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LOUISVILLE — Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) leaders were still working Tuesday (Sept. 2) to assess Presbyterian-related damage from Hurricane Gustav, which roared from the Gulf of Mexico into southern Louisiana on Monday as a category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 110 mph.
(ENI)--Nearly two years after five Amish girls were killed in a grisly Pennsylvania school shooting, Anabaptist experts at nearby Elizabethtown College field a constant stream of questions from around the world about the religious group.
The floods in Iowa didn’t come in one dramatic, before-and-after moment. The rain kept coming, the water kept rising, and downriver, the trouble passed on from town to town to town.
The position of elder is the oldest active office still being used in the Christian church today. Although the apostleship no doubt precedes it in prestige, power, and antiquity, it did not remain a permanent office since it was limited to those who had a direct commission from the risen Jesus himself and had unique gifts from the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:1–26; 1 Cor. 12:1–11, 29).
Years ago members of a church I was serving talked about people who had once been very active in the congregation but whom I had never met. I asked someone who these people were.
But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people. … ” The gifts he gave that were some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the full measure of the full stature in Jesus Christ (Eph. 4: 7-8, 11-13.)
The call to leadership in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), is a call to diverse forms of service. Ruling Elders are also charged to nurture the faith and life of the congregation while encouraging members in worship, service, mission, and care.
“I really don’t feel qualified. I think a minister should lead the committee — someone who has studied the Bible.”
The Book of Order makes it clear: Elders “should cultivate their ability to teach the Bible. … ”
Preaching forms the theological mind and heart of a congregation. A congregation nurtured by preaching that plumbs the murky depths of truth, preaching that provides a realistic and relevant engagement with the Scriptures, will show signs of spiritual depth and maturity.
Sister elder, brother deacon, do you get it? Do you understand how radical it is for you to have been ordained to your position of leadership?
While our Presbyterian General Assembly met in San Jose, a presidential candidate out on the stump asked during a speech, “Which passages of Scripture should guide our public policy?
Measuring results might seem dull ministry compared to membership development, leadership development, spiritual development, and other hands-on ministries of the healthy church.
(PNS) Theodora Grace Jackson, 84, a recipient of this year’s Women of Faith Award at the recent 218th General Assembly, died July 27 in Brewster, N.Y. A memorial service was held July 30 at First Church of Katonah, N.Y.
For as long as I have been a pastor (almost 20 years), I have heard my evangelical brothers and sisters use as a paradigm for dealing with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) the parable of the frog in water brought to a gradual boil.
Why have such a conference?
I anticipated that question might be on the minds of many of those who gathered for the first-ever National Elders Conference in Nashville, Tenn., in August 2007.
Bangalore, India — (ENI) Churches in India are to close about 30,000 of their educational institutions across the country tomorrow (August 29) to protest against continuing attacks by mobs of Hindus in the country's eastern state of Orissa and which Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told bishops, is a "national shame".
The 2008 Peacemaking Colloquium at Stony Point Center with the theme of “Gun Violence and Gospel Values,” is planned September 15-17 at Stony Point Center, 35 miles north of New York City.
“The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning” — Actually a prequel, where Ariel is a young mermaid princess, growing up with her sisters and a very happy Mom and Dad.
(PNS) Twelve new Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission appointees recently completed orientation and have begun their international assignments.
Synod of Lakes and Prairies Communications Director
EAGAN, MINN. — (PNS) The Permanent Judicial Commission of the Synod of Lakes and Prairies on Aug. 12 dismissed a remedial case filed against the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area that sought to nullify the presbytery’s Jan. 26 action to restore Paul Capetz, an openly gay man, to the exercise of ordained ministry.
(ENI)--Barack Obama articulated his Christian faith thus dispelling rumors he is a Muslim. John McCain demonstrated an ability to electrify evangelical Christians. And Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren proved Americans can discuss religion and politics without the bitterness, rancor and polarization that characterized the 2004 U.S. election.
This is what people from the Gulf Coast tell Linda Gebetsberger, a pastor from Oregon, every time she heads home. “Let them know that we still need help.”
LOUISVILLE — Four 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 the shootings in a Knoxville, Tenn., church on July 27.
Many elders, deacons, and pastors are less than pleased when the subject of the annual stewardship campaign comes up. In many churches the activities that make up this campaign are the only time the majority of members hear the term stewardship and it is often one of the few times they hear money and faith linked in worship.
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