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...]
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Outlook Features 1 min ago
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… continue reading... -
Outlook Reporting 9 mins ago
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… continue reading... -
Outpost Blog 53 mins ago
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… 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 Reviews115 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 Reviews105 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...
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...
Assembly approves child protection policy June 23, 2016 Outlook Reporting2 comments PORTLAND, Ore. – The General Assembly Procedures committee only had time to present one item of business from its report before the 2016 General Assembly adjourned for the evening June 22 – but it was a matter of both deep significance and emotional resonance.
The assembly voted on Item 03-14, a policy created for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to protect children, youth, and vulnerable adults. The committee’s moderator, Mary Lou Cox, introduced the item by shari...
PC(USA) joins with Salvadoran church to combat plague of gang violence
Tagged With: GA223
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...]
Humans of GA: Hats edition
This is Stanley Kessler. He’s a teaching elder commissioner from the Presbytery of Wabash Valley in Indiana. He is wearing a Levine straw hat, “because you wear straw after Memorial Day!” Levine & Co hats are made right here in St. Louis. Gregory Chan, a member of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board from Presbytery of San Francisco, said, “I have a Griffin hat, but I have been looking for a porkpie hat for years!” He found this one three weeks ago! Tom Link is a ruling elder commissioner from Presbytery of San Joaquin in California. He has a reversible hat. He said, “I can be in your face with this hat, but when I’m no longer in your face, I can blend in with the crowd.” Beatrix Weil, assembly assistant from New York, wore a blossom hat all week. She is an advisor to the YAADS. She wore the hat so the YAADS would be able to see her and know that she is there to support them. She likes it because she’s gotten a lot of comments about the … [Read more...]
General Assembly condemns the government for separating children from their families
ST. LOUIS — Bart Smith, a teaching elder from De Cristo Presbytery, argued that “God’s people” should mince no words in calling out the federal government for separating children from their parents and detaining families in prison-like conditions. The 223rd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) endorsed that line of thinking June 21 with a 484-34 vote for a resolution that calls for an immediate end to the government’s zero-tolerance policy toward families illegally entering the United States. The resolution also calls for federal authorities to promptly reunite parents and children who have been separated and to place families “under the care of the community,” rather than in detention. The assembly approved an amendment Smith offered that puts a sharper edge on the resolution as passed by its Committee on Peacemaking, Immigration, and International Issues. The amendment condemns an executive order, newly issued by President Trump, that would end the separation of … [Read more...]
Turning doors into tables
Doors are designed to divide spaces, and people; locked doors keep people apart from each other. Tables are designed to bring people together; big tables are symbols of hospitality and grace. The hymn that was commissioned for the 223rd General Assembly, “Draw the Welcome Circle Wider” includes this line: “Doors upended serve as tables where the guests prepare to dine. Justice is their righteous fare, while mercy is their richest wine.” Those words inspired the team that designed and assembled the prayer room for the 223rdGeneral Assembly. Anne Peacock, ministry assistant at Ladue Chapel, started looking for a door that could be used as a table to provide a focal point for prayer and meditation in the prayer room. She contacted a contractor in the congregation who tracked down an unused door. The door was set up in their fellowship hall on saw horses. A local St. Louis artist, Marilyn Smith, was invited to paint the door. Peacock and Smith prayed in the lectio divinastyle … [Read more...]
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