Tuesday - September 27, 2005 - 7:30 PM

First Presbyterian Church – 1295 Oak Tree Rd., Iselin, NJ 07205

The charge to the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church by the 213th General Assembly (2001) is to "lead the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in spiritual discernment of our Christian identity in and for the 21st century ... seeking the peace, purity and unity of the church."

For further information and resources visit
http://www.pcusa.org/peaceunitypurity

*** Please prepare in advance by reading Final Report ***
http://www.pcusa.org/peaceunitypurity/resources/finalreport.pdf

Lonnie J. Oliver and Stacy Johnson, two members of the General Assembly’s Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity, have been invited to discuss with our presbytery the work they have undertaken and the task force’s report at our September 27, 2005 Presbytery meeting.

Visitors are welcome to the presbytery meeting in addition to the representatives of our member congregations. Dr. Richard Sharrick, an elder at Fanwood, brought a recommendation to the Presbytery Council, that resulted in the formation of a theologically and congregationally diverse team of elders and clergy to host discussions about the work of the General Assembly’s Task Force and ways we can better work toward the peace, unity, and purity of the church, per our vows as church officers.

The presbytery’s Peace, Unity, and Purity team is chaired by the Rev. Dr. W. Alfred Tisdale, Jr. (Basking Ridge) and will host additional discussions with clergy and elders between September 2005 and June 2006.

Dr. Lonnie J. Oliver Lonnie J. Oliver serves as pastor of the new Life Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Georgia. He serves as adjunct professor of evangelism at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta. He is a graduate of Johnson C. Smith University and Johnson C. Smith Seminary, with a MSW from Clark Atlanta University. He also received a D.Min. from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois.

Dr. W. Stacy Johnson is the Arthur M. Adams associate professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, having served previously on the faculty of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. His specialty within the field of systematic theology is constructive theology, and he is interested particularly in the theologians of the Reformation, including Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli, and in the contemporary significance of their work. An ordained Presbyterian minister, Stacy is also an attorney-at-law.