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Encore Issues | PW | PC(USA) |
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Scripture's InspirationChurchwide Gatheringby Janice Catron
On July 7–11, 2006, Presbyterian women from around the world will gather for worship, study, prayer and fellowship during the triennial Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women. One overarching theme will run through all that happens: Creation! Celebration! God’s Word—Light for the Journey. During the February 2004 meeting of the Churchwide Coordinating Team of Presbyterian Women (CCT/PW), members of the CCT/PW chose this theme based on inspiration from Bible verses they selected. CCT/PW members thought ahead to where PW might be in 2006 and found anniversaries, a Bible study and one timeless theme for their three emphases:
Excited conversation soon led committee members to merge two biblical passages (Genesis 1 and John 1), selecting six verses as the focal scripture: “In the beginning . . . God said ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. . . . God saw everything that [God] had made, and indeed, it was very good” (Gen. 1:1a, 3, 31a). “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . All things came into being through [God], and without [God] not one thing came into being. What has come into being in [God] was life, and the life was the light of all people” (John 1:1, 3–4). In these verses, three common concepts span the biblical books. God creates a place for life.Both Genesis and John make clear that God and God alone is the creator of all that exists. In the first account of creation (Gen. 1:1–3), God pushes back the watery chaos, making a safe haven for life to begin and to thrive. In John’s Christian retelling of this event, this action takes on a dual meaning—God acted in the ancient past to create life (the cosmos), and, as the Word incarnate, God acts in the present to push back sin and death, making room for new life (salvation). God provides light to guide us.Genesis 1 tells of the creation of light in the form of the sun, moon and stars. In the physical world, these luminaries guide our travels by lighting roads for us and making navigational charts possible. John 1 speaks of another kind of light—a spiritual one—that God also provides for the world. This light, Jesus Christ, guides our Christian journey by pointing unerringly to where God would have us go and who God would have us to be. God journeys with us.After the creation event in Genesis 1, God does not withdraw from the world. Rather, God celebrates the goodness of the created order and caringly remains involved with it. In the Word made flesh (John 1), God enters into creation and establishes an even more intimate relationship with us. God, who had always been present with humanity throughout history, becomes human in order to experience the journey through life as we do. In the process, God shows us how the journey should go. Building on these affirmations, the 2006 Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women will celebrate God’s ongoing creativity, presence and guidance within the community of faith and within our individual lives. It will be an exciting journey for us to make together! Janice Catron is pastor of John Knox Presbyterian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. To subscribe to Horizons, call 800/524-2612 |
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