The peaceable kingdom of Jordan
Editor’s Note: I recently participated with 19 other western Christian journalists in a seven-day tour of Jordan under the sponsorship of the Royal Jordanian Tourism Board.
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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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Oasis in the desert
“Caught between Iraq and a hard place,” so they say with a grin.
30 minutes with Prince Hassan
On his recent trip through the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Outlook editor Jack Haberer arranged an exclusive interview in the royal palace in Amman with His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan Bin Talal.
Gift from Japanese hospital extends mission support another generation
More than 50 years ago, Presbyterian Women gave a gift of $206,677 from the Birthday Gift Offering to help build Yodogawa Christian Hospital in Osaka, Japan.
Butin resigning as SFTS president in January
Philip Butin, the president of San Francisco Theological Seminary, has announced that he will step down from that position as of Jan. 31, 2010. Butin has been the seminary’s president since 2002.
Randy Harris concludes service with Outlook
Randy Harris, pastor of Highland Church in Winston-Salem, N.C., and book editor for The Presbyterian Outlook since April 2005, concludes his service as book editor with this issue of the magazine.
Cross Talk: Preaching Redemption Here and Now
by Sally A. Brown. WJKP, 2008. Pb., 176 pp. $19.95.
Loving Our Neighbor
Loving Our Neighbor: A Thoughtful Approach to Helping People in Poverty, by Beth Lindsay Templeton. IUniverse, 2008. Pb., 208 pp. $17.95.
Just Hospitality
Just Hospitality: God’s Welcome in a World of Difference, by Letty Russell. Edited by J. Shannon Clarkson and Kate M. Ott. WJKP, 2009. Pb., 168 pp. $19.95.
Briefly Noted: Fall 2009
1 Peter, by Joel B. Green. The Two Horizons New Testament Commentary. Eerdmans, 2007. Pb., 345 pp. $20.
Roles to play
If every strategy for fixing pastors succeeded — if they were re-visioned, re-trained, re-newed, re-stored — two things would happen.
Film in review: Amelia
You want to like this movie. Mira Nair’s direction hearkens to an earlier, gentler era of moviemaking, where the characters look like they just walked out of wardrobe and makeup, and their language is articulate and refined, not plebian or habitually coarse.
Lutherans ask forgiveness for 16th-century persecutions
GENEVA (ENI) — Leaders of the Lutheran World Federation have approved a statement apologizing for the 16th-century persecution by Lutherans of Anabaptists, religious reformers whose successors are found in groups such as the Mennonites.
Defining mission by example: Pakistan and Democratic Republic of the Congo
CINCINNATI – Sometimes, for rank-and-file Presbyterians, it can be hard to sense the impact of that sometimes-ambiguous word mission. It covers so much territory, and so much in the world is changing.
Stories of faith and struggle told to mission conference
CINCINNATI – They came to the podium and told stories
Film in review “Astro Boy”
“Astro Boy” is an animated film, set in the future, about a brilliant scientist (the voice of Nicolas Cage) who loses his son in a freak accident.
Farrell outlines mission partner observations at opening of Mission Celebration ’09
CINCINNATI – The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is in a time of “massive change in every way that we do mission.”
Ginny Davidson dies at 93
ROCHESTER — Virginia West Davidson, a diminutive and feisty mother of four who became a towering figure in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for her tireless advocacy of full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered members in the life of the church, died Oct. 19 at her home in Rochester, N.Y.
Minister portrayed in movie, honored by Missoula church
Do you recall the story of a Presbyterian minister and his family in the movie, “A River Runs Through It?”
Swedish church’s decision on same-sex marriage watched abroad
(ENI) — The 251 members of the General Synod of the (Lutheran) Church of Sweden have started a four-day meeting in Uppsala today (Oct. 20) at which they are to decide whether to allow same-sex church weddings, a decision that could affect its relations with other churches.
“New York, I Love You”
This film really is a valentine to the Big Apple.
S. Africa’s Zuma meets Tutu as new bishop urges “delivery”
(ENI) — South African President Jacob Zuma met with a number of church leaders including his one-time fierce critic Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu during the weekend of Oct. 17-18.
Watching our Ps & Rs
Hallelujah. The General Assembly Mission Council is going to meet its budget without cutting staff (see p. 7). Now that we’re not in a state of crisis, let’s talk turkey about our giving. Let’s think theologically about our financial management. Let’s handle our money like the Presbyterian and Reformed – P&R – believers we claim to be.
GAMC: Employee issues, committee roles considered by GAMC
LOUISVILLE — What role should advocacy and advisory committees play in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)? And what can be done to improve the sometimes-touchy relationship between the General Assembly Mission Council and these committees, which advocate the interests of women and racial ethnic people and social witness in the life of the Presbyterian church?
GAMC: 2010 PC(USA) budget reflects income-outgo dilemmas
LOUISVILLE – The 2010 budget for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be balanced without more staff cuts — a relief for the denomination’s national staff, which has endured several rounds of layoffs.