A student who stacks up thousands of dollars of student loans getting an MBA or going to law school may have a pretty good fourth-quarter plan: graduate and get a job that pays big bucks.
But a minister?
Studies show that students graduating from seminary are lugging away increasingly heavy piles of debt, and that in some cases concern over the money owed affects the type of position that person can consider taking after graduation. Someone who feels the pressure to pay off the debt may be reluctant to take a call at a small rural church that can't pay much, as the pastor of a new church development, or doing missionary work for a nominal salary.
"Certainly if there's a significant amount of debt coming out of seminary, that enters your call process with churches," said Ann Clay Adams, the admissions director at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga.
A new minister wonders: "Am I going to be able to pay my bills" on the salary that church can afford, Adams said. "The less debt that a student can graduate with, the more open they can be to all the calls that are out there," including those in small towns or rural congregations.
MANILA -- As the General Assembly Moderator Joan S. Gray looked on, Erlinda Manano -- speaking in slow, broken English, tears trickling down her left cheek -- recalled the day her eldest son, a 21-year-old Filipino activist and church worker, was brutally murdered.
An unidentified man gunned down Isaias Drummond Manano Jr., on April 28, 2004, "in cold blood," Erlinda Manano told Gray. She is making her first international trip since being elected last June, visiting church partners and congregations in the Philippine capital as part of a 17-day, three-nation tour of Asia. She also visited South Korea and Japan.
These days, serving God by serving the people can be deadly for religious and human rights workers in the Philippines.
LOUISVILLE -- The Office of the General Assembly -- feeling the same financial pressures that are stressing the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) across the board -- has announced the elimination of seven positions.
The job cuts come in expectation that revenue from the denomination's per capita budget, which funds the Office of the General Assembly, will decline by about 5 percent next year.
Four people -- three senior administrative assistants and a document specialist -- lost their jobs in the downsizing. Two other staff members have voluntarily accepted separation agreements, and one vacant communications position is being cut.
Most Presbyterians were nowhere near Blacksburg, Va., on April 16, that darkest of days at Virginia Tech.
Others were right in the epicenter, and they will never forget -- like Alexander Evans, the pastor of Blacksburg Church, who was in his car driving to Montreat when he got a phone call telling him to turn around, come back, there was trouble. Evans, a police chaplain, spent that Monday in the emergency rooms of hospitals and then going to campus to stand with police officers who came out of Norris Hall, their faces reflecting the horror of what they had seen.
Later, Evans was asked to help notify the families of those who were killed.
Time after time, he went into a room with the brothers and sisters and parents of students, closed the door and told them what no family can ever prepare themselves to hear.
Glenn Quince Bannerman has been honored by the steering committee of the 54th Annual Recreation Workshop as the first recipient of its Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was created to honor those who have made significant contributions to the Annual Recreation Workshop (ARW), a non-profit organization that trains leaders from across the country and from many other nations in recreation ministry. The Workshop is offered each May and is co-sponsored and hosted by the Montreat Conference Center.
It often starts with one person -- one Presbyterian who thinks, "There must be something I can do."
At McDowell Church in McDowell, Va., a tiny congregation of about 50 members, that someone was retired artist and photographer Diane Stein. She wanted to find a way to support the men and women serving with the American military in Iraq.
For Stein, the war has definitely hit home: earlier, her granddaughter lost her fiancé in the conflict. Two hours before he was killed, the fiancé emailed to say, "'Don't worry about me, baby, I'll be home.' ... But he never came home," Stein said. "These are our family members, our people."
So Stein started looking on the Internet for ways she could help support the troops, and came across the Web site www.anysoldier.com , which lists contact information for troops serving in the war and supplies they need.
The Andrew Murray - Desmond Tutu Prize for the Best Christian and Theological Book by a South African in any official language of South Africa, will be awarded for the first time in 2007. The recipient is J. Wentzel van Huyssteen for his book, Alone in the World? Human Uniqueness in Science and Theology, published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company in the United States.
Elizabeth Kiss was installed as the eighth president of Agnes Scott College on April 20 at the school in Decatur, Ga.
In her installation address, she affirmed the value of women's education in a time when women hold majority in the nation's coeducational institutions. "Decatur Female Seminary was established in the context of a south still reeling from the economic and social crisis of the Civil War," Kiss said, referring to the college's original name. "Col. George Washington Scott, the Rev. Frank Gaines and the other founders were determined to elevate their community and convinced that the education of young women was key to this task.
GAZA CITY, Palestine (ABP) -- In the latest violence among warring Palestinian factions, a bomb severely damaged the Palestinian Bible Society building April 15 in Gaza City.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded scholarships in the 2007 Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship Program to eight Eckerd College students: Caroline Antolik, Jason Dorfman, Emma Hiolski, Kristen Jabanoski, Graham Johnston, Kassandra Smith, Caroline Storer, and Brittany Wright.
Since its inception in 2005, 17 Eckerd students have been named Hollings Scholars -- more than any other college or university in the United States.
After holding an extensive interview with Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick, reported in recent weeks on this Website and in the magazine, Outlook editor Jack Haberer, pressed Mr. Kirkpatrick to answer some of the particular questions that have arisen from Outlook's readers regarding the legal advice circulated by denominational leaders on the matter of church property disputes. Mr. Kirkpatrick met via conference call with the editor, along with Mark Tammen, Associate Stated Clerk for Constitutional Services, and Eric Graninger, General Counsel: Legal/Risk Services for the General Assembly Council. After discussing these matters, they agreed to prepare a detailed response to those questions. Here is that response
Over the past several months, some have expressed concern about two resources relating to church property that critics have called the 'Louisville Papers.' Others have expressed support for them. The first is a Polity Memorandum prepared by the Office of the General Assembly's Department of Constitutional Services, while the second is a Legal Memorandum prepared by the General Assembly Council's Office of Legal Services. (1) This statement comes to clarify the origin and timing of these resources.
The Polity Memorandum and the Legal Memorandum were created as resources enabling presbyteries to better understand and work with these processes. Presbyteries are in no manner compelled to use these documents. They are simply advisory and, hopefully, helpful. (2) While some may believe that the Legal Memo presents matters in rather stark terms, this simply reflects the legal process and terminology of secular litigation, where decisions are made by attorneys and judges (for whom Presbyterianism may be wholly foreign) under strict rules of evidence and procedure. The Legal Memo is a practical introduction to civil litigation, to assist presbyteries when they find themselves in such circumstances, but is by no means intended to encourage recourse to that forum.
MONTREAT -- In a historic meeting April 24, the Presbytery of Western North Carolina voted 185 to 69 to divide the Montreat Presbyterian Church into "those who want to go" and "those who want to stay" in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
The Montreat church will be divided into two congregations. Those wishing to remain in the denomination will retain the present name. Those wishing to leave will be dismissed as a congregation to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
Wading through more than four hours of political quagmire with amended and substitute motions, the entire Revised Recommended Decision before Presbytery was adopted.
LOUISVILLE -- In recognition of his deep commitment to the pastoral care of ministers, a fund has been established in memory of..
Voting by presbyteries remains close on proposed amendments to change Chapter XIV of the Book of Order of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) -- an indication that what some consider to be a flexible streamlining of the rules, others are finding problematic.
Overall, the Chapter 14 revisions being proposed are intended to reword and simplify the document (the revised version is about one-fourth shorter than the current chapter) and to give presbyteries more flexibility in calling pastors.
But clearly Presbyterians have differing views on the wisdom of the proposal.
Harare, 4 May (ENI)-- Zimbabwe President President Robert Mugabe has warned Roman Catholic bishops who published a pastoral letter criticising his government over the country's mounting economic and economic crises, saying that they have chosen 'a dangerous path'.
Mugabe said the bishops had become political. He described the letter written by the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference and read to congregations across the country on Palm Sunday (1 April) as 'political nonsense'.
(PNS) Jill M. Hudson, longtime executive presbyter for Whitewater Valley Presbytery in Indianapolis, Ind., has been named middle governing body relations coordinator for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), beginning in September.
Hudson will succeed Gary Torrens, also a former presbytery executive, who is retiring in November after eight years in the position.
The announcement was made by Cliff Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the General Assembly, and Linda Bryant Valentine, executive director of the General Assembly Council. The position is shared between the General Assembly Council and the Office of the General Assembly.
LOUISVILLE -- A task force charged with revising the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s Form of Government (FOG) has backed away from its proposed rewrite of the PC(USA) Constitution's theological underpinnings (chapters 1-4 of The Book of Order).
The task force was authorized by last summer's 217th General Assembly to revise the FOG to make it more flexible for presbyteries and congregations. Some members of the task force had drafted a new section to replace the first four chapters.
But instead of recommending this new section entitled "The Foundations of Presbyterian Polity," the nine-member Form of Government Task Force tentatively decided at its April 12-14 meeting here to submit both "Foundations" and the existing first four Book of Order chapters to the 2008 assembly and let commissioners decide which they prefer.
c. 2007 Religion News Service
Isabel Wood Rogers died March 18 at Westminster Canterbury, Richmond, at the age of 82, after a battle with cancer. "Dr. Izzie" as she was often called, left us a rich heritage.
She was born in Tallahassee, grew up and then took degrees at Florida State University, the University of Virginia (political science), the Presbyterian School of Christian Education (Richmond, Va.) and Duke University where she earned a Ph.D. in theology and ethics and was Phi Beta Kappa. After serving as Presbyterian chaplain and director of religious activities at Georgia College and State University she settled down as professor of applied Christianity at PSCE, now Union-PSCE in Richmond, for 37 years from 1961 to 1998.
She left us a heritage of insightful written works, focusing on her interests.
Izzie wrote a brief study entitled, In a Word: The Power of Language in which she explores the "shaping power" of language, such as words the biblical authors used to describe God as a "decreeing, punishing, conquering" and also "delivering, "divine." She warned against idolatry of race, class, age, and even of ourselves as we use language that creates God in our own image.
Davidson, N.C. -- The board of trustees of Davidson College today introduced their 17th president, Thomas W. Ross Sr., a 1972 graduate of the college. Ross has been serving as executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation in Winston-Salem, N.C. He previously served for 17 years as a North Carolina superior court judge.
Ross will take the reins of the college on August 1. He succeeds Robert F. Vagt, who retires from the post after this academic year. Vagt served as president for 10 years.
Richmond, Va.- March 30, 2007 - The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Blount, a New Testament professor from Princeton Theological Seminary, has been called by the Board of Trustees of Union Theological Seminary & Presbyterian School of Christian Education to serve as its next president.
Blount, 50, will succeed Louis B. Weeks who retires June 30, 2007. Blount will assume the presidency July 1.
A native of Smithfield, Va., Blount served as pastor of Carver Memorial Presbyterian Church in Newport News, Va., from 1982 to 1988. For the past 15 years, he has taught New Testament to students preparing for ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Outlook Editor Jack Haberer recently sat down with PC(USA) Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick to discuss some of the pressing issues in the church. This was originally published in three parts, but the entire article is presented online here with combined reader feedback.
JH: Some churches are talking about leaving the denomination. Why do you think they want to leave?
CK: In so many ways this season of church-leaving feels like where I came in to this some 40 to 45 years ago when my own church went to the PCA. The reasons are different but they are somewhat the same. They are obviously Christians--Presbyterians--who feel deeply, who have a passionate sense of dedication to the life of Jesus Christ and the inerrancy of the Word of God.
What has upset them is not simply the report that was adopted at the Assembly, but that it was confirmation in their minds of what they long had perceived: that the larger church is not valuing their deeply-held Christian convictions. I also sense that they feel that they've been left out. One of the issues in the PUP report that you can critique is, I sense, that it did not deal as much with power as with the other subjects. Some people felt left out by that ... There's in some sense a loss of hope. Beyond that, there are organized groups that are trying to lead people out, and at times I think they share what's not always correct information. So it's the combination of those factors that are weighing on people's hearts that has them losing hope in the PC(USA) that I love and you love really being an expression of what God intends for the church.
"Communication, communication, communication."
That's how Linda Valentine, executive director of the General Assembly Council, recently expressed what she sees as a top need of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
She frequently cites, for example, a Presbyterian Panel survey from May 2005 that revealed only 15 percent of Presbyterians in the pews considered themselves to be "generally informed" about the denomination's mission work.
It's become almost a mantra -- there's a disconnect between the national church and the grassroots, and that to build support (both financial and otherwise), the denomination needs to do a better job of "telling the story" of Presbyterians involved in mission.
Exactly what that means, however -- how to tell those stories most effectively, what technology and strategies to use in a financially-constricted environment -- is still being worked out. It's also not totally clear what impact those "good news" stories about the PC(USA) might have on the denomination's track record of unrelenting conflict.
Donald A. Hostetter, executive director emeritus of the Presbyterian Conference Association in Holmes, N.Y., died early on Easter Sunday morning in a hospital in Ireland. He had been unconscious for a week following a collapse on an airplane returning from leading a tour to the Greek Islands.
Nairobi, 19 April (ENI)--A consortium of international relief agencies, monitoring violations of the rights of children in areas of armed conflict, is calling for their protection in the west of Sudan, warning that their well-being is at a critical juncture.
'Children are very much affected given the displacement, uncertainty and numbers of armed militias that are involved in Darfur,' Karimi Kinoti, a regional representative of the British agency, Christian Aid, told Ecumenical News International at the launch of the group's latest report, Sudan's Children at Crossroads, An Urgent Need for Protection.
'Deepest sympathies and heartfelt prayers come from us at the Presbyterian Outlook and from all Presbyterians everywhere to the family and friends..
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