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Dispatch from Forbearance Presbyterian Church

Outside the Box

by Charlotte Johnstone

Forbearance's Presbyterian Women organization had become stuck—tires spinning, engine sputtering, a few people pushing, some pulling back—an enterprise with crossed purposes, going nowhere fast. On the one hand, PW had always been an integral part of the church, overseeing many aspects of congregational life that otherwise would have been neglected. And yet, on the other hand, certain aspects of Forbearance's PW had somehow become preserved in amber—fossilized remnants of an earlier era that remained unexamined and unchallenged. Good intentions abounded, but tradition and organizational inertia usually triumphed. Radical surgery was needed, but no one seemed willing to make the first cut.

Charlotte Johnstone is a member of Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She (and the cast of Forbearance Presbyterian Church) welcomes comments. Write to her at Horizons, 100 Witherspoon St., Louisville, KY 40202-1396, or email wjohns4949@aol.com.

How does the PW group at Forbearance set about making changes? And does everyone support the changes? Find out by reading the full text of this article in the March/April 2005 issue of Horizons.

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