(Columbia Theological Seminary communications) Columbia Theological Seminary was awarded a grant of $1 million to expand the Pastoral Excellence Programs offered through The Center for Lifelong Learning (CLL). The grant is part of Lilly Endowment Inc.'s Thriving in Ministry Initiative. The initiative supports a variety of religious organizations across the nation as they create or strengthen programs that help pastors build relationships with experienced clergy who can serve as role models and mentors and guide them through key leadership challenges in congregational ministry. The Endowment is making more than $20 million in grants through the Thriving in Ministry Initiative. The Pastoral Excellence Programs include three opportunities: the Leadership in Ministry Workshops, the Colloquy for Clergy Series, and the Healthy Transitions Wellness Retreats for Clergy and Spouses. While each program is designed to meet the needs of different audiences, each builds on the best practices of … [Read more...]

(Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary press release) Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary recently received a $1.5 million five-year grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to establish an innovation hub that assists congregations in designing and launching new and/or building upon existing ministries to help Christians discover how God calls them to lead lives of meaning and purpose. According to Sally Pendleton, Louisville Seminary’s vice president for institutional advancement, the seminary’s innovation hub, called The Myrtle Collaboration: An Initiative to Reclaim the Vocation of Every Child of God, will be an initiative and an experiment designed to help faithful lay persons discover and live out God’s calling for their lives through their development and resourcing of congregational ministries. The grant is one of 13 grants Lilly Endowment has made through Called to Lives of Meaning and Purpose, a $20 million initiative to help organizations around the nation as … [Read more...]

STONY POINT, NY (Presbyterian Peace Fellowship press release) -   Thursday, December 14, 2017 is Gun Violence Awareness Day across the United States. It is also the fifth anniversary of the shooting deaths of 20 first graders and six school staff at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. "In the five years since Sandy Hook, over 165,000 Americans have been killed by gun violence.  That's three times as many Americans as died in the whole Vietnam War," says Presbyterian Pastor Margery Rossi. "During this time, Congress has done nothing to make us safer. They just acted in the House to make America a more dangerous place by endorsing interstate concealed carry.  This must change." On Dec. 10-14, local Presbyterians across the nation are engaging in action for that very change. Rossi chairs the Gun Violence Prevention Working Group of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, a national grassroots group of Presbyterians formed in 1944 to promote alternatives to violence.  The … [Read more...]

PHILADELPHIA (Board of Pensions press release) – The Board of Pensions is investigating the fraudulent redirection of 11 pension payments. The Board reissued the December payments to the pensioners, and acted immediately to ensure that no other Benefits Plan members or pensioners were, or would be, affected. The fraud did not affect any other plans or funds. The Board also identified that the online accounts of 46 additional pensioners had been altered to redirect future payments. The Board reversed these, thwarting the attempt at a second theft. Credit and identity protection service is being offered to the 57 pensioners who were in some way affected. "We identified it, contained it, and prevented further damage," Board President Frank C. Spencer said. "The final loss was minimal and we have insurance as well." The Board is working with its insurance carrier, a top forensic consulting firm, and law enforcement to determine the source of the fraud and to help ensure system … [Read more...]

(LOUISVILLE PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRESS RELEASE) Between 1880 and 1940, nearly 5,000 black men and women were lynched in the United States. In response, African American Christians turned to their religion and to the cross of Jesus as a symbol of suffering but also of profound hope. Despite these violent killings and the centrality of the cross in Christian communities, the lynching tree did not occupy any space in the American theological imagination. In The Cross and the Lynching Tree (Orbis Books, 2011), renowned theologian James H. Cone passionately conjoins the provocative images of the first-century cross and the twentieth-century lynching tree. “The crucifixion was clearly a first-century lynching,” said Cone. “Both are symbols of the death of the innocent, mob hysteria, humiliation, and terror. They both also reveal a thirst for life that refuses to let the worst determine our final meaning and demonstrate that God can transform ugliness into beauty, into … [Read more...]