Episcopal split accelerates as Va. parishes vote to leave

c. 2006 Religion News Service

Conservative Episcopalians' steady exodus from the Episcopal Church accelerated Dec. 17 as eight Virginia congregations -- including two large, historic parishes -- voted to leave the national body.

The Diocese of Virginia has lost 12 congregations and about 18 percent of its average Sunday worship attendance in recent battles over homosexuality and the authority of Scripture, according to figures provided by the diocese.

Saddleback AIDS conference speakers challenge church to “unselfish service”

"People ask me, 'Rick, are you right wing or left wing?' I tell them, I'm for the whole bird!"

That statement, one of a plethora of sound bites spoken by pastor and author Rick Warren, embodied both the theme and spirit of "Race Against Time," the 2006 Global Summit on AIDS at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Cal., this past Nov. 29 -- Dec. 1. The conference drew the attention of many, due in part to the invitation Warren extended to potential Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. This act of inclusivity drew both the attention of the secular world and criticism from the religious right. 

Agape Community Kitchen: “It has changed all of us”

"This is most likely the greatest thing I can possibly do because this is what Christ told us to do, go and serve others. So, we are literally taking the words of Christ and putting them into action." So states Will Foltz. A powerful statement, made even more so when you realize that Will Foltz is 14 years old.

What does Will keep going back to? It is called the Agape Community Kitchen, and each Wednesday evening in Elizabeth, New Jersey, it serves about 250 guests a warm meal. It is a ministry begun by the Presbyterian Church in Westfield. Not exactly unique, you might think, but this is not the usual soup kitchen. It was started, and continues to be run, by the youth of the church.

PC(USA) reorganizing efforts lead to creating new office

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is creating a new Office of Leadership and Vocation -- a combined venture of the General Assembly Council and the Office of the General Assembly.

The new office -- part of a continuing reorganization of the denominational structure -- will pull together elements of work involving congregations calling pastors, efforts to prepare candidates for ministry,  the training of commissioned lay pastors, support of Christian educators and programs to encourage vocational discernment. 

Arkansas camp finds new ways to meet needs, stay viable

In some places, Presbyterian camps and conference centers are shutting down -- as beloved as they may be, there's just not enough money to keep going.

But Ferncliff in Little Rock, Ark., has a different, more positive story to tell.

Over the last 20 years, Ferncliff, the camp of Arkansas presbytery, has experienced slow but steady growth.

It's found new life through innovation: by responding to incidents of school violence and, more recently, by becoming involved in disaster assistance efforts.

And the heart of its vision, according to Executive Director David Gill, is the realization that Ferncliff isn't just a fun place to visit, but a center of mission and ministry as well.

Sheldon Sorge new associate director of Louisville Institute

The Rev. Dr. Sheldon W. Sorge has been named associate director of the Louisville Institute, effective January 1, 2007.

Woodrow Wilson, U.S. president, world statesman (1856-1924)

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born just a hundred and fifty years ago in Staunton, Va., on Dec, 28, 1856. The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library in Staunton is celebrating the occasion this year. Historians rank Wilson as among the first of American Presidents as well as an international figure. 

Wilson was named Thomas Woodrow, one of the offspring of Joseph Ruggles Wilson. The senior Wilson, a Presbyterian minister with Scots-Irish and Ohio roots, and mother Janet, or Janey, was of English descent and the daughter of another Presbyterian minister. They brought Janet with them from the Old World to the New before she was a teen.

New year question: Are regional governing bodies viable, stable?

In this financially-stressed denomination, what is the future of presbyteries and synods?

With some regional governing bodies already being pricked by fiscal pain, that is a question being asked with some fervor and urgency in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) these days.

Last September, the Synod of the Southwest and the presbyteries of Santa Fe and Sierra Blanca sent letters asking the General Assembly Council to "convene a consultation at an early opportunity in order to address the viability and stability of the synods and presbyteries of this denomination."

The council has created a Task Force on the Viability of Presbyteries and Synods.

And each of the 173 presbyteries and 16 synods is being asked to send a representative to a meeting Feb. 14-16 in Albuquerque to discuss the issue.

"It is no secret in the church that many of our presbyteries and synods are experiencing a 'crunch' that seems to becoming more critical each year," states a letter announcing the consultation. Life is becoming more complex for middle governing bodies, and "the resources to do mission and ministry are becoming more and more scarce," the letter states.

GAC provides $720,000 to cover MIJHH operating expense

LOUISVILLE -- To stay in business, the major fundraising drive of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) needs to find money soon for operating expenses.

So the General Assembly Council's Executive Committee has decided to provide $720,000 to cover those administrative costs. That means the Mission Initiative: Joining Hearts & Hands campaign should be able to keep working until the General Assembly meets in 2008, trying to raise the last $14.5 million of its five-year $40 million goal.

That $720,000 will be "essentially a loan" that would be repaid, said David York, Joining Hearts & Hands' new executive director. The money to do that would come from a 5 percent administrative fee that would be taken out of restricted gifts made to the campaign -- in other words, money that congregations, presbyteries or individual donors provide while specifying that it will be used for particular projects.

Congress passes law allowing bankrupt to tithe

(RNS) WASHINGTON -- Congress approved a bill Dec. 6 that allows people who have filed for bankruptcy to continue to tithe and to make charitable contributions.

The Forgotten Faithful

Though not an overachiever like the seminary classmates who memorized the death dates of every important figure for the church history final, I did manage to commit the most important events to memory. And, as every student of church history knows, some of those events were the church councils--

325: Council of Nicea, Arian controversy.

381: Council of Constantinople, doctrine of the Trinity.

431: Council of Ephesus, Theotokos.

451: Council of Chalcedon, Monophysite controversy otherwise known as two natures, one person

553: Council of Constantinople, more Monophysite controversy

Though they seemed definitive, these councils were not the end of the story for everyone. 

I was shocked to find out, as an attendee at a conference, "The Forgotten Faithful: A Window to the Life and Witness of Christians in the Holy Land," that many of the indigenous Christians in the Holy Land refer to themselves as non-Chalcedonian. The conference, held in Jerusalem Nov. 2-9, was sponsored by Sabeel, an ecumenical grassroots liberation theology movement among Palestinian Christians headquartered in Jerusalem.

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Bethlehem 2006: Would Jesus approve?

"And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel." (Matthew 2:6).

Nestled on a hillside in the Judean mountain range, Bethlehem looks like many other Middle-Eastern towns -- the business district fairly cramped, with windy poorly tarred roads, the outlying areas a mix of farmhouses and villas built into steep, craggy hillsides.

But of course, Bethlehem is different from all the others.

While there is no longer a stable, or any ancient hint that this was Jesus' birthplace, it is to this small town that thousands make their way every year, especially in December. Most Christians drive into the town in buses, with their tour guides pointing out the key locations before making their pilgrimage to the Church of the Nativity, which tradition holds was constructed on the spot where Mary gave birth.

Mission in transition

LOUISVILLE -- Will Browne described these days as being "a weird twilight zone" for those involved in the mission work of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

The denomination is reorganizing -- basically reconfiguring the house top-to-bottom. Some top staff members have left, some new leaders are coming aboard.

Groups outside the denomination's structure are jumping in to international mission in fresh and energetic ways -- for example, by using the Internet to link evangelistic partners around the world. A newly-created alliance between Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship and the Outreach Foundation intends to start sending its own missionaries by the summer of 2007. The Presbyterian Global Fellowship will hold its second national gathering Aug. 16-18 in Houston.

And Browne said the denomination's staff has "probably been guilty of defining mission in too small a circle" -- in trying to control too much, and not understanding clearly enough how significantly the grassroots church is involved in international mission work.

What can your denomination do for you?

LOUISVILLE -- In a denomination that is losing members and cutting budgets, what does it mean to be a "connectional church?" Why does being part of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) matter?

For Carolyn Crawford, congregational life pastor at Bel Air Church in Los Angeles, that's sometimes hard to answer. Hers is a fast-growing congregation -- with about 100 folks showing up for new-member classes four times a year.

"I can count it on one hand, if that," the number of people who say they've come to Bel Air specifically because it's Presbyterian, Crawford said at the national Moderator's Conference Nov. 17.

"What would you tell me to tell those new members, or people in the pews" about why being Presbyterian matters, she asked.

Southern California Pastor Tom Taylor tapped to lead PC(USA) mission programs

LOUISVILLE -- The Rev. Tom Taylor, a Southern California pastor, touted by colleagues as a bridge-builder in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has been named deputy executive director for mission by General Assembly Council (GAC) Executive Director Linda Valentine.

His appointment needed confirmation by the GAC's executive committee at its meeting Dec. 7; his expected date to begin work was Jan. 8.

Taylor, currently pastor of the 1,400-member Glenkirk Church in Glendora, Calif., will oversee all of the GAC's mission activities including supervision of six program directors who were to be named after Taylor to manage the council's six restructured program areas.