Good News, Bad News

                                                                                                                        Vol. VII, No. 6, August 1994

Presbyterians Disapprove Feminist Event:

     By a nearly unanimous vote the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly approved a report distancing the denomination from a feminist conference that appeared to worship a female deity and deviate from some Christian tenets. "Let there be no doubt that theology matters, that our Reformed tradition is precious to us, and that we intend to hand it down to the next generation," the report said. Parker Williamson, editor of the conservative newspaper Presbyterian Layman said the major miscalculation of the headquarters staff after complaints about Sophia and the feminist Re-Imagining event was their denial of the unorthodox contents. "What they didn't calculate was the tape recordings" of conference speakers, he said. "They thought they had a tempest in a teapot, but when the recordings spread, it was a Wichita tornado. "The report found that some of the conference presentations and worship rituals not only extended far beyond the bounds of the Reformed theological tradition but also beyond that tradition's understanding of what makes faith Christian. The report also found that the conference "criticized and ridiculed" such beliefs as Christ's atoning death and the triune God. [The Washington Times, 17 June 1994]

Unitarian Assembly Accepts Pagans:

     Unitarian Universalists meeting in Fort Worth on 28 June by a close vote gave preliminary approval to accepting pagan, American Indian, and other earth-centered religions into the denomination's statement of religious principles. The new bylaw principle would endorse "spiritual teachings of those Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature." The covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans, which has 100 chapters in churches around the nation, and women's groups in the 205,000 member denomination have been the strongest backers of the new bylaw principle. Other principles include: direct experience "of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures;" words and deeds of prophetic men and women; wisdom from the world's religions; Jewish and Christian teachings that call on people to love their neighbors as themselves; and humanist teachings that emphasize reason and the advances of science. [The Washington Times, 29 June 1994]