ST. LOUIS – On Thursday, June 21, the General Assembly was treated to a live concert by Kirk Whalum. This was billed as a celebration of the Hands and Feet initiative in St. Louis and a launch of the initiative in Baltimore. Stated clerk J. Herbert Nelson took the stage in a snappy blue blazer and bow tie to share opening remarks for the concert. He thanked Northern Trust securities for sponsoring the concert; because of their sponsorship, all of the proceeds from the ticket sales are going directly to the work of the “Hands and Feet” initiative. Nelson talked about the development of the Hands and Feet initiative and how it came to be in St. Louis. He said, “We came to St. Louis knowing what we were going to do and that’s the worst thing you can do.” Nelson acknowledged that they had to check their preconceived ideas and instead listen to local churches and partners on the ground. He led the audience in the chant: “Whose streets? Our streets!” Nelson said that those words were … [Read more...]
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Outlook Reporting 1 min ago
Presbyterians put their hands together and stomp their feet for the Hands and Feet initiative at a concert by jazz musician Kirk Whalum
ST. LOUIS – On Thursday, June 21, the General Assembly was treated to a live concert by Kirk Whalum. This was billed as a celebration of the Hands and Feet initiative in St. Louis and a launch of the initiative in Baltimore. Stated clerk J. Herbert Nelson took the stage in a snappy blue blazer and bow tie to share opening remarks for the concert. He thanked Northern Trust securities for sponsoring the concert; because of their sponsorship, all of the proceeds from the ticket sales are going directly to… continue reading... -
Commentary 2 hours ago
A GA junkie follows along from home
It all started when I was in seminary with the 219th General Assembly (held in Minneapolis in 2010). I knew I wanted to attend GA, but because I only had one semester left before graduation (as opposed to a full academic year), I wasn’t eligible to be a Theological Student Advisory Delegate (TSAD). But there was another option. I signed up to be a student worker and so ended up behind the scenes. (Have you ever noticed those tired-looking people running around in blue smocks? That was me.) And I loved… continue reading... -
Outlook Reporting 15 hours ago
All approved: Assembly approves recommendations from Way Forward, All Agency Review and report from Vision 2020
ST. LOUIS – With relatively little discussion and no drama, the General Assembly approved the recommendations of the Way Forward Commission and All Agency Review Committee. While some commissioners struggled to understand the complexity of the proposals, those who have wrangled with these issues for months – and there’s been no shortage of drama there – have said they involve issues of power, control, accountability and trust. The changes the assembly approved June 21 by a vote of 474-47 will mean governance of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation –… 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 Uncategorized110 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 Reviews116 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 Reviews106 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.
Proposed per capita increase will go to General Assembly February 9, 2018 Outlook Reporting4 comments LOUISVILLE – With no debate, the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board voted Feb. 9 to approve a sizeable proposed increase in General Assembly per capita – from $7.73 per member in 2018 to $10.71 in 2019 and to $11.45 in 2020.
That would amount to a 39 percent increase from 2018 to 2019 and a 7 percent increase from 2019 to 2020. The proposal now will go to the 2018 General Assembly in June in St. Louis for its consideration.
Ken Godshall, who is chair of the board and a pastor from Kentucky, had voted against the proposed increase Feb. 8 when it came before the board’s executive committee, saying the increase...
Way Forward Commission takes action regarding trust and transparency June 12, 2018 Outlook Reporting2 comments The Way Forward Commission met on June 12 to take administrative action regarding issues of trust and transparency in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – apparently responding to imbalances it has detected in the way things have been operating in the national church.
The action (leading with the affirmation that “God alone is Lord of conscience”) addresses what information can be openly shared after a closed or confidential meeting of a denominational entity, and the ways in which staff and board members can express their views regarding information that’s not restricted “without real or implied threat.”
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Vision and structure, function and dysfunction: Way Forward discerns next steps for the PC(USA) June 18, 2018 Outlook Reporting2 comments ST. LOUIS – Representatives of the Way Forward Commission and the All Agency Review Committee made the case June 18 that a dysfunctional institutional culture at the Presbyterian Mission Agency makes change in the national structure imperative — even raising the possibility that the assembly might consider setting up an administrative commission to take charge of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board.
Mark Hostetter, moderator of the Way Forward Commission created by the 2016 assembly, responded to a question a Way Forward Committee (the entity of this 2018 assembly) member for this assembly raised las...
Presbyterians put their hands together and stomp their feet for the Hands and Feet initiative at a concert by jazz musician Kirk Whalum
Tagged With: GA223
A GA junkie follows along from home
It all started when I was in seminary with the 219th General Assembly (held in Minneapolis in 2010). I knew I wanted to attend GA, but because I only had one semester left before graduation (as opposed to a full academic year), I wasn’t eligible to be a Theological Student Advisory Delegate (TSAD). But there was another option. I signed up to be a student worker and so ended up behind the scenes. (Have you ever noticed those tired-looking people running around in blue smocks? That was me.) And I loved every minute of those 10 days that I spent setting up and taking down and passing out paper and trying to help people with all their technical issues (yikes!) and running hastily-scrawled amendments from the plenary floor backstage so they could be put up on the screen for all to read. For me, that was it. I was hooked. I was officially a GA junkie. Every GA since then, I’ve spent the entire week following every moment possible from afar. I read through the overtures beforehand … [Read more...]
All approved: Assembly approves recommendations from Way Forward, All Agency Review and report from Vision 2020
ST. LOUIS – With relatively little discussion and no drama, the General Assembly approved the recommendations of the Way Forward Commission and All Agency Review Committee. While some commissioners struggled to understand the complexity of the proposals, those who have wrangled with these issues for months – and there’s been no shortage of drama there – have said they involve issues of power, control, accountability and trust. The changes the assembly approved June 21 by a vote of 474-47 will mean governance of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation – a secular corporation the church uses to handle its business – will shift from the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board to a shared governance model. The board will now have 11 members – with representation from five of the six PC(USA) agencies, along with the Advocacy Committee on Women’s Concerns, the Racial Equity Advocacy Committee, Presbyterian Women and three at-large members. That means the agencies that use shared … [Read more...]
PC(USA) joins with Salvadoran church to combat plague of gang violence
ST. LOUIS — Families who have suffered detention and separation from their children upon reaching the southern U.S. border have typically left behind a different, often deadly sort of trauma in their home countries in Central America. The 223rd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is partnering with a Salvadoran church to help reduce levels of gang-related violence in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador that have led families to flee those countries in fear for their own and their children’s lives. On June 21, the assembly passed an overture from the Presbytery of the Pacific that makes the PC(USA) a partner in working for region-wide and country-specific changes in policy sought by the Reformed Calvinist Church of El Salvador (IRCES). The vote to approve was 463-45. Changes called for by the assembly would include: assignment of a mission partner to help develop a refugee and immigration advocacy network; ensuring that leaders from the region get heard by the … [Read more...]
Good biscuits and the bread of life: General Assembly worship with Floretta Barbee-Watkins
ST. LOUIS – Water remained a central theme of worship General Assembly worship on Thursday, June 21. The opening hymn, “Take Me to the Water” set the tone for a worship service that incorporated water, children and reflections on table fellowship. The prayer of confession used the theme of bread and the mustard seed, which would be echoed in the assurance of forgiveness, Scripture and sermon. The Scripture for the service, the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven from Luke 13, were presented by video in the form of a children’s message from the book “Young Children and Worship.” Floretta Barbee-Watkins, pastor of The Avenue Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, preached a sermon that challenged the assembly. She noted that the purpose of preaching is to “distress the comfortable and to comfort the distressed.” Barbee-Watkins opened her sermon with an illustration about homemade biscuits and family dynamics, connecting immediately with those gathered. She … [Read more...]
En el corpus
I did not get to watch Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri speak in Spanish as the newly elected co-moderator of the 223rdGeneral Assembly, being held this week in St. Louis. But I read how she switched into her native tongue from the news summary. A reader’s comment noted how the Spanish was not quoted in the body of the article. The Spanish, then, was only an abstract idea. I took Latin in high school, allegedly because I was trying to improve my SAT score. (In my experience, this supposed benefit is about as mythic as “The Aeneid.”) More truthfully, I knew that I would not be required to speak a dead language. I was far happier with a translation dictionary as my only conversation partner. When in seminary, I learned Greek, Hebrew and German. However, I was not trained to speak conversationally – rather, it was more akin to solving a written text like my younger brother teaches math equations. I was all in my head. A few years ago, the same brother gifted me with a Spanish-speaking … [Read more...]
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