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Wheeler tells Moderators Conference that church needs evangelicals

LOUISVILLE -- Barbara G. Wheeler, the president of Auburn Seminary in New York, calls herself a liberal and strongly believes that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) should not deny ordination to sexually-active gays and lesbians, and shouldn't cite the Bible as its reason for doing so. But here's some of what she has to say about evangelical conservatives, the people she says she disagrees with "strenuously" in the painful and continuing battle over homosexual ordination.

Voices

Presbyterians Expose THeir Buts!

In their proper place, I have long, and roundly, maintained a lowdown admiration for nice, big Presbyterian buts.  To close and appreciative observers like me the fundaments of Reformed dogmatics are both ample and shapely with lots of wiggle room.  Being generously endowed (and with intelligence, too), Presbyterians are aware that many theological affirmations are so complex the only proper response to them is, "yes, but...."

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GAPJC hears case of gay Connecticut elder

ATLANTA -- How far must a session go in inquiring into the sexual practice of candidates for elder? If a person has acknowledged that they live in a committed, same-sex relationship, but refuses to answer the direct question if they are sexually active in that relationship, can the session proceed to install them? Or is the examination incomplete?

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Wife of former Outlook editor dies

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Mary Alice Minear Hunt, 82, wife of former Outlook editor George Laird Hunt, died Nov. 26 of kidney failure at the health center of Florida Presbyterian Homes here.

A professional musician, recitalist and church soloist, she studied music under Robert Grooters, Madeline Bartell and David McCormick.

Voices

There is a Third Way: Theses for the Crisis in Our Church

1. A Third Way requires a new mode of thinking. At first glance it is bound to seem implausible.

2. Without a Third Way, our church is in danger of shattering.

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Evangelism and Church Growth in Southern Africa

You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God (2 Corinthians 9:11-12, NRSV).

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Walking Toward the Horizon

During the 10 days of my senior-year spring break, I participated in Davidson College's "reverse mission experience" journey to Nicaragua led by college chaplain Rob Spach and Kathy Beach-Verhey, associate pastor of the Davidson College church.

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Images of Hope from a Church set free

A recent mission study trip to the northeastern part of Hungary and Ukraine -- with 10 persons from Missouri Union and Peaks presbyteries -- left me with three distinct images, all relating in some way to our old friend, Daniel Szabo, head curator of the Cistibiscan Church District.

Voices

The lost art of congregational visitation

There are several reasons why congregational visitation is no longer a priority; the difficulty of arranging it; members are busy; pastors are busy; and we are not sure what it accomplishes.

There are several reasons why congregational visitation should be a priority. It meets people where they are; it facilitates contact with members who seldom are seen; and it can renew the church.

Editorials

Is There a Way Out?

Amendment A, overturning the "fidelity-chastity" requirement for ministers and church officers, must be defeated by those voting in the presbyteries in the coming months. There are several reasons why conscientious presbyters, who will be called to vote on this and other amendments approved by the 213th General Assembly (2001), should vote no.

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PC(USA) may face $2.5 million shortfall in 2002

LOUISVILLE -- From the moment he took office as executive director of the General Assembly Council (GAC) in 1998, John Detterick has said that the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s $140 million mission enterprise sooner or later would have to be made leaner, more efficient and better prioritized.

Book Reviews

The Art of Teaching the Bible

By Christine Eaton Blair
Geneva. 2001. 138 pp. Pb. $12.95.ISBN ISBN 0-664-50148-6

— reviewed by Margaret Parks Cowan Maryville, Tenn.

Christine Eaton Blair has produced a lively and practical guide for teaching Bible study to adults. She acknowledges the problem of biblical illiteracy and the difficulty of motivating adults to participate in Bible study. While she presents different approaches to the text and theological implications of those approaches, the strength of her book lies in its discussion of insights from adult learning theory and practical strategies for teaching that flow from these insights.

Voices

All in the Family

"Resolutions acknowledging the Catholic Church as part of the body of Christ, and calling for continuing study of those practices which first divided us were approved, as was a resolution of invitation to invite the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to join in studies leading to possible future affirmation of one another's baptisms."
-- 213th General Assembly News (June 13, 2001)

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Presbyterians have a chance ‘to teach a moral lesson the nation can take to heart,’ Covenant Network told

PASADENA, Calif. -- Peter Gomes, a best-selling author and Harvard College professor, spoke recently to Presbyterians pushing for change -- those who want to see the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) permit the ordination of sexually-active gays and lesbians -- on the theme of "Paradise Postponed," and the question of what they should do while they are waiting.

Editorials

Reclaiming Our Confessional Heritage

The 213th General Assembly (2001) directed the Office of Theology and Worship to develop materials to "help the church better understand the theological richness of the Lordship of Jesus Christ."

Voices

Getting Serious About Jesus Christ

It's time to get serious. The intramural debates preoccupying the PC(USA) look rather trivial and self-defeating when compared to the all-too-real challenges now facing the world in the aftermath of Sept. 11. With commercial jetliners having been turned into weapons of mass destruction; with biological weapons having been directed, however crudely, at news agencies and government leaders;

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Moderator Rogers blasts the Lay Committee for planning war on the denomination

PASADENA, Calif. -- Jack Rogers, moderator of the 213th General Assembly, blasted the Lay Committee for being a "militant fundamentalist group" that is trying to impose on the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) a narrow set of doctrinal standards and to interpret the Bible with "a kind of surface literalism."

Book Reviews

Reformed Worship

By Howard L. Rice and James C. Huffstuttler
Geneva. 2001. 233 pp. $24.95.
ISBN 0-664-50147-8
Reviewed by Ronald P. Byars, professor of preaching and
worship,Union-PSCE, Richmond, Va.

"Word-centered worship appeals to the mind . . . sometimes to the neglect of the emotions. Partly because of this emphasis, the flight of the young from Reformed congregations has been particularly noticeable, and the feeling that something is wrong is very deep" [p. x].

Book Reviews

The Dancers of Riverside Park

By Peggy Shriver
WJKP. 2001. 112 pp. Pb. $14.95.
ISBN 0664223338
Reviewed by Jane C. Perdue
of Canyon Lake, Texas

Through her book of poems, The Dancers of Riverside Park, Peggy Shriver travels with her eyes wide open. Whether riding the subway in New York City or viewing the tomb of Lenin in Russia, her antenna is out to sense the moment.

Book Reviews

Christology and the New Testament: Jesus and His Early Followers

By Christopher Tuckett
WJKP. 2001. 256 pp. Pb. $24.95.
ISBN 0-664-22431-8
Reviewed by John Barksdale of Madison, Va.

Christopher Tuckett, a lecturer in New Testament studies at the University of Oxford, has written a very readable and useful summary of what the New Testament writers thought about the significance of Jesus.

Book Reviews

Religion on Campus

By Conrad Cherry, Betty A. DeBerg and Amanda Porterfield
University of North Carolina Press. 2001. 316 pp. $24.95. ISBN 0-8078-2623-5

— reviewed by Allen Proctor, Presbyterian campus minister
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.

Religion on Campus is a valuable and unique resource for all who are interested in what is actually happening in the religious life of students and faculty on college campuses today. Are you interested in getting inside a meeting of Campus Crusade for Christ to see all that is said and done? What happens during a gathering of the Lutheran Student Movement and what feelings and thoughts do students report in interviews following those gatherings?

Book Reviews

Covenant, Community and the Common Good: An Interpretation of Christian Ethics

By Eric Mount Jr.
Pilgrim. 1999. 188 pp. Pb. $19.95.
ISBN 0829813551
Reviewed by Guy B. Hammond of Blacksburg, Va.

As the book's subtitle suggests, Presbyterian scholar Eric Mount's work can serve as an introduction to the entire field of Christian ethics, approached from a particular vantage point.

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Challenge to ordination of lesbian minister renews question, ‘What can presbyteries ask?’

Ed Hart, pastor of First church, Napa, Calif., is one of the ministers who has formally challenged the ordination of Katie Morrison, a lesbian who was ordained in San Anselmo, Calif., on Oct. 21 despite opposition from some in Redwoods Presbytery.

Voices

Back to Basics

Everything changed on Sept. 11, including world mission. Our staff in Worldwide Ministries in Louisville did a good job of immediately contacting all of our mission workers around the world.

Voices

Stay Together

We shared the joy and privilege of serving as co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Presbyterian Union, from 1969 to 1983. Like many of your regular readers we rejoiced in the breakdown of barriers which had stood for 122 years, and the creation of a newly reconciled church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).