LOUISVILLE -- Dean K. Thompson, a longtime pastor, was inaugurated and installed as the eighth president of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary on April 23 and stressed, in his inaugural address, the importance of finding one's vocation in a particular context.
ALTAR, MEXICO -- This is a place where simple truths -- that migrants should not have to die in the desert in search of a way to feed their families -- and all the complicated nuances of international trade and immigration policy get woven up together.
Talk about immigration policy, and before long you're talking about terrorism and globalization and job supply-and-demand and lawbreaking and justice, and so much more.
Father Daniel Groody, a priest who's director of the Center for Latino Spirituality at Notre Dame University and has spent time along the U.S.- Mexican border interviewing migrants and Border Patrol officers and vigilantes and humanitarian groups, says each group contributes something worth listening to, that this is complicated stuff. But the bits and pieces also begin to add up to understanding -- and a determination, on the part of some Presbyterians, that some things need to change.
It's about Jesus Christ making a difference in the world. It's about turning young people on to what mission is really all about--in their schools, downtown or overseas. It's about helping the Church move out into the world.
The New Wilmington Missionary Conference brings more than 1,500 participants and visitors together every year for just these reasons. Attendees spend a week on the campus of Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa. to be challenged about mission needs here and around the world. The experience includes listening to speakers, sharing in small groups, praying late at night in the dorm halls, playing sports, meeting new friends, and eating breakfast with missionaries from Mozambique or Manhattan or Malaysia.
In the beginning, the concept was this: approach potential big donors, people whose pockets run very deep indeed, and convince them to give money to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) to support international mission work and church growth in the U.S. If there's anything Presbyterians can rally around, the thinking went, it would be that.
Very few women and even fewer men still remember Mary Virginia Hawes Terhune, alias "Marion Harland." She was, however, a Virginian Presbyterian woman who, as a very young woman, helped shape the lives of American women, indeed, women of the world, long before Martha Stewart of recent notoriety. She did this as a storyteller and especially with her household advice, which she shared with other women around the globe. She was a biblical "Martha" as well as a "Mary."
Mary Virginia was born 175 years ago in Amelia County, Va., daughter of Samuel Hawes, a migrant to the South from Massachusetts, and Judith Anna Smith, daughter of well-to-do-planters. She received a first rate classical education from tutors, and at a Presbyterian girls seminary in Richmond where the Hawes family attended the Second Presbyterian Church and listened to the preaching of the noted Moses Drury Hoge. Precocious from the beginning, she began to write and publish stories for a denominational journal. At the age of twenty-four she published a novel entitled Alone under the pseudonym, "Marion Harland," by which she became known and we shall employ here.
There's a lot of talk at the General Assembly Council these days about new ways of thinking, new directions -- creative ways of rearranging the furniture, maybe even remodeling the house. And one of the things the council is being asked to consider rearranging is itself.
In April 2006, the council will be asked to approve a new structure for the council itself. If that happens, the plan would be submitted to the General Assembly in Birmingham in June 2006 for final approval.
After months of discussion and hard work -- and a lot more passion than some might expect history to incite -- an agreement apparently has been struck to allow the Presbyterian Historical Society to continue to have a presence in Montreat, N.C.
Under a concept approved March 29 by the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly, the historical society's Philadelphia offices would serve as the main repository for archives of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Last summer's stated clerk election at the 2004 General Assembly was fair and in compliance with the assembly's Standing Rules. But such elections could be even more transparent if new guidelines were to be implemented.
Those findings were presented and discussed during a meeting of the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) March 30 in Louisville. A COGA subcommittee, the State Clerk Election Review Committee (SCERC), reported its preliminary findings March 30. The finding that the stated clerk election was valid was approved by COGA to be forwarded to the General Assembly Council (GAC), which also is meeting in Kentucky through April 2.
As we consider the opportunities and concerns of an aging American population it might be a good time to ask why the..
The General Assembly Council is doing a lot of big-picture thinking -- about how to set spending priorities when dollars are limited, about how decisions should be made and money raised and distributed in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
But sometimes, there's a day for the smaller pieces -- they don't add up to the big picture, but can provide some clues as to what's happening and to the complexity involved.
The General Assembly Council, in the third day of its spring meeting in Kentucky, met in committees -- with each considering particular parts of the denomination's work. Here's some of what they talked about.
LOUISVILLE -- Should a Presbyterian delegation that went to the Middle East last fall have met with leaders of Hezbollah? And should two of the denomination's national staff members who went on the trip have lost their jobs because of that meeting?
The General Assembly Council got right to the brink of discussing that on March 31 -- and then went into closed session.
The Presbytery of Philadelphia has decided to dissolve its relationship with a controversial Messianic congregation, Avodat Yisrael, as of July 1.
Starting July 1, Avodat Yisrael will no longer be formally related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and will receive no additional funds from the denomination, although it's possible the congregation could try to make a go of it on its own.
The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission has ruled in a controversial case involving Parker T. Williamson, chief executive officer of the Presbyterian Lay Committee and editor-in-chief of the Presbyterian Layman, ruling partly in favor of Western North Carolina presbytery and partly for Williamson.
The judicial commission, in an April 4 decision, sustained Williamson's complaint that the presbytery's policy governing validated ministries -- involving work other than being a pastor of a church -- was inadequate and should have been more detailed. But the commission disagreed with his contention that the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Synod of the Mid-Atlantic had made a mistake in its handing of the case and that the synod commission should have ruled that the presbytery acted improperly against him because the Lay Committee had issued a paper called "A Declaration of Conscience."
Teenagers care about religion -- a recent survey, the most comprehensive ever done on teenagers and faith, found that four of five adolescents surveyed described religion as very important to them.
Religion matters to adolescents, the survey found, and for the most part, teenagers are not rebelling against their parents' faith -- most are sticking, at least so far, with the faith tradition in which they've been raised.
The most comprehensive survey ever done on faith and adolescence finds a teen nation where more than four in five youths say religion is important in their lives.
But the new survey of more than 3,000 teenagers and their parents also indicated that many teens know little about their religion.
Many other activities compete for their time, but among religiously active teens -- those who attend services weekly and belong to a youth group -- their faith appears to be making a significant difference in their behavior.
The National Study of Youth and Religion, described as the most comprehensive research ever done on faith and adolescence, revealed that such teens are more likely to:
Luvirt Parker was 16 years old when he first pledged at a "True Love Waits" rally to remain a virgin until his wedding day. Seven years later, the Cleveland State University graduate was back to tell several hundred youths at Mount Zion Church of Oakwood, Ohio, that he has remained true to his word, and is looking forward to being married in April to a woman who shares his beliefs. "There's nothing like knowing you're pure before God. Your conscience is clear," Parker said.
Even over latte at a coffeehouse, Andrew Apsite keeps God's word close at hand.
At the downtown Urban Mill, the 18-year-old reaches into his backpack and pulls out "The Message Remix," a modern-language paraphrase of the Bible. "When I don't know how to deal with something, I look for comfort and advice on how to deal with my issues," says Apsite.
Editor's Note: Michael R. Walker, the new executive director of Presbyterians for Renewal, has definite ideas about the current situation in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the role of PFR within that context. Walker and his wife, Christina, just moved from Princeton Theological Seminary -- where he's been working on a doctorate in history and ecumenics -- to Louisville with their two children, Michaela, who's four, and Christian, two. He responds to the following questions:
Q: Please tell me a little about yourself and where you're from.
A: I'm from Florida. I grew up just outside of Orlando. And I didn't grow up in the church -- not the Presbyterian church or any church actually. I gained a vocabulary for the Christian faith, though, by attending First Presbyterian Church of Orlando on occasion. When I would spend the night with friends on Saturday night, many of my friends went to church at First Pres. Orlando, so it really didn't matter who I spent the night with, often that's where I ended up at church. And Howard Edington was the preacher there. And he spoke with a kind of passion and conviction that I hadn't heard anybody speak about anything with, and so it really captivated me.
In an effort to maintain members' trust and sustain its reputation, the Board of Pensions (BOP) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is reviewing several of its guidelines and policies.
The self-review takes in everything from the pension plan's contingency reserve to how it recruits and trains prospective members and governs itself. "Every few years, we undertake significant review, especially of the valuation methodology for the pension plan and the death and disability plan," said Robert W. Maggs Jr., the board's president and CEO. "We are trustees ... for over $6.5 billion dollars, and over 56,000 people count on us for their benefits or financial assistance. We can't risk reputational harm because of non-compliance or a bad governance process."
With that in mind, the 32-member board of Presbyterian clergy and lay members from throughout the United States is at both ends of the microscope.
For the first time, the General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is meeting in the spring -- and the next General Assembly isn't roaring directly outside the door, demanding to be let in.
So these denominational leaders are using the time, that extra little bit of breathing room, to think big-picture, to talk about how some of the strategic initiatives it's set in play -- efforts to look comprehensively at denominational funding and governance, for example -- are working out.
Charles Townes, the Nobel laureate whose inventions include the maser and laser and who has spent decades as a leading advocate for the convergence of science and religion, has won the 2005 Templeton Prize. The prize, valued at more than $1.5 million, was announced March 9 at a news conference at the Church Center for the United Nations in New York.
Resurrection, when you think about it, can be very specific: one man, one cross, one life sacrificed for others.
But the Easter celebration also is a story across all time, a story of rebirth and new beginnings and hope.
Some Presbyterian congregations have their own Easter stories to tell. Some are of brand-new life, some of exciting new combinations, some of coaxing fresh growth out of old roots. In each case, these are Christians willing to do what Jesus did at Easter: to listen faithfully for God's voice, and to follow.
LOUISVILLE -- Jim Wallis, the editor-in-chief of Sojourners Magazine, is a man who once was arrested in the Capitol rotunda, in front of eighth graders studying civics, while demonstrating against tax cuts for the rich. He describes himself as "a 19th century evangelist born in the wrong century."
Because Wallis is the kind of evangelical Christian who stands in the streets and speaks up for what he thinks is right, who thinks religion should always inform politics, who resonates in his bones with those 19th century Christians who fought for the abolition of slavery and for women's right to vote and for child labor laws.
He's in the midst of a book tour for the just-published and best-selling "God's Politics: Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It."
Despite the flap it's caused even internationally, many Presbyterian churchgoers are not aware of the vote the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) took last summer to authorize a process of selective, phased divestment in some companies doing business in Israel.
And among those who did know, there were differing opinions about the wisdom of what the assembly had done. A survey found ministers and liberals tending to favor the divestment action, and laypeople and conservatives tending to be opposed.
Iain R. Torrance, a former moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, a scholar and writer with a deep interest in ecumenical concerns, was inaugurated and installed on March 11 as the sixth president of Princeton Theological Seminary.
In structuring his inauguration, Torrance clearly paid attention to today's ecumenical realities. The inaugural events included presentations from Christian, Muslim and Jewish theologians. And the audience as Torrance gave his inaugural address included a Greek Orthodox leader from New Jersey and more than 60 representatives from institutions of higher education, including the four ancient universities of Scotland as well as U.S. schools not directly connected with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), such as the divinity schools of Yale and Howard universities.
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