Editors' Notes

Case Studies

So Close.

Majorie Hall Davis, Granby, Connecticut.

A married couple must decide whether to continue treatment for infertility.  Teaching objectives include increased understanding of the emotional impact of 'in vitro' fertilization on persons and the complexity of health care justice issues and their relation to political/ economic issues and ethical/theological issues.

Shrimp Futures

Alice Frazer Evans, Plowshares Institute, Simsbury Connecticut

A North American economist and member of a church task force looks at the impact and implications of U.S. development policies in Honduras.

A Good Death for Gleason?

John Kilner, Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, Deerfield, Illinois

Gleason's son reflects on the events surrounding his father's death and wonders if family members, their doctor, and their pastor did all they could to help Gleason in his last days.

The Agenda

Christine E. Gudorf, Florida International University, Miami, Florida

Board members of a private organization founded to help people with low incomes secure adequate housing are faced with issues that call into question their preference for the poorest.

"Denied – Bad Credit!"

Mark Stivers, Oakland, California

Rich, who needs a job to support his family in hard times, observes his employer, John, illegally discriminating against blacks in arranging credit.  Rich wonders what to do since John has befriended him and given him rapid promotion in the organization.

The Witness

Lewin Williams, United Theological College of the West Indies and Robert A. Evans, Plowshares Institute, Sims-bury, Connecticut.

A community liaison for a woman's shelter in Montego Bay, Jamaica, faces pressure from police and others to urge a witness of a violent crime to testify against gang members terrorizing the community.

Law and Order

Leland Elhard, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio

A seminary professor is asked to be a resource person for the annual meeting of the state's police chiefs and to help law enforcement officers interpret the lessons of the Branch-Davidian tragedy near Waco, Texas, in 1993.

Asia Resources, Inc.

Alan Neely, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey

A former missionary, now a member of a new Methodist mission agency, hears a presentation by an enthusiastic entrepreneur who challenges the planning committee to initiate a "new approach" to the sending of missionaries, namely, as business people who can gain entry to countries such as China.

"Come Holy Spirit(s)"

Alan Neely, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey

A Pentecostal seminary professor attending the Seventh Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Canberra, Australia, hopes the theme, "Come Holy Spirit," signals that the Council is reaching out to charismatics and Pentecostals.  After the second of two keynote addresses, he was unsure and troubled.

By the Sword

Nazir Masih, Dhariwal, India

A young "dalit" (outcast) Indian boy asks to be baptized wearing his sikh sword as justified by scripture.

Call to a Strange Land

Alice Frazer Evans, Plowshares Institute, Simsbury, Connecticut

An African-American woman raised in a traditional New England congregation is both excited and troubled by dramatic changes brought to the church by the first black senior pastor in the church's 150-year history.

Banjos or Bach!

Robert L. Stivers, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington

Members of a large congregation struggle with the presenting issue of whether to purchase a new grand piano while the pastors look for ways to transform the situation and reduce the deeper tensions that are the real issue.

To Leave or Not to Leave?

Samuel R. Schutz, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Massachusetts

An old and dying New England liturgical church suddenly began experiencing life and growth.  The old-time members learned to accept their new and changing church family, but some of the newer members challenged the pastor and the church's true legitimacy as an evangelical church.  How can new members be assimilated successfully into a rapidly growing church family?

Who Will Pastor Our Churches?

G. Douglass Lewis, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, D.C.

A United Methodist District Superintendent is faced with a growing number of small churches which cannot afford full-time pastors.  How does the denomination deal with this and the pressures this creates for seminaries who must place their students and keep up their enrollments.

D. Min. Dilemma

Erskine Clarke, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia

A seminary faculty wrestles with the time demands of a popular and expanding D.Min. program.  The issue raises deeper questions about the mission of the program and the seminary itself.

The Queen of Peace

Margaret Page, Saint Thomas Theological Seminary, Denver, Colorado

Due to feelings of alienation, a Roman Catholic woman student decides to change religious traditions.  This raises personal questions for the student's woman faculty adviser who is the student's companion on her journey.