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R e m e m b e r H o w I t W a s ?ION. Cfisl' * O'S^gni 0 /lJ%0 4 lloh/%u00a3ptitaffl * TNbPt? T), ,A ^ ' * W o f c ,'-No/W e l l , T i m e s H a v e C h a n g e d !Du! in n u m erab le rules and regulations C atholics have designed toclarify the boundaries o f sin; the B altim ore Catechism ; I lo ly M o th e rC hurch and the m any mysteries o f being C atho lic, a re a lot differenttoday from the way things used to be.It you've stepped away from the C h u rch , for whatever reason, m aybeyou%u2019ll fin d things a lot m ore com fortable and hom ey in the C hurchtoday %u2014 right here in the D iocese o f B rooklyn/Q ueens*M aybe you'd even like to know w hat has been happen ing in the( lliurch these days. W h ere it%u2019s going. W hat it%u2019s involved in.You H be surprised, w e believe, because so m uch is h ap p en in g andso m uch good is going on.II you'd IiM i to take a look at w hat is going on, we%u2019ll send you %u2014without charge and with no strings attached thirteen weeks oft he Tablet, the w eekly new spaper of the Diocese o f B rooklyn andQueens. You%u2019ll meet a C hurch w h ic h is in m any ways the same, and inmany ways different from the one you rem em ber. We hope you%u2019ll likew hat you see.Please call or write:Yes. I%u2019d like to receive The Tablet for 13 weeks free o f charge.Nn m e .TPAddressCity, State, Z i p _______________________ ___________________________The Tablet, 1 Hanson Place, B rooklyn, N Y 11243 718/789-1300m%u201d1?nion Neal I. Borovitz RABBI%u25a0 i c m p cB r o o k l y nDr. A. Stanley Dreyfus RABBI EMERITUS Avery Tracht CANTORJOIN US FOR THE HOLY DAYSR O S H H A S H A N A Y O M K IP P U ROct. 3 8 pm Oct. 12 8 pmOct. 4 10 am Oct. 13 10 amO nce again we will be honored to haveRABBI A L E X A N D E R M . S C H IN D L E RPresident of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and a leading spokesman for American Jewry.Join our Rabbis and Cantor in conducting our Holy Day WorshipEVERYONE IS WELCOMEFor tickets and more information call 638-7600 or stop by 17 Eastern Parkway (at Grand Army Plaza) (Ample Parking)loin WithJfoR tli e Sthigh holy daysT h e H o b d ay S e a s o n has a lw a y s b e e n a s p e c ia l tim e fo r th e J e w is h P eo p le, a tim eto re c o n n e c t w ith ou r h e rita g e an d o u r c o m m u n ity . T h is year, e x p e rie n c e th eH o lid a y s w ith B e th E lohim . W e o ffe r a c o m p le te s c h e d u le o f s e rv ic e s and afrie n d ly c o n g re g a tio n th at w e lc o m e s n e w c o m e rsJoin %u201cs Rosh YomHashanah KippurF rid a y O c t 3rd, 8:15 P .M . S un O c t 12th, 8:15 P .M .S at. O c t 4th , 10:30 A .M . M on O ct. 13th, 10:30 A .M .join With U s ^ ___t h r o u g h o u t they e a RW e h ave a w id e ran g e of re lig io u s , e d u c a tio n a l, social, an d c u ltu ra l o fferin g s .C o n tin u in g p ro g ram s in c lu d e th e R e lig io u s S ch o o l, E arly C h ild h o o d C en ter, A fte rS ch o o l C e n te r, an d A d u lt A c a d e m y . T h e re are also s p ecial le c tu re s , S h a b b a t d in %u00adners, an d fa m ily h o lid ay c e le b ra tio n s . Plus re c re a tio n a l a c tiv itie s , g ym and pool.Sabbath Services Aduit Academ y LectureFri. E ve. S ep t. 26 8:15 P M S u n d ay S e p te m b e r 28P ro fe s s o r S te v e n M . C o h e n%u201c Is It H a rd e r fo r A m e ric a n J e w s to LoveIs ra e l? \Gerald I. Welder RabbiO diivnui u u m u u oS at. E ve. 27 %u2022 9 P M -M id n iteEugene J. Sack Rabbi EmeritusF o r m o re in fo rm a tio n callth e T e m p le o ffic e (768-3814).A R efo rm c o n g re g a tio nlo c a te d at G a rfie ld P laceand 8 th A ven u e, P ark S lope.Congregation Beth ElohimGarlield Templi; 7**ZP ag e 8, T H E P H O E N IX . S e p te m b e r 2 5 , 1986QHURCH NEWgRev. P au l S m ith is jo in e d in p ra y e r by p a s to rs o f o th e r n earb y c h u rc h e s on th e o c c a s io no f his in s ta lla tio n . (P h o e n ix /C o llin s P h o to )Continued from Page Isome 80 people, Smith made clear thebreadth of his interests, the variety of constituencies to which he hopes to appeal, and hispreference for dialogue and discussion overpronouncements ex cathedra %u2014 the latter tosuch an extend that one angry elder of thechurch accused him of trying to turn thechurch into a %u201cdebating society.%u201dThe workshops were an eclectic bunch,both in form and in content %u2014 %u201cPresbyteriansand Pluralism%u201d coexisted with %u201cThe Computer: A New Church Tool,%u201d and other arcana for aficionados of church organization;how-to sessions on reducing stress and obtaining senior citizens%u2019 benefits were offeredside-by-side with sweeping discussions ofChristian ethics and U.S. policy inNicaragua.Taken as a whole, though, they were acoherent reflection of Smith%u2019s beliefs thatchurches need to be pluralistic and to moveaway from exclusive concern with church affairs towards an active public role. %u201cScripture requires the church to be public,%u201d saidSmith, adding that inward looking churchesrisk becoming irrelevant.CLOSE TO BRINKPluralism and broadmindedness, ofcourse, lie but a step away from a tolerantrelativism that strips both church and pastorof the power to make moral judgements.Liberal theologians of Smith%u2019s stripe havebeen acutely vulnerable to attack on thisscore by fundamentalists for more than acentury, and Saturday%u2019s seminars showedhow close to the brink Smith%u2019s ministrystands.The relativist quicksand quickly engulfedthe roundtable discussion on %u201cPresbyteriansand Pluralism.%u201d The first speaker, David Ngof the national Presbyterian Church%u2019s educational wing, kicked off the discussion bydefining Presbyterianism, and he did so withstatements so broad as to include not onlyPresbyterianism, but most other Protestantdenominations as well: Presbyterianism, heopined, is %u201cBiblically grounded, historicallyrooted, communally nurtured, ecumenicallyinvolved, and socially engaged.%u201dDouglas Grandgeorge, an elder at FirstPresbyterian, rightly noted that suchqualifications are hardly unique to thedenomination.CHURCH IS BIG ENOUGHHe went on to assert that %u201cThePresbyterian Church is big enough that it canhave some claim to universality of doctrine,%u201dby which he seems to have intended tworelated but distinct points: first, that thePresbyterian church is already pluralistic byvirtue of its inclusion of people with widelydivergent theological viewpoints (for example, Biblical literalists and those who acceptthe need for critical interpretation of the Bible); and second, that denominational differences, though they originally made sensebecause of the different cultures in which thevarious Protestant sects arose, do not makeany sense now, especially in America.The consequence Grandgeorge drew fromthis second point was that doctrinal differences are comparatively minor affairs,and that the Presbyterians (and by extensionall the other Protestant groups) should bewilling to accept as members anyone whoprofesses belief in salvation by Jesus Christ.Grandgeorge was challenged on bothcounts by Prince Rivers, an elder at Smith%u2019sold church in Decatur, Ga., who came herefor the weekend of events.%u201cTo me,%u201d Rivers said, %u201ca group of whitepeople of European backgrounds all making$50,000 who disagree on whether the book ofJonah is literally true does not constitutepluralism.Rivers%u2019 comment pointed out thatpluralism in a religious context is not merelythe acceptance of other viewpoints, but theacceptance of entirely different backgroundsand ways of life. Rivers%u2019 point, furthermore,was that pluralism does not consist in thewashing-out of individual differences bysome generally acceptable principle of beliefso general as to be almost a cliche; rather, itis the vigorous debate between strongly-heldpositions that differ in many different ways.If a hollow pluralism is the liberal boobytrap in church organization, relativism is thecorresponding snare in ethics. Smith himselfwas taken to task on this score in his seminaron %u201cChristian Ethics Ln Modem Society.%u201dAfter a long exposition of his view that continuous debate on ethical issues is crucial andthat the church cannot, on peril of its health,close off discussion on moral and politicaldecisions (the Bible %u201cwill never tell youwhether aid to the Contras is wrong,%u201d he saidby way of example) Smith seemed close toarguing that a pluralistic church couldn%u2019ttake moral stands on political issues.READY TO WALK OUTKatherine Cornwell, a church elder, accusedhim of advocating %u201cequivocation%u201d on moralissues.%u201cAfter about ten minutes of this I wasready to walk out,%u201d said Cornwell, who is copresident, with her husband Bruce, of theBrooklyn Heights chapter of SANE, the antinuclear group. %u201cI believe the church shouldcome out in the pulpit and say %u2018This is it.%u2019 Itshouldn%u2019t be a debating society.%u201dCornwell%u2019s statement was greeted by applause, and although Smith was quick to respond that tolerance for debate does notpreclude either church or pastor from takingoutspoken positions, it was clear that thecriticism struck an open nerve.That nerve is Smith%u2019s discomfort with thenotion of authority, a concept that is both central and troublesome for Protestants %u2014 andespecially troublesome for liberals likeSmith.In an earlier interview, Smith distinguished between authority, power and influence.Authority, he said, resides in thePresbyterian Book of Order, which governsdaily church practices. Power is a temporalrelation sought by political leaders thatshould be shunned by religious leaders. Influence is all that a pastor can strive for orhope to exert.EXERCISE OF AUTHORITYDoctrinally sound as this position is, theproblem is that in practice the effectivenessof religion is the result of the exercise ofauthority. Martin Luther King, Jr., to whomSmith makes constant reference, may nothave held power or authority in generalsociety, but his authority over his followers %u2014in the sense that he was an object of supremetrust and viewed as a prophetic voice whocould be relied on to render moral judgement%u2014 was absolute.Smith argued that the source of this kind ofauthority is God, and an honest preacherd i r e c t s a i i e n ii u n to u o u a n u a w a y f r o m himself. But the problem remains that if thepreacher is not able to sway a congregationthrough the uncompromising moral authority of his words, his effectiveness will wane.The church risks becoming a social club or adebating society %u2014 risks focussing all its atContinued on Puge 9