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Americans consider themselves to be religious, but not dogmatic, meaning that most believe there can be more than one path to eternal life and more than one way to interpret even the teachings of their own faith tradition.
TELSKUF, northern Iraq — The Ghassan family had only 24 hours to leave Mosul, a city in Iraq about 400 kilometers northwest of Baghdad. They were able to take only what they could hastily gather together.
I write today having had just under two weeks now to reflect on the experience of being a commissioner to the 218th General Assembly in San Jose. Fresh from the stricture of a 60-second time limit at the microphone, I am not going to waste words, but jump into what is of greatest import to me as I reflect on the whole of that experience.
The initial reactions to the Authoritative Interpretation of G-6.0108 approved by the General Assembly in San Jose were dramatic.
The 218th General Assembly, meeting this past June in San Jose, issued two Authoritative Interpretations (“AIs”) and proposed an amendment to the Constitution that have important effects on the church’s ordination standards and our life together.
We Presbyterians have long prided ourselves on our church government. We have rejected rule by powerful individuals (bishops) set apart to make the important decisions that affect the many.
The Internet age gives you a tool of immense reach and power: “viral marketing.”
As editor of a magazine that speaks to the whole church, I feel compelled to speak to friends of various convictions — while allowing all others to overhear the conversation. Last week I began with the group that has most nurtured my faith: conservative-evangelicals. This week, I write to those who have broadened my vision: liberal-progressives. Next week, I’ll address those who have grounded my churchmanship, centrist-ecclesiasts.
Mustard seeds are small and easily overlooked, but inside is the potential for growth and fruitful productivity. Jesus called them a picture of the Kingdom of God. “Sowing Mustard Seeds: Working for God’s Justice — Confronting Poverty” was the theme of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Conference July 15-19 in Orange, Calif.
CLEVELAND — Gradye Parsons, stated clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), underwent successful open-heart surgery on Aug. 7 at the Cleveland Clinic here.
NAIROBI — Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi of Kenya, who boycotted the 2008 Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops from around the world, has said the Archbishop of Canterbury should continue to convene the once-every-10-years gathering but underlined his view that homosexuality needs to be seen as sinful.
ORANGE, CALIF. — God has a strategy for building U.S. security and it’s all about development and diplomacy with the rest of the world, according to Lisa Schirch, a professor of peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) in Harrisonburg, Va.
LOUISVILLE — A volunteer with a faith-based humanitarian aid group in Arizona that receives support from Presbyterians is facing jail time or a fine after leaving 25 water jugs in the desert for undocumented border-crossers.
LOUISVILLE — Five Protestant pastors are among the 21,880 persons who will carry the Olympic torch through the streets of Beijing to mark the beginning of the summer Olympic Games later this week; opening ceremonies are planned August 8.
MOSCOW — (ENI) Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Nobel Prize-winning author who survived the Soviet gulag of labor camps under dictator Josef Stalin, will go down in history as a "model of inner freedom and human dignity," a top official of the Russian Orthodox Church has said.
CANTERBURY — (ENI) Leaders of the Anglican Communion have left for home from the Lambeth Conference having heard Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams say there is "wide support" for measures to resolve a dispute over homosexuality that had threatened to tear apart the 77-million-strong grouping.
JERUSALEM — When Mona Nasir Tucktuck married her high-school sweetheart three years ago, she never imagined it would lead to the loss of her residency rights in her native city of Jerusalem.
John Templeton, the American-born investor and philanthropist who devoted his later life to funding the scientific study of religion, died July 8 at Doctors Hospital in Nassau, Bahamas. He was 95.
Like all buzz words, transparency can be overused. I understand why a colleague said recently, “I am so tired of the word ‘transparency.’”
Ulrich W. Mauser, 81, the retired Otto A. Piper Professor of Biblical Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, of Trafford, Pa., died July 5.
Many will ponder the mood of the 218th General Assembly. There were no obvious clues that this would later be described as a radical assembly. Commissioners were as “Presbyterian” — i.e. as conservative, elderly and grey, like me — as usual. The atmosphere was exceptionally calm. A well organized COLA (Committee On Local Arrangements), superb facilities, and pleasant weather made this the most comfortable assembly I have attended in years.
This year’s General Assembly was returned again and again over the course of the week to its scriptural theme drawn from Micah 6:8: “To do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God.” I admit that I don’t know the processes whereby themes are chosen, but I can think of no better theme for a denomination as fractured as ours — stress fractures rather than clean breaks, but fractures nonetheless.
Our brokenness is a spiritual reality. The ideological and theological divisions among good people of faith in the church are a reflection of this brokenness. Can we as brothers and sisters in Christ overcome the divides within our neighborhoods and our faith communities? Is there any common ground? Do we have the courage to engage in the conversations that might lead us to change our positions on controversial issues?
Recent actions by the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) regarding G-6.0106b and G-6.0108 in the Book of Order (Advisory Opinion #22) are raising questions in sessions and presbyteries about the effect of those actions on the work of these ordaining bodies. This is a synopsis of some of those actions and their effects.
“If you want to completely shatter the denomination, then vote for this substitute motion. But if you want to give (the issue) the time it needs for us to learn from each other, listen to each other, then, please God, vote no.” Truly these words of a former moderator of our General Assembly, Marj Carpenter, were as influential as they were powerful in the opening moments of our denomination’s discussion of Item No. 408, regarding the definition of marriage. Influential enough that I voted against my own motion.
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