Editor's Notes

Case Studies

The Righteousness of God, Judgment, and Pauline Polity

Stanley P. Saunders, Columbia Theological Seminary, At-lanta, Georgia

In an imaginative reconstruction members of household churches in the 1st Century respond to Paul's Letter to the Romans, especially 1:18-2:11 and 13:8-15:13.  The focus is on issues of judgment, group identity and boundaries, polity, and righteousness.

Green Pastures

Elizabeth Wieman, Grace Congregational Church, Farm-ington, Massachusetts and Alice Frazer Evans, Plowshares Institute, Simsbury, Connecticut

When their summer grazing lease on a Native American reservation is suddenly canceled, members of a struggling Hispanic cooperative in New Mexico consider civil disobedience by moving their flocks of sheep onto a federal wildlife sanctuary.

The Fate of Té Bouké

Lionel Derenoncourt, The Hunger Program, The Presbyterian Church (USA), Louisville, Kentucky and Alice Frazer Evans, Plowshares Institute, Simsbury, Connecticut

Volunteers in a European church development organization work with local farmers in Haiti to improve crop yields.  After many challenges and some real successes they are asked by the farmers to get strong fertilizers for their crops.  Convinced that only sustainable farming methods make sense, yet committed to local leadership, they face a critical moment.

Cats and Coons

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

A couple living on the edge of a forested area have innocently been feeding raccoons until their cat and the raccoons square off against each other one day.  As they discuss whether they should continue to feed the raccoons, they reflect different attitudes toward nature.

In the Eyes of the Lord

Robert C. De Vries, Calvin Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Two persons who have been widowed are now considering marriage.  Although willing to make a life long covenant of fidelity to each other, they have serious objections to the negative financial and legal ramifications imposed by the state.  Should they marry "in the eyes of the Lord" but avoid official marriage by the state?

Conflicting Loyalties

Susan Emilsen, United Theological College, Sydney, Australia

In 1982 the Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia voted to "boycott" Bicentennial celebrations unless satisfactory progress was made in land rights for Aboriginal people.  In 1985 the Assembly changed its mind by deciding to separate the issues of land rights and celebration and to participate in the Bicentenary.  Pastor Bill Milthrop is caught between conflicting loyalties.

Can a Woman Lead the Church?

Premkumar Soans, Presbyter, The Church of South India, Kaunataka, India

A group of men claiming to interpret scripture rightly threatens to disrupt the worship service and divide the congregation of a church in Southern India if a woman pastor newly appointed to their parish attempts to administer sacraments or preach from the pulpit.

"Should I Accept?"

Alan Neeley, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey

A young Roman Catholic girl accepts an invitation to celebrate a Buddhist holiday with three other friends, one a Roman Catholic, another a Baptist, and the third a Buddhist in whose home they meet.  The Buddhist girl and her family offer food and drink in a rite at the Buddhist temple.  On the way home the mother invites the three girls to return and share the food that had been used in the ceremony.  One of the girl's accepts, but a second declines saying she cannot eat food that has been used in a Buddhist rite.  It was an awkward moment, and the Roman Catholic girl does not know what she should do.

"You Must Purify This House"

Alan Neeley, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey

A British missionary couple return to Nigeria from furlough.  They discover a colony of bees in the wall of their house and exterminate them.  When their Fulani Muslim neighbors discover what the missionaries have done, they are shocked that the bees "that God had beneficently sent" would be killed.  Later several Fulani elders come and declare that the house must be purified by the shaman, or the missionaries would suffer the wrath of God.  Unsure about how they should respond, the missionaries seek counsel.

Prairie Storm

JoAnn Post, First English Lutheran Church, Platteville, Wisconsin

In the beginning months of Desert Storm the first woman pastor of a Midwestern church is challenged by a vote of the all male property committee to move the U.S. flag from the church library to its "rightful place" in the front of the sanctuary.  A vote in the church council could divide the congregation.

The Gift of a Broken Body

Russell E. Willis, Iowa Wesleyan College, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa

Faced with terminal cancer, Bill decides to donate his body to medical research.  Family members would prefer a traditional funeral and burial process.  Bill's son, John, seeks counsel from his pastor before leaving to talk with his father.

The New Pastor and the Choir Director

Brid Long, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.

A newly appointed pastor is both troubled and challenged as he finds himself in conflict with a long established choir director over the renewal of liturgical celebration.  He seeks a win-win resolution to the difficulties.

For the Life of the Church

Alice Frazer Evans, Plowshares Institute, Simsbury, Con-necticut

Several members of a Methodist church press their pastor to state his position on the resurrection of Jesus Christ ready to leave the church if the pastor's beliefs are not "Christian."  Others seek to defuse the conflict and channel the discussions in a constructive way.

Let's Close the Sunday School!

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

Conflict over whether to close the Sunday School of an upper middle class parish exposes deeper questions about leadership, lay involvement, and Christian education.

Carl Phillips Was Fired

Robert A. Evans and Alice Frazer Evans, Plowshares Institute, Simsbury, Connecticut

A man in a "status-conscious" community loses his job and tries to decide about sharing his "failure" with family and friends.