Faithmatters: Is Presbymergence a promising path?
It is not news that the Emergent Church Movement has been shaking up American Christians who identify themselves as evangelical.
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Baseline Christianity
Normally mature Christians do not wonder much in the new year if they kept the faith minimally enough in the past 12 months to get by. More likely, they feel guilty that they have failed to serve Christ with consistent commitment and worry more about the things left undone than what they did that offended God.
Harkening to connections across fearful generations
IN AN EARLIER COLUMN (4/10/11) I pointed out our denomination’s shocking lack of available pastoral calls, in comparison to the large numbers of pastors seeking calls. The column’s conclusion was a series of encouragements for entrepreneurial strategies to address the call shortage.
Interview with Oren Moverman, director of “Rampart”
January 10, 2012
Ronald Salfen: First, let me say that I really thought this was a high-impact film. Where did you get the idea for him to be married to two sisters? Was that from the Bible, perchance?
Film in review: “This Means War”
This thing is neither fish nor fowl. It tries to be both an action movie and a romantic comedy, somehow simultaneously, but not surprisingly, it has a little difficulty sustaining believability when it so easily flip-flops between one mode and another. After a while, we get the impression that it’s all just a big act, which of course it is, but somehow it lacks something along the lines of the necessary suspension of disbelief.
Film in review: “Thin Ice”
It’s very difficult to like “Thin Ice,” because none of the characters are likeable.
Film in review: “The Vow”
It’s based on a true story, though some of the plot holes seem to challenge veracity. Maybe they couldn’t make this up.
Film in review: “Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace” (just released in 3-D)
Yes, you have to remember that the original three (1977-1983) are now called IV,V, & VI, and what is now called I (1999) actually serves as a prequel, with II and III completing the back story leading up to the originals.
Film in review: “Rampart”
“Rampart” refers to the name of the police station in Los Angeles where Dave Brown (Woody Harrelson) still worked in 1999.
Faith groups participate in peace initiative for London Olympics
London (ENInews) Faith leaders and community groups in London are promoting "One Hundred Days of Peace" – an initiative to develop a "peace legacy" for the London Olympic Games this summer.
GAMC addresses gender imbalance among witnesses at congressional hearing
LOUISVILLE – The General Assembly Mission Council ended its meeting Feb. 17 with a flurry of votes, looking at both internal church issues and events in the nation. Here’s some of what happened.
Panel says it has reached a dead end in efforts to get 3 companies to change practices in Israel
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The 2012 General Assembly is being asked to consider a controversial recommendation that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) divest its holdings in three companies doing business in Israel – companies that a church committee on socially responsible investing has determined are engaged in “non-peaceful” activities.
MRTI recommends targeted divestment in 3 companies for nonpeaceful use of their products in Israel-Palestine
Update: On Feb. 17, the full General Assembly Mission Council approved by a voice vote the recommendation from the Mission Responsibility Through Investment committee. The recommendation on divestment now will go to the 2012 General Assembly for its consideration.
LOUISVILLE – It’s sure to be a controversial issue before the 2012 General Assembly: whether the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) should divest its holdings in three companies doing business in Israel.
3 Hispanic churches in Texas withdraw, may face eviction
Three churches in Mission Presbytery may all lack a center for worship this Sunday as their presbytery has responded to their “renunciation of jurisdiction” by serving an eviction notice.
Call goes out for study of women in leadership
LOUISVILLE –
Saying that questions remain about whether women are being treated as “equal partners” in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), a task force is asking the 2012 General Assembly to fund a research study to look more carefully at women in leadership in the denomination.
Panel’s proposals would revamp special offerings
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Over the next few months, leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will consider whether to make changes in the denomination’s four special offerings.
Wynn Kenyon dies
Wynn Kenyon (64), whose ordination by Pittsburgh Presbytery was rejected by the national church in 1974 because he wouldn't ordain women, died..
The rights of the poor
New SFTS president: Christians are ‘message and messenger’ in one
SAN ANSELMO, Calif. (PNS) Theological seminaries exist to serve the gospel of Jesus Christ, not themselves or the institutional church, the Rev. James L. (Jim) McDonald told the packed First Presbyterian Church here Feb. 11 as he was inaugurated as the 11th president of San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS).
Commission advises trial period for nongeographic presbyteries
The Mid-Councils Commission advises that nongeographic presbyteries be given a trial run and that that synods be stripped of ecclesiastical authority.
Where have all the “angry” elders gone?
As a teaching elder, long in tooth and at the risk of being branded a heretic, I feel compelled to comment on what I perceive in reading, listening and generally observing the actions and rhetoric surrounding present activities within the PC(USA).
Some church leaders join battle against Uganda’s gay bill
(ENInews) Following the re-introduction in Uganda of a bill that would harshly punish homosexuality, gay rights activists, including some church leaders, are uniting through Twitter and Facebook to oppose it.
NGPs and NGCGs
Maryland is thinking about letting gays and lesbians get married.
Signs of hope
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (OGA) One question I’m asked almost more than any other is, “So, where do you see hope in the PC(USA)?”
A comprehensive answer would take up more than the word limits of this column. But two things stand out.
Task force on special offerings looks to reverse downward trend
Although giving has been declining for a decade for the special offerings of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), a task force – saying there is “tremendous untapped potential” – is recommending that the church set a goal of raising $20 million from those offerings by 2020.
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