(PNS) The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s General Assembly Council (GAC) adopted a new emphasis on traditional evangelism at its meeting in Louisville March 14-16.
Led by newly-called Deputy Executive Director for Mission Tom Taylor, the Council's Evangelism and Witness Goal Area Committee adopted the following goal for 2007-2008: "We are called to invite all people to faith, repentance, and the abundant life of God in Jesus Christ, to encourage congregations in joyfully sharing the Gospel, and through the power of the Holy Spirit to grow in membership and discipleship."
One of its two objectives under the goal is to equip Presbyterians to reach out to "those with no active church affiliation."
In the beginning, the Mission Funding Task Force of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) set out to develop a new funding system for the denomination.
But one of the most significant things the funding task force figured out was that it couldn't fix the PC(USA)'s financial problems -- they couldn't dream up some new configuration to make it all better. Conrad Rocha, a council member from New Mexico who leads the task force, said this is not a problem along the lines of "you have a roof that has a leak" -- something that can be repaired quickly -- but more like a chronic illness the denomination must learn to live with.
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 is the second of a three-part account of the conversation, but the entire interview is now available at the following link:
Read the entire article with comments here
JH: Over the years you have attended lots of events of organizations around the church, particularly interest organizations of the left and right. Of late you seem to be attending a lot fewer of them and are sending staff in your place. Is there a message being conveyed in that? Or what would be the reason for that?
CK: I don't know that I've been to that many (fewer). I was at the Coalition meeting in Atlanta along with the Presbyterian Global Fellowship. I met with the tall steeple pastors prior to the New Wineskins recently in Orlando. I guess I did miss the Covenant Network. There are several reasons for it. Part of the reason is some family dynamics and part is my commitments to the World Alliance [of Reformed Churches].
One year ago, Dr. Kenneth Root, a member of Valley Presbyterian Church, Paradise Valley, AZ who is a physician specializing in neurology..
MONTREAT, N.C. -- A task force of the Presbytery of Western North Carolina has recommended that the Montreat Church be divided into two congregations, one to remain in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the other to join the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. The recommendation comes as an initial response to a vote of the congregation, taken on January 21, to disaffiliate from the PC(USA) and affiliate with the EPC. The congregation's vote was 311 to 27.
The task force report will be considered at a special meeting of the presbytery to be held on the Montreat Conference Center campus on April 25.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Stated Clerk Commends the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and McDonald's Corporation on Forging an Historic Agreement to Advance Farmworkers' Human Rights
On behalf of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) I commend the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the McDonald's Corporation, and McDonald's suppliers on the historic agreement that they have forged to improve wages and guarantee human rights for farmworkers harvesting tomatoes in the fields of Florida. The farmworkers have carried forward their campaign for fair food with integrity and dedication and the McDonald's Corporation has taken a leadership role in moving the fast-food industry toward more just way of doing business. The Presbyterian Church is particularly grateful for the role that the Carter Center has played in fostering dialogue among the parties that led to this significant agreement.
Madison Avenue Church in New York, N.Y., is pledging $1 million to Mission Initiative: Joining Hearts & Hands of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to endow new a Global Ministry Fellowship program
The gift will establish the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church Global Ministry Fellowship, a permanent, endowed fund to provide outstanding recent seminary graduates with an immersion experience in the dynamics of the Christian Church in the "Global South." According to the church's newly adopted policy document, the Global Ministry Fellowship will "help ensure that the emerging leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) understand the dynamics and opportunities for ministry and partnership in a globalized context."
Douglas F. Ottati, the M.E. Pemberton Professor of Theology and a member of the faculty at Union Theological Seminary-PSCE in Richmond, Va., for nearly 30 years, is going to Davidson College in a newly endowed chair in religion.
Beginning in the fall of 2007, Ottati will occupy the new Craig Family Distinguished Professorship in Reformed Theology and Justice Ministry.
"It was not an easy decision to make, but it's exciting," said Ottati. "It comes at a classic time of life when my two children have left the house, and I have an opportunity to do something different. Part of it is as simple as a guy being an auto mechanic for 30 years who gets a chance to work on another machine."
Ottati added that another incentive was to work within a broader scope of academic disciplines. "Seminaries like Union-PSCE have as a strength their focus on the clerical education of ministers," he said. "But at the same time that focus is their significant limitation. Seminaries don't have arts and sciences departments, so it's more difficult to study in the context of other disciplines. Coming to Davidson gives me a chance to have those conversations."
Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Conn., is offering an online course April 23-27 reporting findings from the latest national survey of U.S. congregations and the implications of these findings for church leaders.
The Faith Communities Today 2005 national survey of congregations will be discussed as it focused on growth, conflict management, interfaith relations, engaging youth and young adults, and stewardship.
Leading the discussion will be David Roozen, professor of religion and society at Hartford Seminary and director of its Hartford Institute for Religion Research.
Advance registration is required; there is a fee of $50. For further information, contact the seminary at www.hartsem.edu/events/events.htm.
LOUISVILLE -- About six months ago, the Mission Initiative: Joining Hearts & Hands fundraising campaign was in trouble -- finding some success at getting donations for international mission and new church development, but not having enough money on hand to continue to pay its staff through 2007.
The basic problem was that most donors were restricting their gifts -- offering money for specific causes, but not providing funds to pay the operating costs of the campaign.
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The Office of the General Assembly is grateful for presbyteries that are faithfully seeking to engage Presbyterians who are troubled by General Assembly actions. We recognize the enormous commitment presbyteries and staffs have made to reach out to these brothers and sisters in Christ and attempt to address their pain and distress. We are aware that several presbyteries have developed sensitive policies to guide them in engaging with sessions and congregations who feel estrangement with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The Presbyteries of New Covenant and Wabash Valley consulted with our offices in developing such policies and we commend such models to presbyteries.
LOUISVILLE -- Most Presbyterians don't sit around thinking about how the top levels of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are organized. But just understand this:
· The reorganization of the denomination's national staff is continuing with the recent announcement of a key appointment in communications and funds development.
· The General Assembly Council, which met March 14-16 in Louisville, is itself in the midst of a major reconfiguration: becoming smaller and reorganizing its committee structure. Past evaluations showed that members thought the council was too big and lacked vision, and that its work felt disconnected from the concerns of congregations and presbyteries.
· Linda Valentine, who was named the council's executive director in June 2006, spoke of how she hopes the new alignments will allow the council to focus more on big issues and less on day-to-day administrative matters. Valentine spoke of the need for "adaptive thinking, generative thinking, strategic thinking" in the PC(USA).
LOUISVILLE -- Responding to a request from the Evangelical Church of Iran, the General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) passed a resolution March 16 asking U.S. political leaders to initiate "direct diplomatic dialogue with leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran, so that by all means, a military confrontation would be avoided" involving Iran.
The ministers get a Sabbath. The elders get a conference. Regardless of the label, the summer of 2007 promises each group an opportunity for enrichment and renewal.
In this second "off year" between General Assemblies, the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly has decided to double-up the offerings that were provided in the first off year, 2005. A pastors' conference held that year at the Snowbird Resort near Salt Lake City, Utah, drew more than 600 participants. The success of that event has inspired the scheduling of a second installment of the pastors' event -- to be held at Snowbird on June 28-July 1 -- and to planning an elder's conference to be held in Nashville, Tenn. August 29-31.
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| Peace marchers gather at a barricade in Lafayette Park across from the White Housesinging and waving their candles and flashlights. They called for the end of the war in Iraq, observing the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the war. |
Their action was part of the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq demonstration planned to protest the war on its fourth anniversary. Several thousand Christians also worshipped in the National Cathedral, and marched to the White House.
Ufford-Chase said Saturday morning that a final number was not yet available, but dozens of Presbyterians were among those arrested and charged with failure to obey a lawful order. Marchers were told they could not stop while passing by the White House and participants wanted to pause and pray.
The Presbytery of South Louisiana's Project Homecoming effort is in immediate need of licensed electricians, plumbers, and HVAC tradespersons who would be willing to volunteer in New Orleans to prepare houses with these trades. These volunteers will work under the license of a local tradesperson, in order to meet the necessary code requirements in New Orleans. Project Homecoming will absorb the cost of the permitting and inspection process, according to presbytery sources.
In addition, Project Homecoming is recruiting volunteers who have skills in carpentry, drywall, roofing, cabinetry, flooring, window & door installation as it works toward its goal of returning 300 families to their homes in the Greater New Orleans area this year.
All volunteers coming to New Orleans can increase their effectiveness by preparing ahead, the presbytery points out. Ways include: 1) Mission teams recruiting several skilled people to come with them; 2) Unskilled volunteers can take "do it yourself" workshops offered by building supply stores to develop their skills; workers ca participate in a local Habitat for Humanity project to prepare for a mission trip to New Orleans.
Those interested in volunteering, in organizing a mission trip, or in need of more information should contact: Project Homecoming, Presbytery of South Louisiana, 3700 Gentilly Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70122. Phone: 504-942-0444. E-mail: deb@pslrecovery.org.
Dear Partner in Educational Ministry: I want to take this opportunity to thank you for using The Present Word adult Bible..
Dear Partner in Educational Ministry: I want to take this opportunity to thank you for using The Present Word adult Bible..
New Orleans, LA -- On the heels of Easter celebrations, the Presbytery of South Louisiana will open a disaster recovery center in New Orleans. The center is located in the education building of Gentilly Church.
"Project Homecoming" will serve those who are struggling financially to return home, giving priority for assistance to those who are low-income, uninsured, underinsured, disabled, and elderly. The plan is to assist at least 300 people with rebuilding their homes and their lives by the end of 2007. Volunteer groups, hosted by eight Presbyterian churches in the greater New Orleans area, will provide the labor to rebuild homes.
Project Homecoming is the rebuilding initiative of the Presbytery of South Louisiana in partnership with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans.
Catholic Charities Katrina Aid Today Case Managers will be on site to provide long-term case management to clients. KAT helps clients design and implement their own individual recovery plan and connects them to available resources in the community.
A dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony, to celebrate the opening of this new disaster recovery center, is planned Tuesday at 12:00 noon. On hand for the dedication will be Susan Ryan, coordinator of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); Alan Cutter, executive presbyter of the Presbytery of South Louisiana; and representatives of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans.
The public is invited to attend the dedication ceremony, as well as an open house from 11:00am - 2:00pm that day.
Bogota 4 April (ENI-ALC)--If there is not peace among religions, there will be no peace in the world, Swiss-born theologian Hans Kueng has noted during an address during a week of ethics and world peace in the capital city of Colombia.
'The great religions have the conditions necessary to mobilise people to support a planetary ethic: defining moral objectives, proposing instructions and criteria for action, motivating human beings both rationally and emotionally, so that the moral norms may be lived out in practice,' said Kueng.
This is not a land for the faint-hearted.
As congregations involved with the New Wineskins Association prepare to leave the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) -- many of them bound for what they see as the promised land of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church -- first they will wade through the swamps of property disputes.
Already, roughly 10 lawsuits involving church departures and property are pending in courts across the country -- and, in other places, presbyteries and congregations are trying to negotiate their way towards some sort of amicable parting.
This is a good question for church officers to consider, especially at Easter. But what does it really mean? If we preach Christ raised from the dead on the third day, do we have a concrete sense that he still exists and is vital in our midst? Or are we thinking in symbolic terms, "He lives in our memories" or on a more pedestrian level that we encounter at funerals, "I just know that Uncle Fred is looking down at us right now"?
How alive is Christ in your congregation?
The board of directors of the Montreat Conference Center is asking for a six-month "season of prayer, study and dialogue" regarding the request that Montreat Church has made to be dismissed from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
The historic North Carolina congregation -- where Billy Graham's wife, Ruth, has long been a member -- voted 311-27 on Jan. 21 to ask to be dismissed to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
When Percy Strickland and his wife, Angie, decided to buy a house, they did what many Presbyterians would never dare to do. They left the suburbs. They moved into an inner-city neighborhood in Richmond, Va. -- becoming one of the few white families in an impoverished and mostly-black area.
They spent the next months meeting the neighbors -- initially, by playing basketball on nearby courts and helping kids with their homework. It got so that every time Percy pulled his truck up to his house, he'd find a dozen or so kids on the front porch, waiting for him.
The Stricklands opened the doors of their home to these children. They started an after-school tutoring program. They got volunteers from their church and the community involved. Others moved into the city and joined their work -- altogether about 10 houses of people.
They have created -- from scratch, from passion, from an open-hearted faith -- an intentional community called CHAT, or Church Hill Activities & Tutoring.
(PNS) The Mission Development Resources Committee (MDRC) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) recently awarded more than $1 million in grant money to 14 church-related projects across the United States.
The short-term start-up funds will enable congregations, presbyteries, and synods to organize new churches, transform existing congregations, or develop church-based community outreach programs.
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