Editor’s note: This essay was first runner-up in the 2008 Outlook Church-College Partnership Award open to graduating seniors invited to write on the topic, “How my education at a PC(USA)-related college has equipped me for significant service and leadership.” The writer received a $200 award. Information on the 2009 contest is available on page 14.
Colleges and universities related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) begin the new academic year with new faculty members, campus improvements, and program changes. Here are their reports:
Speaking of America’s church-related colleges and their tie with their founding churches, Fr. James Tunstead Burtchaell wrote a decade ago: “[T]here is usually some concern expressed today about how authentic or how enduring that tie really is; and often wistful concern is all that remains.”
As the recently elected Chair of the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities (APCU), I am pleased to tell you about the important work that the association is doing and to describe how having roots in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) shapes and is expressed at my own institution, Wilson College.
What does it mean to be a Presbyterian-related college or university these days? On the one hand, we are told that our increasingly secular age has reduced such links to tepid “values” affirmations (call that The Dying of the Light syndrome). On the other, we are reassured that college students widely affirm their spiritual interest and that colleges with strong faith connections are increasingly popular (the God in the Quad factor).
There were no voting booths in ancient Palestine. Yet prophets and popular movements did express their preferences, often at great risk. That risk intensified under the Romans. Sometimes today there seems to be almost as much discussion of St. Paul and empire in Biblical studies as there is about America and empire in political science.
As financial distress spreads from Wall Street to Main Street, ushering in a recession likely to be long, churches have two fundamental responsibilities.
LOUISVILLE — A volunteer worker with a Presbyterian-backed humanitarian aid group has filed an appeal after being found guilty of littering for leaving full water jugs in the Arizona desert for undocumented border crossers.
By a narrow margin, members of breakaway Kirk of the Hills Church in Tulsa, Okla., voted Oct. 19 to pay $1.75 million to Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery for the congregation’s land and buildings. They have until Nov. 15 to pay the presbytery.
(ENI) The United Reformed Church in Great Britain has condemned as "an offence against God" the assassination of Gayle Williams, a 34-year-old Christian aid worker in Kabul, and the chilling comments of those who said they killed her.
Editor’s note: This article was written by staff members of EKKLESIA, an independent, not-for-profit think tank that examines the role of religion in public life. Used by permission.
A woman working with a UK-registered Christian relief organization has been shot dead in Kabul by Taliban militants, who accused her of spreading Christianity among Afghans while assisting people with severe disabilities and training local aid workers.
(ENI) The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has issued a warning about the status of religious prisoners in Yemen, and cited the cases of Baha'is and Christians, who have been imprisoned for months without charge.
(ENI)--A Japanese Christian leader says he strongly opposes a U.S. nuclear powered aircraft carrier using the port of Yokosuka, south of Tokyo Bay, as a permanent base.
(ENI) The general secretary of the World Council of Churches, Samuel Kobia, has said the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, had told him that federal assistance would be provided to rebuild churches and Christian houses destroyed in violence against Christians in eastern Orissa state, and peace will be restored in the region.
The first question that has to be asked is “Why now?” Why release a biopic about a sitting president, right at the end of his second term, and just a couple of weeks before the election for his successor? The answer is obvious: This movie isn’t just about the perceived buffoonery of our 43rd President. It’s also about the whole dangerous collection of manipulators, cynics, lightweights, sycophants, and dim functionaries around him; a collection which, by implication, would still be sniffing the hallways of power were the impending election to proceed in a particular way. Ah, now we get it. This is Oliver Stone’s political statement, under the guise of a documentary-looking caricature study.
“Beverly Hills Chihuahua” is one of those cute little talking animals movies, featuring (the voice of) Drew Barrymore as the upscale, uppity Beverly Hills dog who winds up lost and alone in Mexico City. But she is saved despite herself, learns some self-reliance and some humility, and now we all like her a lot more, plus she has a better perspective, as well. Of course it’s a parable. But it’s sweet and kind-hearted, and the whole family can enjoy it, which in itself is rare enough.
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“Jim Edwards addresses crowd at Presbyterian Gathering XI”[/caption]Christians sensing they are almost aliens in their own cultures have a lot in common with the first century believers, according to Jim Edwards of Whitworth University, who taught a Bible study at the closing session of this year’s Presbyterian Coalition 11th Annual Gathering in Newport Beach, Calif., October 15.
It is ironic that he was chosen to speak on “Why Stay?” at the Presbyterian Coalition’s annual gathering in Newport Beach, Calif., Mark D. Roberts said today (Oct. 15). He isn’t tied to considerations like pension, employment, and medical plan. Some of the oft-cited reasons don’t fly with him.
But he is staying and he has his reasons.
Roberts, senior director and scholar in residence for Laity Lodge, began
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“Mark Roberts addresses attendees at The Gathering XI”[/caption]“How are we called to minister where we are, until God by his Spirit says move?” asked Paul Detterman, executive director of Presbyterians for Renewal, on day two (Oct. 14) of the Presbyterian Coalition’s 11th annual gathering. “I got the closest thing to an audible from God that said to me, ‘You are not going anywhere,’ and it was not fun,” admitted Detterman.
LOUISVILLE — Religious leaders around the world, including those in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), are asking their members to pray for the Christian community in Iraq and particularly the northern city of Mosul, where more than
two dozen Christians have been murdered in recent days by militant Sunnis.
(ENI) Continued violence in the Middle East makes it almost impossible for church workers there to preach peace and reconciliation, the president of the Middle East region of the World Association for Christian Communication, Riad Jarjour, has told a global gathering of Christian communicators in Cape Town, South Africa.
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Coalition Co-moderator Jerry Andrews converses with Gathering XI participant. OUTLOOK photo by Erin Dunigan [/caption]“Our team lost this Assembly. Badly. But the Coalition has already reloaded,” said Presbyterian Coalition Co-Moderator Jerry Andrews in his presentation, “The State of the Denomination,” at the 11th annual Presbyterian Coalition gathering Oct. 13 in Newport Beach, Calif.
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“Gathering participants confess sins in solemn assembly.”[/caption]“Surely we have no Gospel to proclaim, no mission, and no evangelism if we turn away from the standards that define the life of the believer,” Terry Schlossberg told the opening session of the Presbyterian Coalition October 13 in Newport Beach, Calif.
LOUISVILLE — A 22-year-old woman accused of leaving her newborn baby on the doorstep of a Presbyterian Church in Washington state was charged Oct. 10 with child abandonment.
A Presbyterian church leader looked at possible avenues for seeking health in his large Southern congregation and asked, “Where do we start?”
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