March 11, 2005
by Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE - Feeling the press of work needed to finish its final report by a Sept. 15, 2005 deadline, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church (TTF) has scheduled an extra meeting in Chicago in August.

The task force had planned to meet just one more time, from July 18 through July 21, before releasing its final report, which will be taken up by the 217th General Assembly in June 2006 in Birmingham, AL.

But after emerging from a 30-hour closed session - an exemption from the denomination's open meeting policy granted to the TTF by the 2003 Assembly "solely to discuss sensitive theological issues" - the task force quickly voted to hold the extra meeting Aug. 24-25.

"We revisited our previous work and discussed possible conclusions," the Rev. Gary Demarest, a TTF co-moderator, said during a March 4 telephone conference call at the end of the group's recent meeting in Dallas.

Demarest also announced that four writing teams had been chosen to draft "test conclusions" for the TTF report. Member Barbara Wheeler said the group's tentative conclusions will be based on "materials already distributed" to the task force.

The composition of the writing teams was unveiled in a press release issued by the task force earlier this week.

The draft sections of the report will be reviewed and edited at the July meeting, with final approval slated for the August meeting.

The task force was authorized by the 2001 General Assembly and charged "to lead the Presbyterian Church (USA) in spiritual discernment of our Christian identity in and for the 21st century." The group was asked to specifically address "issues of Christology, Biblical authority and interpretation, ordination standards and power."

Team 1, comprised of Scott Anderson, the Rev. Frances Taylor Gench, the Rev. William Stacy Johnson, the Rev. Jong Hyeong Lee, the Rev. Lonnie Oliver and Barbara Wheeler, will "review and summarize themes from the theological study sessions that task force members have conducted and the draft papers on theological issues they have produced," according to the TTF release.

Team 2, which includes the Rev. Mike Loudon, the Rev. Sarah Sanderson-Doughty and the Rev. John Wilkinson, will "review and summarize themes from study sessions and papers on ordination, sexuality, and other controversial issues before the task force."

The membership of team 3 will be the Rev. Mark Achtemeier, the Rev. Joe Coalter, the Rev. Vicky Curtiss and the Rev. John Wilkinson. They will "review and summarize study sessions and papers on polity, process, and decision-making."

The Rev. Jack Haberer, the Rev. William Stacy Johnson and the Rev. Martha Sadongei will make up team 4, which will frame conclusions and possible task force recommendations after reviewing the draft sections produced by the other teams.

Barbara Everitt Bryant will edit the drafts into a single document.

In addition to the four writing teams, a communication/resource team will continue its work on behalf of the task force. Its members are Scott Anderson, Barbara Bryant, Mary Ellen Lawson, Joan Merritt and the Rev. Jose Luis Torres-Milan.

The TTF co-moderators, Demarest and Jenny Stoner, will coordinate the work of the writing teams. Gradye Parsons of the Office of the General Assembly will continue to resource the task force.

Presbyterian News Service