Creating and curating trustworthy resources for the church, the Presbyterian Outlook connects disciples of Jesus Christ through compelling and committed conversation for the proclamation of the Gospel.
JERUSALEM (RNS) Five of the Dead Sea Scrolls that have been stored for decades in a climate-controlled exhibit at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem are now available in digital form to anyone with an Internet connection.
A church in Africa may have become the second Presbyterian denomination outside the United States to end its partnership with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in response to the U.S. church’s decision to allow the ordination of sexually active gays and lesbians.
LOUISVILLE (PNS) The new Presbyterian hymnal, to be published in the fall of 2013, has a title.
WASHINGTON (RNS) The U.S. Justice Department on Sept. 6 announced a settlement with Henrico County, Va., over the county’s alleged violation of a federal anti-discrimination law when it refused to rezone property for Muslims who wanted to build a mosque.
GENEVA (ENI) The World Council of Churches (WCC) has launched the first online digital library covering theology and ecumenism, called GlobeTheoLib, saying it will help close the information gap between North and South.
Preachers love analogies, so here’s one.
It’s no secret that in the Presbyterian world money is scarce at every level, from the denomination to the individual church. Folks hear of congregations without pastors, buildings locked and sold, yet another round of layoffs.
To the End of the Land
by David Grossman
Harper One. 288 pages
reviewed by LESLIE A. KLINGENSMITH
“From the instant they’re born, you’re losing them.”
Natural Saints: How People of Faith are Working to Save God’s Earth
by Mallory McDuff
Oxford University Press. 240 pages.
reviewed by BENNETT
“Natural Saints” is both a memoir and a record of actions taken by Christians around the U.S. to protect the environment and provide a sustainable future.
What if William Shakespeare’s plays were not really written by the sometime actor? What if, instead, they were penned by Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford? And if so, why the subterfuge?
Why do a CSI movie when there’s so much of that already on television? Well, maybe because you have a more complex story that takes longer to develop, and maybe because you can sustain a gritty mood with more subtle artistry.
Each year about this time — which is to say Reformation Sunday — I spend time wondering whether the Reformation really was worth it.
The term “theonomy” (divine law as the basis for civil law) is an intriguing concept. While theo-cracy (which is not the same..
Louisville, Ky. (Presbyterian News Service) All land is a gift from God, not a possession, and with that gift comes the responsibility to be good stewards, three Middle East experts told an Oct. 13 symposium sponsored by the Israel-Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Santa Fe de Bogota, Colombia (ENInews) Lutheran bishop Eduardo Martinez and Episcopal Anglican bishop Francisco Duque have applauded a law against sexual discrimination set to be signed by Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, according to a news release from the Latin America and Caribbean Communication Agency.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Presbyterian News Service) Anglican Archbishop Emeritus and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu has forcefully expressed support for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s decision to allow the ordination of people living in same-gender sexual relationships.
LONDON (Special to Presbyterian News Service) The Church of England might not be best known for its entrepreneurialism, but that hasn’t stopped a fresh wind of the spirit from blowing through its ranks.
When the Outlook’s full-time associate editor Martha Skelton retired last January, we hired Mike Jennings to a half-time position, tasking him to take over most, but not all, of her duties.
WASHINGTON (RNS)
With a cross on his lapel, it’s easy to spot a military chaplain in uniform.
Another candidate – the fourth announced so far – has been endorsed to stand for moderator of the 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). All four candidates are teaching elders.
In the 25th chapter of Matthew, we hear of the master who left his holdings to three servants in varying numbers of talents, an ancient denomination of money. One received five talents, one received two and one got a single talent.
Adding an off-site focus to an established congregation takes some fresh thinking.
During most of my pastoral ministry — since 1973, in fact — I have consistently used one outstanding resource to prepare worship bulletins, calls to worship and prayers and liturgies to be used for weekly services, funerals, weddings. It has also been of great help in my own spiritual growth.
by Abraham Verghese
Alfred A. Knopf. 560 pages.
There are many good books. The number of great books is drastically fewer, but when a reader finds one, we sense within a chapter or two that the book we hold in our hands is something special.
by Jean F. Risley
WIPF and Stock Publishers. 141 pages.
The last several years have seen a bevy of books extolling the virtues and enumerating the challenges of small-church ministry, such as Jason Byassee’s “The Gifts of the Small Church” and Brandon O’Brien’s “Strategically Small Church: Intimate, Nimble, Authentic, and Effective.”
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