Thursday, March 20, 2008

The Presby-Meme

Shawn has tagged me for the Presbyterian Meme going around the PresbyBlogosphere. Thanks, Shawn!

Here goes....

* in about 25 words each, answer the following five questions;
* tag five presbyterian bloggers and send them a note to let them know they were tagged;
* be sure to link or send a trackback to this post;

1. What is your earliest memory of being distinctly Presbyterian?

Hearing my father expound on the virtues of the Presbyterian tenet of the equality of the laity and the clergy. This was probably in the context my asking about the Catholic nuns (pre-Vatican II in the old style habits) that we used to see regularly in the grocery store because their convent was nearby. I was probably about 5 or 6 at the time.

2. On what issue/question should the PC(USA) spend LESS energy and time?

Internal denominational disputes.

3. On what issue/question should the PC(USA) spend MORE energy and time?

Evangelism and Outreach.

4. If you could have the PC(USA) focus on one passage of scripture for an entire year, what would it be?

Great question! I would really like to have the PCUSA read the entire Bible in a year (or 90 days) because of our tendency to focus on brief passages, thereby sometimes losing the context.

In the spirit of the meme, however, I'll choose Romans 8:28-39 because it is a wonderfully concise statement of reform theology.

5. If the PC(USA) were an animal what would it be and why?

A cat. Just try to herd it!

UPDATE: I overlooked the extra credit question, and y'all know what an overachiever I am, so....

Extra Credit: Jesus shows up at General Assembly this year, what does he say to the Presbyterian Church (USA)?
"Truly, truly I say to you that God so loved the world that he did NOT send a committee."

7 comments:

Gannet Girl said...

This is great! I'll do it after Easter.

St. Casserole said...

Good ideas!

Yep, we meow loudly.

Reyes-Chow said...

While kinda dorky, thanks for playing the Presbymeme game! There are about 12 folks who have done it so far and there are some themes developing around wealth and internal disputes.

Love the cats image. Seriously true!

Take care - Bruce

Reyes-Chow said...

I meant, the game was dorky, not you ;-) Bruce

Jody Harrington said...

I knew what you meant, Bruce, thanks!

Lori said...

I played!! Thanks for tagging me.

I like your Romans choice for #4. And I LOVE your extra credit answer!

Anonymous said...

"Hearing my father expound on the virtues of the Presbyterian tenet of the equality of the laity and the clergy."

Please. Maybe that's the way it used to be, but now the clergy is the Strong Leadership we need to Take Back Our Church (from the gays, the liberals, etc), and the rest of us are the sheep to be led. They tell us what they want us to know, and we are here to submit and obey like good soldiers in a war. Any church leadership can hide anything it wants to w/ no questions asked from the presbytery, synod, or denomination.

You know exactly what church I'm talking about.

2. On what issue/question should the PC(USA) spend LESS energy and time?

Sweeping pastoral misbehavior under the rug.

3. On what issue/question should the PC(USA) spend MORE energy and time?

Accountability for pastoral misbehavior, instead of sweeping it under the rug to keep the donations rolling in.