SAN JOSE – This was a first for a Presbyterian General Assembly: an opening worship service (Sunday morning, June 22) held simultaneously in two locations in Silicon Valley, linked by the power of technology.
SAN JOSE — Minutes after being elected moderator of the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Saturday night, June 21, Bruce Reyes-Chow said during a press conference he was eager to get back to his hotel room.
A same-sex wedding made possible by a recent California Supreme Court decision was held June 21 at the conclusion of the More Light Presbyterians’ traditional reception and dinner during the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
After First Church, Palo Alto, Calif., received the More Light Presbyterians’ Inclusive Church Award, two of its members, Derrick Kikuchi and Craig Wiesner, received the National More Light Presbyterians David Sindt Leadership Award.
SAN JOSE — Four Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) new church developments — two in California and one each in Pennsylvania and Oregon — have been named winners of the 2008 Sam and Helen Walton Awards, it was announced June 21.
SAN JOSE — From near and far, recent and past, they gathered for the World Mission Personnel and Alumni Reception Saturday night, June 21 at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly meeting.
PNS/SAN JOSE — For Joey Lee, the new executive presbyter for the Presbytery of San Jose (www.sanjosepby.org), it is appropriate that the presbytery is welcoming the 218th General Assembly with the theme of Micah 6:8.
The board of directors of The Presbyterian Outlook has awarded its 2008 Ernest Trice Thompson Award for church leadership to Clifton Kirkpatrick, an ecumenical leader who has served as stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for the past 12 years.
Hundreds of More Light Presbyterians filled the ballroom at the Marriott Hotel Saturday night for their traditional General Assembly Reception and Dinner. Once the dinner plates had been cleared, and the cake was eaten, it began to look like the reception was almost over. But the marriage ceremony had not yet begun.
SAN JOSE - Surrounded by about 40 colleagues, friends and family members, Joseph D. Small was honored at a gathering of his peers June 20. Small was presented a Festschrift, a book of collected theological essays honoring Small’s achievements and leadership in the field of ecclesial theology.
SAN JOSE – The 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) kicked off this morning with some bursts of hope – with voices from the leadership of the denomination telling of their work and their conviction that, in the words of Robert Wilson, vice-moderator of the 217th General Assembly, “we are better together.”
SAN JOSE – “We have presbyteries crying out for this kind of thing” and “now is as good a time as any,” said Joan Gray, moderator of the 217th General Assembly – speaking of the proposed revision to the form of government of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
SAN JOSE, June 21, 2008 — The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is in “deep need of renewal” and is on the verge of just such a renewal, outgoing General Assembly Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick told 752 commissioners and 274 advisory delegates and corresponding members to the 218th General Assembly of the denomination during Saturday’s orientation.
(PNS) Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)-related publications and others won awards in the 2007 “Best of the Christian Press” competition sponsored by the Associated Church Press — the oldest and largest religious press association in North America.
The General Assembly Council has approved a mission budget for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for 2009 and 2010 that does not call for layoffs, but would use $7 million in reserves to balance the budget and would require the denomination to raise $2.1 million in new funding for world mission in each of the next two years.
Moving briskly and with little discussion, the General Assembly Council dispensed with a plateful of business April 25 — including passing a budget for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for 2009 and 2010.
LOUISVILLE -- The Presbyterian Publishing Corporation (PPC), official denominational publisher of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has announced changes in roles for several staff, most of which are effective immediately.
Marc Lewis, PPC president and publisher-elect, said, "These changes are intended to recognize achievement and to align staff in roles that both fit their skills and talents and result in improved effectiveness for PPC overall. It is PPC's practice to employ staff, as possible, in roles that individual staff find meaningful and satisfying while contributing to the overall success of the organization."
Dr. Donald Macleod served as a mentor and friend when I began studies at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1969. This Scottish Presbyterian revered Psalm 100 as an international anthem of God's gracious friendship towards humankind. Its crescendo rises at the grand finale of praise: For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to the end of the ages.
When Donald Macleod stood by you, a student in his class knew this professor seldom fell away as a fair-weather friend. . We saw ourselves as "Macleod's Men," though the language may be sexist, it's how we described ourselves on campus when few women studied for ministry. He received telephone contacts from a myriad of Search Committees looking to fill their pulpits. When "Dr. Mac" extolled the strengths of one of his "men," Pastoral Search Committees seemingly treated Macleod's inventory of candidates as the very voice of the Lord.
60 people instrumental in Presbyterian mission met in Texas and signed a covenant to work together in what they call a "new collaborative model of Presbyterian mission.
Presidential contender Mike Huckabee, an ordained preacher in the Southern Baptist Convention, adores its theology. Born-again Jimmy Carter deplores it. Carter severed Southern Baptist ties in which he was raised because some leaders snarled like roaring lions at other Christians. Recruiting former president Bill Clinton, another Southern Baptist, Carter has cobbled together a coalition of Christians disgruntled with a denomination that keeps women in their place, strictly behind their men.
The seminaries affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) planned a variety of events in spring 2007 honoring graduates and awarding degrees. These included:
Austin Theological Seminary, Austin, Texas
The Reverend Dr. Robert M. Shelton, former president and Jean Brown Professor Emeritus of Homiletics and Liturgics of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary addressed graduates at the APTS commencement on May 20. Sixty-seven students were expected to receive degrees: fifty-two, the Master of Divinity; ten, the Master of Arts in Theological Studies; and five, the Doctor of Ministry. Among this year's graduates is Shelton's wife, the Reverend Frances Tilton Shelton, receiving the D.Min. degree.
Robert Shelton joined the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary faculty in 1971 and was named the Jean Brown Professor of Homiletics and Liturgics in1982. He served as academic dean for fourteen years before becoming president in 1996. Shelton served as interim senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Dallas from October 2005 until November 2006. Shelton served as moderator of the 163rd General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1993, and has served on numerous committees and boards of that denomination and of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Richmond, Va. -- The Sprunt Lectures, Union-PSCE's annual lecture series and alumni/ae reunion gathering, will be held May 2 - 4 in..
Outlook Editor Jack Haberer recently sat down with PC(USA) Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick to discuss some of the pressing issues in the church. This is the first of a three-part account of the conversation, but the entire interview is now available online at the link below:
Read the entire article with comments here
LOUISVILLE -- In some ways, the anniversaries of women's ordination that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is in the midst of celebrating this year -- 100 years for deacons, 75 years for elders, 50 years for ministers -- are momentous, historic events.
And in other ways they are like a panorama of smaller stories -- layers of personal remembrances, snippets of impressions, allegories laden with history and meaning and politics.
Some are funny stories -- such as when a class of five women arrived at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 1980 and found urinals in the women's restrooms and potted plants in the urinals.
Some are painful -- the stories of women who felt called by God to serve at a time when the church said, "Absolutely not."
And some tell folks that as far as the church has come, there are still young women, and women of color, and lesbians who want to be ordained, and mature women scarred by the fighting, who would say the Presbyterian church hasn't come nearly far enough.
John H. "Jack" Haberer Jr., noted Houston pastor and denominational leader, has been named the new editor-in-chief of The Presbyterian Outlook magazine effective December 12, the Presbyterian Outlook Foundation has announced.
Twenty-seven former General Assembly moderators have signed a letter endorsing the re-election of Clifton Kirkpatrick as stated clerk of the Office of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
The letter, which was initiated by former moderator Marj Carpenter, an elder from Big Spring, Texas, says that Kirkpatrick has done "an excellent job under very difficult circumstances and much pressure."
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