c. 2004 Religion News Service
RICHMOND, Va. _ The Presbyterian Church (USA) promised on Wednesday (June 30) to re-examine and strengthen ties with Jews, but left the door open to fund future “Messianic Jewish” congregations that have angered some Jewish groups.
Delegates to the church’s General Assembly voted 260-233 to preserve national-level funding for new churches, including those like one in suburban Philadelphia that are geared toward Jewish converts to Christianity.
A separate resolution adopted without debate reaffirmed a 1999 statement that urged Presbyterians to “eliminate the language, imagery and symbols … that perpetuate stereotypes” against other faiths. That resolution also directed church leaders to report back to the next assembly, in 2006, on what they can do to “better equip the church to live in a religiously plural world.”
Supporters said the 2.5 million-member church can respect the integrity of non-Christian faiths while also sharing the Christian message.
“Our focus in the 21st century as Presbyterians is for these racial and ethnic ministries to grow,” said the Rev. Fahed Abu-Akel, a former church moderator, who urged that funding be continued. “For me, the gospel is for everyone.”
Churches in Chicago and New York’s Hudson River Valley had asked delegates to evaluate the denomination’s relations with Jews after a fledgling Messianic Jewish congregation outside Philadelphia received $260,000 in startup funding from local, regional and national church offices. The congregation, Avodat Yisrael, looks and feels like a Jewish synagogue, but carries an unabashedly Christian message. Its pastor, Andrew Sparks, is a Jewish convert.
Jewish groups criticized Avodat Yisrael as a deceptive attempt to convert Jews because it celebrates Jewish holidays, uses Jewish ritual music and sacred objects such as Torah scrolls and menorahs in Christian worship.
Sparks has insisted he is not out to convert Jews, but hopes to reach non-worshipping Jews, interfaith couples and Jews interested in Christianity.
Avodat Yisrael surprised many Jews because Presbyterians historically have not sought to evangelize or convert Jews. In 1987, the church adopted a statement that said Jews “are already in a covenantal relationship with God.” An additional statement in 2001 said salvation was not restricted to Christians _ or Presbyterians _ alone. “Grace, love and communion belong to God, and are not ours to determine,” the statement said.
Avodat Yisrael also worried many Presbyterians, who wanted to cut off national funding for similar projects until the church’s interfaith office examined whether such congregations would sour relations with Jews.
“This is an insult to our Jewish brothers and sisters, and a very poor use of scarce resources of our denomination,” said the Rev. John Ames, a pastor from Long Island, N.Y.
On Tuesday, Rabbi Gilbert Rosenthal, executive director of the National Council of Synagogues, said he was bitterly disappointed that a legislative committee had recommended continued funding.
“I think the Presbyterian Church (USA) seems to be rolling back the clock 40 years and negating much of the extraordinary progress that has been made during that time,” he told the committee.
In other business, delegates will consider a proposal to partially rescind a church-wide ban on non-celibate gay clergy. A legislative committee approved a resolution on Tuesday that said a 1978 law against “unrepentant homosexual practice” among clergy is no longer binding.
Delegates here will consider that resolution later this week. If passed, it would leave unchanged a controversial 1996 provision that requires clergy to live in “fidelity within the covenant of marriage … or chastity in singleness.”
DEA/RR END ECKSTROM
