Many churches in the United States, from mainline to evangelical and beyond, host a Stewardship Sunday every year. Usually in the fall, Stewardship Sunday typically signifies that a congregation’s stewardship season is underway. The day often includes a series of elements that most churchgoers have come to know well: testimonials during worship from church members who tithe, one brave sermon on money based on a Scripture that includes the phrase “gave her last mite,” “cheerful giver” or “rich young ruler” and an afternoon all-church meeting about the budget. While nothing about Stewardship Sundays is inherently bad, the catch is around what they (and the approach they so often represent) say about the real meaning of stewardship. Personal testimony is inspiring. Talking about money is a critical part of Christian community. Budgets are necessary planning tools. But were you to attend a “stewardship” service, you’d likely leave with the impression that stewardship is mostly the same … [Read more...]
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Outlook Features 6 mins ago
The core of stewardship is love
Many churches in the United States, from mainline to evangelical and beyond, host a Stewardship Sunday every year. Usually in the fall, Stewardship Sunday typically signifies that a congregation’s stewardship season is underway. The day often includes a series of elements that most churchgoers have come to know well: testimonials during worship from church members who tithe, one brave sermon on money based on a Scripture that includes the phrase “gave her last mite,” “cheerful giver” or “rich young ruler” and an afternoon all-church meeting about the budget. While nothing about… continue reading... -
Outpost Blog 6 mins ago
Letters to the church I love
Guest blog by Alissa Conner This month, we invited our bloggers to write a “love letter” to the church. Here are their letters. Dear church, It is so easy to get bogged down in the mire of woe that surrounds the church world — or perhaps the world in general. I hear all around about how small you are getting, or how volunteers aren’t enough, or how we don’t talk like we used to. Still, I see a different side every day and I love you for it. I don’t… continue reading... -
Outpost Blog 1 day ago
A love letter to the church of welcome and justice
This month, we invited our bloggers to write a “love letter” to the church. Here are their letters. Dear church, You aren’t perfect, but that is also why I love you. This is what gives me hope for the future: While we aren’t perfect, we are constantly changing, learning and growing. We are indeed Reformed and always reforming. We come from a history of exclusion, and now we are naming the sins and evils of the world and in our communities: racism, white supremacy, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, and… 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 Uncategorized69 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 Reviews61 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 Reviews59 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.
Rethinking evangelism January 30, 2019 Faith Matters1 comment Because many people now think evangelism means fundamentalists shouting on street corners, lots of mainline Protestant churches have backed away not only from the word but, sadly, from any meaningful practice of it.
Charlene Han Powell, executive pastor at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York, says she’s finally come to terms with the word and now wants to resurrect it in a way that mainliners can accept — not grudgingly, but enthusiastically.
Powell spoke about this recently to my home congregation in Kansas ...
Moving Forward Implementation Commission gets moving December 17, 2018 Outlook Reporting1 comment The Moving Forward Implementation Commission held its first meeting by conference call Dec. 17 – a time of introductions and presenting preliminary thoughts about what the commission is expected to do.
The 2018 General Assembly created the 12-person commission when it adopted the recommendations of the Way Forward Commission, giving the new commission the authority to take “any and all administrative actions as necessary” to implement the W...
All approved: Assembly approves recommendations from Way Forward, All Agency Review and report from Vision 2020 June 21, 2018 Outlook Reporting1 comment 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 ha...
The core of stewardship is love
Tagged With: stewardship
Letters to the church I love
Guest blog by Alissa Conner This month, we invited our bloggers to write a “love letter” to the church. Here are their letters. Dear church, It is so easy to get bogged down in the mire of woe that surrounds the church world — or perhaps the world in general. I hear all around about how small you are getting, or how volunteers aren’t enough, or how we don’t talk like we used to. Still, I see a different side every day and I love you for it. I don’t just see the surface of change, but a depth that is still there and ever deepening. I am constantly astounded by the depths of your love. I watch the surge of care that surrounds a member or even stranger when they suffer tragedy and I am moved. You care so deeply and often silently flow together to take care of an injured party. You provide meals, rides, shoulders to cry on, financial support. It happens so often and so smoothly that often others don’t even know that it occurred. Dear church, In a world where most people … [Read more...]
DISCOVERING SCOTLAND
Open tours June and October 2019. Led by Scottish Presbyterian Pastor. Includes Iona, Edinburgh, St Andrews, Inverness. Scenery, history, heritage of faith. Or choose our tour for Presbyterian Women - September 2019. Brochures - scotustours.com/our-brochures.html Contact – Rev Jim Wallace [email protected] Custom church group tours for 2020 also available. Scotus Tours Perthshire Scotland … [Read more...]
Fifty years later, Catholic Church reckons again with unbelief
(RNS) — Fifty years after it held the world’s first international conference examining the rise of atheism and secularism, the Vatican is joining forces with a British research initiative to host a conference on “Cultures of Unbelief.” In late May, scholars from a range of disciplines will gather at Rome’s Gregorian University to discuss the results of the research initiative, called “Understanding Unbelief,” which for the past two years has been mapping the rise and nature of non-religion across the world. Funding for the $3 million Understanding Unbelief program, which is based at the University of Kent, has come from the John Templeton Foundation. According to the Pew Research Center, the number of “nones” — those who describe themselves as atheist, agnostic or of no particular religion — will reach 1.2 billion worldwide by 2060. In the United States, 23 percent of the population currently claims no religious affiliation. Young people are particularly likely to identify … [Read more...]
Kenyan United Methodists oppose allowing LGBT clergy, pray for church unity worldwide
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — During a recent prayer service here at the Kayole St. John’s United Methodist Church, more than a hundred worshippers followed Rev. Wilton Odongo, one of the church’s head pastors, as he led congregants in prayer. This prayer was addressing the unity of the church — specifically, the worldwide United Methodist Church. Later this month, a special session of the 2019 General Conference in St. Louis will renew its long-running debate over same-sex weddings and LGBTQ clergy. Several proposals under discussion would remove a rule in the church’s book of discipline that would prevent anyone who is a “self-avowed practicing homosexual” from serving as a minister. Here in East Africa’s heavyweight country, though, most say a resounding ‘no’ to such measures. “We are praying that God gives guidance to the delegates so that the result does not hurt the next generation,” said Odongo, who is also the district superintendent of Nairobi and the secretary to the … [Read more...]
The particular Presbyterian call to creation care
Grover Cleveland, William Harrison, Theodore Roosevelt. John Muir, Rachel Carson, David Brower. At first glance, we might say that what connects these names is their environmental legacy. On closer examination, we learn that each of them, president or activist, was raised Presbyterian. Lapsed or active in their faith, each shaped our nation’s relationship with nature. Their efforts challenge the influential argument made by another lapsed Presbyterian, Lynn White Jr., in his 1967 article in Science, “The historical roots of our ecologic crisis.” White contended that Christianity bore the blame for our environmental crisis by championing consumerism over stewardship, and his assertion has influenced subsequent scholarship. Historian Mark Stoll shatters the argument that people of faith are the death of creation. In “Inherit the Holy Mountain: Religion and the Rise of American Environmentalism,” Stoll demonstrates that a Calvinist, Reformed upbringing profoundly influenced the values … [Read more...]
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