In times of economic upheaval, everybody gets inconvenienced. Most feel anxious. Some — a minority — actually lose their jobs, their homes, their savings, even their hope. Their plight often goes unnoticed.
We interrupt our regularly scheduled cycle of reporting to direct our attention to you. Older folks speak often of you as “the church of the future;” at other times they amend their words with: “The youth ARE the church right now.”
As Michael Lindvall reminds us in this week’s Benedictory column, history should be a “distant mirror” that helps us see ourselves and our times more accurately. This week’s issue of the Outlook turns our eyes to what may be the clearest mirror into which we Presbyterians are inclined to gaze: the life and writings of John Calvin.
“I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Romans 7:15). If ever there were a living example of the Romans 7 dilemma, it is parading before us daily on the campaign trail. Two great men, both aspiring to be the 44th president of the United States, are behaving in ways that flat-out contradict so much of what they have promoted throughout their careers.
October: Pastor Appreciation Month. Just the kind of thing Hallmark would invent to sell more cards.
Did you notice, in the Sept. 1 edition of the Outlook, the curious juxtaposition of our extolling the Presbyterian way of life, while half the news section focused on the Anglican way of life? No, I wouldn’t trade our elders and deacons for their bishops. But those bishops were making news.
Seminaries: the schools you hate to love.
Most pastors deeply appreciate their respective theological alma maters (see report on p. 10). They thank God for the superior scholarship, for their favorite faculty-mentors’ attentiveness, and for the community spirit they experienced.
So where does that road go that’s paved with good intentions?
Sister elder, brother deacon, do you get it? Do you understand how radical it is for you to have been ordained to your position of leadership?
As editor of a magazine that speaks to the whole church, I feel compelled to speak to friends of various convictions — while allowing all others to overhear the conversation. Two weeks ago I began with the group that has most nurtured my faith: conservative-evangelicals. Last week, I wrote to those who have broadened my vision: liberal-progressives. This week, I address those who have grounded my churchmanship, centrist-ecclesiasts.
As editor of a magazine that speaks to the whole church, I feel compelled to speak to friends of various convictions — while allowing all others to overhear the conversation. Last week I began with the group that has most nurtured my faith: conservative-evangelicals. This week, I write to those who have broadened my vision: liberal-progressives. Next week, I’ll address those who have grounded my churchmanship, centrist-ecclesiasts.
As editor of a magazine that speaks to the whole church, I feel compelled to speak to friends of various convictions — while allowing all others to overhear the conversation. This week I begin with the group that has most nurtured my faith: conservative-evangelicals. Next week, I’ll write to those who have broadened my vision: liberal-progressives. Then I’ll address those who have grounded my churchmanship, centrist-ecclesiasts.
Call me crazy, but it’s time for us Presbyterians to act like Congress. Yes, I know that the voter approval rating of the U.S. Congress — 19% in mid-June, even worse than the president’s — is the lowest in recorded history. But Congress does have three attributes we do well to emulate.
“It was his youthfulness.”
“He’s the new Rick Ufford-Chase.”
Welcome to the ’tweener edition of The Presbyterian Outlook. We go to print too early to be able to report any news of the General Assembly (one exception: see p. 6). You receive the magazine about the time the Assembly is adjourning, so any pre-Assembly analysis we might offer is moot. Hence, we find ourselves caught in the middle — in between the times.
As proud bearer of the nickname, “Honest Habe,” I begged to be given the part of that heroic senatorial candidate, when Mr. Warnaar assigned our fifth grade class to re-enact the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Greg Smith was assigned the role of Stephen A. Douglas, and, sure enough, I drew the name of Abraham Lincoln.
When the General Assembly commissioners* take up proposals regarding sexual orientation and practice, three questions will hang in the air.
The members of the General Assembly Council (GAC) have taken great strides to enlarge our world mission work. In the process, they and Presbyterian Foundation together have sought to deploy all available funds for use in mission and ministry.
However, three proposals coming before the San Jose GA this June 21-28 could alter the way those funds get invested and deployed (see p. 8). If the commissioners handle these proposals well, the mission of the church will be advanced. If mishandled, controls built into the system to ensure proper allocation of funds may be compromised.
How are your teeth? The Form of Government (FOG) section of the Book of Order will climb onto the dentist’s chair for commissioners’ diagnosis when the 218th General Assembly gathers in San Jose, Calif., this coming June 21-28.
I can’t wait for GA. I can’t wait for this General Assembly 36% more than I couldn’t wait for the past GAs. That’s because we’ll have 36% more commissioners (see p. 6) who will generate 36% more excitement.
He didn’t include you or me in his will, but his legacy has made us rich, and his vision continues to illumine our eyes years after his death — August 6, 1998 and one hundred years after his birth — May 7, 1908.
They’re off! The race is on. The kickoff is in the air. The puck is on the ice. The first pitch is thrown.
Choose your favorite athletic metaphor. Easter is behind us and the 218th General Assembly looms on the horizon — awaiting us on June 20 in San Jose, Calif. The season of contesting legislation and campaigning leaders has been launched.
So how do you respond to the Jeremiah Wright episode? Most pastors would be thrilled to discover that after one's retirement from pastoral ministry millions of people watch videotaped excerpts of their sermons. Wright probably isn't thrilled.
The broadcast on YouTube of excerpts from some of Wright's sermons has generated widespread
I have seen the dream. Three times. And since it takes two or three witnesses to confirm, I now believe it to be true. The APCE folks are pointing the way to a vital, healthy future for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The energizing and edifying General Assemblies of the future may well resemble the APCE conferences of today.
This past month, I attended my third-in-a-row conference of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators, a gathering of 1,000+ leaders from around the PC(USA) -- plus counterparts from the Presbyterian Church in Canada, Christian Reformed Church, and the Reformed Church in America. For the third time in a row the conference I attended overflowed with authentic worship, superior skills enrichment, warm fellowship, and thoughtful ideas engagement (see p. 9).
Power plays and political maneuvering were conspicuously absent.
How can this be? How do they avoid the political wrangling that overwhelms General Assemblies?
Happy holidays. Yes, the Christmas season is behind us. Easter, too. So, without all the Advent energy swirling around, let's talk about the "Merry Christmas controversy." Should we Christians be wishing strangers a merry Christmas next December? Should we be urging store clerks to say, "Merry Christmas" and not the maligned "Happy holidays"? Should we be expecting others to honor our Savior's birth as we do?
Of course, the underlying issue here is the matter of faith and culture. Is our culture basically a Christian one? Was our nation founded by believers like us and for believers like us?
© Copyright 2026 The Presbyterian Outlook. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Statement. Website by Web Publisher PRO
