Growth issues in our church
I have spent considerable time reading many of the Outlook editorials and letters to the editors, only to wonder in disbelief if..
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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“How To Train Your Dragon”
Hiccup (the voice of Jay Baruchel) is a bright, skinny, sensitive little Viking lad who just doesn’t seem to fit in with the big, burly, warrior clan where his father, Stoick (the voice of Gerard Butler) is the chief.
Commentary: Officers and essentials, members and essentials, and departures from the essentials
According to our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Form of Government, a General Assembly may issue an authoritative interpretation about the meaning of our Constitution. But an amendment to the Part II of the Constitution (the Book of Order) requires a subsequent affirmative vote by a majority of the presbyteries.
Hong Kong church official praises Google on “information freedom”
HONG KONG (ENI) — A Hong Kong Roman Catholic diocesan official has praised Google's decision to stop filtering the contents in its search engine as it faces a backlash in the Chinese mainland.
Interfaith Alliance urges textbook publishers to ignore new Texas standards
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ABP) — A national progressive interfaith organization has written leading publishers around the country to urge them to reject changes made to standards for teaching about social studies, history, and economics in Texas.
(Un)fair or (un)balanced? Committee’s Middle East peace report criticized
Not surprisingly, responses have begun to roll in to the report of the General Assembly Study Committee on the Middle East – with some critics contending that the report is biased and predicting it will ignite anew tensions between Presbyterians and Jews.
Ecumenical Advocacy Days gathering calls for justice for immigrants, refugees, displaced people
Editor’s Note: See also the NCC report on the opening of the Ecumenical Advocacy Days event elsewhere on this Web site.
Rending the veil
The veil of the temple was rent in twain … . That gospel verse captured my imagination while worshiping in Elim Bible Institute’s Maundy Thursday chapel service in 1974. As it crossed my mind, the whole biblical narrative flashed before my eyes.
Do churches need “members?”
As faith communities venture into a new era, they face rethinking "membership."
Reveling and revealing
Much of pop culture both astonishes and appalls me. But perhaps nothing does that more than the run-amok habit of celebrities to reveal their bad decisions, transgressions, and destructive impulses to the whole world. And worse than just revealing, they revel.
Who needs the Presbyterian Church?
Recently, I sat in a pastor’s office and asked this question: “Why is it important to have a Presbyterian Church in this community?”
What is your church doing about gambling?
Gambling is a pervasive part of our culture in every state of the union.
Middle East study report: 30 recommendations, tons of fallout
LOUISVILLE. A General Assembly Middle East study group approved in January recommendations that include asking that the two years from 2010 to 2012 be “a time of Presbyterian prayer and action for the Middle East.”
You say “emergent” and I say “emergence”
Words matter. Perhaps that’s why we spend so much time arguing over them, debating them, and, at some point, attempting to concretize them.
Boundless Faith: The Global Outreach of American Churches
University of California Press, 2009. Hb., 360 pp. $26.95.
Social witness smorgasbord on menu for July General Assembly
louisville (PNS)
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy worked feverishly at its late January meeting on a half-dozen reports it is preparing for the upcoming 219th General Assembly later this year in Minneapolis.
Bars, not church, best place to meet friends, says survey
(RNS) Starbucks, Chili’s, and bars are better places than church to meet new friends, according to a new survey.
Vatican official calls for “ecumenical catechism”
VATICAN CITY (RNS) A senior Vatican official has called for “an ecumenical catechism” setting forth the common beliefs of the Catholic and major Protestant churches.
Presbyterian stats: More older members, more female pastors
LOUISVILLE (PNS) Nearly half of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) members (43 percent) are age 65 or older and a larger percentage of pastors than ever (27 percent) are women.
Presbytery recommends non-geographic synod overture
The Presbytery of Santa Barbara has voted to recommend an overture to the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), asking for the formation of a non-geographic synod “to preserve the unity of the PC(USA) without violating the conscience of its members.”
New wave of church fires hits East Texas
(ABP) Two Baptist churches within three miles of each other burned Feb. 8, 9 and 10 in a rash of suspicious church fires in East Texas since Jan. 1.
Ohio church builds college dorm
(PNS) The Kent Church (Ohio) in Eastminster Presbytery broke ground in February on a new living and learning community to house 320 students on church property.
Church leaders distressed at Philippines arrests
(ENI ) Christian leaders around the world have condemned the arrest in the Philippines of a church official and other health workers in the southeast Asian country, and say they are worried about reports of torture being inflicted on those held.
The Hand and the Road: The Life and Times of John A. Mackay
Louisville, Westminster/John Knox Press, 2010, pp. 415.
Ninth Ecumenical Advocacy Days opens with a call to confess God’s work in the world
Washington, D.C. NCC News Service -- The ninth annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days opened March 19 with a call to confess that God is at work for the world's transformation in the direction of justice and peace.