NGPs and NGCGs
Maryland is thinking about letting gays and lesbians get married.
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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.
Please pass the fig leaves
I blew it. Here I was up to my eyeballs co-editing two different letters of outreach to many of my disaffected friends in the PC(USA), promising to “sow seeds of grace, kindness, respect and cooperation in every possible way — all toward the end of us all serving as agents of reconciliation before the watching world, as Scripture requires of us.”
Pew study shows Christianity counts as ‘truly a global faith’
A century ago, the geographic center of Christianity was in Europe and North America.
The facts and the questions
First, a disclaimer: I am happily married to a person whose vocation is sociology of religion.
Cuban official: normalization will benefit both countries
HAVANA (PNS)
Cuba and the United States have so much in common that despite political differences it’s “overtime” to normalize relations between the two countries, a Cuban foreign ministry official told a group of 15 visiting U.S. religious leaders here Nov. 30.
Playgrounds on the battlefield
NOVEMBER 2008, GREEN ZONE,
BAGHDAD, IRAQ
Every day when my chaplain assistant and I drove around the Green Zone, we went by the 215 towers.
Could the “Arab spring” lead to a “Christian winter”?
Churches in Egypt are praying and helping migrants who flee their homes due to political turmoil, violence and an uncertain future. If the “Arab Spring” fails to produce democratic societies, it might instead lead to persecution of religious minorities.
Managing ‘touches’ with the right touch
I just received a year-end greeting from a Web service that I tried briefly last summer and then forgot about. And while I was writing that sentence, another arrived from a service that I stopped using over a year ago.
In for the long haul
I was fortunate to spend the week between Christmas and New Year’s in Switzerland, visiting a dear friend who, sadly, has had her cancer return with a vengeance. A pastor in Zurich, Denise and I met years ago at a Reformed theology conference sponsored by the Office of Theology and Worship. Later her daughter became our exchange student here in the States, and a big sister to our only child. Our families have stayed close.
Vatican hosts global summit on sexual abuse
Vatican City (ENInews) Ten years after the clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted in the United States, Catholic bishops from all over the world will meet this week at a Vatican summit aimed at preventing abuse and protecting children.
Film in review: “We Need To Talk About Kevin”
C’mon, all you honest parents out there, you know who you are.
Film in review: “The Woman in Black”
As horror movies go, this one is so old-fashioned it could have been made 70 years ago and no one would have known the difference.
Film in review: “A Separation”
This film is going to win lots of critical acclaim, but it will struggle to catch on in the United States.
Films in review: Four not-ready-for-prime-time movies
“Real Steel”: Yes, it was nominated for an Oscar for best achievement in visual effects. And the boxing robot scenes are worth the price of admission.
The right to know the truth
Read your own story into the Bible story, APCE told
Grand Rapids, Mich.(Special to PNS) The Bible should be read “as if God was actually talking to us,” the Association of Presbyterian Christian Educators (APCE) was told here at its annual gathering this week.
Commission calls for initiatives in racial ethnic efforts and GA agencies
DALLAS – The General Assembly Mid-Councils Commission is calling for reviews of the denomination's top-level agencies and its racial ethnic ministry.
Janet Edwards, same-sex couple advocate fails to obtain Pittsburgh Presbytery’s endorsement
The Rev. Janet Edwards, a nationally prominent advocate for same-sex couples in a presbytery that consistently opposes gay ordination and gay marriage,..
Mid-Councils Commission calls for non-geographic presbyteries, movable affiliations
DALLAS – The General Assembly Mid-Councils Commission has voted 15-5 to permit non-geographic, “provisional presbyteries” as part of a “designated season of reflective experimentation” in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Mid-Councils Commission lays out next steps in synod transition
DALLAS – The General Assembly Mid-Councils Commission made a key decision last fall: it would recommend to the 2012 General Assembly that synods would no longer exist in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) as councils with ecclesiastical responsibility.
Task Force encourages 20/20 Vision for Special Offerings
Louisville, Ky. The Special Offerings Advisory Task Force, commissioned by the 218th General Assembly (2008), is recommending a new vision for special offerings – $20 million in receipts by 2020. Seeking to tap the full potential of special offerings, the task force is also recommending one new offering and revisions in each of the other offerings.
‘Glory to God’ to be published in red, purple
Louisville, Ky. (PNS) The Presbyterian Publishing Corporation has released the cover design of “Glory to God,” the new Presbyterian hymnal to be published in the fall of 2013.
Disciple-makers must create space for real questions
As a student at Princeton Theological Seminary, the Rev. Pam Driesell was surprised to hear about a professor who was hard on people who asked questions.
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