PP – ASEL – IR
That title is FAA abbreviations for pilot certification.
PP – Private Pilot
ASEL – Airplane, Single Engine, Land
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Today I added “IR” – Instrument Rated. This allows me to fly in clouds and bad weather (though not too bad in the little planes that I fly).
I wrote up the whole story in pilotese here.
Are We Even in the Same Ballpark?
Today, Toby Brown of Texas posted a blog entry that I find very disturbing.
He handles two different situations.
First, the Rev. Janet Edwards of Pittsburgh Presbytery held a marriage ceremony between two lesbians in September of 2005. She was subsequently charged with performing a same-sex union by members of her presbytery. The presbytery investigated and filed charges to be tried. She was prepared for a trial, but the presbytery judicial commission dismissed the charges on the basis of being filed 5 days too late. The conservative side cried foul and claimed that there was a setup to make sure the charges were late, but others state that the delay was accidental.
Now, Rev. Brown from Texas has decided to join a group of ministers (presumably from all over the country) to file new charges against her. What those charges will be is unclear, but it seems that they will involve charges that she violated her ordination vows.
Sound like double-jeopardy to you? Yeah, me too. I’m sure that Rev. Edwards is ready for the trial, though.
This all flies in the face of the Definitive Guidance passed last summer in response to the Peace, Unity and Purity report from the last General Assembly meeting, in which presbyteries and session were exhorted to “outdo each other in trust”. Our system is in danger of ceasing to be a church and turning into a bad TV lawyer show if ministers from all over the country are filing charges against other ministers who aren’t in the same presbytery, or even the same synod. Such charges should be local, filed by people who are familiar with the details of the event and the people involved.
Rev. Brown’s second assertion is that any wedding that includes Christian elements and non-Christian elements should not take place. His specific reference is again to Rev. Edwards’ gay wedding, where one of the women was Buddhist. Rev. Edwards did what many ministers of all denominations (including Catholic) do all the time – they marry people of their faith to people of another faith. Often the ceremonies include elements from both traditions to make each family comfortable – the alternative being two ceremonies (which also happens).
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I am a product of a mixed marriage though not one that Rev. Brown would complain about – my wife is Catholic. I was married in a Catholic mass (not just a ceremony – a full mass with Eucharist, though I did not partake). The priest who married us told us about a wedding that he had performed between a Catholic and a Buddhist. He stated that he was very clear to the participants about the issues that a mixed marriage can create, particularly if children are involved.
What bothers me most is the idea that Presbyterians are so strict that they cannot abide reaching out to people of other faiths. This is an issue of hospitality. If I had a Muslim visitor to my home, I would have no trouble if that person felt the need to get up at a certain hour and pray (as long as they were kind enough to try not to wake the rest of us). Shoot, I can see Muslims in a Presbyterian church facing Mecca. My own church houses a Jewish congregation on Saturdays, and has done so for decades.
Apparently, this is too much for Rev. Brown. He expects that in his house, his rules will be followed (note the lowercase h). And his definition of which houses are his seems to include all PC(USA) churches.
This leads me to wonder if I have unequally yoked myself with Presbyterians such as Rev. Brown. (Personally, I interpret that passage to be more about morals than about religious practices, but Rev. Brown specifically mentions it in his blog post comments.) I believe that it is a sin NOT to respect and honor the religious practices of others. We might not choose them for ourselves or recommend them to others, but we should respect the choice of the person involved. And when we put two people together in marriage, I would much rather recognize two religious traditions in one ceremony than drive one or the other person away from their faith.
So that leaves the question – did I make a mistake joining a denomination that has a significant number of leaders who hold such a different belief about people of other religions? Did I make a mistake joining a denomination that has a signficant number of leaders who view respecting other religions as sin?
Let me know what you think. I really am wondering whether my new Presbyterian membership is a mistake.
Statement of Faith
At one point a few months ago, a reader complained (in comments in another blog) that I didn’t include my theology in my blog. At the time I decided not to because it was likely to generate more heat than light.
When searching for and joining my church, I wrote the document below. It was both a tool for me to personally discern my beliefs and a document that I wrote to answer a potential question by the church about my beliefs.
I present it to you now because it’s relatively quiet. I hope that any discussion will be civil. (And yes, the title is a play on the title of a Presbyterian document.)
(You need to click the link below to see the whole thing if you’re reading directly on the blog.)
Holiday Roundup
Here’s a roundup of how the holiday went.
- Flew with my flight instructor for the last time before my instrument rating checkride. Checkride is scheduled for January 6, weather permitting. If I didn’t mention it previously, I got a 95% on my written test.
- Went to 4 hockey Trenton Titans hockey games. Went with friends, family and co-workers the first two (they lost). Went with just Carolyn for the last two (they won).
- Went to 2 services at church on Christmas Eve. First the morning 4th Sunday of Advent service. Then the 11pm Candlelight service, which was lovely and included wonderful music. Then on New Year’s Eve I went in the morning to the regular service (2 baptisms!) and then to the special intimate New Year’s Eve Communion service in the evening (which was also lovely).
- Went to see Mom, Dad, sister, brother and sister-in-law at Mom and Dad’s on Christmas Day. We did the gift exchange thing (which is always hilarious for some reason) and had dinner. Good time. Everybody seemed to like my gifts and vice versa.
- Discovered a flat tire the afternoon of 12/26. 30 minutes to replace with the spare – 1 hour to get it fixed and reinstalled at the local Goodyear.
- On 12/26, Carolyn’s parents came for the Christmas thing and stayed overnight.
- Watched the Rutgers football slaughter of Kansas State in the Texas Bowl. Go RU!
- Got the 15,000 mile service done on the Highlander Hybrid (three days after the tire repair).
- Rested early and often. I’ve been overscheduling myself lately between church, flying, hockey and the rest of my life.
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I had planned to blog on “Buyer’s Remorse” in terms of joining my church, but a few experiences yesterday told me that the issues I planned to blog about are turning around. So I’ll hold those thoughts for now.
Happy New Year!
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