LOUISVILLE - Top leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) released a letter Feb. 4 calling for a denomination-wide conversation. That marks the PC(USA)’s response to a letter and “white paper” released Feb. 2 by 45 pastors, most serving large congregations, that has provoked conversation around the church and which raises the possibility of some sort of denominational schism.
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.
Presbyterian pastor and hymn writer, Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, has released two hymn texts for congregations wanting to sing an appropriate hymn in worship services following the tragedy in Tucson last weekend (see story in news section of this Web site or by clicking here).
HUNT, TEXAS — David W. Jordan, the president of Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly in Hunt, Texas, has announced his retirement effective fall 2011, concluding 12 years of service.
LOUISVILLE — Examples of grassroots mission partnerships can be found all over the world — some carefully planned, some springing up spontaneously. From looking at what’s happening in Latin America, Africa, and Asia — from the people she’s met, and from what she’s seen on the ground level — Miriam Adeney has some advice for congregations about how to form mission partnerships.
New York, NCC — In the wake of the tragic murders in Tucson Jan. 8 of six people and the wounding of 14 people, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, two hymn-prayers are being made available by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, Presbyterian pastor and hymnist. The following two hymn texts are available for use by churches supporting the National Council of Churches and Church World Service.
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One of the abiding criticisms from opponents of the Fidelity/Chastity ordination standard in the Book of Order (G.6-0106.b) has been that the term “chastity” is unclear in meaning. Recently, Dr. Mark Achtemeier raised this same objection in his recent debate with the Rev. Mark Loudon, that the chastity language in the Book of Order is “confusing.”
During the plenary debate at the 219th General Assembly in Minneapolis on the proposed new Form of Government, it was said that the first sentence of the Foundations of Presbyterian Polity introduces a Universalist creed into our Constitution.
John Calvin, to whom Presbyterian churches owe their primary inspiration, once said of his own work as a Protestant reformer: “Our constant endeavor, day and night, is not only to hand down the tradition faithfully, but also to put it in the form we think will prove best.”
The 219th General Assembly has once again sent to the presbyteries for adoption a proposed amendment to G-6.0106b (“Amendment 10-A”), the controversial “fidelity and chastity” clause of our Book of Order.
