A group of 45 mostly large church pastors have published a letter to the whole Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) declaring the denomination to be “deathly ill” and declaring that the church needs to be “radically transformed.” At an early January gathering in Scottsdale, Ariz., the leaders articulated issues that they had been discussing informally over the past year. They spelled out their assessments in a white paper titled, “Time for Something New,” which was published on Feb. 2 along with the letter to the denomination.
SAN ANSELMO — Carol Weir, former missionary in Lebanon died unexpectedly on Tuesday, Dec. 14, in Oakland after several months of declining health. She was 86 years old.
HUNT, TEXAS — A decision by the Mo-Ranch Conference Center in Texas to allow an Islamic group to hold a retreat last month for Muslim teenagers drew a storm of criticism from some local Christians.
Leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have spoken out against a proposed immigration bill the Kentucky legislature is considering, sending a letter saying it would not hold national meetings or conventions in Kentucky if the strict Arizona-style legislation were passed.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is asking a Kentucky court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a man who alleges that he was a teenage victim of sexual abuse at a Presbyterian-run hostel in Africa in 1988, contending that the man did not file the lawsuit before the statute of limitations expired.
The More Light Presbyterians (MLP) recently placed an ad in The Presbyterian Outlook summarizing the change of mind experienced by Arlo Duba regarding ordination standards. Duba, Professor of Worship Emeritus, retired Dean of the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, and PC(USA) Minister of Word and Sacrament, used to oppose the ordination of LGBT person, but now supports it.
Samuel Shamba Warlick, who had been accused of sexually abusing children of Presbyterian missionaries in the Congo in the 1980s, was arrested in suburban Orlando Jan. 14 on federal charges of possessing and distributing child pornography. If convicted, Warlick could face up to 30 years in prison.
