LOUISVILLE -- Rick Ufford-Chase, a former General Assembly moderator, has said it before. "There is, I believe, a Pentecost wind that is sweeping across the church today."
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) -- with new leadership and a new structure -- is recognizing that "we're in a time that requires collaboration, not centralization and control," Ufford-Chase told the General Assembly Council during the opening session of its meeting Feb. 13. He now leads the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship,
Ufford-Chase was discussing the gathering several weeks ago in Dallas of the Mission Consultation, which brought together more than 60 people representing a diversity of views. In the past, some had mistrusted each other's positions, but signed a covenant to work together in Presbyterian mission.
In the light of landmark rulings handed down Feb. 12 by the PC(USA)'s General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission, the Office of Constitutional Services has published an advisory opinion explaining and summarizing the implications of those rulings. An advisory opinion does not exercise binding authority, but it does attempt to bring clarity.
The opinion can be found at the Office of Constitutional Services Web site: https://www.pcusa.org/constitutionalservices/ad-op/note21.htm
LOUISVILLE -- When the General Assembly Council meets again in April, it will be asked to consider a budget for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for the next two years.
Here are some hard questions the council must answer.
How many overseas missionaries should the PC(USA) have? And where is the money going to come from to pay for them?
Here are the painful statistics.
DALLAS -- Saying, "God is calling us to new patterns of mission," 60 people instrumental in Presbyterian mission met in Texas January 20 and signed a covenant to work together in what they call a "new collaborative model of Presbyterian mission."
That covenant calls for doing mission together in trust and humility, with the participants pledging to encourage one another and to "celebrate and encourage diverse approaches and structures for mission while maintaining the unity of our participation in God's mission."
RICHMOND, CALIF. -- San Francisco Presbytery has cleared a candidate to proceed toward ordination as a minister who has declared a scruple -- an objection based on conscience -- to the denomination's ordination standards involving sexual practice.
The presbytery voted 167 to 151 on Jan. 15 to approve as "ready for examination, with departure" Lisa Larges, a lesbian who works as ministry coordinator for the advocacy group, That All May Freely Serve.
This is the first time a presbytery has approved a candidate who declared a scruple involving sexual practice following the General Assembly's adoption in June 2006 of the report of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
LOUISVILLE -- When a presbytery passes a resolution stating that it will enforce all mandatory standards for ordination from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) constitution -- granting no exceptions based on conscience -- is that merely an expression of opinion by the presbytery? Sort of a "here we stand" statement that has no practical effect in the individual examination of candidates?
Or does it have a "chilling" impact that will dissuade candidates who might want to declare a scruple, or an objection based on conscience, from ever making an attempt at winning approval in that presbytery?
Those are among the questions the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (GAPJC) is pondering as it considers three cases in which it heard oral arguments on Feb. 8 and on which it is expected to rule soon.
Each of those cases involves resolutions which presbyteries -- in this case, Washington, Olympia, and Pittsburgh -- adopted in the wake of the 2006 General Assembly.
LOUISVILLE -- When a presbytery passes a resolution stating that it will enforce all mandatory standards for ordination from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) constitution -- granting no exceptions based on conscience -- is that merely an expression of opinion by the presbytery? Sort of a "here we stand" statement that has no practical effect in the individual examination of candidates?
Or does it have a "chilling" impact that will dissuade candidates who might want to declare a scruple, or an objection based on conscience, from ever making an attempt at winning approval in that presbytery?
Those are among the questions the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (GAPJC) is pondering as it considers three cases in which it heard oral arguments on Feb. 8 and on which it is expected to rule soon.
AUSTIN -- Stanley Robertson Hall, 58, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary's Jean Brown Associate Professor of Liturgics and Homiletics, died February 3. He was at home when he died, having just begun his morning routines. His wife, the Reverend Gail Snodgrass, was with him.
The Service in Witness to the Resurrection will be held at Genesis Church in Austin, Texas, February 15 at 1:00 p.m. Burial will follow at Austin Memorial Cemetery.
Washington, DC -- Religious leaders are often the first point of contact for domestic violence victims seeking a safe and secure place to disclose their abuse. Recognizing religious communities' integral role in supporting, counseling and advocating for victims of abuse, Jewish Women International (JWI) has launched a national Interfaith Domestic Violence Coalition to amplify the faith community's voice in national policy and legislative initiatives.
LOUISVILLE -- Responding to the recent crisis in Gaza, the
National Middle Eastern Presbyterian Caucus (NMEPC) has
issued a statement calling for an end to Israel's
occupation of Palestine and its "siege" of Gaza residents.
The group's statement urged the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.) "to take active measures to address American
implication in and support of Israel's occupation of
Palestine."
The statement comes after tens of thousands of Gazans
overran the border into Egypt last month when Palestinian
militants blasted through concrete and metal walls at the
Rafah border crossing. Egyptian shops were drained of basic
goods that were in short supply on the Gaza Strip under an
Israeli blockade aimed at pressuring Palestinian militants
to halt rocket attacks.
LOUISVILLE -- Lewis Langley Wilkins, a former middle governing body executive, pastor and scholar who was heavily involved in the movement that led to Presbyterian
reunion, died Jan. 31 of pancreatic cancer. He was 71.
Wilkins was born in Kerrville, Texas, where he graduated from
Presbyterian-related Schreiner University. He later earned degrees from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., and Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin, Texas.
Wilkins also engaged in doctoral study in Old Testament at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany. He completed a Doctor of Ministry degree in church administration at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.
College Writing ContestATTENTIONSeniors of PC(USA)-related colleges and universities. Or their parents, school administrators. The Outlook's 2009 Church-College Partnership Award competition is underway!Graduating..
A memorial service for Jack Stotts, Presbyterian pastor, seminary president, and denominational leader, has been set for 3 p.m., Sunday, February 10 at the family's home church in Austin, Central Church. It is located at 200 E. Eight Street in Austin.
JEFFERSONVILLE, IND. -- The Presbyterian Foundation announced January 25 its receipt of a $1 million charitable gift from the Mark D. Hostetter and Alexander N. Habib Foundation. The gift establishes a permanent endowment fund to provide funding support for the camp and conference ministries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
The Donald A. Hostetter Endowment Fund, established in January as a permanent endowment held by the Presbyterian Foundation, was created through the generous lead gift from the Mark D. Hostetter and Alexander N. Habib Foundation of Boston.
Think of it as that moment when the toboggan is perched at the top of the hill. One quick shove, and things in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) could quickly pick up speed -- maybe hitting some big bumps along the way. The big tree at the bottom: the General Assembly, due to meet in California for a week in June.
Between now and then, though, there's a lot of snow to navigate. Here's a quick look at the terrain.
For the Presbyterian students at Virginia Tech, hope has found a voice that has quieted the lingering echoes of gunshots. Several of them -- survivors of last April's mass murder on their campus -- testified to their harrowing search for and discovery of hope with 800 fellow students at the College Conference at the Montreat Conference Center on January 3.
The opening session of this year's conference, the largest conference of its kind in memory, was led by the students along with Alex Evans, pastor of the Blacksburg Church, which is near the Tech campus. Evans set the tone for the evening's presentation with the words, "We are called to be a people of hope, and hope often comes from the deepest, hurting places."
MONTREAT, N.C. -- "We're just ordinary radicals," Shane Claiborne told 800 young adults gathered at the College Conference at Montreat Conference Center in western North Carolina on January 4. With unassuming anecdotes and lots of humor, he told the students that the world could use a few more ordinary radicals.
On the next day, Ishmael Beah, author of the best-selling A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, showcased for the students how a wrecked child's life has been turned from killer to humanitarian, thanks to the efforts of a few ordinary radicals.
LOUISVILLE -- Carl Mazza, the founder and leader of "Meeting Ground," a community-based ministry with the homeless and other marginalized people in Elkton, Md., is the third announced candidate to stand for moderator of the 218th General Assembly (2008), next summer in San Jose, Calif.
Mazza was endorsed on Jan. 18 by New Castle Presbytery, based in Newark, Del.
He joins Bill Teng of National Capital Presbytery and Bruce Reyes-Chow of San Francisco Presbytery as candidates to succeed Joan Gray of Atlanta, moderator of the 217th General Assembly (2006).
Jack Leven Stotts, professor of Christian ethics, president of McCormick Theological Seminary and, later, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and chair of the committee that wrote the Brief Statement of Faith that was added to the Book of Confessions in 1991, died of natural causes January 24, 2008 in Austin, Texas. He was 75 years old. Survivors include his wife of 54 years, Virginia, and their three children, Stuart, Anna, and Nancy.
A native of Dallas, Texas, Stotts earned his B.A. from Trinity University in 1954. He received his B.D. from McCormick Seminary in 1957, and his Ph.D. from Yale Divinity School in 1965. Stotts' ministry included serving as the first chaplain of the Sharpe Chapel at the University of Tulsa, a three-year pastorate in San Angelo, Texas, professor and president at McCormick Seminary, and president of Austin Seminary.
DALLAS -- It's not reasonable to expect a three-day meeting in Texas to spit out all the answers to how the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ought to approach world mission. But the folks gathered here for a consultation on world mission Jan. 16-18 did have some pretty clear ideas about what's happening in the world that Presbyterians can't ignore -- changes sweeping the land, whether people have figured it out yet or not.
The bottom line: this is a time of tremendous change, in the PC(USA) and in the world. As Paul Pierson, a former missionary in Brazil and Portugal and senior professor of the history of mission and Latin American studies at Fuller Theological Seminary has written: "The changes in the worldwide church today are probably greater than those that took place during the sixteenth century Reformation. The transition today is analogous to the shift from the Jewish to the Gentile church in the first century."
Bruce Reyes-Chow, the founding pastor of Mission Bay Community Church in San Francisco, is the second person to step forward as a candidate for moderator of the 218th General Assembly, having been endorsed by San Francisco Presbytery on Jan. 15.
Reyes-Chow, a California native and a graduate of San Francisco Theological Seminary, is the grandson of Filipino and Chinese immigrants. He describes himself on his blog -- and Reyes-Chow is an inveterate online guy -- as "pastor/geek/dad/follower of Christ."
An update that Victor Makari sent from the Middle East Council of Churches:
Dear All,
I was on the phone this morning with our colleague in Gaza Mr. Constantine Dabbagh, Executive Director of Near East Council of Churches and we exchanged for some time over the situation in the Gaza Strip.
From the description of the conditions in the Gaza Strip at the moment, I gather the following:
· It is very difficult for people to get bread. Bakeries that used to distribute bread regularly and fairly easily are unable to do so because of fuel shortage. Queues stand around a couple of blocks from bakeries in order to have a chance to get the daily bread staple which Palestinians cannot exist without it.
Jerusalem, 22 January (ENI)--Christian leaders in Jerusalem have condemned Israel's blockade of Gaza as an immoral act that violates international law.
'To deny children and civilians their necessary basic commodities are not the ways to security,' the heads of churches in Jerusalem and the Holy Land warned in a 22 January statement.
On the same day, Israel allowed a temporary easing of its blockade which has left large parts of the Palestinian territory, which also borders Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, without access to electricity. The closure by Israel of its border crossings with Gaza was intended to put pressure on Palestinian militants to stop firing rockets into southern Israel.
But, said the Christian leaders, 'This siege will not guarantee the end to rocket firing, but will only increase the bitterness and suffering and invite more revenge, while the innocents keep dying,'
The issue of immigration reform continues to stymie politicians at the national level, and to be a matter of honest disagreement at the grassroots.
But in Oklahoma, the legislature has pushed through some of the toughest rules in the nation opposing illegal immigration, and some religious leaders are concerned about the impact the new law could have on their ministry with the poor and dispossessed. And even stricter legislation will be up for consideration in the state early in 2008.
(ENI) Geneva -- The leader of the Taizé community urged tens of thousands of young Christians from Europe, who gathered in Geneva at the New Year to organize "vigils of reconciliation," for unity between churches that are divided from each other.
"How can we be credible in speaking of a God of love if we remain separate?"
Brother Alois, prior of the ecumenical Taizé community said in his meditation at a televised prayer service on December 30 at Geneva's Palexpo exhibition center:
"It is up to you young people to take the initiative," said Brother Alois, who became the community's leader after the death in 2005 of its Swiss-born founder, Brother Roger.© Copyright 2026 The Presbyterian Outlook. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Statement. Website by Web Publisher PRO
