For those who love people and want to follow in the ministry of Jesus Christ, there is no better office to assume than that of deacon in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
To be healthy, not every church needs a demographically correct suburban location, a 30-something pastor with 20 years of flawless experience, a denomination free of bickering and embarrassment, a pot of gold, and a doctrinal package so compelling that God himself applauds.
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.
SAN FRANCISCO — In just a few weeks since the end of the218th General Assembly, it is safe to say that serving as moderator already has been an incredibly meaningful experience.
The Internet age gives you a tool of immense reach and power: “viral marketing.”
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.
When it comes to policy issues related to Israel/Palestine, the 2008 General Assembly made significant movement back toward the positive, prophetic peacemaking approach the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) employed prior to 2004. This is a good thing.
Like all buzz words, transparency can be overused. I understand why a colleague said recently, “I am so tired of the word ‘transparency.’”
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.
I think the 218th General Assembly which met in California should be called “The Oprah Assembly.” It was so postmodern. So open. So culturally attuned. So worldly. So tolerant. Just so “Oprah.”
June was a month of excitement for me. I was excited about the new call I received, I was excited about returning to California, for I had been in Iowa for the last seventeen years, and I was excited because the timing of my move coincided with the General Assembly in San Jose.
Church musicians walk a delicate line. Many are classically trained. Their tastes might be broad, but at some level, many believe that “serious music” is better than “popular music,” and it is their job to defend musical excellence.
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.
SAN JOSE — “It is no accident that the Committee on Peacemaking and International Issues takes so much time,” said outgoing Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick.
“It was his youthfulness.”
“He’s the new Rick Ufford-Chase.”
To keep up on calendar management — a true art form in New York City — I recently switched my calendar to the “cloud,” a/k/a the Internet.
The initial reactions to the Authoritative Interpretation of G-6.0108 approved by the General Assembly in San Jose were dramatic. Some were rejoicing, others despairing, because they believed that the General Assembly, in approving the overture submitted by the John Knox Presbytery, had removed the impediment to the ordination of non-celibate gays and lesbians that had been declared by the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission in the case Bush v. Presbytery of Pittsburgh.
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.
Editor’s Note: This sermon was preached recently at First Church in Dubuque, Iowa. The Scripture references include Psalm 146:1-7, Romans 13:1-7, and John 18:33-38a.
As mainline congregations grapple with the “graying” of their ranks — average age pushing into the mid-60s — many recognize they need to serve “young adults” more effectively.
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.
As the mobility rituals of summer begin — one in five families changing homes, education years ending, new jobs starting, church-shopping under way — this is a good time to remember the basics of welcoming visitors:
When the General Assembly commissioners* take up proposals regarding sexual orientation and practice, three questions will hang in the air.
By way of disclosure, I am well into my 74th year, and have been a Presbyterian all of my life, first in the old Northern church, then the United Church in the North, then the old Southern Church, then the Northern Church (in the South), the Southern Church (in the almost North), and finally our present Presbyterian denomination. I have served as a deacon in two of those denominations, and a pastor in three of them. I was raised in a congregation with history that stretched back to the early 1700s, and in my teenage years I was
"Women Blaze an Interfaith Trail: Two teachers become first Jewish female and first Muslim female to receive advanced degrees from Catholic Theological Union," and "She's First Jewish Graduate of Catholic Theological Union" were headlines in The Chicago Tribune and The Chicago Sun-Times on May 15.
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