Just a half-hour's ride from the concrete and steel of New York City, Stony Point Conference Center welcomes Presbyterians to the Hudson River Valley. But its serene appearance shrouds a season of turmoil as it struggles to formulate a future for significant mission.
With the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1776, the importation of Bibles to the colonies abruptly ceased, promising as Amos put it, a "famine of the Word of God." Presbyterian pastors Francis Allison and John Ewing of Philadelphia, with William Marshall of the Scots Presbyterian Church, petitioned Congress to insure the availability of the Scriptures, the Old and New Testaments to the country. Bibles had been imported from Britain and Ireland. The church official considered the cost of the project, which was considerable, and persuaded the Continental Congress to import 20,000 Bibles from Holland, Scotland, and elsewhere. The British, it should be noted, took over Philadelphia; Presbyterian leaders had to flee in 1777.
Just before this, Robert Aitken, Presbyterian and Philadelphia printer, put out copies of the New Testament for use in the schools. This caught Congress' favorable attention. But it took this Presbyterian printer of Philadelphia to persuade the new United States Congress to do something about the situation. The petition read like this:
This orb that drew us far across the ancient dark,
whose radiance was, at times, a comfort,
other times, it seemed, a mocking challenge,
Unlike megachurches that have forged strong ties to young adults, mainline Protestant congregations tend to struggle in responding to people in their 20s.
The problem isn't that they want to freeze out young adults. They just don't have practices that enable them to hear young adults and to respond to their unique needs and interests.
Here are some tips on how to improve your congregation's "hearing" what young adults are saying:
One thing you can say about Pope Benedict XVI: he really believes this stuff! The paper, "Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church," proclaimed last June that all the world needs to hear, believe, and obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as articulated by the Roman Catholic Church.
What began two years ago as a simple notion -- replace an aging play structure at Westminster Woods Camp & Conference Center in Occidental, Calif. -- became an unprecedented venture that reunited, redefined, and reinvigorated the community of the camp's supporters.
After raising more than $100,000 for a new, one-of-a-kind playground, kids, teens, young adults, parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents came to The Woods in last October for a five-day build process that was both energizing and exhausting. Through hard rain, fog, cool evenings and colder mornings, the roughly 300-person volunteer brigade persevered and created a unique play structure that will be a centerpiece of the camp's ministry for years to come.
VATICAN CITY -- Roman Catholic missionaries should aim to win souls and not restrict themselves to humanitarian good works, the Vatican said Dec. 14.
A new 19-page document, which was personally approved by Pope Benedict XVI, draws on a controversial Vatican declaration he issued in 2000 that asserted Catholics alone have "the fullness of the means of salvation."
Church mission projects are not uncommon. You can walk into almost any church in America, glance at its bulletin board, scan the church newsletter, or have a brief conversation with the pastor as you're walking out of the worship service and quickly find out the various projects it supports.
But not all mission projects are equal. Some demand an enormous amount of energy from the church while others actually give life and energy. Some appear wonderful to the casual observer but secretly inflict pain and stress on those in charge while other mission projects mysteriously seem to run themselves. Some projects that should have been buried years ago continue to be repaired and kept on life support at great
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican who is investigating the finances of six prominent evangelical ministries, said Dec. 7 he doesn't plan to hold hearings on any individual ministry and hopes he won't have to subpoena any of them.
But in response to critics who wonder if his investigation into alleged lavish spending is too broad, Grassley said he simply expects tax-exempt ministries to follow the law.
"I think their fear is that we're going to get involved in doctrine, in the internal teachings of the church," said Grassley, the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, in an interview. "That's none of my business.
For the Presbyterian students at Virginia Tech, hope has found a voice that has quieted the lingering echoes of gunshots. Several of them -- survivors of last April's mass murder on their campus -- testified to their harrowing search for and discovery of hope with 800 fellow students at the College Conference at the Montreat Conference Center on January 3.
LOUISVILLE -- Responding to Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) partners in the Middle East who are increasingly concerned with conditions in Gaza, General Assembly Stated ClerkClifton Kirkpatrick has issued a statement expressing "alarm" at "the worsening conditions affecting all of Gaza's inhabitants."
In addition to reiterating the PC(USA)'s condemnation of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and "provocative acts of retaliation" by Palestinian militants, Kirkpatrick expressed growing concern for the Christian minority in Gaza, which is frequently caught in the crossfire between Israel and Palestinian militants.
One of the most densely packed New Testament texts is the feeding of the 5,000 that appears (Mk 6:34-46) just after the murder of John the Baptist. The larger setting of the story is clearly one of the "Markan sandwiches." The Twelve are sent out, John is murdered and suddenly the twelve return to Jesus. The mission is brought to an abrupt end as they return at once for consultation. The entire countryside is in an uproar with people "coming and going" (v. 31) from "all the towns" (v. 33) in the province. Only here in the entire New Testament do we read the phrase "coming and going." Everyone wants to know: What does Jesus have to say about the murder of his cousin and what is he planning to do about it? They are not even able to eat (v. 31). Making an astute decision, Jesus tells his disciples, Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while (v. 31). It is time to regroup and reflect on their next move.
Whenever expectations meet reality, questions are sure to follow.
Years ago my wife told my son that they were going to do something very special to get ready for Christmas. She pumped up his excitement. She told him they were going to have fun. As a consequence, he couldn't wait until the day came -- to make a gingerbread house. I walked in just as the project was being completed. He was sitting there with his head in his hands, bored to tears and asking his mother if they were having fun yet.
The situation in Kenya is getting worse, and we can help bring it to a quicker end. I know from past associations with Amnesty International that when the world's attention is directed to governments they listen, because too much is at stake for them to NOT listen when their actions are known and are being watched by many.
Dr. Robert Barasa, executive director of the Ember Kenya Grandparents Empowerment Project, says that in Funyula, where the Ember Project is located, he has been warned that the building in which the Ember offices are located is targeted for burning down because the landlord is Kikuyu. Also, all businesses are shut down and nobody can go out in public to work or to get food because the danger is too great. He says that people cannot get food and are in danger of starving.
The following eight quality characteristics make up the Natural Church Development model outlined in the book by Christian A. Schwarz, Natural Church Development. After completing a series of surveys, a church is evaluated on each of these characteristics in order to provide a portrait of church health.
Empowering Leadership
"¢ Leaders of growing churches invest the majority of their time in discipleship, delegation, and multiplication.
Gift-oriented Ministry
"¢ The role of church leadership is to help its members to identify their gifts and to integrate them into appropriate ministries.
As an executive presbyter I am very aware of how much parish pastors do for others on a daily basis. I was in the parish myself for 22 years, so I understand the stress and strain on both pastors and their families. What I also know all too well is how often many are under-valued, taken for granted, or at the worst, devalued as doing little more than preaching on Sundays. Those of us in ministry have encountered a few colleagues who are lazy and slide by with doing as little as possible, but as a whole, ministers in the parish are oftentimes under-appreciated, underpaid, and forgotten until there is a crisis and they are desperately needed. I don't mean to imply that no one ever says "thank you," or shows some form of kind affection.
The confirmation of recently sworn in Attorney General Michael Mukasey gathered opposition at one point because he refused to condemn waterboarding as a form of torture. His refusal is curious, because to acknowledge that waterboarding is torture is like conceding that the sun rises in the east. After World War II, Japanese soldiers who practiced it were prosecuted as war criminals.
The primary issue of purity before the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) at this time is how we are to be faithful Christians now and into the future. Three points: (1) The purity of the Church comes from Jesus Christ. (2) The dilemma we are in comes from a clash of epochs as well as a clash of poles, right and left. (3) PC(USA) identity, resources, and actions point us to a third way out of our dilemma.
(PNS) The Commission on Presidential Debates has announced the locations of next year's three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate.
Preparing a sermon for peers and other preachers has been a nerve-wracking experience. I couldn't help remembering the advice we gave each other in seminary: "Keep it short, make it good, and watch your pronouns." Choosing the text, however, wasn't particularly difficult. I ran across this text several years ago and it hooked me. Since then it's been a favorite and I preach it whenever I get the chance.
(PNS) "I wish I could send them home with some small thing, even a piece of soap." These were the words of a pastor in the Cameroon, West Africa. He was telling our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) delegation visiting Cameroon about the support group his congregation sponsors for people living with HIV/AIDS.
The support group is a lifeline for people who are often ostracized because of their disease. The pastor reminds them often that they are loved by God. However, it hurts his soul to have to send these people away with nothing in their hands to remind them of God's love and the church's care.
(RNS) Sister Margaret A. Farley, a Roman Catholic nun and former Yale Divinity School ethicist, has been awarded the prestigious Grawemeyer Award in Religion by the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and the University of Louisville.
"Have you ever seen it done well?" This was the reply that came to some of my concerns about contemporary worship. The questioner had a good point. There is a tremendous difference between worship that is led poorly and worship that is led well. Perhaps at least some of my concerns had more to do with sloppiness than with substance.
As you contemplate tomorrow, you need to keep in mind two cultural phenomena that will shape your future: time and gasoline prices.
Sunday ministries tend to be time-insensitive because people will travel an hour to church. That hour isn't available on weekdays, however. With every adult in the household working long hours, travel-to-church time tends to shrink to 30 minutes or less.
Have you set your hopes, your resolutions, your plans for 2008?
My hopes are much as they were each year I served in the pastorate. I hope for our church that in this new year ...
"¢ we will shout from housetops the gospel for the salvation of the world God so loves;
"¢ we will love God earnestly and love neighbors sacrificially;
"¢ we will promote justice and ethics near and far;
"¢ we will minister locally and internationally to and with young and old, friends and strangers, citizens and immigrants, red, yellow, black, brown, and white; and
"¢ we will find the ties that bind us together to be stronger than the force fields that would pull us apart.
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