50 years ago — August 11, 1969 The celebration of our national achievement of space travel and the Apollo 11 moon landing brought a brief respite from troubling domestic concerns. There were still great issues we faced as a nation and recent seminary graduates were being sent out to minister to the people. The Outlook established a forum for key seminary faculty to bear words of encouragement to the new pastors and the churches they would serve.  “The greatest problem, as I see it, for pastoral ministry in the years lying immediately ahead, is the rapidly increasing polarization of opinion, not only within congregations, but in our culture as a whole. It will not be helpful, even if it were any longer possible, to strive for a non-committal neutral posture in the face of strong cleavages of opinion on crucial questions that plague every institution and structure in our society. Pastors will have almost unprecedented pressures brought to bear on them to take a firm and visible … [Read more...]

40 years ago — August 20, 1979 The Presbyterian Church in the United States and the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America held to the understanding that all property is held in trust to the denomination — but it did not clearly state so in its documents. The U.S. Supreme Court shocked the churches with its July 2 ruling. The case involved a Presbyterian church in Georgia. The presbytery determined the minority within the congregation represented the church. The Georgia courts applied the “neutral rule.” In the absence of clearly stated local or denominational documents, the courts could determine possession based on secular criteria. Hence the majority of the congregation were awarded the property. The Supreme Court’s decision overturned the long-standing 1872 decision that “recognized the unity of the Presbyterian polity with its hierarchy of judicatories — sessions, presbyteries, synods and the General Assembly.” The federal court returned the case to the … [Read more...]

50 years ago — June 29, 1959 Southern states had strict laws segregating the races. Though the General Assemblies had spoken against such laws, the practice persisted — even in the churches. There were pastors who took bold stands from their pulpits against these laws of segregation. One pastor in Georgia declared his stance against segregation from the pulpit. The resulting turmoil in the congregation led the presbytery to remove the pastor. The example of this removal intimidated some pastors from having a prophetic voice against societal injustices. To “have the commission remove the pastor must indicate to more timid souls in pressured situations that if they stand for their deeply-held convictions in line with the assembly declarations, they will be possible candidates for membership in such an evicted company.” No charges were filed by the commission; they simply relied on a phrase from the Book of Order that allowed removal for the sake of the peace of the church. There was … [Read more...]

20 years ago — July 19-26, 1999 Approximately “200,000 African-Americans sailed back from World War I - after fighting to make the ‘world safe for democracy’ - they found it was not safe at home for them.” In 1919 blacks rioted in major cities protesting the discrimination and violence to which they were subject. Presbyterian elder John Eagan was concerned and organized the very first Commission on Inter-Racial Cooperation in Atlanta and in the South. “Armed with common sense, he did not try to tell blacks what they needed or wanted. Rather, he encouraged commissioners, black and white, gathered from all over the South and meeting in Atlanta, to find out from African-Americans what they felt and thought about their problems.” Though the commission championed justice under the law and prevention of lynchings – and promoted education, housing and economic justice for blacks – it stopped short of calling for the repeal of “Jim Crow” laws. Eagan was called to develop the Commission of … [Read more...]

10 Years ago — May 25, 2009 “Toxic forms of religion are killing us — sometimes literally, sometimes spiritually. It’s time to look into our own hearts. Are we part of the problem? … Toxic religion is all around us and is not limited to the disciples of Osama bin Laden who hide behind a distorted version of Islam to justify their violent ideology.”  Many of these toxic forms of religion rest on a “false sense of certitude.” Doubt is too often seen as being faithless. We can help by teaching that doubt is okay. “We can suggest … that the path to lasting faith inevitably runs through the valley of the shadow of doubt.” We can acknowledge our own doubts and help others rest with theirs. “Faith … does not answer every question. Rather it assures us that we can live confidently without all the answers. It means we recognize with the Apostle Paul that now we see through a glass darkly. It means, as Scripture insists, that now we walk by faith and not by sight.” From the “The right … [Read more...]

70 years ago — May 23, 1949 “The week of November 28 through December 2, 1950, bids fair to stand as one of the signal weeks in the history of American Protestantism. At that time, in some city yet to be announced, the most far-reaching merger of interdenominational agencies will be effected which has yet been seen. Then will the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. be a fact. Then will be provided more nearly than we have ever known the kind of interdenominational structure that we would have from the beginning, if we were starting all over.” Each denomination remains independent, but with this new body it affords greater cooperation including the educational and mission programs from the “Federal Council of Churches, and almost certainly, the United Council of Church Women. …. The National Council presupposes complete mutual respect for differences in faith and order while it seeks to develop the most efficient channels possible for cooperation in Christian … [Read more...]