An early thanksgiving
October: Pastor Appreciation Month. Just the kind of thing Hallmark would invent to sell more cards.
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Peery named new president of Montreat Conference Center
Albert G. “Pete” Peery, pastor of First Church in Asheville, N.C., has been named 16th president of the Montreat (N.C.) Conference Center, a mission center of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He will assume responsibilities at the conference center on November 1.
Gay/lesbian ordination decision moves to vote of 173 presbyteries
Now it’s time for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to consider the question: Should the controversial requirement that those being ordained practice fidelity if they’re married or chastity if they’re single be dropped from the denomination’s constitution?
Oklahoma court upholds presbytery, PC(USA) in Kirk of the Hills case
The District Court for Tulsa County, Okla., Sept. 9 granted summary judgment in favor of Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and denied the motion for summary judgment of Kirk of the Hills Church in Tulsa.
Ministry: Can’t not do this
Why would someone want a job that requires working 24/7, offers low compensation when juxtaposed with attorneys (with whom they share a basic skill set), diminishing social stature, weekend duty without overtime, and the requirement that one always be nice? Why would one choose a role model who advocates giving up one’s life, forsaking family and friends, and praying for one’s enemies?
Second thoughts: Reflections on leaving pastoral ministry
It began with fantasizing that I would make a darn good layperson. I could still be very active in ministry, without having all the responsibilities, heartaches, and pressures of being a pastor, head of staff. After more than 20 years of pastoral ministry, I was tired and discouraged. I must hasten to add that the congregation I was serving was thriving.
Encouraging pastors to receive the gift of Sabbath
As I am make the transition from middle governing body work to service as a pastor in a local congregation, I reflect on my pilgrimage and beyond. How has my service in observing and being a ministry partner to pastors influenced my understanding of the pastoral task? How do presbyteries and congregations nurture the pastors God has called to service in their midst?
Pastoral intelligence … Is it possible?
Do you have challenges with your church members? Are you frustrated trying to influence those over whom you have little control? Do you have conflicts and are unsure how to deal with them? Do you know how you are coming across to those with whom you interact? My experience in coaching ministers with these issues indicates that they can increase the pastoral Intelligence necessary to tackle these common ministerial challenges.
A look to the future of the FOG
Editor’s Note: This article is the second part of a two-part series. The first part appeared in the Outlook issue 190-31 (cover date September 22, 2008.)
A mind is a terrible thing not to change
Healthy, living things grow. Growing things change. That should include human minds. Just try telling that, however, to the men and women who are running for elected office in America. Many of them live in fear that someone will provide convincing evidence that they have actually changed their perspectives on an important subject during the past 20 years.
Planners need to listen
Church planning processes and planners tend to spend too much devising plans and too little time listening for needs.
… you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in, Isaiah 58:12.
Dear Pastor,
The devastation caused by Hurricane Ike in mid-September was massive – nearly on the scale of Katrina, but with a much broader path of destruction. Nearly 100,000 homes were destroyed and lives uprooted in the United States alone. Caribbean nations like Haiti and Cuba not only lost homes, but saw crops wiped out and infrastructure obliterated. The immediate and long-term recovery needs are immense. We need your help – and that of your congregation – to respond.
Portuguese peacemaker is poised to be first woman ordained by her church
LOUISVILLE — Though she has felt a call to Christian vocation since the age 15, Nini Castanheira has never considered herself a trailblazer in the Presbyterian Church of Portugal (PCP).
It all ends badly
“Nights In Rodanthe” is every bit the middle-aged romance it’s billed to be, but the novel by Nicholas Sparks provides the narrative edge to prevent it from getting too syrupy. Richard Gere plays Dr. Paul Flanner, an otherwise skillful plastic surgeon who lost a patient on the operating table and forgot to be apologetic and remorseful to her husband afterwards.
World Council of Churches honors former leader Philip Potter
LÜBECK, GERMANY — (ENI) The World Council of Churches has honored one of its former general secretaries, Philip Potter, who is a Methodist pastor from the West Indies and led the Geneva-based church grouping at a time when it took a high profile role in the struggle against apartheid and white minority regimes in southern
Films in review: Of dukes and duchesses
“The Duchess” is based on a 1998 biography of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, 1757-1806. Georgiana (Keira Knightley), an aristocrat of passion and intelligence, is given in marriage to the Duke of Devonshire (Ralph Fiennes), who is interested solely in her fulfilling her obligation to produce a male heir.
Renowned Presbyterian pastor/musician Isaiah Jones, 68, dies
LOUISVILLE — The Rev. Isaiah Jones Jr., who gave up a booming career in the music business to become a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) minister, died Sept. 21 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 68.
New hymnal committee members commissioned
(PNS) The ministry of the newly appointed 15-member Presbyterian Hymnal Committee was blessed with a worship service at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville on Sept. 23. More than 100 national staff members attended the event in the building’s chapel that featured speeches by church officials, music, a sermon, and Communion.
Electricity restored to Louisville Seminary campus after nine-day power outage
Late Sept. 22 electricity was restored to the campus of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary following a nine-day power outage that affected most of the City of Louisville and stretched across several states in the Ohio River Valley.
China rejects US report that says it infringes religious liberty
(ENI) The Chinese government has rejected criticisms in a U.S. State Department report that repression of religious freedom has intensified in some areas of the world's most populous country.
Church leaders respond to Hurricane Ike
LOUISVILLE — Three top leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have sent a letter to all of the denomination’s congregations asking them to pray for those affected by Hurricane Ike.
The full text of the letter, dated Sept. 19 and signed by Bruce Reyes-Chow, moderator of the 218th General Assembly; Gradye Parsons, stated clerk of the General Assembly and Linda Bryant Valentine, executive director of the General Assembly Council:
Church Elders and Deacons Fully Equipped
Greetings Outlook reader!
Are your church's elders and deacons fully equipped to fulfill the duties of their office?
Have they become dynamic to the point of being dangerous for God?
Would you like to help unleash their gifts for Christian service? ...and unleash the great potential God has invested into your church?
Hurricanes, Haiti, and a missionary’s passion to hold hunger at bay
PAPAY, Haiti — Mark Hare lives with his wife Jenny, in the central plateau of Haiti, in the tiny village of Papay. In environmentally devastated Haiti, Papay boasts a sparkling waterfall, multitudes of mango trees, and farmers who love the land and their livestock. Life is basic.
Belhar: A new confessional voice
Anyone who does not enjoy the swords of power and privilege in our country is aware that, regrettably, racism is alive and well in America. The 218th General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to begin the process of adding a new confession to our Book of Confessions to address this problem.
Autumn in Utah: Presbyterian meetings line up to focus on upcoming initiatives
The last stretch of September will be like some dance marathon of Presbyterianism — with a series of groups meeting back-to-back at Snowbird resort outside Salt Lake City. Executive presbyters, stated clerks, polity gurus, the General Assembly Mission Council and middle-governing body representatives — all gathered to talk in different configurations about the future of the Presbyterian church.