NEXT Church leaders call February gathering to discern God’s spirit

The organizers of the NEXT Church group – Presbyterians who are involved in conversations about the future of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – have written an open letter to the church, in the wake of the Fellowship of Presbyterians recent gathering in Minneapolis on Aug. 25-26.

John Stott Dies

John Stott, an English evangelical who helped introduce the world to the global scope of the Christian movement and is considered one of the most influential evangelicals of his generation, died July 27 in Lingfield, Surrey, England.

HOW CAN SEMINARIES BETTER SERVE THEIR STUDENTS — AND THE CHURCH?

Many small Presbyterian congregations struggle to afford trained pastoral leadership. And many gifted students graduate from seminary, excited to be serving in ministry — and are frustrated by the difficulty of finding a first call to serve a congregation.

Ghana’s Presbyterian church may follow Mexico’s in severing ties with PC(USA) over gay ordination

A church in Africa may have become be 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.

Church leaders call for prayer and support following Hurricane Irene

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Office of the General Assembly) Cynthia Bolbach, moderator of the 219th General Assembly (2010), Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, and Linda Valentine, Executive Director of the General Assembly Mission Council, have released a call to prayer for all those impacted by Hurricane Irene:

Stated clerk condemns bombing in Nigeria, calls for dialogue, discussion, diplomacy

LOUISVILLE, Ky (PNS) Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly Stated Clerk Gradye Parsons has condemned the Aug. 26 terrorist attack on the United Nations compound in Abuja, Nigeria, that killed or injured a number of people.

On the gathering of the Fellowship of Presbyterians: a brief summary

          On Aug. 25-26, about 1,900 people came to Minneapolis to learn more about what the Fellowship of Presbyterians is proposing, and to help sort through their own decisions about whether to stay in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) or to leave.

          Those attending included pastors and elders, as well as some presbytery and synod executives and national leaders of the denomination. While no details were released on demographic factors such as age, race, and gender, the crowd included people from all 50 states and 3 countries beyond the U.S., and appeared to be predominantly white and male. The list of speakers was somewhat more diverse.

          This was a meeting primarily for discussion of ideas – not for voting on a particular course of action. Here are some of the highlights:

Scholar expounds on the cost and value of converting anger to grace and love

MINNEAPOLIS – Hearty applause greeted biblical scholar Ken Bailey when he was introduced at morning worship at the Fellowship of Presbyterians meeting Aug. 26.

Bailey recently completed decades of study by publishing his new book, “Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes: Cultural Studies in I Corinthians."

His teaching, writing and biblical interpretation have nurtured many Presbyterians. And his message to participants at this gathering – some of whom are angry with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – dealt with reprocessing anger into grace.

Bailey pulled together lessons from a number of scriptural passages – stories of fathers and those in power turning aside from an angry response, and instead showing grace. He said he has tried for years to come up with a theological formula – one as significant as Einstein’s E = mc2 has been for scientists. The closest he has come has been to see the grace of God in Christ as a costly demonstration of God’s love.

Many Americans are angry these days, Bailey said – angry at job losses and a sluggish economy, at political gridlock, at a decade of war and its fallout. Presbyterians, he said, are angry at a “diminished sense of belonging in our own spiritual home.”

Mouw presses the heart of the matter

MINNEAPOLIS – When Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary, was asked to speak at the Fellowship of Presbyterians’ big gathering in Minneapolis, organizers asked him not to say what he personally thinks Presbyterians ought to do in response to the latest crisis.

Mouw is well aware that many congregations and individuals are considering leaving the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), part of the fallout from the denomination’s recent decision to lift the categorical prohibition against the ordination of sexually active gays and lesbians.

So Mouw spoke instead during evening worship Aug. 25 about what Presbyterians should hold in their hearts and minds as they consider their options – and in doing so, he issued a call to theological orthodoxy, expanded ecumenism, a renewed commitment to the ordination of women and increased efforts to care for the world. He challenged evangelicals now in the PC(USA) to learn from those both more conservative and more liberal than themselves.

And he exhorted them to stand firm in their conviction regarding the unique, atoning work of Jesus Christ as the only Savior. “If you dilute lost,” Mouw said, “you will inevitably dilute saved.”

United by dissatisfaction with current PC(USA), evangelicals sketch possible outlines of a new ‘Reformed body’

MINNEAPOLIS – Leaders of the Fellowship of Presbyterians began to add details to their proposal for creating a new Reformed body – which they describe as more a movement than a denomination, saying it would be built around a common theological core.

World Mission responds to ending of partnership by Mexican Presbyterian Church

LOUISVILLE (PNS) Responding to the decision by the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico's (INPM) to sever ties with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the PC(USA)’s World Mission ministry area has released the following statement: