FAQ - Change in Ordination Standards

Recently I came upon a FAQ list for the proposed new language of the church's ordination standards, developed by another presbytery. Because 80 of the required 87 presbyteries have already approved the new G-6.0106b, it now appears likely that the new language will become a part of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Constitution. With a few minor adaptations, I'm presenting the FAQs here:

Frequently Asked Questions
The Change in Ordination Standards of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

1. How is the change in ordination standards happening?
It appears likely that a majority of the 173 presbyteries will approve the change in language for ordination standards recommended by The General Assembly in 2010. In all, since the General Assembly met, 55% of the total number of ministers and elder commissioners voting in presbyteries have voted to approve the amendment.

2. What does the change in ordination standards mean?
The ordination standards have changed from “to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness” - wording that was added to the Constitution in 1997 - to: “to submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life.” This removes a national standard categorically prohibiting the ordination of persons in sexual relationships outside of marriage between a man and a woman.

3. What does the change in ordination standards represent?
The Presbyterian Church (USA) has shifted the authority for applying its ordination standards from the national level to the local presbytery and session level. This represents a decentralization of the church and puts more discernment in the hands of people at the local level.

4. May congregations now ordain people who are openly gay?
The previous standards were never based on a person’s orientation, but on his or her behavior. The new standards do not list specific behaviors that automatically exclude someone for consideration for ordination. Each examining body is responsible to look at all possible factors to determine if someone is being called into ordained ministry.

5. Specifically, what was changed?
The primary change is the removal of language requiring those ordained “to live either in fidelity in the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness.” It also adds language referring to obedience to Christ, and indicates that fidelity to church standards is judged case-by-case by the examining body.

6. What practical changes will we see?
As ministers, elders and deacons move to another location, and are examined by the new presbytery or session, that body may choose to apply ordination standards differently than the officer’s previous governing body. In that event, such a person could be prevented from being installed.

7. Is the ordination of sexually active gays and lesbians mandated?
No, it is not required, but it is no longer prohibited by specific Constitutional language.

8. Will a congregation be required to change anything?
A congregation cannot be forced to ordain or receive pastors or elders or deacons of whom they do not approve. The congregation retains the right to determine who will serve as officers.

9. May a congregation continue to consider sexual activity outside marriage between a man and a woman as impermissible for its officers?
Yes, as long as the application is on a case-by-case basis. The authority for ordaining elders and deacons is fully vested in the local congregation. The new language calls the ordaining body to be guided by Scripture and the Confessions in applying ordination standards to individual candidates.

10. May a congregation or presbytery now ordain or install a sexually active homosexual?
Yes, if after a thorough examination, the congregation or presbytery believes the person to be called by God to serve as a Minister of the Word and Sacrament, elder or deacon and not to be living in violation of the PCUSA's ordination standards, its Confessions, or Scripture.

11. Does the new language give candidates who are sexually active outside the covenant of marriage between a woman and a man the “right” to be ordained?
Nobody has a “right” to be ordained. Ordination is based on a sense of God’s call as confirmed by the ordaining body.

12. May a presbytery continue to function with the standard of “fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness” when examining candidates for ordination?
Yes, as long as the application is on a case-by-case basis. The new language calls the ordaining body to be guided by Scripture and the Confessions in applying ordination standards to each candidate.

13. Is a presbytery required to receive, by transfer of membership, an ordained sexually active gay or lesbian minister?
No, each presbytery retains its existing right to examination, by which it determines which ministers to receive into its membership.

14. May questions about a candidate’s sexuality be asked or are such questions forbidden?
All questions are allowed during an examination. The acknowledgment of being sexually active outside the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman does not automatically disqualify a person from being ordained.

15. Is a congregation required to call a pastor who is openly gay or lesbian?
No.

For further discussion of these or any other questions, please call Interim Executive Presbyter Eric Springsted, or Stated Clerk Carl Wilton, who will be glad to speak with you.

Proposed new text of G-6.0106b:

Standards for ordained service reflect the church’s desire to submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life (G-1.0000). The governing body responsible for ordination and/or installation (G.14.0240; G-14.0450) shall examine each candidate’s calling, gifts, preparation, and suitability for the responsibilities of office. The examination shall include, but not be limited to, a determination of the candidate’s ability and commitment to fulfill all requirements as expressed in the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W-4.4003). Governing bodies shall be guided by Scripture and the confessions in applying standards to individual candidates.

Original text of G-6.0106b:

Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament.

Remembering the Rev. Omar Maren Turcaz

In our worship service at the March Presbytery meeting, we prayed for the family and friends of the Rev. Omar Maren Turcaz, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Santa Clara, Cuba, who died recently in a tragic automobile accident. He was personally known to members of our Cuba Partnership Group, who had visited with him during recent trips to Cuba.

Omar Maren was one of the rising young leaders of the Presbyterian and Reformed Church of Cuba, and will be sorely missed.

Here are two personal reflections on his life: the first from a colleague, Professor Carlos Molina Rodgriguez, and the second by the former Chair of our Cuba Partnership Group, the Rev. Shannan Vance-Ocampo (now Pastor of the Watchung Avenue Presbyterian Church in Elizabeth Presbytery).

Thanks to John Walter of Baltimore Presbytery for translating and posting the first item. John maintains a very informative website on his presbytery's Cuba partnership, which is of great interest to all presbyteries with similar partnerships.

OMAR MAREN: THE INTENSITY OF A LIFE
Written by Carlos Molina Rodgriguez
Matanzas, Cuba
March 25, 2011
Translation by John Walter

To Omar Maren, in memory of his life.

"Death opened its wings too early."
- Miguel Hernandez

Ultimately, the month of March has been a painful date for Cuban Presbyterians, and by extension, for the entire church on the island. A year ago on Thursday, March 11, 2010, Isaac Jorge Oropesa, the illustrious and famous teacher died. This year March has carried away one of his dearest disciples, Omar Marén, a natural leader and renowned pastor. His life, consecrated to active leadership in his church in recent years, was inexplicably cut short when it had scarcely borne its first fruits. His sudden death has filled many with dismay both inside and outside Cuba. For years - perhaps decades - the affairs of a young leader didn’t stir the Cuban Church a great deal. Chance has willed that his death take place with circumstances similar to those of Jacobo Reyes, also a young leader and President of the National Union of Christian, who passed away as a result of a tragic accident on the 28th of July, 1935 in the densely populated area of Matanzas called Coliseo.

Born in Guantanamo on the 30th of October 1976, [Omar] moved at an early age with his family to Havana, where he grew up and studied telecommunications engineering at Jose Antonio Echeverria University Center – but he didn’t graduate. Then still in his youth, he came into contact with Presbyterianism; and in the year 2000, as the Presbyterian Youth of Cuba (JUPRECU) was reviving, he was nominated for the presidency of the National Executive Committee. The following year he entered the Evangelical Seminary in Matanzas (SET), where in 2004 he was awarded a degree in theology. On June 25, 2005, he was ordained as Presbyter, and on that same date was installed as pastor in the Presbyterian Church in Santa Clara. During his brief and concentrated ministry he discharged, among other responsibilities, President of the Commission on Ecumenical Policy of the Presbyterian Reformed Church of Cuba (IPRC); member of the General Council; President of the Directing Committee for the National Presbyterian Camp (CANIP); and Executive Secretary of El Centro Presbytery. Therefore, It’s clear that both his denominational leadership and contributions in the ecumenical sphere are irrefutable. At heart, the success of his prolific ministry consisted in knowing how to combine the best of the reformed tradition with the noble lineage of his church, anchored by such exemplary igures as: Evaristo Collazo, Ezequiel Torres, Ferrerol J. Gomez, Edelmira Cuesta, Francisco Garcia, Alfonzo Rodriguez Hidalgo, Carlos Camps Sierra, Elsa Hernandez as well as others. All of them, through their enduring efforts and constancy, dreamed of and succeeded building a better church.

I met Omar in mid 1998 on the campus of the First Presbyterian Church of Havana. Since then, and up to the time of his death, we maintained an affectionate but not intimate relationship characterized by hopes and dreams, doubts and uncertainties, silences and marked distance. As I appeal to memory, an image of that young man whose intense gaze and unfounded haste - someone who was always disposed to blurt out a guffaw - pops up. I seem to see him arriving at Master Isaac’s office all sweaty, or talking with Hector Mendez, his pastor, or gently placing in my hands the most recent issue of Palabra Nueva (New Word, Roman Catholic magazine). Years later we were classmates in the halls of the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Matanzas. There, sharing our books, we grew closer in our passion for historical subjects and were united by our devotion to Rafael Cepeda. As a prerequisite for graduation, Omar later wrote an investigative essay about this great man of the church.

Omar impressed me because of his perspicacity and maturity. He was notably more ambitious and resolved than some of the contemporary pastors; and with his determination and creative mentality, he achieved much of what he proposed; however, he was never the archetype of ambition in the church today. I was impressed by his critical thinking, his nonconformity with Cuba’s present state, and the force of his most intimate convictions. For such reasons I alerted him to the ever present danger that hangs over our generation: To repeat the errors of those who preceded us, making concessions in exchange for privileges, and to be accommodating of civil and ecclesiastic power for a handful of promises.

Since the beginning of our relationship I continued both directly and indirectly following the evolution of his ministry. I found him doing about as I had expected: In our own way each of us was suffering the stings of criticisms and reproaches. Through that we became conscious that that is the price paid when one is not indifferent, when one does not live in perennial self-censorship. I was also impressed that , together with the immediacy of his exertion, hat at times his thirst for knowledge, his eagerness to stay informed, and his unlimited capacity to struggle impeded him rom reviewing his pastorate (obra). For such reasons, if it was within my power, I would always delightedly share books and ideas with him.

On occasion I remember expressing to him that it made me uncomfortable that some of our colleagues told lies to obtain truths. We also spoke with bewilderment about Cuba and the church: that they shared aspects of the Yoruba fable in the film Guantanamera “No one dies, the old don’t yield control and the young are being asphyxiated.” He always laughed loudly, spitting out a harangue that I should not and care not to repeat here. On the other hand I have a grateful memory of him which I will carry as long as I’m alive: In these last years Omar knew how to be my family’s selfless and conscientious pastor, whose love and understanding was always evident during the best and worst of times. With his pastorate the church In Santa Clara experienced a renaissance, beginning a new epoch with its spirits renewed. It will be difficult [for the church] to accept his absence; far easier [for us] to remember him.

In these bitter days, those who knew him will remember him as an intimate and courageous friend. Surely we will hold him in our hearts for both his wise deeds as well as for his errors; for his childish capacity for astonishment; for his passing bouts of arrogance; for his sense of ease and contagious laugh, and also for his occasional inappropriate manners. We may not be able to understand this last incident for a long time; we will continue thinking he was simply up to his old tricks and we will be able to console ourselves. Above all, because there still remains so much to do, and because f and despite his death, life will continue, even for him.

- Carlos R. Molina Rodríguez (Santa Clara, Cuba, 1976) is a professor of Church History at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Matanzas. His investigatory and editorial activities have centered in historical themes of Cuban Protestantism, especially in missionary work, ecumenical t Theological education, and Protestant thought of the Twentieth Century.

____________________________________________________________________

A PERSONAL REFLECTION
by the Rev. Shannan Vance-Ocampo

The Reverend Omar Maren Turcaz was the Pastor of the Santa Clara Presbyterian Church in Santa Clara, Cuba, right in the middle of the Central Presbytery. Omar was a deeply dedicated, faithful, and fun-loving servant of Jesus Christ and of the Cuban people. He transformed the ministry of the Santa Clara church, developing innovative partnerships with congregations outside of Cuba to help fund the much needed ministries of the local church he served. In Cuba, the oldest members of the Cuban society are among the most impoverished, oftentimes living alone, without family to help them. Many of the elderly in Cuba struggle to maintain basic dignities and services in their homes, and so congregations in Cuba developed "laundry ministries" where they would go to the homes of elderly members of their communities, pick up their laundry, take it to their churches, wash their clothes and return it to them clean and folded, without charge. Omar's congregation had a large and vibrant laundry ministry. The Santa Clara church also has a feeding ministry, a strong presence with the children and youth of its community, and under Omar's leadership was able to expand and grow the physical plant to meet the needs of its growing community. Right in the heart of downtown Santa Clara the church stands as a testimony to the inventiveness of the ministry of Omar, and to the resilience of the Cuban people and their faithful following of the leading of God's Spirit. Thanks to Omar the church was growing, thriving, and offering ministry that touched the lives of the people around it, offering to them the Good News of Jesus Christ where it intersected with their deepest held needs, both physical and spiritual. Omar was one of the best Pastors I have ever encountered.

Omar was only 34 years old, and he was one of the most driven leaders of the church I have ever met. He developed a website for his congregation, to tell its story to the world, even when it was dangerous in Cuba to do so. He was a leader in his Presbytery and church, serving as Moderator. I will never forget a moment nearly three years ago sitting in a room with Omar, other leaders of the church in Cuba, and US partners as we had conversations with some members of the Cuban government. Omar was unflinching in challenging his government and their policies that were hurting the people he served, advocating for their basic needs. I remember sitting in the room listening to his testimony, awestruck by his bravery and prophetic words, and humbled by his dedication with his life to the ministry to which he was called. I am honored that I knew Omar, that I was blessed enough to see his ministry, it has always encouraged me. I am so sad I never got to see him again. We were just a few months apart in age, I feel his loss profoundly. The Cuban church struggles deeply to retain young, innovative, and strong pastoral leadership. The Central Presbytery has suffered a number of these losses over the years, stressing it. The loss of Omar is unimaginable for this Presbytery and their important ministry.

The Cuban church has lost one of its most important leaders, one of its most gifted pastors. May we in these times surround the church with our solidarity and our prayers. May we especially pray for his family, his collegues in ministry who feel his loss in the deepest of ways.

"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord says the Spirit. They rest from their labors, and their works follow them."

- The Rev. Shannan Vance-Ocampo

Is the Recession Ending for Churches?

I'm always glad to be able to pass along a bit of hopeful news. This is from CNN.com:

"The worst of the recession may be over for some of America’s churches, a survey released Wednesday on religions donations indicated.

According to the survey, called State of the Plate, 43% of churches saw a rise in contributions in 2010, compared to 36% that saw an increase the year before.

Meanwhile, 39% of churches saw their giving dip last year, down from 47% that reported declines in 2009....

Churches responding to the survey represent evangelical (24%), Baptist (23%), Independent/Non-denominational (21%), mainline Protestant (13%), Charismatic/Pentecostal (12%), Catholic/Orthodox (2%) and other Christian traditions (5%)."

- Dan Gilgoff, "Recession's effects fading for some churches," CNN.com, March 30, 2011.

Let's hope this is a real trend!

Who Wants to Be a Presbyterian?

I’ve been noticing a trend, recently, in our Presbytery. Collectively, we’ve gotten pretty shy about asking questions of people who are being examined in Presbytery meetings. Whether they’re ministers transferring in, or inquirers seeking to become candidates, or even candidates seeking approval for ordination, most of the time we dummy up.

The moderator asks, “Are there any questions from the Presbytery?”

Silence. If we’re lucky, maybe someone will raise a lighthearted query about whether or not the minister transferring in will forsake old allegiances and become a Yankees, or a Phillies, or even a Mets fan, but that’s about it.

Then, more silence.

Then, somebody mutters, “Move the examination be arrested,” and the moderator puts it to a vote. The ayes have it. The examination is over.

The person leaves the room, and the decks are cleared for debate. Only there isn’t any. What on earth would we debate, if none of us has been inspired to ask the teeniest little question of substance?

It’s a quick, unanimous voice vote, then the person is invited to return. It’s happened so fast, there’s barely been time for our guest to take a seat in the reception area and bite into a brownie. We receive our new member or candidate back into the room with thunderous applause. It's a true feelgood moment, as long as the person doesn't choke on the brownie.

We Monmouth Presbyterians do the celebration thing pretty well. It’s the role of the questioner that makes us go all a-jittery.

Why is that, I wonder? Is it because we’re convinced that our committees, the CPM and the COM, are such zealous inquisitors that, after the vicious grilling they’ve meted out, the humanitarian thing to do is simply leave the poor, shell-shocked blighter alone? (I’m sure the committees do their job, but knowing the fair-minded people on them, I’m also sure they’re not the Spanish Inquisition.)

Or is it that we’re so conflicted a presbytery, theologically speaking, that the merest mention of a doctrinal subject is like touching a lighted match to a pan of gasoline? (We’ve got our differences, but by no means are we one of those presbyteries where liberals and conservatives regularly lob theological mortar-rounds across the aisle, with the poor examinees hunkering down in the bleak no-ministers’-land in between.)

Maybe we’re just a bunch of theological rubes, who couldn’t put together a coherent theological question if we tried. (I know that’s not the case. We’ve got some pretty deep thinkers among us.)

Perhaps the statements of faith are so encyclopedic in their coverage of every point of Christian doctrine, and so adroitly written, that not even Calvin himself could find a chink in that armor through which to slip a penknife. (C'mon, we're Presbyterians. Did you ever meet a Presbyterian who couldn't find something to gripe about, theologically?)

Most likely, I think the reason is that we’ve somehow gotten it into our heads that examining a person just isn’t a very nice thing to do.

Well, I’ve got news for you. Folks who present themselves on the floor of Presbytery expect to be questioned. If they’re not, they may feel a momentary sense of relief, but later on they may be led to ask themselves, “Does that Presbytery even care enough about me and my ministry to read the statement of faith I worked so hard putting together, and formulate a question?”

The truth is, examinations of candidates and ministers are about the only times most Presbyteries – ours included – engage in theological debate. (Voting on controversial amendments sent down from the General Assembly is another, but if you were at last Tuesday’s meeting, you know we passed up that opportunity for dialogue, as well.)

We’re not meant to pose theological questions when inquirers are presented to be examined for candidacy, of course. Such questions will come later, after they’ve completed most or all of their seminary studies. Yet, even at that transitional stage, questions about spirituality, life-experience and discerning God’s call are all fair game.

When candidates for ordination and/or installation come before us, it’s a good thing when several ministers or elder commissioners rise to ask questions of substance. Such questions need not be framed in an unfriendly or controversial way. They need not be presented as all-or-nothing theological litmus tests. A conscientiously-framed and kindly-expressed invitation to go a little deeper will surely be appreciated, not only by our fellow presbyters, but also by our guests – who, after all, have carefully prepared themselves for that very eventuality.

In case you need a little pump-priming before our next floor examination, here’s a collection of documents from several presbyteries that include sample questions.

Papers for March 22, 2011 Presbytery meeting

Here are some papers you'll need for the Tuesday, March 22 Presbytery meeting, that will convene at 7:00 p.m. at the Allentown Presbyterian Church.

1) If you're a Presbytery member or Elder Commissioner, you'll need to print out and bring with you the brief "PrezBPass" form.

2) You'll also want to print out and bring with you a meeting Docket, with all the related committee minutes and reports appended to it. In order to be a more "green" Presbytery, the Mission Council has decided that DOCKETS WILL NO LONGER BE AVAILABLE AT THE MEETING, except for a small quantity set aside for visitors who could not have had the opportunity to print them out ahead of time).

3) Because we'll be voting on Proposed Amendments to the Constitution, you'll want to print out a copy of the booklet describing these. It will be hard for you to consider these thoroughly, or to make much sense of the debate, unless you have a copy of the Amendments in your hands. We have a limited number of the booklets left and will distribute them on a first-come, first-served basis. (Many ministers and commissioners already have copies of the booklets, which have been distributed at the last two meetings; if you have one, PLEASE BRING IT.)

Here are a couple of additional items you may or may not want to print out, as you choose:

4) The packet files are mostly flyers and announcements concerning workshops, educational seminars and social events that are coming up in various churches of the Presbytery. To save paper, you may want to view these online, printing out only those you intend to distribute to others.

5) The PC(USA) Association of Stated Clerks publishes an analysis of the proposed Amendments to the Constitution. This is as objective an analysis as it could possibly be, prepared by a committee of presbytery stated clerks who are committed to explaining the nature and practical effect of the various amendments in plain language, without editorializing. This document has no official status, but it may be helpful. You can think of it as similar to the interpretative statements that appear on voting-machine ballots in secular elections, when Public Questions are up for consideration.

Needed: A Second Opinion

Many of us have been following with concern the recent debate over the "deathly ill" letter, signed by a large number of large-church pastors from across the denomination. Reading some further material from that group ("The Fellowship") online, I was struck by one observation they call "non-negotiable." I've posted this response (which reflects my own opinion and should in no way taken as anything more than that):

As a cancer survivor, I’ve learned of the importance of always getting a second opinion. I advise newly-diagnosed patients that, if their doctor bristles at the suggestion of a second opinion, it’s time to find a new doctor. Such a physician, no matter how impressive-looking the diplomas on the wall, has an ego so large that it will eventually impede medical decision-making.

With that thought in mind, what am I to make of the statement, in the very first item of the “Markers for the Way Forward” document, that the diagnosis of our denomination as “terminally ill” is the sole item described as “non-negotiable”? The claim that the PC(USA) is “dying” because of popular discontent over liberal theology is but one more repetition of The Big Lie the Presbyterian Layman and similar groups have been repeating, ad infinitum, for so long that good people are starting to believe it.

It is without basis in fact. Yes, we can all come up with anecdotal evidence of some individuals, even some churches, who have defected in place or departed for this reason (many solely on the basis of their having been hammered into submission by the endlessly-repeated Big Lie). Yet, the truth is this: in no way does a real or imagined swing of Presbyterian denominational leadership to the left begin to account for our loss of membership.

Several independent sociological studies have convincingly demonstrated that larger, societal factors are to account for the gradual loss of members in mainline Protestant churches (and would be true of Roman Catholics as well, were it not for the growing Hispanic population).

Check out Robert Wuthnow’s After the Baby Boomers.Wuthnow convincingly demonstrates how massive, well-documented social changes like the declining birthrate, the sharp increase in average age at marriage and the rise of two-paycheck households (with all that’s meant for churches’ volunteer pools and families’ discretionary time) – to name just a few – have had a massive, negative impact on church participation. He also shows how – historically speaking – the post-Second-World-War surge in church participation was a statistical anomaly. In no way was it a Third Great Awakening (even if it were, the tide did go back out after those earlier high-water marks).

Then, check out Robert Putnam’s and David Campbell’s new book, American Grace, and especially the “Trends in Religious Identity” graph from that book, which can be found by clicking on this link and scrolling down. Putnam and Campbell convincingly show that EVERY religious denomination has been experiencing slow declines in membership – even, in recent years, the more evangelical denominations.

In short, this is not just a Presbyterian problem. To imply otherwise, or to imagine that “rearranging the deck chairs” in the form of a two-synod structure will help the situation is a colossal act of hubris.

Still, this is no excuse for complacency. Christ’s Great Commission calls us to redouble our efforts at sharing the good news. The world is as hungry for the gospel as ever. We will accomplish far more to advance this greatest of causes by working together than by splitting apart.

Friends, our current predicament is much bigger than anything our national church leadership may or may not be doing. To imply, as the tired old Presbyterian Layman refrain puts it, that the denomination is “dying” because it has “gone liberal” is to engage in false prophecy.

Please, please don’t make the mistake of considering your recent “deathly ill” diagnosis as your one “non-negotiable.” Do the smart thing and get a second opinion. You will be leading many good people astray if you do otherwise.

An Early History of the Presbytery - Online!

There are great "digitizing" projects afoot, these days, whose goal is to get all manner of books available online, in electronic format. Google Books, for example, has been much in the news, as it's been pushing the limits of copyright law (and, in some cases, copyright law has been pushing back).

More quietly - and almost behind the scenes - a number of scholarly libraries have been hard at work, scanning the text of books into computers and uploading them onto the Internet. Mostly these are older books, no longer under copyright.

In the world of theological books, Princeton Theological Seminary has been a leader in this - and, indeed, is now investing millions in rebuilding Speer Library on the seminary campus. Besides serving its residential students and faculty, the new structure is meant to serve Christian leaders around the world, by making free access to digitized books a reality. Through networks like The Internet Archive and OpenLibrary.org, users of the seminary website can link to digitized books from seminary and university libraries around the world.

While exploring this brave, new world of digitized books recently, I came upon an electronic version of a 50-page pamphlet, Historical Sketch of Monmouth Presbytery and Its Churches, by Joseph G. Symmes, published in 1877. It includes brief historic sketches of all the churches in the Presbytery at that time.

Surf on over there, and you'll find references to some of our most historic churches, like Allentown, Old Tennent and Shrewsbury, as well as some that are no more, like Cream Ridge, Holmanville and Oceanic. Squan Village (Manasquan) was in its infancy in 1877, and now-familiar place names like Lakewood, Ocean and Point Pleasant are nowhere to be found (those churches having not yet been established).

Anyway, this little book's a fascinating read for anyone interested in the history of the Presbytery. Enjoy it!