TORONTO (ENI) Some church leaders in the United States are promoting a decades-old idea of Western and Orthodox Christians sharing a common Easter and celebrating the holy day on a fixed date every year.
Grace and peace to all of you. I was baptized as an infant at First Presbyterian Church, Billings, Montana. I was taught faith, Scripture, the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and confirmed at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Sulphur, Louisiana.
Almost immediately after the White Paper of the Presbyterian Fellowship appeared, intense reaction followed. Two phrases seemed to attract the most concern. The mention of bringing together a group of theologically “like-minded” people created a powerful reaction in a denomination that has learned to prize its theological pluralism. In another column we can ponder that idea. The other incendiary phrase was “deathly ill,” which was used to describe the prognosis of the PCUSA. Who said “deathly ill” and upon what basis? That prognosis came from me. Let me tell you why.
UPDATED APRIL 19, 2011 – The Presbytery of deChristo voted on Saturday to a 62-62 tie – which counts as a collective “no” vote – becoming the third presbytery to turn away from supporting elimination of the fidelity-chastity ordination requirement (in 2009 it voted 59-48 to overturn the policy).
This may be the year when the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) opens the door to the ordination of sexually active gays and lesbians.
SACRAMENTO, CALIF
A federal judge has delayed proceedings in a lawsuit over tax breaks on pastors’ housing allowances until the U.S. Supreme Court rules in another case that targets tax benefits for religious institutions.
A minister’s televised call to Christ inspired the last steps of Ron Lee’s long journey from the pop music industry in his native Hawaii to the pastorate of a small Presbyterian church in North Carolina.
“In A Better World” (“Haevnen”) is a Danish film about two families that intersect dramatically through their children, a situation that a lot of people can relate to. It’s also about peace-loving people trying to deal with the violence all around them, which almost everyone can identify with.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A Kentucky judge has dismissed a California man’s lawsuit against the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), saying the man had waited too long to file a court claim that he suffered sexual abuse at a Presbyterian-run boarding school in Africa.
PHOENIX
Sometimes change can be messy and chaotic, and the Big Tent Christianity Conference in Phoenix Feb. 10-11 was a bit of both.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Korea, the General Assembly Mission Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will hold its September 2012 meeting in Seoul, South Korea.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The General Assembly Commission on Middle Governing Bodies is inviting all Presbyterians – and that means everyone – to give it feedback on ways to creatively structure the work of presbyteries and synods.
LOUISVILLE – Both the Ghost Ranch and Stony Point conference centers continue to lose money.
The Synod of the Pacific Permanent Judicial Commission has upheld a lower church court’s ruling that Janie Spahr, a minister from California, violated the constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) when she performed same-gender weddings in 2008.
The Presbyterian World Mission ministry area has been in contact with partner
organizations and churches and with all its mission workers in Japan.
since the devastating earthquake and tsunami on March 11.
LOUISVILLE – The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is in a “hinge time” of questions,
anxiety and excitement, said Cynthia Bolbach, moderator of the 219th General Assembly.
In his book Becoming a Blessed Church, Graham Standish points out that while the Presbyterian deliberative process produces measurable results, it has failed the church precisely at the point where church members need their leaders to be spiritually attuned to God’s will in their decision making. Nowhere is this moretrue than in Presbytery, where good Presbyterians compromise our unity and spiritual purpose for the sake of a major vote.
LOUISVILLE, March 23— The Reverend Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), issued the following statement in response to the bombing in Jerusalem today:
Presbyterians are being asked to hold off making travel plans for the 2011 Big Tent conference, scheduled to be held in Indianapolis June 30-July 2, because of a possible conflict with immigration legislation being considered by the Indiana state legislature.
Last summer, when the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was meeting in Minneapolis, John Crosby attended an assembly for the very first time.
Crosby is pastor of Christ Presbyterian church, a 5,200-member megachurch in Edina, in suburban Minneapolis. For his 20 years there, Crosby has had what he describes as “a fairly nominal” involvement with the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area and the PC(USA) as a whole.
He walked out of the General Assembly thinking: “I don’t want my successor to have to endure this.”
A minister from Boston did not violate the Book of Order of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) or her ordination vows when she married two women from her congregation, the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (GAPJC) has ruled. The wedding took place in Massachusetts – one of a handful of states that has legalized same-gender marriages.
ALBUQUERQUE Ginny Ward Holderness decided to speak her mind when she was named the 2011 “Educator of the Year” by the Association of Presbyterian Christian Educators (APCE).
ALBUQUERQUE In his younger years, Rick Ufford-Chase had a rocky relationship with the Apostle Paul. He found him racist, sexist and homophobic. “Mostly, I gave up,” preferring not to argue with those who saw Paul differently, Ufford-Chase said recently.
Where is the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) headed?
I wish I knew.
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