“We are the Church of Jesus Christ. When the powers of the world decide that they will conduct business as usual, and that business is contrary to the teachings of Christ and the will of God for humanity, then it is time for the church to end its complicity in this sinful behavior. If we do not, then we remain unrepentant.”
The year is 1948. The place, the holy island of Iona. The Rev. Dr. George MacLeod is sitting with a young man, John, who has spent time in a borstal for young offenders. Sensing that the young man is troubled, MacLeod invites him to write down any burden he has on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope, before receiving the laying on of hands.
(ABP) The snow has stopped falling here in Washington. At least for the moment. After almost two weeks, we are still digging out from a few weeks ago when whoever is in charge of weather patterns mistakenly thought we were Alaska and dumped multiple feet of snow on our unsuspecting city.
Just before Christmas I received notice that a childhood friend had written a book. He had gone on to college to major in Religious Studies. He had been very serious, but the book was described as a satire, written to make people laugh. I was intrigued. I couldn’t wait to read it and got it right away.
According to our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Form of Government, a General Assembly may issue an authoritative interpretation about the meaning of our Constitution. But an amendment to the Part II of the Constitution (the Book of Order) requires a subsequent affirmative vote by a majority of the presbyteries.
Much of pop culture both astonishes and appalls me. But perhaps nothing does that more than the run-amok habit of celebrities to reveal their bad decisions, transgressions, and destructive impulses to the whole world. And worse than just revealing, they revel.
The Special Committee to Study Issues of Civil Union and Christian Marriage hammered out its final report over the weekend of January 23 -24. I attended those meetings as an observer.
Four times in the last five chapters of the Book of Judges we read that there was no king in Israel, and that all the people did what was right in their own eyes.
Presbyterians are known for emphasizing life-long learning. Though Vacation Bible School can be an opportunity to provide adult learning, most churches do not take advantage of that opportunity.
Some weeks ago, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, preached at a Kansas City area church. So I went to the early service and, at the Communion rail, received the body and blood of Christ.
By doing much of its work off-site and online, the Multichannel Church challenges a longheld assumption, namely, the necessity of being together on Sunday.
