Religious groups fight for tax deductions
WASHINGTON (RNS) For the third time in three years, President Obama’s proposed budget tightens limits on tax deductions for high-end charitable donors.
Latest Posts
WCC pressed to develop new policy on gender justice
GENEVA (ENI) During its meeting here, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee passed judgment on the ecumenical movement’s progress on gender justice: too little.
Supreme Court rejects 10 Commandments case
WASHINGTON (RNS) The Supreme Court has chosen not to reexamine its decision to strike down displays of the Ten Commandments in two Kentucky courthouses.
Judge rejects Christians’ health care suit
WASHINGTON (RNS) A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by five Christians who argue that President Obama’s health care overhaul violates their religious freedom.
Allah: A Christian Response
by Miroslav Volf
New York: HarperOne, March 2011. Hardcover, 336 pp., $25.99.
ISBN 978-0-06-192707-2
reviewed by Douglas A. Hicks
It is hard to imagine a more timely topic than Christians’ and Muslims’ understandings of one another and of God. It is equally difficult to identify a Christian theologian better situated than Miroslav Volf to tackle the questions he raises. In brief, this book deserves all of its hype, and I recommend it heartily to every pastor, theologian, layperson, and citizen who reads the Outlook.
The Difference Heaven Makes: Rehearing the Gospel as News
by Christopher Morse
New York: T & T Clark 2010. 145 pages.
reviewed by CURRIE BURRIS
Most of us carry around in our minds either an image of heaven shaped by popular culture, pictures, images, stories or movies, or an image shaped by the modern scientific world view in which heaven is nowhere to be found. We either imagine a heaven filled with clouds, harp-playing angels and golden mansions somewhere up in the sky, or we find the notion of that kind of heaven wholly at odds with the real world.
What’s the Least I Can Believe and Still Be a Christian: A Guide To What Matters Most
by Martin Thielen
Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press. 156 pages.
reviewed by JEFF KREHBIEL
I remember speaking with a young man from a fundamentalist background who was trying to understand my faith as a liberal mainline Christian.
To Be Reformed: Living the Tradition
by Joseph D. Small
Louisville: Witherspoon Press. 157 pages.
reviewed by MARTHA MOORE-KEISH
For years, Joe Small has provided Presbyterian and Reformed Christians wise interpretation of the Reformed tradition for an ecumenically diverse and increasingly post-denominational world. His most recent volume is a significant reworking of God and Ourselves: A Brief Exercise in Reformed Theology (1996).
The Pastor: A Memoir
by Eugene Peterson
HarperCollins, New York. 336 pages.
When asked what he liked most about being a pastor, Eugene Peterson responded, “the mess.”
Briefly Noted
Reviews by Roy W. Howard
Outside Looking In:
Adventures of an Observer
Viking Penguin. 195 pages.
Conferees seek ways to vivify church; That seems blander than a toasted bagel
INDIANAPOLIS
What comes next for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)?
Stop fighting
I can tell you “Six Surefire Ways to Grow Your Church.” But they will come to naught unless you start with a seventh.
Source Code
Have you ever awakened in a strange place and had no memory of how you got there?
Insidious
The truth is many sincere, devout, well-meaning Christians who think of themselves
as post-Enlightenment consider the devil to be a concept in Scripture that needs
interpreting in its cultural context.
GAMC meeting slated for Seoul; complications beset Big Tent plan
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Korea, the General Assembly Mission Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will hold its September 2012 meeting in Seoul, South Korea.
Commission opens door to ideas on changing church governance
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The General Assembly Commission on Middle Governing Bodies is inviting all Presbyterians – and that means everyone – to give it feedback on ways to creatively structure the work of presbyteries and synods.
Conference centers struggle to adapt to changing roles, straitened finances
LOUISVILLE – Both the Ghost Ranch and Stony Point conference centers continue to lose money.
Looking inside Presbyterian congregations: New research examines how Presbyterians are changing
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (General Assembly Mission Council) Remember the spring of 2001?
Synod court rules pastor broke church law when she performed same-sex weddings
The Synod of the Pacific Permanent Judicial Commission has upheld a lower church court’s ruling that Janie Spahr, a minister from California, violated the constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) when she performed same-gender weddings in 2008.
‘In Christ we are not alone’: Mission partners, workers in Japan feel supported by prayers
The Presbyterian World Mission ministry area has been in contact with partner
organizations and churches and with all its mission workers in Japan.
since the devastating earthquake and tsunami on March 11.
Korea visit, possible name change, budget tweaks get a detailed look at GAMC’s spring meeting
LOUISVILLE – The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is in a “hinge time” of questions,
anxiety and excitement, said Cynthia Bolbach, moderator of the 219th General Assembly.
Crossing the Bridge Together: Telling Our Story When We Have to Say Yes or No.
In his book Becoming a Blessed Church, Graham Standish points out that while the Presbyterian deliberative process produces measurable results, it has failed the church precisely at the point where church members need their leaders to be spiritually attuned to God’s will in their decision making. Nowhere is this moretrue than in Presbytery, where good Presbyterians compromise our unity and spiritual purpose for the sake of a major vote.
PATRIOTISM?
I remember how strange it sounded to me when I heard some overseas missionaries tell that one of the lessons they taught..
Mini-Reviews – At the theater this week
“Lord of the Dance”: Michael Flatley gives us his triumphal world tour Irish dancing troupe, complete with 3-D renderings of the light and sound extravaganza. But despite the attempt at visual depth, it just falls flat for anyone other than the aficionados of this particular genre of folk dancing.
Reformation is never easy, unanimous, or noncontroversial
I write in response to the claims of Merwyn Johnson and others that for change in the church’s standards on ordination, the normal process of majority approval at GA and the majority approval of the presbyteries is insufficient. In his essay of 24 February 2011, Johnson urges that a “third way” be found that “allows the two sides to move forward together.” 
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