ) .
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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 )
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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 .
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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 .
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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 ,
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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 .
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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.
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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.
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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 ,
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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 .
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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 .
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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 .
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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 .
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
' 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.
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
"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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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—^as 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,
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry
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 .
8/9/2019 Summer 1993 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry