Overture wants scholars to develop policy on global religious pluralism By John H. Adams The Layman Online Monday, March 15, 2004 The 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) will be asked to take another stab at developing a denominational policy on religious pluralism. The last time the denomination tried to harmonize the difference between Christianity and other religions was also through a task force that, after six years, produced a proposal titled "Building Community Among Strangers." One of the themes of the paper was the idea that Christianity is merely one of many paths to God. A section of the paper suggested that Christians would be surprised to see who shows up in a pantheon at a multicultural banquet. "The greatest surprise occurs when the food is blessed, not only in the name of Jesus Christ the Son of God, but also in the name of Allah, the Lord Krishna, Siddhartha Buddha, and the Goddess Gaia!" the original version of "Building Community" declared. With a flurry of criticism describing the document as "humanism," "universalism," and "not Presbyterianism," the 1998 General Assembly ordered the task force to revise the paper. The 1999 General Assembly approved the revised version, which no longer listed Jesus as merely one of many gods. The current proposal, Overture 04-54 from the Presbytery of Eastern Oklahoma, asks the General Assembly to call on the presidents of Presbyterian seminaries to "designate scholars in the field of religious pluralism to form a task force to draft a denominational policy consistent with the religious pluralism reality in the United States of America and in the world." The overture doesn't explain what it means by the "religious pluralism reality" in the nation and the world. Since the Confession of 1967, however, the ecumenical thrust of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has been on inter-faith "reconciliation" – and compromise. The Eastern Oklahoma overture acknowledges that direction. "The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has a reputation known worldwide as a faith community which not only seeks peace as a program goal, but which diligently works under the mandate of reconciliation to make peace between the alienated," the overture says. The overture claims that it is a "self-evident truth that: there will be no peace between nations until there is peace between religions." But it fails to provide a clue how Presbyterians in the mainline denomination – a miniscule number compared with, say, Islamic fundamentalists – can provide a religious bridge to world peace. The text of the Eastern Oklahoma overture: Overture 04-54. On Forming a Task Force to Draft a Denominational Policy Consistent with the Religious Pluralism Reality in the USA – From the Presbytery of Eastern Oklahoma. 1. Whereas, Contending Religious forces are certainly not the only source of hatred and war in this world and at this time, but it is a self-evident truth that: there will be no peace between nations until there is peace between religions; and 2. Whereas, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has a reputation known worldwide as a faith community which not only seeks peace as a program goal, but which diligently works under the mandate of reconciliation to make peace between the alienated; and, 3. Whereas, Presbyterians have long acknowledged and deplored our own failure to find reconciliation within our own communion that too often immobilizes good decision-making capabilities; and, 4. Whereas, To our detriment, we have failed to employ our most learned thinkers often associated with seminaries and institutions of higher education to help our denomination find workable solutions to chronic but crucial religious and ideological problems that have confounded past General Assemblies; and, 5. Whereas, We freely confess that our culture and our discords tempt us to be impatient when healthy outcomes actually require very long-term planning and very hard work So, Now therefore, be it resolved: That Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery overtures the 216th General Assembly (2004) to instruct the Stated Clerk to convene the presidents of seminaries associated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to designate scholars in the field of religious pluralism to form a task force to draft a denominational policy consistent with the religious pluralism reality in the United States of America and in the world that: a. Informs our religious educational systems; b. Enlightens our liturgical practices; c. Enlarges our ecumenical efforts. All this with the purpose in mind that our leadership and membership have a better appreciation of what neighbor love really means when our neighbors and work colleagues so often are people of another religion, which reality instructs us that our faith and its practice are not threatened by the acknowledgment and respect of religions other than Christianity nor by denominational instrumentalities other than Presbyterianism. And as a part of this process it is requested that General Assembly urge the Stated Clerk to: 1. Engage the staff of the Worldwide Ministries Division and the office of the Coordinator of Interfaith Relations to aid and assist the Stated Clerk in this effort; 2. Seek the necessary funding from the Office of the General Assembly; 3. Organize this Task Force so that they can be prepared to come to the 217th General Assembly (2006) with a recommended policy statement that is sufficiently credible and judicious that it will not only serve the mission and ministry of this church but serve as a model for other Christian denominations to emulate in their own fashion.

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