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A look to the future of the FOG

Editor’s Note: This article is the second part of a two-part series. The first part appeared in the Outlook issue 190-31 (cover date September 22, 2008.)

A mind is a terrible thing not to change

Healthy, living things grow. Growing things change. That should include human minds. Just try telling that, however, to the men and women who are running for elected office in America. Many of them live in fear that someone will provide convincing evidence that they have actually changed their perspectives on an important subject during the past 20 years.

Pastor Appreciation

APPRECIATION TO MANY

Church Financial Campaign Service honors the ministry of the pastors and congregations with which we have had the privilege of working.  Thank you.

Peery named new president of Montreat Conference Center

Albert G. “Pete” Peery, pastor of First Church in Asheville, N.C., has been named 16th president of the Montreat (N.C.) Conference Center, a mission center of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He will assume responsibilities at the conference center on November 1.

… you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in, Isaiah 58:12.

Dear Pastor,
 
The devastation caused by Hurricane Ike in mid-September was massive – nearly on the scale of Katrina, but with a much broader path of destruction. Nearly 100,000 homes were destroyed and lives uprooted in the United States alone. Caribbean nations like Haiti and Cuba not only lost homes, but saw crops wiped out and infrastructure obliterated. The immediate and long-term recovery needs are immense. We need your help – and that of your congregation – to respond.

Portuguese peacemaker is poised to be first woman ordained by her church

LOUISVILLE — Though she has felt a call to Christian vocation since the age 15, Nini Castanheira has never considered herself a trailblazer in the Presbyterian Church of Portugal (PCP).

World Council of Churches honors former leader Philip Potter

LÜBECK, GERMANY — (ENI) The World Council of Churches has honored one of its former general secretaries, Philip Potter, who is a Methodist pastor from the West Indies and led the Geneva-based church grouping at a time when it took a high profile role in the struggle against apartheid and white minority regimes in southern

Renowned Presbyterian pastor/musician Isaiah Jones, 68, dies

LOUISVILLE — The Rev. Isaiah Jones Jr., who gave up a booming career in the music business to become a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) minister, died Sept. 21 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 68.

New hymnal committee members commissioned

(PNS) The ministry of the newly appointed 15-member Presbyterian Hymnal Committee was blessed with a worship service at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville on Sept. 23. More than 100 national staff members attended the event in the building’s chapel that featured speeches by church officials, music, a sermon, and Communion.

Electricity restored to Louisville Seminary campus after nine-day power outage

Late Sept. 22 electricity was restored to the campus of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary following a nine-day power outage that affected most of the City of Louisville and stretched across several states in the Ohio River Valley.

China rejects US report that says it infringes religious liberty

(ENI) The Chinese government has rejected criticisms in a U.S. State Department report that repression of religious freedom has intensified in some areas of the world's most populous country.

Church leaders respond to Hurricane Ike

LOUISVILLE — Three top leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have sent a letter to all of the denomination’s congregations asking them to pray for those affected by Hurricane Ike.
 
The full text of the letter, dated Sept. 19 and signed by Bruce Reyes-Chow, moderator of the 218th General Assembly; Gradye Parsons, stated clerk of the General Assembly and Linda Bryant Valentine, executive director of the General Assembly Council: 

Hurricanes, Haiti, and a missionary’s passion to hold hunger at bay

PAPAY, Haiti — Mark Hare lives with his wife Jenny, in the central plateau of Haiti, in the tiny village of Papay. In environmentally devastated Haiti, Papay boasts a sparkling waterfall, multitudes of mango trees, and farmers who love the land and their livestock. Life is basic. 

Autumn in Utah: Presbyterian meetings line up to focus on upcoming initiatives

The last stretch of September will be like some dance marathon of Presbyterianism — with a series of groups meeting back-to-back at Snowbird resort outside Salt Lake City. Executive presbyters, stated clerks, polity gurus, the General Assembly Mission Council and middle-governing body representatives — all gathered to talk in different configurations about the future of the Presbyterian church.

Washington Office mission study announced

LOUISVILLE — (PNS) A wide ranging mission study designed to enable the larger church to review the scope and function of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Washington Office was announced September 2 by Tom Taylor, General Assembly Council deputy executive director for mission.

The Lambeth Conference 2008: A personal reflection

The Lambeth Conference, which takes place once in every ten years, is big. Every Anglican bishop and bishop in communion are invited. Around 600 bishops came, most with their spouses, for whom there was a separate conference chaired by Jane Williams, wife of Archbishop Rowan Williams. Approximately 200 bishops absented themselves, largely in objection to the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, a practicing homosexual.

The Dangers of the Unconverted Seminary1, Part II

Editor’s Note: This article is the second part of a two-part series. The first part appeared in the Outlook issue 190-30 (cover date September 15, 2008.)

FOG’s fatal flaw?

In many ways, I believe the new Form of Government is moving in the right direction. If it has a fatal flaw, it is in focusing on some matters and not on others. It toys with recurrent issues such as should an interim or an associate be allowed to become the next pastor but ignores the fact that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has an expensive and crumbling infrastructure.

A look to the future of the FOG

The 218th General Assembly has referred to the presbyteries and sessions for study and comment a proposed comprehensive revision of our Form of Government. As a member of the task force that prepared the document, let me share some background and encouragement for that study.

Reflecting on the editor’s reflections

The Presbyterian Outlook Editor Jack Haberer’s recent series of three cogent, thought-provoking essays reflecting on the ordination standards controversy offers an excellent framework for constructive dialogue among Presbyterians with disparate perceptions of the issues and how they might be resolved. Particularly noteworthy was his typology that separates us into three groups rather than the usual two: conservative-evangelicals, liberal-progressives, and centrist-ecclesiasts.