Road to recovery
LAHORE, Pakistan
If the road to recovery begins with confessing your sins, then the future of Pakistan should brighten.
More Stories from this Author
A Trinitarian moment
There we were, Mark, Barbara and I, our arms stuck out a second-story window, trying to tie knots in ropes to secure a newly printed AIDS awareness banner to our church building so people passing by could see it.
Foundation retains ‘world-class’ firms to help it with investment management
The Presbyterian Foundation Group (which includes the Presbyterian Foundation, New Covenant Trust Company, NA and New Covenant Funds), which provides financial support to church-related institutions and causes, plans to retain two outside investment firms to help manage its assets and will cut positions on its staff to effectuate the changes.
Fresh water for vacation Bible school
With Living Waters for the World’s vacation bible school (VBS) curriculum, “Clean Water for All God’s Children!,” attendees will not go on safari or to the rain forest or on a sea cruise or have a space adventure. What they will do is learn about the miracle of clean water. And have the opportunity to provide clean water for some of God’s children.
Announcements and worship
Where should announcements about church and community be placed in a Presbyterian (Reformed) service of worship? This question needs to be asked since, although they provide essential information about the mission of the church, they may also seriously disrupt the flow of the worship of God by injecting the trivial into contemplation of the eternal.
U.S. church council names interim general secretary
New York (ENInews) Clare J. Chapman, deputy general secretary
and general counsel of the National Council of Churches (NCC), on 20 January was named interim general secretary by the council's governing board.
Conservative Presbyterians in U.S. launch new denomination
(ENInews) Conservative U.S. Presbyterians launched a new denomination on Jan. 19, saying the Presbyterian Church (USA) is too
consumed by internal conflicts and bureaucracy to nurture healthy congregations.
Philippine churches set aside differences for week of prayer
Baguio City, Philippines (ENInews) Amid a governance crisis that threatens to divide the Philippines, several churches say they are marking the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity by setting aside doctrinal differences, praying and working for change.
Congregation builds community as it repairs homes
Special to Presbyterian News Service
OLNEY, Ill. – The Rev. Joel Adams graduated from seminary with what he knew were good ideas — he just didn’t know if they would work or not. When he was called to serve as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Olney, Ill., he had the opportunity to try them out.
Report on Christians in Egypt
Agef Gendy, president of Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo, preached Jan. 19 at the Fellowship of Presbyterians' Covenanting Conference in Orlando, Fla. The following report from The Layman, describing the current climate and the experiences of Christians in Egypt, is from presentations Gendy made Jan. 17 and 18 at the Reformed Theological Seminary campus in Orlando. Click here to read full story
Fellowship’s theology document may remain a work in progress
ORLANDO, Fla. – Two members of a writing team that produced a theology document that's part of the constitution of the new denomination created by the Fellowship of Presbyterians said Jan. 19 that they expect changes to be made in their handiwork in the years to come.
A bold church unafraid: Fellowship casts vision
ORLANDO, Fla. – All through the day on Jan. 19, John Ortberg and others at the Fellowship of Presbyterians Covenanting Conference cast a vision.
It was of a bold church unafraid to take risks; one that makes disciples; one that takes the best of Presbyterian history and tradition and points it in new directions.
We expect what we inspect
ORLANDO – Instead of just requiring congregations to submit annual statistical reports, the Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians would ask for annual narrative reports, as Presbyterian congregations routinely did in the years before 1925.
Fellowship of Presbyterians releases new theology and polity documents: Orlando, January 19
ORLANDO – The Fellowship of Presbyterians has given a name to its new Reformed body. The new denomination will be known as the Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians.
John Ortberg, a well-known author and the pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California, kicked off the second day of the Fellowship’s Covenanting Conference Jan. 19 by preaching at morning worship. As that ended, the Fellowship distributed revised copies of its theology and polity documents – the cornerstones of the new denomination’s constitution.
There’s no rush to judgment on leaving the PC(USA) by young evangelical pastors or their congregations
ORLANDO, Fla. – Most of the young evangelical church leaders attending a Fellowship of Presbyterians event this week are from congregations that either plan to stay in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) or are still deciding whether to leave.
Economic equality?
Emagazine Jan 23, 2012
Conference will open doors to a ‘new Reformed body’ but immediate departures from PC(USA) may be few
At the Fellowship of Presbyterians gathering this this week in Orlando, Fla., it's unlikely that participants will vote on the spot to create a new denomination, or that a huge number of congregations will decide to leave the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) en masse.
Film in review: “Iron Lady”
“Iron Lady” is the story of the doddering years of Margaret Thatcher, the former prime minister of Great Britain.
Film in review: “Joyful Noise”
OK, so it’s corny. I still liked it. For the believer, especially, it features some astounding aspects seldom seen in modern cinema:
Film in review: “In the Land of Blood and Honey”
The battle for Bosnia was the bloodiest combat since World War II, but it did not raise our national awareness like, say, the Gulf War.
Film in review: “Contraband”
We feel for Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg). In his younger years, he led a life of crime, but somehow he has been able to get out of “the life” and go straight, without anybody coming after him, either the law or his former cohorts. His successors in the international smuggling business have apparently felt no need to eliminate him as a potential informant.
Film in review: “Carnage”
Originally titled, in French, “The God of Carnage,” and written as a play, this one definitely looks staged, and definitely worships chaos.
In Israel, Christian population has lowest growth rate
Jerusalem (ENInews) Christians have the lowest growth rate among
religious groups within the Israeli population, according to an Israeli
Central Bureau of Statistics report released Jan. 6.
Eight church elders urge congregations to rethink plans to leave the PC(USA)
Eight Presbyterians, including Cynthia Bolbach and Landon Whitsitt, the moderator and vice-moderator of the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), have issued a letter and video expressing their hope in the future of the denomination.