When I became the director of the Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Programs in 2012, I inherited programs that had already been running..
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the approval of the Confession of 1967, a milestone that brought the church a contemporary..
Editor’s note: This story is adapted from the book “Blood and Bone: Truth and Reconciliation in a Southern Town” On the..
In 1963 Union Presbytery, based primarily in eastern Tennessee, sent a delegation to its four black congregations in Alabama: Trinity, Miller’s Ferry,..
“DDT – Diagnosis determines the treatment.” – Joseph Barndt, Crossroads Ministry As a senior in seminary, I was required to write a narrative for my..
Editor’s note: As Presbyterians debate holding the 223rd GA in St. Louis next summer (see Leslie Scanlon’s article the the COGA decision..
There was a time when physical pain threatened to drown out God’s voice in 18-year-old Phillip Storie’s life. But a life..
I am what my siblings and I have called a “PK and ¾,” which basically means I grew up a church kid...
In my role as the national director of UKirk collegiate ministries, I often hear the question, “So how’s collegiate ministry these days?”..
Directly across Jordan Street (the address for the church I serve) sits the Roman Catholic Cathedral. In the Presbyterian churches I have..
Psychiatrist Murray Bowen coined the term “emotional field” to describe powerful systemic forces – something akin to electromagnetic fields. We all know..
As a geologist, I initially felt no need to connect science with faith; I neatly compartmentalized the two, thinking that science dealt..
In my early years, I, like every other American toddler, had to recite the Pledge of Allegiance during the homeroom period every..
I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I..
When simple faith is enough When it comes to science we all know something about its theories and practical applications. Even if..
On August 21, millions of Americans jammed highways, crowded campgrounds and booked up hotels along a narrow corridor stretching from Oregon to..
As a newly-ordained elder at Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, I am truly excited to begin my journey serving Christ during a..
One of family systems theory’s most helpful concepts and practices is “reframing.” I love this concept because it is so elegantly simple..
I am routinely surprised at how we Christians in the United States struggle to enjoy Scripture in comparison with how easily we..
The premise is this: With a surge of retirements approaching, and fewer people going to seminary, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is..
Baltimore Presbytery’s journey through Scripture started with four Presbyterian pastors sharing these very challenges we heard from our members. Two..
My friend, a retired Lutheran pastor, confessed in a sermon that he was a believer on Sunday, but by Thursday nearly an..
I have to confess something: I’ve never had a class in youth ministry. I never went to Montreat or Triennium as a..
Throughout recorded history, African people have employed rites-of-passage practices and rituals to distinguish and celebrate the important non-reoccurring stages of the lives..
At 90 years old, Hazel Sparks still remembers how it felt to walk past Nelson Bell’s house and see the light on..
© Copyright 2026 The Presbyterian Outlook. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Statement. Website by Web Publisher PRO
