by Lori Archer Raible and George C. Anderson As a newly ordained minister, Lori Archer Raible participated in the Trent Symposium, a comprehensive, annual meeting designed to practically equip pastors for effective church leadership. Along with Ken McFayden, George Anderson directs the Trent Symposium, which Second Presbyterian Church in Roanoke, Virginia, and Union Presbyterian Seminary have sponsored since 2008. The Trent model focuses on practical areas of need, best practices, leadership of experienced pastors and congregation members, peer support, worship and rest. The Trent model has gone on to be applied to other forms of community building and leadership development. Raible, Anderson and others work together to share and expand the best parts of what the Trent model has to offer. Some would say Raible and Anderson’s partnership is unlikely based on their differences, but they share one hope: that all newly ordained pastors in the Presbyterian Church … [Read more...]
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Outlook Features 15 hours ago
We’re not going it alone: A pastoral conversation about mentoring relationships
by Lori Archer Raible and George C. Anderson As a newly ordained minister, Lori Archer Raible participated in the Trent Symposium, a comprehensive, annual meeting designed to practically equip pastors for effective church leadership. Along with Ken McFayden, George Anderson directs the Trent Symposium, which Second Presbyterian Church in Roanoke, Virginia, and Union Presbyterian Seminary have sponsored since 2008. The Trent model focuses on practical areas of need, best practices, leadership of experienced pastors and congregation members, peer support, worship and rest. The Trent model has gone on to be… continue reading... -
Outlook Features 2 days ago
On writing in seminary: An open letter to first-year students
By L. Roger Owens Dear first-year seminarian, By now you have unpacked the boxes in your campus apartment, logged your first hundred commuter miles or perused your online course webpage. You have no doubt skimmed a few syllabi, wondering how many pages you will have to read and how many you will have to write. You might even have taken a stab at that first writing assignment. And so it seems the right time to say this: Please, do not view the writing assignments you will do over the next… continue reading... -
Outpost Blog 2 days ago
Transience is no excuse
Guest Outpost blog by Caroline Barnett The summer is over – and I’ve spent more of it driving than I care to admit. With the end of an internship in Washington D.C. at the beginning of the August, and the beginning seminary in Austin, Texas, I’ve crisscrossed this country getting things in order. Moving is not something new to me – I have been lucky and privileged to find home in multiple places over the past five years: in Michigan for college; in West Africa for study abroad; in… continue reading...
Parties in Stamford case had tried to expedite process in order to get a ruling on the merits of the case January 1, 1995 Uncategorized74 views The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission -- in sidestepping the question of exactly how deeply a session should be required to probe into the private life of a gay elder who has acknowledged being in a committed, life-long relationship but has declined to say whether he is sexually active -- has put the question off but has not put it to rest.- Ministering with the Earth January 1, 1998 Book Reviews70 views By Mary Elizabeth MooreChalice. 1998. 226 pp. Pb. $19.99. ISBN 0-8272-2323-4 Ministering with the Earth is a quiltwork, both the on-the-ground activity and Moore's book about so ministering. Moore, professor of theology and Christian education at Claremont School of Theology, is fond of the metaphor, suitably pastoral and feminist.
- Remembered Voice: Reclaiming the Legacy of 'Neo-Orthodoxy' January 1, 1998 Book Reviews76 views By Douglas John HallWJKP. 1998. 145 pp. Pb. $18. ISBN 0-664-25772-0 It was in this order. I first read Tillich's Dynamics of Faith. Riveting. Next came The Courage to Be. Gripping. Then I went back and read the first volume of the Systematic Theology. Things began to make sense. Next came Biblical Religion and the Search for Ultimate Reality. Positive.
Mission Agency board to meet this week in new structure September 12, 2016 Outlook Reporting3 comments
LOUISVILLE (Outlook) – Hoping to spend more time thinking about big issues facing the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Presbyterian Mission Agency board will at its meeting this week put into play a new committee structure and a new way of doing business.
The basic idea: Spend less time at meetings on routine business and more on “generative thinking.”
The agenda for the board’s meeting Sept. 13-16 will be a mix of idea...
Stony Point to work toward financial self-sufficiency June 9, 2014 Outlook Features3 comments LOUISVILLE, KY - After a long and somewhat contentious stretch of trying to figure out the future of Stony Point Center, a plan seems to have emerged — a roadmap for trying to make Stony Point financially self-sufficient within the next three years.
The Presbyterian Mission Agency Board voted April 24 in favor of a plan that:
Affirms the mission, including interfaith work, of Stony Point Center, a Presbyterian conference center outside New York City. Rick and Kitty Ufford-Chase, Stony Point’s co-executive directors, described as crucial the willingness of the leadership of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ...
Adopting Belhar, the 222nd General Assembly makes history June 23, 2016 Outlook Reporting2 comments PORTLAND, Ore. – The 2016 General Assembly made history by voting June 22 to add the Belhar Confession – a moving call for reconciliation, and a condemnation of racial injustice written in the crucible of the struggle over apartheid – to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Book of Confessions. Belhar becomes the first confession from the global south the mostly-white PC(USA) has ever adopted – and the PC(USA) has done so at a time when racial tension, injustice and violence in the United States make headlines nearly every day.
Christians from South Africa told the assembly they have been waiting for this da...
We’re not going it alone: A pastoral conversation about mentoring relationships
Tagged With: theological education
Will Colombian peace accord lead to lasting peace?
BARRANQUILLA, COLOMBIA (PNS) – After four years of dialogue and negotiations, President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC guerrilla group agreed to end hostilities on June 23, 2016. The final peace accord, announced on August 24 and formally signed on September 26, will be placed before the Colombian people for a popular vote on October 2. Weary from more than half a century of war, virtually all Colombians are eager to start a new chapter in the nation’s history. However, there has been much discussion as to what terms should be included in a peace accord with the guerrillas. The text of the accords allows for “transitional justice” to be applied to all sides of the armed conflict. Penalties will be reduced for those who step forward to confess voluntarily, and more severe for those who are prosecuted and found guilty. Guerrilla ex-combatants will spend six months in designated transitional zones and carry out a three-phased laying down of arms. The United Nations will provide … [Read more...]
On writing in seminary: An open letter to first-year students
By L. Roger Owens Dear first-year seminarian, By now you have unpacked the boxes in your campus apartment, logged your first hundred commuter miles or perused your online course webpage. You have no doubt skimmed a few syllabi, wondering how many pages you will have to read and how many you will have to write. You might even have taken a stab at that first writing assignment. And so it seems the right time to say this: Please, do not view the writing assignments you will do over the next few years as mere hurdles to jump. They are crucial to your ministerial formation, opportunities to practice and hone key capacities for ministry. British theologian Nicholas Lash said that carefulness with language is the “first casualty of sin.” Naked and ashamed, Adam and Eve evaded and hedged when they spoke with God after the fruit-tasting episode. Humans have been doing it ever since. Jesus, however, says, “Let your ‘yes’ be yes, and your ‘no’ be no.” Which makes me think … [Read more...]
Transience is no excuse
Guest Outpost blog by Caroline Barnett The summer is over – and I’ve spent more of it driving than I care to admit. With the end of an internship in Washington D.C. at the beginning of the August, and the beginning seminary in Austin, Texas, I’ve crisscrossed this country getting things in order. Moving is not something new to me – I have been lucky and privileged to find home in multiple places over the past five years: in Michigan for college; in West Africa for study abroad; in Kansas City for summer breaks; and in Washington, D.C., for a yearlong internship. But I have never lived anywhere as an adult without a looming end date. I’m not sure if this is the norm for people my age – though it certainly feels like a trend among the college-educated young adults of Washington, D.C. Someone is always coming or going. And while it can be a challenge to keep track of where friends live now, spread-out friendships aren’t limited to geographic boundaries. Thanks to technology … [Read more...]
Ask an … Old Testament scholar
What's correct: Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures? It is not so much an issue of correctness as it is about a difference in theological assumptions conveyed by the terms Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures. The term, “Old Testament,” presupposes that there is some other text, another testament, that is newer, which may surpass, fulfill or update the older one in some way. Old Testament is thus a theologically loaded term. As a result, scholars normally use the more neutral term, “Hebrew Bible,” to refer to this set of writings. In Judaism, this group of writings is called the Tanakh. The term, “Hebrew Bible,” also distinguishes it from the Christian Scriptures, which encompass both the Old and the New Testaments as well as other texts, depending on the tradition of Christianity that one follows. The term Old Testament is still used in many Christian contexts as it is a traditional term. Why is it we say there is one covenant, but in our communion liturgy we talk of … [Read more...]
The high priest forever (Oct. 23, 2016)
Uniform Lesson for October 23, 2016 Scripture passage and lesson focus: Hebrews 7:1-3, 19b-28 If it is a struggle for many contemporary Christian readers to grasp the significance of Jesus as our high priest, it is an even greater challenge to understand what it means that Jesus is our high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Who was this Melchizedek, who is mentioned in only two places in the Old Testament (Genesis 14 and Psalm 110)? Biblical scholars have noted that a variety of traditions about Melchizedek existed in Jewish and early Christian literature as documents discovered at Qumran and Nag Hammadi have shown. The readers of Hebrews may have been familiar with them. However, their relationship to our Hebrews passage is problematic. Although the figure of Melchizedek remains mysterious to us, the author of Hebrews uses it to explain what it means that Jesus is our high priest. He does so by providing an extended commentary on Psalm 110:4, which reads, … [Read more...]
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