Guest commentary by Matthew A. Rich On Wednesday, July 25, 2018, 17-year-old Sarah Rhoads was killed in a tragic car accident. A member of Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church in Augusta, Georgia, Sarah was on her way to serve as a counselor at a day camp for developmentally delayed children organized by Reid Memorial members. Sarah’s death has deeply affected not only her family and the congregation, but the entire community of Augusta, and even beyond, as she had served this summer at the Massanetta Springs Middle School Conferences and as a member of the 2019 Montreat Middle School Conference. On the Sunday after Sarah’s death, the first time the congregation had gathered since the accident, I offered the following sermon on exile, hope and the faithfulness of God. The Presbyterian Outlookshares it this week as a resource to communities facing tragedy close to home. What can separate us? (Psalm 137:1-6 and Romans 8:31-39) Our first reading this morning comes from the … [Read more...]
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Commentary 8 hours ago
What can separate us?
Guest commentary by Matthew A. Rich On Wednesday, July 25, 2018, 17-year-old Sarah Rhoads was killed in a tragic car accident. A member of Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church in Augusta, Georgia, Sarah was on her way to serve as a counselor at a day camp for developmentally delayed children organized by Reid Memorial members. Sarah’s death has deeply affected not only her family and the congregation, but the entire community of Augusta, and even beyond, as she had served this summer at the Massanetta Springs Middle School Conferences and as… continue reading... -
Looking into the lectionary 9 hours ago
18th Sunday after Pentecost — September 23, 2018
James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a; Mark 9:30-37 Ordinary 25B Proper 20 They didn’t know what Jesus was saying, but they were afraid to ask him what he meant. How many times have we been afraid to ask — even when we knew we didn’t understand? How often has our fear of revealing our ignorance prevented us from a revelation, from a new way of seeing, from a deepened relationship? We know the saying “There are no stupid questions,” and yet we do not ever want to appear stupid. It takes courage to… continue reading... -
Book Reviews 1 day ago
The Church: Presbyterian Perspectives
Donald K. McKim Cascade Books, 108 pages For better or worse, part of the experience of Christianity in America has “assumed” church. In the age of Christendom, one could assume the reality of the church with relative ease. If the larger society and culture is assumed to be Christian, then the particular ethos, identity and activity of the Christian community are not all that noteworthy or special or unique. “Assuming” church has led us into some strange forms of self-understanding: thinking one can be a Christian without the church 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 Uncategorized73 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 Reviews67 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 Reviews61 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.
‘Connecting the dots’ between faith and climate change September 14, 2018 Religion News Service1 comment LOS ANGELES (RNS) —Tackling issues like climate change or protecting the environment often requires a lot of boring, behind-the-scenes work, far from the spotlight.
But sometimes you have to let your light shine, said the Rev. Susan Hendershot Guy, president of Interfaith Power & Light.
For California faith communities, that means taking a public role in the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco this week (Sept. 12-14), offering an interfaith service and faith-based workshops among other events.
The three-day summit, co-chaired by Gov. Jerry Brown and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomb...
Finding an alternative to “incarnational ministry” August 31, 2018 Commentary1 comment Guest commentary by Merwyn S. Johnson
I seek to navigate through the rocky shoals of being Presbyterian and Christian today. By all accounts, we are engulfed in an epochal paradigm shift from one era of church-and-culture to another. Our challenge is to go from the old era to the new one without foundering. That will take an authentically new message of grace and truth, centered in Jesus Christ. The widespread language of “incarnational ministry,” however, confines us to the old paradigm.
I started thinking more deeply about this after reading a review of Samuel Wells’ book “
What can separate us?
18th Sunday after Pentecost — September 23, 2018
James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a; Mark 9:30-37 Ordinary 25B Proper 20 They didn’t know what Jesus was saying, but they were afraid to ask him what he meant. How many times have we been afraid to ask — even when we knew we didn’t understand? How often has our fear of revealing our ignorance prevented us from a revelation, from a new way of seeing, from a deepened relationship? We know the saying “There are no stupid questions,” and yet we do not ever want to appear stupid. It takes courage to raise our hand, stop the lecture, risk the annoyance of the teacher, face the eye rolls of our fellow students and say: “I have no idea what you are talking about.” Most of us can recall being shamed for a lack of understanding or knowledge and that feeling is never far from the surface of our consciousness. Hence, we are afraid to ask. Subsequently, we act out of our unknowing and only deepen misunderstanding and mistakes. We coast and bluff through algebra only to be totally overwhelmed in … [Read more...]
No longer the default, Church of England goes digital in religious marketplace
LONDON (RNS) — It’s not particularly news in Britain that young English people no longer automatically consider themselves Anglican. A government survey released this month was only the latest to confirm that “CoE” — Church of England — was no longer the default response when Englanders were asked their religion or checked a box on a form. What’s new, however, is that the Church of England is not sitting back and accepting decline. The nearly 500-year-old denomination is answering back, via Instagram. The U.K.’s annual British Social Attitudes Survey reported that only 2 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds identify with the Church of England, the established religion of the realm since the Reformation. Overall, in fact, fewer than 1 in 7 of the English say they belong to the Church of England. Between 2002 and 2017, the share of the populace identifying with the church dropped from 31 percent to 14 percent. That was a faster decline than any other Christian denomination in … [Read more...]
Presbyteries’ Cooperative Committee on Examinations for Candidates Announces Change to Exam Schedule beginning in 2019-20 Academic Year
(OGA) At its fall meeting in Pittsburgh on September 11-13, the executive committee of the Presbyteries’ Cooperative Committee on Examinations for Candidates (PCC) gave final approval to a plan to move from four to three administrations each year of the senior exams (Bible Exegesis, Polity, Theology, and Worship and Sacraments) beginning with the 2019-2020 academic year. The exams previously announced for October 2018 and January and April 2019 will be offered as scheduled. The exam cycle will then shift to administrations at the end of September, January, and April, with readers from specified regions of the presbyteries evaluating them beginning on the first Mondays in October, February, and May, respectively. Exam results will continue to be available ten days after the submission of the Exegesis exams. Through most of their now over 50-year history, the senior ordination exams were offered twice each year (in late August and January). With the move to online … [Read more...]
Pope Francis dialogs with Christian leaders on combating racism
(WCC) Pope Francis met on 20 September with leaders of different Christian churches who have been taking part in a Rome meeting on combating racism and xenophobia, saying he hoped their encounter would give rise to many other such shared initiatives. The Pope greeted individually each participant in the World Conference on Xenophobia, Racism and Populist Nationalism in the Context of Global Migration. The three-day encounter was jointly organised by the World Council of Churches and the Vatican’s Office for Integral Human Development, in collaboration with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. He told the religious leaders that we live in a time in which “suspicion, fear, contempt and even hatred” towards those of different ethnicities, nationalities or religions are on the increase, giving rise to acts of intolerance, discrimination and exclusion. Politicians, he noted, succumb to the temptation of exploiting such fears and using them for short-sighted … [Read more...]
The Church: Presbyterian Perspectives
Donald K. McKim Cascade Books, 108 pages For better or worse, part of the experience of Christianity in America has “assumed” church. In the age of Christendom, one could assume the reality of the church with relative ease. If the larger society and culture is assumed to be Christian, then the particular ethos, identity and activity of the Christian community are not all that noteworthy or special or unique. “Assuming” church has led us into some strange forms of self-understanding: thinking one can be a Christian without the church and thinking that the Christian project has more to do with Christianizing our society or our country than it does with the mission of the church. As Christianity becomes more of an optional way of life in an increasingly secular and post-Christian society, the identity, purpose and significance of what we mean by “church” becomes increasingly necessary and important. In his book, “The Church: Presbyterian Perspectives,” Donald McKim offers a … [Read more...]
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