The women’s group at a church in Michigan discussed how to teach their children to be more caring. One proud mother shared: “My 4-year-old son is caring. Recently an elderly gentlemen neighbor lost his wife. My son went over and climbed up in his lap and just sat there.” His mother later asked him what he said to the neighbor. The lad answered, “Nothing, I just helped him cry.” … [Read more...]
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Outlook Features 16 hours ago
Over- or under-function? — a constant challenge
In a previous Outlook article, I noted several key points about Murray Bowen’s family systems theory: It’s based on cellular biology, not psychology. Bowen said his “cornerstone concept” was “differentiation of self.” He explained that he arrived at his theory by comparing how humans mature by comparing it to how cells “differentiate.” For Bowen, the terms “highly differentiated” and “highly mature” are synonymous Bowen describes 12 “core capacities” of persons who are “highly differentiated/highly mature.” One of those capacities is to live a reasonably balanced life — a life with… continue reading... -
Outpost Blog 16 hours ago
The other side of the Table
Guest Outpost blog by Jordan B. Davis I remember it so clearly: standing at the table I once slept under during a lock-in, as I looked out at the faces of Sunday school teachers and youth group leaders. The retired pastor who baptized me at the age of 10 years old smiled back at me. I could feel the warm embrace of those who once held me close upon receiving the news that a dear friend and youth member had died in a car accident, the same tragedy that eventually… continue reading... -
Outlook Reporting 1 day ago
Way Forward Commission strives to present counsel to the church on its ongoing work
On May 22, the Way Forward Commission held its second-to-last meeting before the 2018 General Assembly convenes in St. Louis in June – using most of that time to provide updates on its ongoing work, and a sense of how it will proceed in the time it has left. The commission – which has some power to act on its own – has already made its report and formal recommendations to the assembly. It can’t add any new recommendations to that report now, said Mark Hostetter, a minister from New York… 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 Uncategorized59 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 Reviews69 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 Reviews64 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.
PC(USA), A Corporation: Everything you wanted to know, but were afraid to ask April 25, 2018 Outlook Reporting5 comments Confused, confused, confused.
So many say they are confused by the octopus-like discussions involving the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) corporate structure. (Others just shake their heads and walk away.)
The issue will come up again at the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board meeting in Cincinnati April 25-27. Discussions are ongoing, which means that what’s on the table may change between now and when the assembly convenes in June in St. Louis: these proposals may morph.
Dear readers, we cannot tell you where to align yourselves in this dispute. We can, however, attempt to offer a primer of some of the te...
Vision before structure: Presbyterian Mission Agency Board scrutinizes recommendations from other groups April 25, 2018 Outlook Reporting4 comments CINCINNATI – The Presbyterian Mission Agency Board is considering asking the 2018 General Assembly to take the next two years to vet both the details and the vision of recommendations from the Way Forward Commission and the All Agency Review Committee, so that “a more comprehensive and sustainable recommendation can be brought to the 2020 General Assembly.”
That language is contained in a proposed set of comments (P.002 Governance Task Force WFC AARC comment) to the assembly that the bo...
Presbyterian leaders clarify what’s at stake in debates over restructuring April 9, 2018 Outlook Reporting3 comments LOUISVILLE – While no blazing agreement was reached, participants in an April 8-9 conversation regarding the corporate structure of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have agreed on some next steps and clarified their sticking points and places of disagreement.
It’s possible that holding this meeting and airing the differences may lower the tension as two competing proposals regarding a reconfiguration of the PC(USA), A Corporation – which is the corporate identity for the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) and the Office of the General Assembly (OGA) -- head towards the General Assembly that will meet in St. Lou...
Teaching children to be caring
Hurricane Harvey
Pastor Sonja wrote in her letter to the congregation in Kingsville, Texas, following Hurricane Harvey that Kingsville escaped the heavy destruction while so many cities along the open the coast were hit hard. She quoted Mark who told the story of Jesus sleeping in the fishing boat when the storm came up. This pastor said, “I always want Jesus in my boat in a storm.” … [Read more...]
Chappell Ellison
“To ease my brother’s pain, even for a mere five minutes, would be my greatest achievement.” – Designer Chappell Ellison on creating objects for people like her brother who suffer with obsessive compulsive disorder (in Design Observer) … [Read more...]
Rachel weeping (20 years ago)
20 years ago — April 27, 1998 “She was remembered by her students as a teacher ‘who always looked out for us.’ At around 12:42 p.m. on March 24, Shannon Wright of Jonesboro, Arkansas, threw herself in front of 12-year-old Emma Pittman to shield the young girl’s body from a sniper’s bullet.” Two male students, a 13-year-old and an 11-year-old lay in ambush for students and teachers at Westside Middle School after luring them into the schoolyard with a phony fire alarm. In the aftermath of the carnage, a news commentator asked Americans to wake up to the “fact that we live in a culture that glorifies violence.” A great deal of that violence is directed to females. “Of the five dead and 10 wounded, all but one were female. … Rachel weeps for her children (see Matthew 2:18). In schoolyards in Jonesboro, Arkansas; Paducah, Kentucky; Pearl, Mississippi – 11 bloodstained playgrounds since 1993 – Rachel weeps for the young boys who have turned their rage into revenge.” She weeps for her … [Read more...]
Over- or under-function? — a constant challenge
In a previous Outlook article, I noted several key points about Murray Bowen’s family systems theory: It’s based on cellular biology, not psychology. Bowen said his “cornerstone concept” was “differentiation of self.” He explained that he arrived at his theory by comparing how humans mature by comparing it to how cells “differentiate.” For Bowen, the terms “highly differentiated” and “highly mature” are synonymous Bowen describes 12 “core capacities” of persons who are “highly differentiated/highly mature.” One of those capacities is to live a reasonably balanced life — a life with no prolonged “over or under-functioning.” It’s this crucial capacity that I want to address here. Take a moment to ponder your life — its daily practices, rituals, routines and rhythms. After being away from home for a while, have you ever had the epiphany: “When I get back home I’m going to change some aspect of how I live or work” — and then, despite your good intentions nothing … [Read more...]
The other side of the Table
Guest Outpost blog by Jordan B. Davis I remember it so clearly: standing at the table I once slept under during a lock-in, as I looked out at the faces of Sunday school teachers and youth group leaders. The retired pastor who baptized me at the age of 10 years old smiled back at me. I could feel the warm embrace of those who once held me close upon receiving the news that a dear friend and youth member had died in a car accident, the same tragedy that eventually pulled me away from not just this congregation but, for a few years, also from God. I thought of the last time I had been in this sanctuary, receiving Communion at my older sister’s wedding only a few years before. Knowing that I was in seminary and a time of discernment, the Disciples of Christ congregation in which I was raised from birth until 8thgrade called me back, in need of someone to help lead worship and assist with communion over the Christmas break. I was hesitant, having left that congregation (and … [Read more...]
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