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Sunday, March 23, 2003

By Ann Rodgers-Melnick, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The Rev. Craig Barnes is a professor of pastoral ministry at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, but at one time, he was pastor of National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., where the political elite of both parties worship.

So Barnes knows something about the challenges for a pastor, priest or rabbi who struggles with what to say during a time of war, knowing that his congregants have strong feelings on both sides of the issue.

Barnes, whose former church once had Sens. Robert Dole and John Glenn in the same new members' class, said church members are not looking for "the pastor's op-ed piece on the war. They are looking for something transcendent as a way to rise above the storm."

When the war began Wednesday night, he spoke to a Lenten gathering on the Bible passage in which Jesus quells a storm. "I could talk about how Jesus arises in the middle of that storm -- he doesn't prevent the storm from happening," Barnes said.

"It doesn't matter if you think this war is a tragic necessity or a terrible mistake. Everyone would like to see peace come as soon as possible."

For a Christian pastor, Barnes said, the question then is: "So what are the ways in which Christ will break into the midst of the storm to bring peace?"

The Rev. Brian Bauknight can relate to that stance.

Like other pastors in the region, Bauknight, who serves Christ United Methodist Church in Bethel Park, is wrestling with his own conflicted response to a war he believes may be a necessary evil, but which national United Methodist leaders have opposed.

Knowing his nation and congregation are divided, Bauknight is more concerned about tending to the pastoral needs of his members than with trying to comment on national policy. "What do I say without taking a political stance? As a Christian who loves his country, what do I say?

"My hope and prayer is that the war can be completed as quickly and mercifully as possible. That is what I've said to the congregation."

Not all pastors avoid taking a political stance.

At Monumental Baptist Church in the Hill District, the Rev. Tom Smith's congregation knows all about his opposition to the war, and they expect and accept it because they know him, he said.

"There is a lot of anguish because you do have members of the congregation who have families in the military, and you have to try to comfort and encourage and support them. But at the same time, you have to present the truth," he said.

Polls indicate that many Americans are at odds with their religious leaders, and that congregations are divided over the war.

Mainline Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox churches opposed a U.S. attack on Iraq, especially without United Nations backing. Some Jewish bodies offered tentative approval if all reasonable diplomatic efforts failed. The public policy director for the Southern Baptist Convention was virtually alone among denominational leaders in wholehearted support for the Bush strategy, which evangelicals tend to support.

But even at Northway Christian Community in Wexford, one of the largest independent evangelical congregations in this region, the focus has been on prayer rather than politics, said the Rev. Dan Chaverin, executive pastor.

"We are praying as a church for peace, for a quick resolution of the conflict, for our soldiers and their families ... We are also praying and hoping for minimum casualties on both sides, American and Iraqi."

The Rev. Philip Pfatteicher, associate pastor of First Lutheran Church, Downtown, believes his 650-member congregation reflects the nation, with many who support the war but a large minority who are opposed.

"I think they generally ignore what the leaders of the national church say on issues like this," Pfatteicher said.

No matter what their personal views, "clergy are having a hard time figuring out what to say this week. It was easier in previous weeks, because the war hadn't started," said the Rev. Ian Evison, project director for The Alban Institute, which provides consulting services for congregations of many traditions.

On Thursday he met with rabbis who were sorting through "seven different sets of feelings," he said. Some were drawn to an anti-war stance, yet they were concerned about threats to Israel and Saddam Hussein's anti-Jewish rhetoric.

"You don't want to be anti-war in a way that is used by somebody else as meaning that you are pro-Saddam," Evison said.

His advice to clergy in any tradition is to provide good pastoral care while addressing the issue forthrightly.

"Good leadership means you can't duck a hard subject," he said.

"I encourage them to stand there and say, 'This sermon is hard for me because I know that I disagree with many of you and feeling that distance is hard. But let me say what I believe.' There are few people who won't respond well to that."

It's easier for pastors in traditional peace churches, where opposition to all war is central to their identity, said Peter Eash-Scott, pastoral intern at the Pittsburgh Mennonite Church in Greenfield,

"It's hard for them to be so counter-cultural. At the same time, we are united in our faith and in our belief that Christ calls us to be peacemakers," he said.