The history of African-American Presbyterians – and, yes, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – must acknowledge the transformative life and ministry of the Katie Geneva Cannon. Without much fanfare or special services, in the middle of a regularly scheduled meeting of the Presbytery of Catawba on April 23, 1974, the Church confirmed the call of God and ordained Katie Geneva Cannon to the ministry of Word and Sacrament. She opened the door for many African-American Presbyterian women to acknowledge God’s call on our lives and to enter ordained ministry. To understand Cannon’s ordination and ministry is to understand the context of her early life and formation for ministry. Born into a large religious family in the racially-segregated South, she was shaped by both the faith of her family and community and the evils of Jim Crow segregation. Reflecting on her childhood, Cannon recalled: “Using the notion of sin in my catechism class as a lens I wanted to know what wrongdoing my kith and … [Read more...]
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Outlook Features 1 min ago
She dared to say yes: A reflection on Katie Geneva Cannon
The history of African-American Presbyterians – and, yes, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – must acknowledge the transformative life and ministry of the Katie Geneva Cannon. Without much fanfare or special services, in the middle of a regularly scheduled meeting of the Presbytery of Catawba on April 23, 1974, the Church confirmed the call of God and ordained Katie Geneva Cannon to the ministry of Word and Sacrament. She opened the door for many African-American Presbyterian women to acknowledge God’s call on our lives and to enter ordained ministry. To understand… continue reading... -
Outpost Blog 1 day ago
Advent: Waiting on peace
Each Advent we light candles of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. We wait, and we pray until the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus arrives and with fanfare, we welcome a baby who is the Savior. If we are really attuned, we know we wait not just to celebrate Jesus’ birth but also the day of the Second Coming. The day when perhaps finally we can forever have hope, peace, joy and love. This Advent, I find myself waiting on and praying especially for peace. It seems that we… continue reading... -
Book Reviews 1 day ago
Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship (Year C, Volume 1, Advent through Epiphany)
Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery and Cynthia L. Rigby, editors WJK Press, 400 pages What a marvelous commentary that will go right alongside the popular “Feasting on the Word” series! The nine volumes belong on the pastor’s shelf. Why? Because preaching is crucial to the life of the church, always and especially in turbulent times. A wide variety of teachers, preachers and scholars bring the depth of the Scriptures into conversation and connection with both Word and world. The biblical texts for each Sunday are interpreted… 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 Uncategorized68 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 Reviews68 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 Reviews67 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.
- The smaller church (40 years ago) November 9, 2018 From the Archives2 comments 40 years ago — November 6, 1978
As almost every Presbyterian knows, our denomination is made up predominantly of smaller congregations. Without them, we would be vastly poorer not only in spirit, but also in size. … There are possibilities inherent in a small church situation that are very difficult to come by in a large congregation: opportunities for small-group closeness … strong personal ties between pastor and people … and … less of the “red tape” … . Many in our ranks seem to be rediscovering the biblical truth that “bigness” is not necessarily “best”; and thus they are starting to see that smalle...
Bus station compassion: volunteers help asylum-seekers get to the next place on their long journey to safety November 6, 2018 Outlook Reporting1 comment MCALLEN, TEXAS – What happens when the caravan gets here remains to be seen, but a recent fall day at a bus station near the border demonstrated more the resilience and determination of asylum-seekers and humanitarian volunteers – sort of new best-friends in crisis – than any glimpse of a well-designed federal system.
On two days that week, immigration officials dropped off roughly 500 asylum-seekers per day, nearly all of them families with children, at the bus station in McAllen, Texas. There was no advance notice of the big n...
A look inside the courtroom: 45 men and women who entered the U.S. illegally appear before a judge in Texas November 2, 2018 Outlook Reporting1 comment BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS – They swam, they rafted, they waded, they walked through the desert. They got caught.
That’s the short, surface version of the stories of these 45 Central American immigrants. Their cases were all heard on the same morning this fall before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald G. Morgan in a federal courtroom in Brownsville, Texas. This is a story of process, not of the histories and hopes and dreams of these people – 38 men and 7 women – or the economic and political forces that drove them north, or the fierce political debate in the United States over what immigration policy is and ought to be.
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She dared to say yes: A reflection on Katie Geneva Cannon
Tagged With: African-American Presbyterians
Advent: Waiting on peace
Each Advent we light candles of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. We wait, and we pray until the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus arrives and with fanfare, we welcome a baby who is the Savior. If we are really attuned, we know we wait not just to celebrate Jesus’ birth but also the day of the Second Coming. The day when perhaps finally we can forever have hope, peace, joy and love. This Advent, I find myself waiting on and praying especially for peace. It seems that we now only imagine peace to come about when we all finally agree with each other. When the one of us who has shouted the loudest and longest wears the others down, we will finallyhave peace. The world would be so peace-filled if everyone could just see that I am right and start agreeing with me! Yet the peace we are called to and the peace we wait on isn’t so much about agreeing with one another as it is living into the kin-dom of God. It is the sort of peace that comes when we set aside our differences, find our … [Read more...]
Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship (Year C, Volume 1, Advent through Epiphany)
Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery and Cynthia L. Rigby, editors WJK Press, 400 pages What a marvelous commentary that will go right alongside the popular “Feasting on the Word” series! The nine volumes belong on the pastor’s shelf. Why? Because preaching is crucial to the life of the church, always and especially in turbulent times. A wide variety of teachers, preachers and scholars bring the depth of the Scriptures into conversation and connection with both Word and world. The biblical texts for each Sunday are interpreted within the context of the whole canon as well as the world to which they speak. The preacher looking for a path forward that takes both Word and world seriously will find skilled companions in this collection. Imagine being in a lively seminar each week! What’s even better is an added feature of the commentary connecting the Psalms with Scripture and weekly worship. As Barbara Brown Taylor said, “there are diamonds to be discovered each week.” That … [Read more...]
Healthy congregations — December 17, 2018
The message of mainline church decline is loud, relentless and familiar. But there is good news, too. Congregations are getting creative, experimenting, reaching out, going deep and recognizing that God is doing a new thing in the world as well as with and through them. Click here to read the issue in the Uberflip reader. Grace, mystery, beauty and freedom Four themes of Reformed theology contribute to the healing of major wounds in the world. On becoming ecclesial geologists Family systems theory applies a concept from geology: The present is the key to the past. A compassionate church Healthy churches create safe, sacred spaces at the intersection of faith and public life. Robust church rising Something is rising as churches look for greater depth in the postmodern era. … [Read more...]
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance sends help to Illinois after tornadoes
(PNS) The scene was not unfamiliar to Greg Smith, a member of the National Response team for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, as he assessed damage in Taylorville, Ill. early in December. “The tornado went right through the residential part of the community,” he said. “Very few businesses were affected. It was mostly residential. The destruction was incredibly serious: houses without roofs, siding — the mayor said, ‘You won’t believe it, but that house had brand new siding.’ It sure didn’t have any when we were there.” Taylorville, Ill., suffered extensive damage from a tornado the evening of Dec. 1. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is responding. (Photo by Kathy Montgomery) For some readers, it may be news that there were tornadoes in the Midwest the first weekend in December. While it did not make headlines the way hurricanes or wildfires have recently, the storm system that went through Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma last weekend packed a wallop, with 23 … [Read more...]
Book charting decline of white Christian America wins Grawemeyer Award in Religion
LOUISVILLE (PNS) — White Protestantism has dominated U.S. politics and culture for much of the nation’s history, but demographic change and an exodus from churches by the young are bringing the era to a close. That prediction comes from Robert P. Jones, founder and chief executive officer of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), who has won the 2019 Grawemeyer Award in Religion for his book, “The End of White Christian America.” Simon & Schuster published the work in 2016. University of Louisville and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary jointly give the religion prize. Robert Jones, the author of “The End of White Christian America,” is the winner of the 2019 Grawemeyer Award in Religion. (Photo courtesy of Public Religion Research Institute) America is no longer mostly white and Christian, Jones found. Although 54 percent of the U.S. population met that description in 2008, the number fell to 45 percent in 2016. The election two years ago gave Republicans … [Read more...]
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