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).
Washington, D.C. (ENInews/RNS) — Tucson Bishop Gerald Kicanas was thousands of miles away from the shooting rampage that rocked his Arizona diocese on January 8 but the emotional shock hit him hard.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (RNS) — About half of Muslims surveyed worldwide believe the West does not respect them, according to a new Gallup report, and many say not desecrating the Quran and portraying more “accurate” Muslim movie characters could improve a strained relationship.
SALT LAKE CITY (RNS) — For Mormons – or anyone else – who might be wondering, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints takes no stand on drinking Coca-Cola.
ROME (ENInews) — The head of the World Council of Churches in his first meeting with Pope Benedict XVI has said he wants to strengthen cooperation with the Roman Catholic Church.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (RNS) — First Lady Michelle Obama has expanded her “Let’s Move” initiative to reduce childhood obesity to include working with religious and community organizations.
(RNS) — Slightly more than half of Americans (53 percent) rate the moral values of priests, ministers, and other clerics as “very high” or “high.” That percentage is a slight bump from 2009, when only 50 percent of Americans said men and women of the cloth are ethical paragons, the lowest number in Gallup’s 32 years of measuring professional reputations.
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Benedict XVI, while still a cardinal, sought in vain to expedite the process for defrocking priests guilty of grave crimes, according to a 1988 letter published in the official Vatican newspaper.
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.
MANILA (ENI) — Asian Christian leaders have challenged what they describe as a distorted interpretation of the Bible's Genesis story about God telling Adam and Eve to "subdue" the earth and to "have dominion" over other living species and non-living resources on the planet.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (RNS) — The Southern Poverty Law Center is adding the Family Research Council and four other conservative religious organizations to its list of hate groups because of “falsehoods” in their anti-gay statements.
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.
LOUISVILLE – Phyllis Schneck, a member of Northminster Church in Tucson, Ariz., was among those killed in the shootings on January 8 that left six people dead and 14 injured.
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BANGALORE (ENInews) — A Presbyterian theologian, the Rev. Roger Gaikwad, has been installed as the new general secretary of the National Council of Churches in India, which groups 30 Orthodox and Protestant churches.
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.
As the German writer Goethe put it “when eras are in decline all tendencies are subjective, but when matters are ripening for a new epoch, all tendencies are objective.”
“The cultures of North America and of Western Europe are in decline. They are obsessed with sexuality and have narcissistic and hedonistic tendencies, which, when combined with a desire for immediate gratification, are literally killing them….How can anyone think that morally sick and dying North American and European cultures are in any way competent to overturn 1970 years of Christian biblical interpretation about human sexuality and to completely ignore the testimony of the larger (and healthier) worldwide church which affirms that same-gender sexual practice is sinful?”
