Adopting Belhar, the 222nd General Assembly makes history
PORTLAND, Ore. – The 2016 General Assembly made history by voting June 22 to add the Belhar Confession – a moving call..
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Anti-apartheid activist Allan Boesak calls for not just adopting Belhar but living it
PORTLAND, Ore. – At the Ecumenical breakfast on Wednesday, June 22, Allan Boesak, pastor and theologian from the Uniting Reformed Church of..
An audacious request to address an urgent crisis
Committee 10, Mission Coordination, spent most of June 21 discussing and amending overture 10-03 from Pittsburgh Presbytery, “On Taking Specific Action to..
Mission Coordination committee recommends approval of changes in reserve requirement for PC(USA) mission budget
PORTLAND, Ore. – Following a Bible study on messy tables and gift versus grasp, the vice-moderator of the General Assembly’s Mission Coordination..
A new reformation is under way: Philip Jenkins addresses mid council leaders at General Assembly
PORTLAND, Ore. – In 1640, Saint Vincent de Paul reportedly said that God promised that the church would last to the end..
Let’s make headlines in Portland
In ever-rarer moments, the cameras turn in our direction and the world gets a glimpse of us. The pope, being the pope,..
Each loss irreparable: How long will we lament? (A prayer for Orlando)
The scenes look hauntingly similar: devastated faces of survivors as they huddle together, clamoring for caring contact, their hands over their mouths,..
June 12, 2016 – 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Kings 21:1-21a; Luke 7:36-8:3 Proper 6; Ordinary 11C The prayer book I use most mornings has the following sentence as part..
Marked
Child of the covenant, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.” These words..
June 5, 2016 – 3rd Sunday after Pentecost
1 Kings 17:8-16 (17-24); Galatians 1:11-24; Luke 7:11-17 “Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?”..
Memorial Day: Remembering
The Defense Department maintains the numbers of those killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom and in Enduring Freedom and in New Dawn and..
May 29, 2016 – 2nd Sunday after Pentecost
1 Kings 18:20-21 (22-29) 30-39; Galatians 1:1-12; Luke 7:1-10 “How long will you go limping along with two different opinions?” How could..
Why the silence?
She talked about it in code. She would say things like, “You know, that time I spent at Camp Minnehaha.” Few knew..
May 22, 2016 – Trinity Sunday
Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15 Trinity Sunday is back and I know you have been counting the Sundays until it came around again..
Pentecost, 2016 – May 15, 2016
Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-21 What’s wrong with the whole earth having one language and the same words? Why did God go and..
Essential intent
It is a good practice to read widely and not always in genres with which one naturally resonates. That is why I pick..
7th Sunday of Easter – May 8, 2016
Acts 16:16-34; John 17:20-26 The Gospel text for Easter 7 is one of those roundabout John texts. It loops around, repeats, uses..
Face-to-face communication
Turn on the lights, I can’t hear you.” My little brother used to remind my mother of this on early winter mornings..
6th Sunday of Easter – May 1, 2016
Acts 16:9-15; Revelation 21:10; 21:22-22:5 Open gates, always open, no metal detectors, no standing spread eagle for the obligatory TSA X-ray, no..
5th Sunday of Easter – April 24, 2016
Easter 5C Acts 11:1-18; Revelation 21:1-6; John 13:31-35 My relationship to adoption is complicated. My brother is adopted. Several years ago he..
Fourth Sunday of Easter – April 17, 2016
Acts 9:36-43; Psalm 23; Revelation 7:9-17; John 10:22-30 Easter 4C There is so much beautiful imagery to be had this Sunday. There..
Come and see
Capital “T” truth is out of fashion these days. I have been reading lately about the “new culture of learning” that details..
Third Sunday of Easter – April 10, 2016
Acts 9:1-20; John 21:1-19 Easter 3C My husband chairs the board of a small, local nonprofit working in the area of affordable..
All hands on deck
All hands on deck, all available personnel to the front, code blue or alert level red. In other words: Stop what you..
Second Sunday of Easter – April 3, 2016
John 20:19-31 “Last summer at Harvard … .” This was my sister’s refrain for at least a year. She’d gone to a..