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.
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.
"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)
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.
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."
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;
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."
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].
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.).
It's sort of like the mom trying to clean up the kids while they're still playing in the mud pile -- a task force created to study theological issues and lead the church in spiritual discernment, just getting started at a time when the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is talking openly about a possible split and preparing to vote on the divisive issue of ordaining gays and lesbians.
Charity Forbes suspects that, because she's 28, she gets away with some things, such as wearing jeans to the office or toe rings, that might be challenged if she were an older pastor. But she's also living out firsthand some of the difficulties of being a young, single minister in a denomination that's aging -- and in a culture where many of her peers don't view the ministry as a desirable or compelling line of work.
A connectional presbytery in this Internet culture is a wired presbytery. An underlying theological premise driving this concept is the realization that God has providentially placed us in a technologically advanced period. Not to use the communication media available to us for advancing the gospel would be like the Apostle Paul deciding not to write letters.
The congregation of Richmond (Va.) Third church celebrated on Oct. 14 the remodeling of their sanctuary, just a little emore than a year since the sanctuary ceiling fell.
ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Presbyterian Coalition is plowing at least $300,000 into its campaign to defeat Amendment A, a controversial proposal that would open the door to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s ordaining sexually active gays and lesbians.
The current moderator and two most recent past moderators of the General Assembly have selected the following 21 persons to serve on the Theological Task Force requested by the 213th General Assembly. Gary Demarest and Jean S. Stoner will serve as co-moderators.
ORLANDO -- More than 1,150 evangelical Presbyterians, meeting here at the Presbyterian Coalition's biggest gathering ever, made it clear Tuesday that they want to accomplish some kind of "new reformation" of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) --
In separate cases on opposite coasts of the country, presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are examining gay candidates for the ministry, assessing their suitability for ordination.
By Jack Haberer
Geneva. 2001. 192 pp. Pb. $19.95.
ISBN 0-664-50190-7
Reviewed by Brent Eelman of Houston, Texas
This book should be mandatory reading for all commissioners to this year's General Assembly. Jack Haberer, who is well-known as an evangelical leader in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has written a thoughtful book that challenges the reader to rethink the easy categories that we often use to describe theological differences.
Six years ago the General Assembly elected me to a new class of the Assembly's Permanent Judicial Commission. Elections occur every two years. They create, if you will, three two-year sessions for each commissioner. Every two years this transition brings an interesting change of style and personality as the new class arrives. Each new class constitutes at least a third of the membership.
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