The Presbyterian Outlook, Author at The Presbyterian Outlook

The particular Presbyterian call to creation care

February 18, 2019 by The Presbyterian Outlook Leave a Comment

Grover Cleveland, William Harrison, Theodore Roosevelt. John Muir, Rachel Carson, David Brower. At first glance, we might say that what connects these names is their environmental legacy. On closer examination, we learn that each of them, president or activist, was raised Presbyterian. Lapsed or active in their faith, each shaped our nation’s relationship with nature. Their efforts challenge the influential argument made by another lapsed Presbyterian, Lynn White Jr., in his 1967 article in Science, “The historical roots of our ecologic crisis.” White contended that Christianity bore the blame for our environmental crisis by championing consumerism over stewardship, and his assertion has influenced subsequent scholarship. Historian Mark Stoll shatters the argument that people of faith are the death of creation. In “Inherit the Holy Mountain: Religion and the Rise of American Environmentalism,” Stoll demonstrates that a Calvinist, Reformed upbringing profoundly influenced the values … [Read more...]

Tagged With: creation stewardship

What’s right about Wizard’s Wardrobe in Albany, New York?

February 18, 2019 by The Presbyterian Outlook Leave a Comment

Seven years ago, after a year-long discernment process, a number of us started tutoring at a nearby public school. Within a year, First Presbyterian Church and Giffen Memorial Elementary School formed a partnership that extended past tutoring. We helped build playground equipment, repaired instruments and organized a special day that brought several authors and illustrators each spring to do small presentations and sign books that the children received for free. However, we always wanted to do more. About two years ago, we formed a not-for-profit, free, after-school tutoring program. The students come twice a week and each works with his or her own tutor on reading, writing and problem-solving skills for 90 minutes. The Wizard’s Wardrobe uses a creative atmosphere to encourage our students to take risks and let their imaginations soar. Our goal is that every 1st and 2nd grader who starts with us will be reading on grade level no later than third grade. – Debra Fagans, volunteer … [Read more...]

I don’t think y’all can ever stop doing this: A reflection on the blackface scandal in Virginia

February 15, 2019 by The Presbyterian Outlook Leave a Comment

Guest commentary by Charles Holmes The conjoined twins of racism and politics, connected via several points along their central nervous systems, have become the focus of our attention again. This poor misshapen conflicted creature exists only to cause pain and promote animus and irreparable damage to every facet of humanity. Not hyperbole. This time the twins have chosen a familiar form: blackface. I will not provide y’all with background information about the aberrant practice because I don’t want to, I don’t have to and if this is a brand-new subject for you then you are new to the planet. Please, allow me to escort you to our leader. But first I think I need to assay the line of accession for both federal and state governments. It shouldn’t take long. It is not possible for me as a marked minority to endure the twins and their pernicious impact on my life for long spans of time without experiencing noxious anger and hate for the white people who consciously and … [Read more...]

The Hawk is flying

February 12, 2019 by The Presbyterian Outlook Leave a Comment

“Who let that Hawk out? Whew, the Hawk is flying high today!” I exclaimed as walked into my office from a bone-chilling 21-degree Atlanta morning. A weird silence fell over the room. As I removed my hat, I saw five co-workers looking at me as if I’d grown another head. One turned his head hard-left like the terrier staring at the gramophone in the old RCA trademark. Suddenly, I realized that the room was filled with folks under 40 and none of them had a clue of what I was talking about. According to limited published information, the old phrase used to describe biting, gripping, chilly winds originated in the South. “The Hawk” gained popularity as formerly enslaved African people moved to northern states in the Great Migration (1915-1960), specifically in Chicago. As I explained the anthropomorphized wind to my younger gathering, I recalled that many colloquialisms originate from misspellings or mispronunciations. Since this saying originated in the South, I imagine it may … [Read more...]

Tutu stresses justice, mercy, humility in remarks to students (20 years ago)

February 12, 2019 by The Presbyterian Outlook Leave a Comment

20 years ago — February 1, 1999 “‘What does the Lord require of you?’ Micah stated that a relationship with God depends on performing acts of justice, mercy and humility.” Micah 6:8 was the focus of Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s address to a group of more than 1,300 college students gathered at Celebrate III, an ecumenical conference in North Carolina. Tutu suggested a reversal of the words “to make walking humbly with God the first prerequisite for an authentic religious existence. ‘The true Christian life is impossible unless at its heart beats an engaged spirituality,’ he said. … The archbishop told the students that they, like God, must be among those who are hurting, who have been diminished and dehumanized. ‘For what we do to rehabilitate them, to serve them, we are doing as to our Lord himself,’ he said.” Tutu cited Jesus’ command to love that would bring meaning to Micah 6:8: ‘Love God and love neighbor.’ These are two sides of one coin… one ‘on its own is not legal tender. It … [Read more...]

Not Your White Jesus: Following a Radical, Refugee Messiah

February 12, 2019 by The Presbyterian Outlook Leave a Comment

Sheri Faye Rosendahl WJK Press, 202 pages Reviewed by Rose Wayland Growing up in the Anabaptist tradition, and recalling my college days when people like Jim Wallis were challenging the establishment, this book seemed familiar. Then I recalled that in the Great Thanksgiving we proclaim that even when we wandered, God sent prophets to call us back into covenant with God. In this book we hear that prophetic voice. In the manner of the Reformers throughout the church’s history, Sheri Rosendahl invites us to step out of our institutional thinking about church and become followers of the radical, refugee Jew. In a bold way, she takes on the church that has become so closely entwined with the American cultural and nationalistic identity that Christianity in this country has become warped and does not resemble what the Jesus of the Gospels taught and lived. Rosendahl speaks from the experience of one who grew up in the evangelical church. She holds the church that has portrayed Jesus … [Read more...]