PDA awards grant to Haiti initiative
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has awarded a $50,000 grant to an interfaith mission from New Jersey that is working to provide medical care and education in Haiti.
The Presbyterian Outlook
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.
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PCA may quit NAE
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America has directed its Interchurch Relations Committee to study the denomination’s participation in the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) and offer its findings to the 2012 General Assembly.
David Snellgrove dies, was GA-PJC moderator
BATESVILLE, MISS. Paul David Snellgrove died peacefully with his family by his side on April 6, 2011, at age 71.
Evangelicals enter circumcision debate
(rNS) The National Association of Evangelicals is siding with Jews and Muslims in opposing a proposed ban on infant male circumcision in San Francisco.
Leveraging is smart, cost-effective and fun
And it’s happening just in time for the Multichannel Church, as you move beyond Sunday and diversify your ministries in response to..
Keeping track of officers’ terms
Each year every Presbyterian church has to elect
new deacons, elders and trustees.
Friending: Real Relationships in a Virtual World
Friending: Real Relationships in a Virtual World
by Lynne M. Baab
Downers Grove, Ill. InterVarsity Press. 185 pages.
re viewed by MARY HARRIS TODD
“It’s going to damage the way people communicate! It’s going to damage
relationships!” some 20th century experts worried when a new communication
technology became common in private homes.
Grand Entrance: Worship on Earth as in Heaven
Grand Entrance: Worship on Earth as in Heaven
by Edith M. Humphrey
Grand Rapids, Mich.: Brazos Press. 244 pages.
reviewed by RONAL D P. BYARS
The liturgist opened the service saying, “Let us call ourselves to worship.”
Religious groups in New Zealand praise new immigration rules
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (ENI) Migrant religious workers in New
Zealand are welcoming the opportunity to be permanent residents after the
government announced changes to the law on July 19. Starting in November,
an updated temporary visa will allow workers to stay in the country for four
years before applying for residency.
Kenya promises to expand camp for refugees
NAIROBI, Kenya (ENI) The Kenyan government has promised to
expand a refugee camp for thousands of desperate Somalis fleeing a drought
crisis in the Horn of Africa, and faith groups and humanitarian agencies are
praising the move.
‘Fair trade, not just free trade’-Presbyterians join protest of Colombia Free Trade Agreement
WASHNGTON (Special to the Presbyterian News Service) On July 11, more than 150 U.S. citizens from faith-based, environmental and human rights organizations gathered in front of the White House to protest the pending Colombia Free Trade Agreement. A Presbyterian presence was prominent among them.
Newly ordained Catholic priests excommunicated in China
HONG KONG (ENI) The Vatican has excommunicated the Rev. Joseph
Huang Bingzhang, a Catholic bishop in Shantou in the southern Guangdong
province in China, for being ordained without a papal mandate.
South Sudan Catholic bishop dies a week after independence
NAIROBI, Kenya (ENI) Roman Catholic Bishop Caesar Mazzolari of
South Sudan's Rumbek diocese died suddenly on July 16 at age 74, one
week after the mainly Christian and animist region celebrated its
independence from the mainly Arab and Islamic North.
Film in review: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two”
This is the eighth and final installment of the famed “Harry Potter” film
series. There are no more books to provide the basis for more, unless author
J.K. Rowling decides to take pen in hand again for the next generation – an
intriguing possibility which she distinctly leaves open at the end.
Film in review: “Turtle: The Incredible Journey”
OK, so it’s not very exciting. But there’s a sublime kind of satisfaction to watching this
well-made documentary about one loggerhead turtle, who remains nameless, but for ease
of storytelling, let’s give it a shot: Deborah.
Film in review: “Zookeeper”
You have to enter with low expectations. This is an Adam Sandler comedy,
and Kevin James is in his overweight, slightly bewildered and occasionally
overwhelmed Everyman persona. He plays Griffin, who works at the zoo,
and is one of those “gentle with animals” guys who talks to them when he
feeds them and brings them little gifts just to do something nice for them.
Interfaith leaders press for poverty assistance funding
WASHINGTON, D.C. (PNS) Concerned that the Obama administration and Congress are working on a budget deal that will place an undue burden on the poor “while shielding the wealthiest from any additional sacrifice,” leaders representing the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths on July 14 launched a new campaign to encourage policymakers to maintain a robust U.S. commitment to domestic and international poverty programs.
Oregon pastor makes bike pilgrimage to sample experiences of the sacred
LOUISVILLE – The Rev. Brian Heron is embarking on a pilgrimage. And
though his congregation will stay home while he’s out on the 10-week
cycling trip, they’ll make a journey of their own.
Presbyterians stage pro-immigrants rally during Big Tent
INDIANAPOLIS (PNS) More than 75 Presbyterians in town for the
denomination’s Big Tent event demonstrated their support of immigrants at
the Indiana Statehouse July 2.
Do you feel the call?
The moderator’s July column
LOUISVILLE (OGA) When I welcomed everyone to the Big Tent in Indianapolis recently, I said that the Big Tent is like a General Assembly in that the halls are teeming with Presbyterians, either connecting for the first time or reconnecting with one another.
MEMO to the middle
As editor of a magazine that speaks to the whole church, I feel compelled to write to Presbyterian friends in particular groupings of conviction — while allowing the rest to eavesdrop. In the last two editions, I addressed those celebrating and those grieving the adoption of Amendment 10-A. In this final correspondence, I write to those caught somewhere in the middle.
Re: 10-A reaches the top (pub. June 13, 2011)
I think people are leaving. I know that there are people in my church who are considering it. What bothers them the most is the departure from viewing Scripture as authoritative and instead viewing Scripture as merely guidelines. We might as well replace Scripture with the Pirates’ Code. Remember the movie, “Pirates of the Caribbean”?
Challenge for the 21st century: Can a risk-averse church live up to its ‘gospel of abundance’?
LOUISVILLE What will the Presbyterian church of the 21st century look like?
Presbyteries approve nFOG but shelve Belhar Confession
The votes are in. After roughly five years of discussion, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has approved a new Form of Government, intended to be more flexible and to give congregations and presbyteries more latitude in deciding how to do ministry.
Not having the conversation
Once again, Presbyterians could have discussed how race operates among us and how it could operate. The most recent opportunity came through a solid, dynamic theological statement — the first from the Southern Hemisphere considered for inclusion in our Book of Confessions.