GHOST RANCH, N.M. — More than 80 “alumni” and their families gathered here recently for a reunion of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s “Junior Year Abroad” (JYA) program.
“I think it really made a difference, don’t you?” 96-year-old Margaret Flory commented to Bruce Rigdon about the program she originated in 1953. JYA prompted about 500 Presbyterian college students to study and serve overseas
for one year. Rigdon participated in Hong Kong as part of the first JYA group.
GENEVA — The World Council of Churches (WCC) has invited member churches and ecumenical partners to nominate candidates for the position of general secretary of the world’s largest ecumenical organization. The deadline for applications is Feb. 28, 2009.
The general secretary is the organization's chief executive officer and serves as a spokesperson for the council. He or she is charged with the responsibility to interpret and promote the strategic vision of the WCC.
“Behold! The angels said: ‘O Mary! God giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him. His name will be Jesus Christ,..
Last weekend I delivered the installation charge of my old friend Scott Black Johnston as he officially assumed the position of senior pastor of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City. A minister and member of the Presbytery of New York in the congregation that day suggested I share it with other colleagues so I decided to make it this week’s BLOG.
Last weekend I delivered the installation charge of my old friend Scott Black Johnston as he officially assumed the position of senior..
(ABP) -- Backlash over comments about gay rights on a public-radio broadcast has apparently cost a prominent National Association of Evangelicals lobbyist his job.
Richard Cizik resigned Dec. 10 as NAE's vice president for governmental affairs, according to a statement posted Dec. 11 on the Web site of the umbrella group for evangelical churches, denominations, and parachurch ministries.
Richard Cizik resigned Dec. 10 as vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals, following remarks he made in a radio interview that he is changing his views on same-sex unions.
The coming of Christmas always presents us with a choice. Will we say “yes” and believe, or will we turn our backs and say “no.”
May had this choice, you know. When the angel appeared to this teenage girl and told her God’s plan was for her to be the Mother of God’s Son, she was distressed, because she wasn’t married and she was a virgin. She was also concerned about the possible reaction of her fiancé, Joseph.
(ekklesia) — Bishop Levee Kadenge says the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe has crippled the nation. The bishop says his country is “under siege and full of distress.”
Kadenge is the national convener of the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance, which is supported by Christian Aid.
An article, “Bethlehem --- The Christmas City”, tells the story of the Moravian beginnings of Bethlehem, Pa. “Our Christmas Prayer” poem (below)..
Christmas is almost here — theologically a season of anticipation and then joy — many Americans are scared and worried. They’re afraid of losing their jobs, their homes, their life savings.
And through this Advent season, many congregations have been trying to find ways to respond to the stunning and swift economic downturn, as it reverberates through the lives of parishioners and their communities.
Whenever Mother Teresa would hear someone describe the order she founded as a community of “activists,” she would immediately correct them. She and the other members of the Missionaries of Charity were, she insisted, “contemplatives.” She would point out that whenever new persons joined her community they were required to spend weeks reading the Gospels and contemplating the Host, so that they might be able to recognize Jesus when they go out onto the streets to look for him “in His dreadful disguise among the poorest of the poor.”
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James Ackley[/caption]LOUISVILLE — James (Randy) Ackley, whose 14 years with the American Red Cross (ARC) included heading up that agency’s response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, has been named coordinator for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance [www.pcusa.org/pda] (PDA) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He begins his new work here Dec. 15.
When my family moved from Atlanta to Columbia three years ago, we could identify only one thing lost in the move. Baby Jesus.
He was the centerpiece, obviously, of a hand-carved, olive wood crèche. Given to us by a friend after a trip to Israel and Palestine, the pieces came carefully wrapped in an Arabic newspaper. Although my husband and I each brought our own manger scenes into our marriage, this exquisitely beautiful one from the Holy Land quickly assumed the prominent place on the living room mantel.
(ENI)--Patriarch Alexei II of the Russian Orthodox Church, who died December 5 at the age of 79, will go down in history..
It must be at least whispered: in post-modern America, in an age of “spiritual but not religious,” the name of John Calvin isn’t often rolling off of people’s tongues. Tina Fey, yes. John Calvin, not so much.
Churches large and small are good and ready for Advent this year.
I hold an advantage — like the young, I still knew
that in matters of love everything’s possible
and good assured.
My son’s menacing mercy split followers —
cleaving them as a plow tears earth to hold seed —
foes too—as a hammer bursts rock to shard.
… always be rich enough to be generous ( II Cor. 9:11)
The New English Bible translates thusly Paul’s words about giving and wealth. In chapter nine, he writes about the provision of aid for some of his people, noting it is superfluous for me to write to you — the need being so obvious. Well, superfluous as we might wish it, we, like Paul, find it is necessary to write or call to get donations.
On November 3, 2006, the Rev. Brent Dugan, beloved pastor of the Community Church of Ben Avon (Pa.) and devoted colleague of mine in Pittsburgh Presbytery, killed himself. A local TV station was poised to out him on the evening news as a gay man who was possibly violating the rules of his church. In this crisis, Brent was more willing to face God with Jesus at his side in death than to face us in Pittsburgh Presbytery.
(ENI) — Episcopalians in North America unhappy with what they say is the "liberal turn" of the U.S. branch of Anglicanism have announced they are forming an alternative denomination, or province.
(ENI) — The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has called for immediate intervention by the Nigerian government after the deaths of hundreds of people in religious and ethnic violence in the West African nation.
MIAMI — Subway, the third largest fast-food chain in the world and the biggest fast-food buyer of Florida tomatoes, reached an agreement Dec. 2 with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)-backed Coalition of Immokalee Workers to help improve wages and working conditions for the workers who pick the sandwich shop giant’s tomatoes.
It has begun, Lord, that sporting event in which we all
are participants: the hundred-yard dash to Christmas.
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