Small churches and their presbyteries face decisions

Bob Browning, a lawyer from Pineville, W.Va., could write a book on pastoral leadership in small Presbyterian churches.

He's trying to help figure out how four congregations in his part of the state will get along when their ordained pastor leaves at the end of this year. For the past several years, the four congregations -- with fewer than 50 members apiece -- have been sharing the services of one minister and two commissioned lay pastors, working together formally as the Presbyterian Parish of Southern West Virginia, "which we just call the parish," Browning said.

But now the pastor is leaving, and the congregations are revisiting the question of what arrangement could work best and what's financially viable.

In the mirror at the Episcopal Convention

The 75th Episcopal Convention and Triennial Assembly in Columbus, Ohio, was held the same week in June as the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly in Birmingham. Since our usual representative to ecumenical bodies, Stated Clerk Cliff Kirkpatrick, could not attend. I gladly accepted the role as the Presbyterian ecumenical partner representative.

Amidst all the other issues coming before the Episcopalian delegates at their bicameral bodies, the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops, were two larger issues: The election of a new presiding bishop, and their response to the Windsor Report from the wider Anglican Communion. 

Mejía family adjusting to new life, ministry outside Colombia

© 2006. Used by permission.

LOUISVILLE, KY. - Adelaida Jiménez is keeping secrets from her two pre-teen sons. It is a habit that she has learned: Tell them only what they need to know and save the rest for later.

When they are bigger. Or, when the threat has passed.

After all, how do you explain terror? How do you justify exile as the only way to keep hired killers or armed paramilitary soldiers from blowing your father, or his children, to Kingdom Come? How do you tell your children that staying safe means leaving home, maybe for good, or, at least until the political climate cools down? How do you say that and not scare your child out of his mind, especially when you are trying to tend to your own trauma and not fall prey to your own worst fears?

So Jiménez is parceling out information on a "need-to-know-basis."

BYU, Reed at opposite ends of College Religiosity Poll

c. 2006 Religion News Service

Considering that 98 percent of the students are Mormon, some classrooms are converted into worship spaces on Sundays, and alcohol and drugs are banned from campus, perhaps it's not surprising that Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, received the sacred No. 1 spot on the list of schools where "Students Pray on a Regular Basis" in the Princeton Review's 2007 college rankings.

Meanwhile, the liberal arts Reed College in Portland, Ore., where the Christian student group is called "Oh, for Christ's Sake," ranked atop the "Students Ignore God on a Regular Basis" category, according to the same rankings, which were released in August.

Playing with a purpose: Upward church sports

If I were honest, I would have to confess that my most enjoyable moments in seminary were not those hours spent parsing Greek verbs or memorizing important dates in church history--though of course, both are worthwhile endeavors. No, the most enjoyable and most memorable times of my seminary experience were spent on the intramural field. It was that time of shared experience, coming together as a team whose members spanned many denominational and theological divides, and getting to know each other on an entirely different level than the classroom allowed that made my seminary experience.

Yes, on the surface it might seem trivial--though we took it quite seriously. Flag football is hardly serious business in the grand scheme of things, but it provided an excuse for a group of diverse individuals to get to know each other better through the shared task and time spent together in pursuit of that task.

Campus religious groups try to hook students early

c. 2006 Religion News Service

Mark Schaefer knows how to throw a good party, and offering free food to hungry college freshmen is a sure-fire way to satisfy guests.

Making the rounds, Schaefer talks to the students and thanks them for attending the recent Friday-night event at American University, aptly named S'mores with S'Methodists.

"That's one thing I've learned," said Schaefer, the chaplain for the United Methodist Student Association. "You have to thank people for coming. We actually appreciate that they show up."

Leaders of campus religious groups find that an early commitment is often a lasting one. That makes this time of year prime recruitment season for campus religious groups before freshmen get swept up in college life and other activities. Some campus leaders say if they don't catch students early, they may never get their attention.

"People are creatures of habit," Schaefer said later. "The relationships you make during the first few weeks at school are often the lasting ones."

Senior Aaron Bregman, president of AU's Jewish Student Association, understands the time crunch. "Freshman year," he said, "basically you have a small window to get involved in things."

Church starts national trend by building housing for Cal students

reprinted with permission

As college students across the country returned to campuses recently, more and more were moving into church-sponsored dorms -- a trend that can trace its roots to the corner of College Avenue and Bancroft Way in Berkeley.

There, just across the street from the UC Berkeley campus, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) renovated its Westminster House campus ministry building a few years ago and added a dorm for 125 students. Besides a room, students there are offered Bible study, theology classes, and social justice projects.

It was a success at Cal, where student housing is always an issue, and soon religious denominations around the country took note.

Mark Elsdon, the pastor of Pres House at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, which is building a 280-bed student residence hall, said many campuses looked to Berkeley and said that if it could be done there, it could be done anywhere.

Seminary receives $2 million commitment for spirituality chair

San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Angelo, Calif., has received a commitment of $2 million to establish the Rice Family Chair of Christian Spirituality at the seminary.

MIJH&H needs funds to continue, GAC told; Questions raised

LOUISVILLE -- A major fundraising campaign of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) could shut down early, falling as much as $15 million short of reaching its five-year, $40 million goal, if it doesn't obtain money soon to pay its operating expenses.

The Mission Initiative: Joining Hearts & Hands campaign so far has raised $25 million in pledges for new church development in the United States and Presbyterian mission work overseas. But much of the money has been given with strings attached -- donors are insisting that it be spent for particular projects, reflecting perhaps distrust of the national church or enthusiasm for particular projects.

GAC challenged to seek “a new thing” in deliberating PC(USA) structure, issues

LOUISVILLE -- What's around the corner for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)?

In this time of red-hot rhetoric, who knows? (Some would add: Who cares?)

But something different seems to be coming -- and at the recent meeting of the General Assembly Council, Presbyterians thought out loud about what that might be.

Why a denomination?

"Why do we need a denomination?"

That's the question Joan Gray, moderator of the 217th General Assembly, put straight to the council on Sept. 27 -- in essence, asking leaders of the PC(USA) whether or not the denomination they serve is relevant anymore.

But Gray also spoke a word of hope -- contending that "living into that scary, anxious question may be one of the ways that God opens us to the new thing that God wants to do among us, whatever it is."

Hearts and Hands director resigns

Jan Opdyke has resigned as director of the Mission Initiative: Joining Hearts & Hands fundraising campaign of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

The $40 million, five-year effort came under close scrutiny at the Sept. 26-29 meeting of the General Assembly Council, when Opdyke announced that the campaign had not raised enough in unrestricted revenue to pay its expenses in 2007. Opdyke said Hearts & Hands only had enough unrestricted money to pay its operating costs through February or March, and if additional funds couldn't be found to pay the campaign's operating expenses, it was in danger of shutting down prematurely.