[Oe List ...] FW: [earthrise] February witness

[Harry Wainwright]

From: earthrise at yahoogroups.com [mailto:earthrise at yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of cdzoll at comcast.net
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 1:40 PM
To: Earth Rise
Subject: [earthrise] February witness

 

I think I'm scheduled for next week, but we are planning a So.Cal trip that
might interfere. Lois has been dealing with "Why We Come" (meaning to
church) and when asked to preach recently I found myself returning again to
the HRN paper that we just used part of in RS-1. The first two parts of the
paper are why most people come, but after briefly mentioning those 2
portions, I dug in again to the "pioneer" aspect. I've never really thought
of myself as a pioneer although just going to that "weird" corporate
community in that ghetto in Chicago was pretty unusual. I remember also a
few years back writing an article for Monday Morning (Presbyterian
minister's publication) mentioning the Niebuhr paper as something most
clergy had probably never seen and offering to send same to anyone
requesting one. I think I received 180+ requests! Then this past month Lois
and I were part of the San Francisco presbytery discussion and vote to
ordain a blind, homosexual woman who has been in the process of trying to
become ordained for 23 years! (Think of the man by the pool). We were
successful (by a vote of 167-151) to move the process along so that she
could come before the Presbytery for examination. That made me think of
being a pioneer. And then I thought back over my life and career and thought
I've been part of the recognition of women as clergy in the church, and part
of the acceptance of black leadership in this country and in the church (I
was in Jackson, Miss. in 1964) so I guess, indeed, my life has been in the
"pioneering" mode. I know most of my colleagues have long ago relegated the
church to the historical part of their life, but along with the inspiration
of Marcus Borg and Bishop John Shelby Spong, I labor on. Both of them (Borg
and Spong) will be in Santa Rosa at the Jesus Seminar next month and I will
be there cheering them on. God speed to all who soldier on in the pioneering
mode. David Zollars

 

The Zollars family became aware of JWM and the Christian Faith & Life
Community back in '60-61 while David was still in seminary at Union in NYC,
vested the Evanston religious house in 1964, attended a Pastor's conference
with JWM in El Salvador in 1965, joined the Order after summer '66 and
stayed involved through 1973 when as prior of the Sacramento House Lois'
health and the "turn to the world" caused them to make a new decision and
return to the pastorate. It wasn't really successful as most of the churches
he encountered didn't want to be "pioneers." He retired from the ministry in
about 1991.

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