How I learned to love the question “What will make your heart sing?”
When I became the director of the Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Programs in 2012, I inherited programs that had already been running..
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No room in the what?
I confess: Learning that the New Testament never uses the word stable or barn to describe where Jesus was born was borderline..
God’s best for us
I have found the Christmas Eve sermon the hardest one to prepare. The biblical story has little to do with where listeners..
Regarding ruling elders: The gift of the present
(OGA) Every Christmas day of my growing-up years was spent at my grandparents’ house in San Juan Bautista, California. Imagine thirty or..
Church-politics provision removed from tax bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Democratic senator taking part in talks on the GOP tax package says a provision allowing churches to endorse..
Why such a big deal about wedding cake?
Guest commentary by Beth Brown In my world here in Chicago as the pastor of Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church, what the Supreme..
3rd Sunday of Advent – December 17, 2017
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28 Advent 3B Good news to the oppressed. Bind up the brokenhearted. Liberty, release,..
2020 Vision Team digs into its first draft
The 2020 Vision Team is trying to work its way through a first draft of its report to the 2018 General Assembly..
Presbyterian church helps members cope with high school shooting in New Mexico
(PNS) The small community of Aztec, New Mexico, is still reeling from last week’s shooting at a local high school that left..
Waiting as a spiritual practice
I think it would be accurate to say that most of life is lived and experienced in the in-between. While it may..
Who Lynched Willie Earle? Preaching to Confront Racism
Will Willimon Abingdon Press, 154 pages Reviewed by Karen Branan It was March 1947, and Hawley Lynn was two short years out..
Americans see more jingle, less Jesus in Christmas celebrations
WASHINGTON (RNS) — If there ever was a “war on Christmas” in America, Santa may have won. Nine in 10 U.S. adults..
Embodied Hope: A Theological Meditation on Pain and Suffering
Kelly M. Kapic InterVarsity Press, 192 pages Reviewed by Deborah McKinley “I’m going to visit _________.” That’s what I do when I..
Reconfiguring, revising, recommending: Way Forward Commission looks at church structure, plans GA report
The Way Forward Commission likely will ask the General Assembly to reconfigure the structure of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation, and..
Presbyterian churches reach out to communities affected by California wildfires
(PNS) It’s been a week since wildfires broke out in southern California and the fires are still raging out of control. There..
Louisville Seminary receives $1.5 million Lilly Endowment Grant
(Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary press release) Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary recently received a $1.5 million five-year grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to..
Reset the Heart: Unlearning Violence, Relearning Hope
Mai-Anh Le Tran Abingdon Press, 176 pages Reviewed by Susan G. De George In response to the shooting of Michael Brown..
By faith (Horizons 5)
Horizons Bible Study 2017-2018 “Cloud of Witnesses: The Community of Christ in Hebrews” Lesson 5: In Community with the Traditions of the Past..
To live as those being saved
”This congregation has been in slow and steady decline since 1964. I don’t know if we have a future.” “I want the..
Presbyterian Churches Lead Gun Violence Awareness Actions Dec. 10-14, 2017
STONY POINT, NY (Presbyterian Peace Fellowship press release) - Thursday, December 14, 2017 is Gun Violence Awareness Day across the United States...
Vintage Saints and Sinners: 25 Christians Who Transformed My Faith
Karen Wright Marsh InterVarsity Press, 224 pages Reviewed by Jeff J. Meyers Dorothy Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, once..
Hope, the noun
Hope as a verb is anemic, a flimsy little cobweb. “I hope it doesn’t rain today,” we say. Hope-as-a-verb doesn’t even have..
Board of Pensions uncovers fraud scheme
PHILADELPHIA (Board of Pensions press release) – The Board of Pensions is investigating the fraudulent redirection of 11 pension payments. The Board..
Seasonal hymns by J. Barrie Shepherd
Beloved Presbyterian poet J. Barrie Shepherd has crafted hymns for Advent, Christmas and welcoming in the new year set to familiar Christmas tunes..
Presbyterian Mission Agency race audit team prepares 2018 report
LOUISVILLE (PNS) — Acting on the referral 11-24 of the 222nd General Assembly (2016) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), a team from..
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