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Pastor Helps Shooting Victim, Stands Up to Gunmen

Harold “Chappie” Chapman, the 80 year old parish associate of the College Hill Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, is being called a hero after..

Congregational snapshot: Presbyterian churches, members respond to survey

LOUISVILLE — The largest survey of worshippers ever conducted in the United States shows that “there is more gray hair in Presbyterian pews today” than in 2001 —Presbyterian worshippers are on average 17 years older than adults in general in the country — and that Presbyterian congregations are getting smaller and experiencing more financial stress than they were nine years ago.

Film in review: “The Social Network”

reviewed by Ronald P. Salfen

It’s in the first scene, when his girlfriend is breaking up with him, that we see the whole personality basis for Mark Zuckerberg.

Death to life: church leaders explore change

LOUISVILLE — As a denomination losing members, money, and influence, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) can’t just keep on doing things the old familiar way. That much is clear — the resources just aren’t there.

08.10.10 Abuse Review Panel to report to GAMC Oct. 8

An Independent Abuse Review Panel investigating reports of sexual abuse at Presbyterian-related boarding schools for the children of missionaries is expected to present its findings to the General Assembly Mission Council tomorrow (Oct. 8).

Members named to the General Assembly Commission on Middle Governing Bodies

Office of the General Assembly Communications

LOUISVILLE — Cynthia Bolbach, moderator of the 219th General Assembly (2010) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Bruce Reyes-Chow, moderator of the 218th General Assembly (2008), have announced the membership of the General Assembly Commission on Middle Governing Bodies.

GAMC considers budget revisions for 2010-11

LOUISVILLE – The General Assembly Mission Council is considering some revisions to the budgets for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for 2011 and 2012. Compared to the deep budget cuts and layoffs the denomination endured last May, however, the changes are relatively small.

david m bailey succumbs to brain cancer

LOUISVILLE — david m bailey, a singer/songwriter who moved audiences as much with his story of personal courage in the face of terminal cancer as with his music, succumbed to Glioblastoma on Oct. 2 in hospice care near his home in Charlottesville, Va. He was 44.

A progressive myth

 “People in Biblical times had no concept of inborn, loving, mutual same-sex behavior,” we are told in today’s sexuality debate. Not so!..

Stewardship conference still planned for Arizona

A Presbyterian stewardship conference is still scheduled to be held in Phoenix, Ariz., in February despite the passage of a General Assembly resolution asking that Presbyterians not hold national meetings at hotels in states “where travel by immigrant Presbyterians or Presbyterians of color or Hispanic ancestry might subject them to harassment.”

Conservative Lutherans to form new church body

GROVE CITY, Ohio Disgruntled conservative Lutherans voted here on August 28 to form a new church denomination that they say will “uphold confessional principles” in response to a 2009 vote of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) to allow non-celibate gay and lesbian clergy, and to allow churches to bless same-sex relationships.

Religious groups object to federal hiring rules

WASHINGTON, D.C. (RNS) A coalition of mostly conservative religious organizations is urging Congress to amend a proposed bill that would bar them from making personnel decisions based on religion if they receive government funds to treat mental illness and substance abuse.

Spahr violated PC(USA) Constitution, Commission rules

The Permanent Judicial Commission of Redwoods Presbytery has ruled that Janie Adams Spahr, a minister who performed same-gender weddings in 2008 when such marriages were, for a brief time, legal in California, violated the constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Davidson College president to UNC

The president of Davidson College, Tom Ross, has been chosen succeed Erskine Bowles as president of the University of North Carolina system, beginning in January.

Western Wall partition opaque replacement

JERUSALEM (RNS) Jewish authorities at the Western Wall hope to replace the existing opaque partition that separates the men’s and women’s prayer areas with one that will enable female worshippers to see into the men's section but not vice-versa.

10/10/10/10,000

Story and photos by Jack Haberer, OUTLOOK editor

Believe it or not, Jericho — located at the lowest point on the earth and the world’s oldest continually inhabited city — will be exactly 10,000 years old on October 10, 2010.

Rethinking Church

October is Pastor Appreciation Month.  Appreciation of pastors requires a deepened understanding of the complex world of pastor-congregation dynamics. David True invites us into such explorations. Stephanie Lutz Allen, and Ed Koster dig further. May the understanding expand and the appreciation grow!

Pastors leading change

It was an awkward moment in the pastor’s effort to lead the congregation toward becoming a more missional culture.

The reasonable pastor standard

The relationship between a congregation and its pastor is very complex.

Pastor Appreciation

California

Dear Pastor Linda Gruel,

You have brought LIFE and LOVE to High Street Presbyterian Church, Oakland.

Parsons letter to Congress supports DREAM Act

Parsons letter to Congress supports DREAM Act

by Jerry L. Van Marter
, Presbyterian News Service

STATESVILLE, N.C. — Gradye Parsons, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly, has written a letter to members of the U.S. Congress urging them to pass the DREAM Act (S.729/H.R.1751).