The Presbyterian Outlook

News and Articles from the The Presbyterian Outlook

Register Login Donate Subscribe

Top Search/Contact Area

  • Be A Fan

  • Follow Us

  • Photos

  • Pin It!

    • Home
      • About us
      • Advertise with Us
      • Submissions
    • Presbyterian Hub
      • Editorials
      • Outlook Features
      • Digital Issues
      • Editor’s viewpoints
      • What’s right?
      • About People
      • Calendar Check
    • News +
      Current Affairs
      • Outlook Reporting
      • Presbyterian News Service
      • Religion News Service
      • News from other sources
    • Ministry + Theology
      • InSights Opinions
      • Benedictory
      • Guest commentary
    • Faith + Culture
      • Book Reviews
      • Those with ears to hear (music reviews)
      • He/She Said
      • Movie Reviews
    • Ministry Resources
      • Outlook Standard Lessons
      • Outlook Horizons Studies
      • Looking into the lectionary
      • Bulletin Inserts
      • Webinars
      • Hymns
    • Outpost Blog
    • Classifieds
      • Classified advertising

    Family baptism

    April 2, 2018 by Julie Raffety

    Family baptism

    Having attended a more evangelical seminary, there were lots of different views on the sacrament of baptism floating around. And I was given no shortage of opportunities to explain the Presbyterian view of baptism being an outward sign of an inward change or even to defend … er I mean, explain … why Presbyterians continue to baptize infants and children. I have always been proud of the Presbyterian theology behind both of these decisions: It isn’t the water that takes away our sins, but Jesus Christ. Baptism is more than just one moment; it’s the beginning of choosing Jesus for a lifetime. And, being baptized as an infant or a child is just confirmation of the Reformed belief that God chooses us before we could ever even conceive of the thought to choose God. In the case of infant or child baptism, it is a family/parental promise to give that child any and every opportunity to know God and choose God back in his or her own life. Amusingly enough, I never considered why I loved the … [Read more...]

    Tagged With: sacraments

    Outpost Blog Tags: Featured Home Page/ More News - Homepage/ sacraments

    Brainstorming and spiritual leaders

    February 6, 2018 by Julie Raffety

    Brainstorming and spiritual leaders

    I remember the first time I heard the word “brainstorm” as a little kid in school. My imagination immediately kicked in and I started imagining heads full of lightening bolts, storm clouds and precipitation. Little did I know, I was fully embracing the concept right then and there! Brainstorming is somewhat of a lost art. I remember learning it as a child: no ideas are bad; write everything down without evaluating; and don’t react! Those were the rules … or the un-rules, you could say. It definitely took some practice. It often seemed silly to not to evaluate along the way or settle on one idea early on, but brainstorming beautifully and in a God-like fashion seeks to honor all ideas as worthy of at least some space on the page. I would love to cultivate and stimulate the practice of brainstorming among church leaders more often, because it makes space for and helps develop so many of the qualities that make for dynamic spiritual leadership. First, it promotes creativity. … [Read more...]

    Tagged With: leadership

    Outpost Blog Tags: leadership/ More News - Homepage

    Confessions of a type A pray-er

    January 16, 2018 by Julie Raffety

    Confessions of a type A pray-er

    I remember when I was in seminary when a friend asked me to pray for him. “I’m only asking you,” he said, “because I know you really will pray. There are a lot of people who say they will pray for you, but you know they never do. I know you’re not like that.” It was probably one of the biggest compliments he could have given me. But I confess that, at that time, it wasn’t something I felt that I was that great at. But, after he said those words to me, I made it my business to be the person that he believed I was: consistent and faithful in my prayer life. I’ve found that it’s easy to forget to pray for others. So, I put prayer requests in my phone the minute I get them. I keep track of them so that when I say, “I will be praying for you,” it is actually true. When I started keeping track (yes, I’m type A), I got a little obsessive about it. I would be praying and immediately feel like I needed to consult the list. And my prayers started to feel rote and sanitary as I rattled … [Read more...]

    Tagged With: prayer

    Outpost Blog Tags: More News - Homepage/ prayer

    Waiting as a spiritual practice

    December 14, 2017 by Julie Raffety

    Waiting as a spiritual practice

    I think it would be accurate to say that most of life is lived and experienced in the in-between. While it may be those non-in-between moments that keep us excited about life and motivated when we are not yet there yet, there is so often space between each high and low. When we were children, we were always waiting to be one year older, to have one more year of responsibility and one more year of freedom. Now we wait for tests results to come back. We wait to meet someone who gets us and wants to share life with us. We wait nine months (or eight, or a few more agonizing weeks) for babies. We wait for career changes, diagnoses, to see loved ones again, for family vacations, through illnesses, for new construction, for next stages in life and even to see those who have passed away again … someday in the future. In a fast-paced consumer-driven economy and society, it is no wonder that many of us are impatient and struggle with waiting. We have two-day shipping, fast food, email, social … [Read more...]

    Tagged With: Advent

    Outpost Blog Tags: Advent/ More News - Homepage

    When labels invade the church

    November 20, 2017 by Julie Raffety

    When labels invade the church

    I recently had the opportunity to hear the stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), J. Herbert Nelson, speak as part of an ongoing celebration for the 200th anniversary of Newton Presbytery in New Jersey. I have read some of his words, of course, on PC(USA) communications, but I had never heard him speak. I very much appreciated his message and it has stuck with me for weeks. He talked a bit about how we are very divided as a denomination and have been ever since the North/South split that occurred before most bloggers (including myself) were ever born. He suggested that we have never recovered from that division and that, even worse, we are even further divided today over politics. "We have allowed the labels of conservative, liberal and moderate to invade Christendom," he said. And worse, we have pigeon-holed and demonized people by using these labels. I don't know about you, but I have personally witnessed both Christians and non-Christians acting in this way. Politics, … [Read more...]

    Outpost Blog Tags: More News - Homepage

    What about heaven?

    September 6, 2017 by Julie Raffety

    What about heaven?

     I recently began a new call as a solo pastor. I’ve been preaching the lectionary Scripture texts since I arrived in April. Honestly, preaching every week is still new to me, so I thought sticking with lectionary for a while would help me grow into the challenge. But, having moved from a relatively large Presbyterian church, I am actually more familiar with preaching a series. So, for better or worse, this summer I put together my first preaching series on heaven. I was so excited about it that I found myself "hyping" it to almost everyone around me – to fellow pastors, to random acquaintances at barbecues, to my family. And, interestingly enough, most of them had the same initial question regardless of their faith background: "Is there really much about heaven in the Bible?" Not wanting to sound like a know-it-all (and truthfully, having not completed all of the planning for the series at the time), I would typically respond with something comical like, "I sure hope so!" … [Read more...]

    Outpost Blog Tags: More News - Homepage

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • Next Page »

    Current Issue

    • April 16, 2018
    • March 26, 2018
    • March 5, 2018
    • Feb. 12, 2018
    • Subscribe
    • Give a Gift
    • Read Online
    • Most Commented
    • Most Popular
    • Merger of OGA and PMA not recommended OUTLOOK — The All Agency Review Committee and the Way Forward Commission have jointly decided not to recommend a merger...
    • All Agency Review Committee asks: What are the problems that need to be addressed? LOUISVILLE (Outlook) – With the idea of merging the Office of the General Assembly and the Presbyterian Mission Agency now...
    • Tony De La Rosa resigns as interim executive director of PMA Tony De La Rosa, interim executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, has resigned, apparently effective immediately, and David D....
    • A prayer for Charlottesville Outlook editor Jill Duffield, who lives in Charlottesville, wrote this prayer after participating, along with other clergy, in a call...
    • Hymn: "If We Just Talk of Thoughts and Prayers" Thanks to Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, this hymn is free for congregations to use in worship. It was written after the...
    • Pastoring a purple church   The steaming mad email arrived Sunday afternoon. The subject line read: “Leaving White Memorial.” The writer, a member whom I...

    Keep the Faith

    Sign Up for Updates and Breaking News in your inbox

    Facebook

    Tweets by presoutlook
    Follow Us

    View Stories From

    • Presbyterian Hub
      • Editorials
      • Outlook Features
      • Digital Issues
      • Calendar Check
      • About People
        • Anniversaries
        • Ordinations
        • Retired
        • Deaths
        • Transitions
      • Archives
    • Faith + Culture
      • Book Reviews
      • Movie Reviews
      • He/She Said
    • Ministry + Theology
      • InSights Opinions
        • For Church Leaders
        • Faith Matters
        • Multichannel Church Report
        • #amen
        • Commentary
        • Benedictory
      • Liturgical Year
        • Advent
        • Lent

    The Latest:

    Sweating the details: PMA board chair reports on clarity, costs and national structure

    April 25, 2018

    A PMA budget without layoffs, Stony Point: Presbyterian Mission Agency Board’s spring meeting kicks off in Cincinnati

    April 25, 2018

    Most Americans believe, but not always in the God of the Bible

    April 25, 2018

  • Tweet With Us
  • Be A Facebook Fan
  • Our World in Photos
  • Pin With Us
  • CONTACT US:

    1 N. 5th St., Suite 500

    Richmond, VA 23219

    T: 800-446-6008F: 804-353-6369

    [email protected]

    Or ▶ Fill Out Our Contact Form

    © Copyright 2018 The Presbyterian Outlook. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Statement. Website Design by Poka Yoke Design

    • About us
    • Presbyterian Hub
    • Ministry Resources
    • Classifieds
    • Advertise with Us
    • Submissions
    7ads6x98y