News and Current Affairs Archives - The Presbyterian Outlook

Appeals court hears oral arguments in PC(USA) defamation case brought by Roger Dermody

June 26, 2017 by Leslie Scanlon Leave a Comment

FRANKFORT, Ky. – A three-judge Kentucky Court of Appeals panel heard oral arguments June 26 in Roger Dermody’s appeal of a state court ruling in the defamation lawsuit he filed in May 2015 against the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Dermody, the PC(USA)’s former deputy executive director for mission, was one of four men who lost their jobs with the denomination in 2015, following an ethics investigation involving the 1001 New Worshipping Communities program. Dermody’s lawyer, Stephen Pence, argued before the Court of Appeals judges that while the PC(USA) claims that Dermody violated its ethics policy, he did nothing dishonest or deceitful – which is what “people in their common, everyday language” think of as unethical. While the denomination might say that Dermody violated its ethics policy, it’s defamatory to say “he had actually engaged in any unethical conduct,” Pence said. “He did not. … There was no dishonesty. There was no deceit.” Dermody and three other PC(USA) … [Read more...]

Presbyterian AIDS Awareness Day observed in conjunction with National HIV Testing Day

June 26, 2017 by Presbyterian News Service Leave a Comment

LOUISVILLE (PNS) – The Presbyterian AIDS Network (PAN) encourages Presbyterians to observe Presbyterian AIDS Awareness Day on or near June 27. PAN is providing worship, advocacy, and informational resources to help individuals and congregations combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic across the nation and around the world. PAN, part of Compassion Peace, and Justice’s Presbyterian Health, Education and Welfare Association (PHEWA), advocates care for persons and families infected or affected by HIV and AIDS. Presbyterian AIDS Awareness Day is a new observance born from a 2016 General Assembly overture that directs “the Stated Clerk to designate one Sunday a year, beginning with 2016 through 2020, as PC(USA) AIDS Sunday for the purpose of raising awareness, lifting prayer, and promoting advocacy among PC(USA) members.” Presbyterian AIDS Awareness Day is held this year in conjunction with National HIV Testing Day, which originated in 1995. George Kerr, co-moderator for PAN and an elder in … [Read more...]

New interactive map highlights Presbyterian historic sites in St. Louis area

June 23, 2017 by Presbyterian News Service Leave a Comment

(OGA) A map can be an essential tool for anyone embarking on a road trip. Now a different kind of map—an interactive map of Presbyterian historic sites—is available for those headed to St. Louis to attend Big Tent (July 6–8) or the 223rd General Assembly (June 16–23, 2018). The new online map, developed by staff in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Office of the General Assembly, gives locations and information about thirteen historic churches and other sites in the St. Louis area. Screenshot of Presbyterian Historic Sites Storymap On the map, the sites are flagged by numbered red signpost icons. Click on a signpost or one of the photos below the map to read a short blurb about the history of the site. Zoom in on the map for more exact street locations. The sites include Blackburn College, founded in 1837 by pioneering Presbyterian pastor Gideon Blackburn, and the monument and gravesite of Elijah P. Lovejoy, a Presbyterian minister whose crusade against slavery cost … [Read more...]

Way Forward Commission expected to release interim report soon

June 23, 2017 by Leslie Scanlon Leave a Comment

The Way Forward Commission will meet by conference call June 27 – and is expected to soon release a mid-term report regarding its work, midway to the 2018 General Assembly. In the days leading up to that, there’s been some building tension – particularly regarding what the commission might say or recommend regarding the Presbyterian Mission Agency. Tony De La Rosa, interim executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, on June 15 released a seven-page “open letter” to the commission, saying he was doing so “in my own individual capacity.” In that letter, De La Rosa raised several issues he wants the commission to consider, asked the commission to meet with leadership of the agency in September and asked for “deeper, intentional conversation.” Now, the leadership of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board has written a letter to the full board and to the leadership cabinet of the Presbyterian Mission Agency – voicing concerns about De La Rosa’s letter. Ken Godshall, the … [Read more...]

Tagged With: Way Forward Commission

A season of prayer of peace on the Korean Peninsula

June 23, 2017 by Presbyterian News Service Leave a Comment

(OGA) June 25 marks the beginning of the Korea War—in 1950—as understood in South Korea. For the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) it also marks the beginning of the “Season of Prayer and Reflection in the Korean Peninsula,” which runs until August 15, the day in 1945 when Korea was liberated from the Japanese occupation of WWII. For a number of years, leaders from the PC(USA) and the Presbyterian Church in Korea (PCK) have called on members and friends of both churches to pray for peace on the Korean Peninsula and to engage in a season of prayer and reflection from the key historic dates of June 25 through August 15. Memorial Tower at No Gun Ri Peace Park, South Korea The Season of Prayer emphasizes that: “For the people of the PCK, this season of prayer will be a time to remember the suffering of separated families on the Korean Peninsula; and to acknowledge that, since the partition of the peninsula, the Christian commitment to reconciliation has been compromised by … [Read more...]

No major US religious groups approve refusing service to gays

June 22, 2017 by Religion News Service Leave a Comment

(RNS) In no U.S. religious group does a majority think it’s acceptable for businesspeople to invoke their religious beliefs to refuse service to gays. This finding from a 2016 Public Religion Research Institute survey is a first, said Robert P. Jones, CEO of the nonprofit research group. In a 2015 PRRI survey that asked the same question, more than half of white evangelical Protestants and Mormons approved of those who cited religious belief to deny service to LGBT customers. But in the new 2016 survey, only 50 percent of white evangelical Protestants expressed such approval, as opposed to 56 percent the year before. Mormons showed the second-highest rates of approval. About 42 percent of Mormons backed businesspeople who deny services in the latest survey, as opposed to the 58 percent who favored them the previous year. But these two conservatively minded religious groups weren’t the only ones to shift their views about bakers, for example, who won’t make a cake for … [Read more...]

Top Search/Contact Area