Transitions (from the April 14, 2014 issue)
Buz Wilcoxon, from associate pastor, Fourth Church, Greenville, S.C., to pastor, Spring Hill Church, Mobile, Ala.
Latest Posts
Holy Week
These weeks between the ashes and the lilies demand hardly any getting used to. The lurking guilt has ever been there, tight..
Douglas Laycock
"The debate has been captured by utterly intolerant people on both sides. Everybody wants religious liberty for me, and my opponent ground into the dust.” ..
Film in review – “Robocop”
This movie did not consciously cast itself in biblical terms. But, as a practicing believer watching it, I couldn’t help but think..
Film in review – “Sabotage”
American audiences have proven that they don’t mind watching a very bloody shoot-‘em-up, but there needs to be a reason, or else..
Film in review – “Need For Speed”
“The woman was clever and beautiful, but the man was surly and mean” (1 Samuel 25: 3). Back when King David was..
Pastoral prayer (prepared for NEXT Church closing worship)
Gracious God, as we prepare to go out from this place: Help us to remember. That is our prayer as our attention..
What the Presbyterians got wrong on Israel (Commentary)
By Rick Jacobs NEW YORK (RNS) Some 2,000 years ago, a prospective Jew in ancient Israel asked Rabbi Hillel to teach him..
From Beacon Hill to ‘Bishop Bling,’ clergy housing faces new scrutiny
by David Gibson (RNS) Bye-bye, “Bishop Bling.” So long, “Pastor Perks.” The so-called “Francis effect” may be real, at least when it..
The river of God: Next Church conference contemplative worship
MINNEAPOLIS – The congregants sat during evening worship in the balcony, looking down over a river of blue fabric draped over the..
Pope Francis calls traditional marriage an icon of God’s love
by Josephine McKenna ROME (RNS) Pope Francis stressed the importance of marriage between a man and a woman at his general audience..
Be reconciled!
Katallagete! Be reconciled! Grace then gratitude… reconciliation then justice “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and..
J. Herbert Nelson addresses Next Church Conference
MINNEAPOLIS – “No community of faith can be silent while people suffer.” J. Herbert Nelson II, who leads the Office of Public..
Committee leaders named for 221st General Assembly (2014)
by Eva Stimson LOUISVILLE (PNS) Moderators and vice moderators have been selected to lead the fourteen committees that will handle the business..
A minister does Lent
Lent is an odd time of rapid growth. It’s like the strident, awkward middle school years of the soul, except that it..
2014 NEXT Church conference kicks off by promoting questions and adaptive change
MINNEAPOLIS – “We stand in the rubble of the mainline church” – that’s how Jim Kitchens, a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) minister and..
Thrivent Financial is no longer for Lutherans only
by David Yonke DEARBORN, Mich. (RNS) For the first time in its long history, Thrivent Financial is not just for Lutherans. The..
Stated Clerk participates in dialogue with Christian and Jewish leaders
by Toya Richards Jackson, OGA LOUISVILLE (PNS) The Rev. Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), joined..
Unendangered Savior
Thank God for Holy Week. To hear the common rhetoric of apostasy accusers, Jesus’ life is as endangered in today’s Presbyterian Church..
Blessed and prodded
The congregation I serve is currently restructuring its session committees. After several years of a wide number of groups, faithful and focused..
Film in review – “Bad Words”
Normally, I don't go for caustic humor, the kind that constantly ridicules and belittles others. Nor do I normally go for the supposed..
Film in review – “Divergent”
Yes, this one is coming in with all the hype of the new “Hunger Games,” and that’s probably an unfair burden to..
“Divergent” roundtable interview with Miles Teller and Jai Courtney
Outlook roundtable interview with Miles Teller and Jai Courtney, stars of “Divergent” Dallas, Texas March 5, 2014 Ronald P. Salfen, Presbyterian Outlook..
What kind of people does Presbyterianism make?
My congregation affords me two weeks of paid study leave (i.e., continuing education). I decided to use a portion of this year’s..
Options among Questions on the Ords
by Timothy Cargal (PNS) In my previous post I addressed a number of changes that the Presbyteries’ Cooperative Committee on Examinations for Candidates..
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