LOUISVILLE — Twenty years ago, Brad Smith, a seminary intern at Spring Valley Church in Columbia, S.C., asked worshipers to bring donations of canned goods and money on Super Bowl Sunday to help feed the local hungry.
In 1944, global economic leaders gathered at Bretton Woods to plan the massive economic recovery that would be necessary after the destruction of World War II. Out of that meeting came such financial institutions as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
If the chief end of man [and woman] is to glorify God, then the central purpose of worship must be the same. While pursuing that purpose, would it be inappropriate for worshipers to enjoy God as well? Reformed worship proclaims God’s greatness. It also teaches participants to order their beliefs and behaviors in godly ways. It calls believers to gather in community and to scatter into mission. But enjoy God? Not in First Presbyterian Church!
A new research study has found distinct changes in the worship life of American congregations – including an increased reliance on technology and a growing informality in the way congregations worship.
After this year’s General Assembly, Lisa Larges, minister coordinator of That All May Freely Serve and Mieke Vandersall, coordinator of Presbyterian Welcome, realized that they shared an overwhelming desire: to bring change to the ongoing debate over homosexuality and ordination standards. “We need to change the tenor by giving people an opportunity to talk and listen to each other, one on one,” explains Paul Mowry of Presbyterian Welcome. “It’s easy to find out each other’s position on the issues,” Mowry continued. “But we wanted to help people find each other in true fellowship.”
Reprinted with permission from Presbyterians Today, 100 Witherspoon St., Louisville, Ky. 40202-1396. This article originally appeared in the December 2005 edition of PT. Subscription information is available at 1-800-558-1669.
During my theological education and early in my pastoral ministry, “multiculturalism” and “diversity within unity” were fashionable issues in seminaries and some church denominations. Then, some of the same church leaders and congregants who had made a public point to develop cross-cultural sensitivity among Christians turned their attention to developing “contemporary worship.”
There are three reasons for revising the language of G-6.0106b. First, the warrants adduced in the current version are flawed. Second, the requirement that an entire category of persons must take a vow of celibacy as a condition of living a Christian life (and thus qualified for leadership) denies a basic tenet of the Reformation heritage. Third, the ethical question regarding the morality of homosexuality cannot be decided merely by exegesis of the Bible.
This essay is adapted from a lecture presented at the 2008 Gathering of the Presbyterian Coalition, and adapted with permission from a workshop presentation at the Presbyterian Coalition Gathering, October, 2008, in Newport Beach, Calif. It was published in Theology Matters, Vol. 14, No. 5, Nov/Dec 2008. It is reprinted here with permission from each organization/publication.
In an age of “TMI” — “Too Much Information” — it is critical that all church communications acknowledge “brevity (as) the soul of wit.”
Hey You –
Close to real skin color David —
What slingshot will you use to fight our ailments?
Bethany R. Furkin, a recent honors graduate of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, has been named a reporter for the Presbyterian News Service. She begins work Feb. 2.
(ENI-ALC)--The founders of the Reborn in Christ Church (Renascer) have said they were dismayed and saddened by the deaths of nine people in one of the denomination's churches after a roof collapsed in Brazil’s largest city.
(ENI)--On the third day of an Israeli-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza, Palestinians were only beginning to realize the scope of their losses from a three-week Israeli onslaught, said the director of the Anglican Al Ahli Arab Hospital.
The media have been full of stories and commentaries on the water landing of a US Airways passenger jet that resulted in no fatalities, and few serious injuries. Often, almost too often, the outcome of this potential mass tragedy has been proclaimed to be a miracle. One commentator said that the happy ending was the result of a series of small miracles.
(ENI) -- Roman Catholic monks in Bosnia-Herzegovina have resumed production of a world-famous cheese after they were forced to stop by the Balkans war in the mid-1990s.
"Our numbers fell and we were forced to cut back — and in 1996, we stopped making it completely when the last brother who knew the recipe died," explained Zvonko Topic, one of two surviving Trappist monks at the Marija Zvijezda, or Mary Star, monastery near Banja Luka. "But we've now decided to bring it back to consumers here, and we'll be opening a small shop soon for tourists and visitors."
(ENI)--The All Africa Conference of Churches is calling for global prayers for Zimbabwe on January 25, while reiterating the crisis in the southern African country stems from dishonest leadership.
LOUISVILLE — An early morning fire in sub-zero weather destroyed historic Portland Avenue Church in western Louisville today (Jan. 16).
Two primary authors of “A Social Creed for the 21st Century” have sent an open letter to President-elect Obama advocating the social policies outlined in the creed.
LOUISVILLE — A hardy band of about 75 Presbyterian Center employees and others from around town braved near-zero temperatures today (Jan. 15) for a “Justice Walk” to commemorate the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
(ENI) — Churches and associated groups around the globe have mobilized to send aid and assistance to those affected by Israeli attacks on Gaza and to lobby their governments for a cease-fire in the tiny territory where 1.5 million Palestinians live.
(ENI)--The synod of a South African church that has breached membership lines once demarcated by color under apartheid, has been unable to endorse the singing of hymns during church services. It has postponed a decision until 2012 — almost 10 years after debate started on the matter.
(ENI)--US religious leaders have converged on Washington, D.C., calling on the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama to tackle a host of issues, including the need to overcome poverty in the United States.
(ENI) — President-elect Barack Obama has chosen to include Jewish and Islamic clergy as well as Christians of various stripes in his inauguration ceremonies.
(ENI)--Some Sudanese church leaders are warning of serious consequences if the International Criminal Court issues a war crime indictment against President Omar al-Bashir, while others are quietly backing his prosecution.
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