What happens when we truly listen to one another’s stories? Teri McDowell Ott considers how storytelling can dissolve barriers, challenge assumptions, and create space for transformation.
The authors of three overtures before GA227 contend that the abrupt closure of Presbyterian World Mission damaged global relationships and demands a broader conversation.
After encountering both condemnation and compassion at Cleveland Pride, Matthew Skolnik considers what faithful Christian witness looks like in the public square.
Recent General Assemblies have strengthened policies on sexual misconduct. The church must now ask whether those reforms are consistently serving survivors. — JoAnne Sharp
ORD-03 invites the PC(USA) to study collaborative approaches to ordained ministry that could strengthen congregations, support pastors and renew the church's connectional identity, writes Lyndsey McCall-Gilliam.
Roger and Mary Clare Owens share how writing a book on prayer together taught them there are no experts — just curious souls learning to connect with God in their own way.
Historian and missiologist Stanley H. Skreslet reflects on Christian witness as the PC(USA) considers creating a new missiological statement.
Pastors often leave boundary training knowing the rules but still struggling with conflict, anxiety, and burnout. A new model in the Synod of Lincoln Trails aims to change that, writes Rebecca Blair.
Artist and mother Merideth Hite Estevez discovers that creativity — and grace — are often born in life’s glitter-covered chaos, where God meets us in the messy work of mending.
In each issue of the Outlook, we include a discussion guide to further reflect on the issue. We recommend using this guide in your Bible study, small group or book club. It's our invitation into a faithful conversation.
Winterbourne Harrison-Jones reimagines prayer as activism, insisting that true communion with God must move beyond the sanctuary and into the streets.
The Presbyterian Outlook received five honors from the Associated Church Press for reporting, criticism and theological writing published in 2025, including coverage of faith-based protests at ICE detention centers, public theology and the future of the Presbyterian church.
In this reflection, Brenda Moten explores how posture, humility and memory shape the way we pray.
A small congregation discovered unexpected community – and new possibilities for fellowship – with neighboring Buddhist monks, writes David Williams.
Poetry is not proclaimed in a vacuum. Neither is prayer. Both teach us to construct our words with care and intention. — Kathryn Lester-Bacon
Quincy Worthington recounts witnessing protest and brutality outside an ICE detention center in Broadview, Illinois — and how that moment reshaped his understanding of faith, power and public discipleship.
Tara W. Bulger reflects on her daughter’s difficult question about evil. What is the role of prayer when tragedy defies explanation?
Brittany Porch reflects on her Catholic roots, the comfort of inherited prayer and the words that return to us in moments of grief.
The Rev. Jimmie R. Hawkins, preacher, pastor, author and advocate, will be honored with the legacy award during the Outlook’s Facebook Live interview on June 4, 2026.
Andrew Taylor-Troutman invites readers into a gentle practice of prayer shaped by rhythm, imagination and praise.
On May 20, the Outlook will announce the 2026 recipient of the E.T. Thompson Award, a biennial honor recognizing leaders whose scholarship, ministry and public witness have shaped the church.
Katrina Pekich-Bundy reflects on neurodiversity, children in worship and the assumptions congregations make about who belongs in the sanctuary.
Compared with broad fossil fuel divestment, MRTI’s long-standing approach to shareholder advocacy better supports frontline communities and a just energy transition, write Kerri Allen and Mark Douglas.
L. Roger Owens reflects on prayer as both practice and way of life, inviting readers to see every moment as participation in God’s presence.
Teri McDowell Ott reflects on Psalm 47's call to stillness as both divine command and open invitation — exploring how silence, doubt, and sacred pause open us to the presence of God.
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