May 30, 2024
Memphis Theological Seminary is THE seminary for Cumberland Presbyterians. The Program of Alternate Studies is THE alternate route for Cumberland Presbyterians. Only in those two schools will a student receive thorough studies on Cumberland Presbyterian History and Cumberland Presbyterian Theology and Cumberland Presbyterian Polity.
Music IS worship. A Cumberland Presbyterian professor said years ago that music without a sermon is worship, but a sermon without music leaves much to be desired. One person observed,
“The sermon interrupts what people came there to do, so it better be good!”
A Revolutionary Thought Coming Up! New! Unique! The Answer to Our Church Conflict! What is it? How about this? Here it is! Congregations elect and ordain their own Elders and Deacons, and Presbyteries vote on whom to ordain into the ministry. Yes, this is a radical idea, but Cumberland Presbyterians are asked to give it some thought. Wait! Somebody just mentioned that this is already in our Constitution, and has been for over two centuries! You mean it’s been there all along? Hmmm!
Selective scriptural preferencing is not unusual in our day. So it is occurring now in our discussions, and accusations, regarding homosexuality and the place of women in society and church for example. If we don’t like a passage; ignore it for our 21st century church. If we do like this passage; let’s enforce it and make our accusations and push hard to eliminate offenders! Women preachers? The Bible says no, but we choose to move on and ignore any passage forbidding women ministers! Women speaking in church? Absolutely forbidden, says Paul. But
we find a way to wiggle out of that one. A woman is saved by having children? Whoever wrote to Timothy made sure to say that, but we long ago outgrew the idea!
But then Romans 1 provides a convenient passage that anti-gay and anti-lesbian folks can latch onto to preach against their involvement in the ordained portion of the church. They conveniently
ignore the full passage in Romans 1, Paul labels these dear folks as “filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice.” Furthermore, our sisters, brothers, cousins, daughters, sons, uncles, aunts, and friends, the folks we have known and worshiped with at church, are “full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity,” and they are “gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless,” and, “though they know God’s decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve those who practice them.” Oh, but we don’t count that part of the passage as pertinent to our day. Selective Scripturing! We do it all the time!
Rev. Dr. Thomas D. Campbell, Presbytery of East Tennessee
