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The Presbyterian Outlook

The Presbyterian Outlook

Creating and curating trustworthy resources for the church, the Presbyterian Outlook connects disciples of Jesus Christ through compelling and committed conversation for the proclamation of the Gospel.

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GA PJC upholds ordination of lesbian minister

KANSAS CITY — Katie Morrison got a lot of people's attention when she told reporters that she's lesbian, that she lives in a committed relationship with a longtime partner, and that to her way of thinking, chastity is not at all the same thing as celibacy. But Morrison, who was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in California in October 2001, told Redwoods Presbytery, when it was considering her ordination that fall, that she could comply with the requirement in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Constitution that those being ordained practice fidelity if they are married or chastity if they are single.

Editorials

Renewing the Covenant IV: Living Together Faithfully in our Congregations

The congregation of God's people is the heart of Christ's church on Earth. If the Presbyterian Church is to be to renewed by God's grace in the "time between the times," then the members of each congregation need to renew their covenant, individually and corporately, with the Lord, and to reframe life together in ways that exhibit the body of Christ in all of its fullness.

Voices

Non-Ideological Theology

In a recent book review there was a distinction drawn between being ideological and being existential. The reviewer, Adam Schatz, was commenting on a biography of the jazz musician, Miles Davis. His point was that Miles Davis was more existential than ideological in his approach to racial issues.

Editorials

Renewing the Covenant III: Confessing Our Faith

If the Presbyterian Church is to be reshaped and reconstituted for God's purposes in our time, our covenant with God, based on God's grace, must be remembered, sought and renewed.

Faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is at the heart of the Christian life and the life of the church. However, a faith that is devoid of serious content or that is not robust, that cannot be communicated in the language and thought patterns of the people who hear the gospel preached, will not be a faith that endures

Movie Reviews

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Chuck Barris' life has been so bizarre that when they made a movie of it, you still can't tell what's real, what's fantasy, what's fiction, and what's such a whopper of a tale that it could very well be the truth.

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Dieth resigns as president of Montreat

Emile H. Dieth Jr., president of the Montreat Conference Center since 1998, resigned Tuesday, Feb. 18, according to a Montreat news release.

In a message addressed to his staff and board colleagues, Dieth wrote, in part, "I take pride in the many achievements and accomplishments which have been concluded during my administration."

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Presbyterians divided regarding attacking Iraq

It's the subject weighing on the heart and conscience of almost every American, the one pastors know is troubling people but about which they aren't sure what they should do. Should the United States attack Iraq? And, facing that prospect, what is the Christian response?

At some Presbyterian churches, members pass out "Peace is Patriotic!" signs and gather in candlelight vigils for peace, along with sympathetic new friends who may be Quaker or Muslim or Catholic or of no faith tradition at all.

Editorials

Renewing the Covenant II: Faith

We are saved by grace through faith, not by works of the law, according to the Apostle. Faith, the trusting relationship with God our Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, is at the heart of the Christian life, and must be the starting point for the renewal of its covenant with God by the Presbyterian Church.

Voices

An Immodest Proposal

I am a Presbyterian who cherishes our heritage. The Reformed understanding of our faith and of Scripture is for me a rich source of nourishment spiritually, emotionally and communally. So what I propose below comes as the conclusion of a long lament on my part.

Voices

Your Membership has been Revoked

If the Presbyterian church is going to thrive in the 21st century, what we desperately need are fewer members.

Without a doubt, the term "member" has a solid basis in the Scriptures. The apostle Paul invites Christians to view themselves as members of Christ’s body, with each member performing a different function, yet all working together for a common goal.

Book Reviews

Abraham: A Journey into the Heart of Three Faiths

By Bruce Feiler
William Morrow. 2002. 224 pp. $23.95. ISBN 0380977761

— Review by James H. Gailey, Brevard, N.C.

Bruce Feiler's Abraham is not an attempt to solve the political problems of the Near East. Instead it is the personal journey of a sensitive Jew seeking understanding of the spiritual ancestor of Jews, Christians and Muslims. Feiler has literally walked over significant sites in the Holy Land, and he realized that no physical traces of Abraham could be found.

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Complaint against GA officials may be headed for hearing in Kansas City

General Assembly Moderator Fahed-Abu Akel, says he won't call the 214th Assembly back into session, but a challenge pending in the church courts could bring a different result.

The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission, the denomination's highest court, is scheduled to meet Feb. 28 in Kansas City. During that session it may consider a remedial case filed against Abu-Akel and others involved in the decision to not recall the Assembly.

Voices

Evangelicals on the Ockenga Trail

"Shall the Fundamentalists Win?" When Harry Emerson Fosdick preached a sermon by that name in 1922, he galvanized the modernist-liberal movement that carries on to this day.

"Can the Fundamentalists Win America?" When Harold John Ockenga preached a sermon by that name in 1947, he galvanized the neo-evangelical movement (a label he would later coin) that also carries on to this day.

Editorials

Renewing the Covenant I

If we Presbyterians are to live faithfully and to the glory of God in the "time between the times," as discussed recently in this space, then some intentional framework will be necessary for the church as a whole. It will be necessary to reclaim its heritage and to go forward in mission to the ends of the Earth.

Book Reviews

Body and Soul: Rethinking Sexuality as Justice-Love

Marvin M. Ellison and Sylvia Thorson-Smith, eds.
Pilgrim. 2003. 393 pp. Pb. $21.

— Review by Isabel Rogers, Richmond, Va.

"Despite decades of debate, conflict over human sexuality continues to persist unabated in the church." So begins the last chapter in a book that has grown out of that long debate, Body and Soul: Rethinking Sexuality as Justice/Love.

Editorials

The Time Between the Times IV

In recent weeks, the current crisis in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been addressed — the precipitous decline in membership over the last four decades, the dissolution of a strong confessional/theological base resulting from the corrosive effects of a rapidly secularizing culture which increasingly exercises dominance over the mind of the church, and the terrible polarization over human sexuality that brought the PC(USA) to the brink of division.

Voices

Belly Button Lent

With the double exception of Adam and Eve, every single human being possesses a navel.  This is because we are born connected to our mother by an umbilical cord that is severed after birth and then dries up.  The purpose of cutting the cord is to enable you to sleep in your own bed, although the child is later reattached to the mother by apron strings.

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Presbytery rejects church’s call of openly lesbian minister

The denominational battle over ordination standards came to Rockville church, Rockville, Md., when the church's Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC) decided to call Alice Anderson as pastor.

On Wednesday, Jan. 29, National Capital Presbytery's Committee on Ministry (COM) said it could not confirm Anderson's call because of a "significant" minority opposition within the 241-member congregation to calling the openly lesbian minister.

Voices

Invading Iraq: Is It Justified?

Whether the United States will actually go to war against Iraq is still unclear at the present time. What is clear is that preparations for the war are proceeding apace. The preparations have been both ideological and military. On the ideological front, the Bush administration has been readying the American public for a "pre-emptive" attack on Iraq ever since Sept. 12, 2001 – a media blitz that continues right down to the present day.

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Louis Zbinden, pastor of First Church, San Antonio, announces retirement effective June 1

SAN ANTONIO — Louis H. Zbinden Jr., 66, senior minister of 3,066-member First church, San Antonio, since 1971 and a leading figure among conservative evangelical Presbyterians, has announced to his congregation that he will retire effective June 1, 2003. His last Sunday in the pulpit will be May 25.

Zbinden told the session of the church about his retirement at its monthly meeting Monday night, Jan. 27. The church mailed a letter to the congregation that same day.

Editorials

The Time Between the Times III

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is entering a critical period in its history: life-and-death decisions must be made. The future shape and form of our denomination, its very existence, is in the balance. The PC(USA) will not cease to exist altogether. We know that because there is enough strength for some remnant to last indefinitely, as witnessed by smaller Presbyterian bodies that continue to endure with limited numbers.

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Moderator Abu-Akel says he will not call 214th GA into special session

LOUISVILLE — Saying he wants the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to focus on mission and ministry, Fahed Abu-Akel, moderator of the denomination's 214th General Assembly, announced Monday morning that he will not call the Assembly back into session.

He told a news conference that 13 commissioners who signed a petition asking the Assembly to reconvene — six ministers and seven elders — indicated they wanted their names removed.

Voices

Worsh-o-tainment: A Needed Neologism?

The new Archbishop of Canterbury, His Grace Rowan Williams, is a highly intelligent man. In his most recent book , Lost Icons he discusses the function of "play" in Western society. "Games," he writes, "are unproductive." By this he means that the purpose of a game is not to manufacture a product. Its goal is not "competition for limited goods."

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