North Carolina congregation still reeling after Sunday-morning armed robbery

LOUISVILLE – Nerves are still shaken at North Carolina’s Ridgeview Church following an armed robbery during Sunday service more than two weeks ago.

Judicial Commission says Spahr did not violate the church constitution with same-sex weddings

The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission  (GAPJC) has ruled that Jane Adams Spahr, a California minister, did not violate the constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) by performing two “ecclesiastical” wedding ceremonies for lesbian couples.

An examined life

“I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may God bless all!” Christopher McCandless wrote these words – a psalm-like prayer – during the late summer of 1992 and prior to his death on an abandoned bus in the Alaskan wilderness.

Gradye Parsons nominated to be next PC(USA) stated clerk

LOUISVILLE –Gradye Parsons, currently director of operations for the Office of the General Assembly, has been chosen by the Stated Clerk Nomination Committee as its nominee to be the new stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

2008 seminary commencements

Austin Presbyterian Theological

Seminary, Austin, Texas

The Reverend Dr. Devison T. Banda, principal of Justo Mwale Theological College in Lusaka, Zambia, will address graduates at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary’s commencement on Sunday, May 25, at 2:30 p.m.

New church emerges as struggling congregations come together

It’s the kind of reality that threatens to whack on the head congregations all over the denomination. They’re small already – and getting tinier and older by the day. There’s not enough money to pay a full-time pastor – or if there is, the cash will run out soon.

Questions of leadership

Recruiting leaders is hard work.

It is easier to accept the willing, to anoint whoever steps forward, even if they lack requisite skills or cannot “play well with others.”

Presbyterian Center space to be leased; Area of building “prime”

(PNS) The General Assembly Council (GAC) announced April 4 that it has signed a leasing contract for approximately 30,000 square feet of first floor office space at the Presbyterian Center in downtown Louisville.

An interfaith Baccalaureate prayer

Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha’olam

Blessed are you, Eternal God, ruler of the universe

Episcopalians rebuild California diocese from the ground up

(RNS) Rebuilding a central California Episcopal diocese after a majority of believers there split with the national church will take time and a good cell-phone plan, the diocese’s newly chosen bishop said March 29.

Synod Commission to examine South Louisiana concerns

IRVING, TEXAS — Synod of the Sun, a regional governing body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has appointed an administrative commission to examine concerns regarding church property and presbytery leadership in South Louisiana Presbytery.

Stony Point Revisited

As a former director of Stony Point Center, I was very interested in — and appreciative of — your recent article on “Stony Point: Iona on the Hudson.” Rick and Kitty Ufford-Chase have suggested an exciting possibility for the future of the center. I hope others will catch and support this vision.

A Presbyterian Church in Russia

While it’s not widely known in the United States, there is an emerging Presbyterian witness in Russia. I came to know it through James Kim, a Korean-American pastor [Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)] in the Dallas area. He knows this church because of its Korean origins.

Proposed Form of Government: Resources, not regulation

“The G.A. ought to help us, not make our life more complicated!” “Why don’t [they] do something useful for a change, not make more rules!” “No wonder denominations are dying!”

Proposed Form of Government: Is there a hook in it?

A trophy trout lies patiently in his hole near the edge of the river. His gaze is fixed upstream where he watches a spinning mayfly. A neuron fires in his brain; he lunges toward his quarry.

Participant in or instrument of God’s mission?

Editor’s Note: This is the eleventh essay in a series dealing with theological topics of interest and importance to Presbyterians. The essays are a response to the General Assembly Task Force Report on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church, but also a considered effort to probe the Reformed heritage and find fresh theological language with which to move beyond the poles that divide us.

It’s not my worry!

For the last few weeks I have enjoyed the daily reports of the agony of the California Supreme Court listening to testimony in cases around the issue of marriage between people of the same sex. (As a famous English professor once said at a commencement address not long ago, people have sex, nouns have gender.)

Stewardship committee, foundation reps to take on investment return rates; Recommendations come up tomorrow

LOUISVILLE — The General Assembly Council’s Stewardship Committee is recommending that discussions continue between the council’s leadership and the Presbyterian Foundation over the issue of whether the council should be required to invest all of its medium and long-term funds with the foundation.

Task force recommends against separately incorporating PDA

LOUISVILLE — With many questions still unanswered, a task force studying the pros and cons of creating a separate corporation for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has recommended that church leaders not move forward with incorporation at this time.

Synod of Southwest proposes overture to allow investment outside foundation

LOUISVILLE – The Synod of the Southwest, concerned that the Presbyterian Foundation isn’t producing as strong a return on investments as is available elsewhere in the financial market, is pushing for change.

Ed Koster to stand for election as stated clerk of the General Assembly

DETROIT--The Rev. Edward H. Koster, current stated clerk of the Presbytery of Detroit, announced April 21 he will stand for election as stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Koster comes to the election from a varied background with experience as a pastor, presbytery stated clerk, and lawyer.

He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and served five years in the Navy during the Vietnam War. After receiving his Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va., he studied Old Testament history in the doctoral program of the Department of Near Eastern Studies of the University of Michigan for three years, receiving his MA in 1974. He served as pastor of Calvary Church in Ann Arbor, Mich. for 10 years, during which time he also served as chaplain in the Washtenaw County Jail, president of the Ann Arbor Council of Churches, and chaplain at the VA Hospital in Ann Arbor. He studied organizational development in 1985-86 under the late Dr. Ronald Lippitt, then at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, and Kathie Dannemiller, who was principal in Dannemiller-Tyson Associates of Ann Arbor.