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Advent, Christmas and New Year books for reading, giving

Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany: Liturgies and Prayers for Public Worship, by Brian Wren. WJKP, 2008. Pb., 230 pp. $29.95.
Wren offers a great gift for worship planners and leaders in this collection of litanies and prayers, sung refrains, and orders for special services. Elements of worship are tied to the texts of the Revised Common Lectionary. Includes a CD-ROM of the book’s contents.  
 

Nativity scenes and beyond: The art of John Mack Walker

They began, like the Gospel story itself, with a nativity scene. John Mack Walker carved wood along the way the Gospel story went, through scenes and stories in the life of Christ, until finally there were sixty carvings

     Twenty-four of his beautiful woodcarvings are now the centerpiece of displays at the Presbyterian Heritage Center at Montreat, N.C.

Christmas – Mary’s Mercy Song

My son’s menacing mercy split followers—

cleaving them as a plow tears earth to hold seed—

foes too—as a hammer bursts rock to shard.

With his kind cunning he sliced shackles of

a friend’s grave-swaddling, then cut a broad swath

in holy courts, paring harsh pretenders.

Advent 4 – Joseph’s apology

I hold an advantage — like the young, I still knew

that in matters of love everything’s possible

and good assured.

Advent 3 – A garland

Now    attentive to Isaiah 61:1-4 & 8-11
To give … a garland.  … they shall repair the ruined cities

Advent 2 – At watch

At watch, when  …

‘a day’ can mean a thousand years

often leads to nine-hundred-and-some years

of false starts, promising beginnings

that prove only a beginning, no more.

“Symbolic gift” program lets Presbyterians support Peru artisans

LOUISVILLE — A fair trade organization with roots in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is introducing a “symbolic gift” line to bolster the businesses and livelihoods of Peruvian artisans — just in time for Christmas.

Presbyterian Writers Conference scheduled April 23-24

The Presbyterian Writers Guild and author Cecil Murphey are sponsoring a Presbyterian Writers Conference April 23-24, 2009, at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga.

The conference is aimed at helping writers produce marketable articles or books, develop a freelance career, and “impact the world with their words.” The faculty will include a publisher, a literary agent, freelance writers, a novelist, book authors, and a journalist.

BREAKING NEWS: Scott Anderson enrolled as minister candidate

DUBUQUE, Iowa – The John Knox Presbytery voted here Tuesday to enroll as a candidate for ministry an inquirer who declared a scruple to the denomination’s ordination standards.

Ga. Baptists reject church with woman pastor

(ABP) -- The Georgia Baptist Convention has decided to refuse gifts from a historic member church that last year called a woman as pastor.

Messengers to the Nov. 9-11 annual meeting approved a policy change authorizing convention leaders to decline funds from churches "not in cooperation and harmony with the approved work and purpose" of the convention.

Thanksgiving thoughts from PC(USA) stated clerk

LOUISVILLE — Maybe we should skip Thanksgiving this year.

After all, it has been a rough fall. Our investment crops have been devastated. Our long election campaign has left us an angry divide. We still have sons and daughters in harm’s way. The number of people who are homeless, sick, and hungry grows daily.

World Protestant grouping demands reform of global economy

GENEVA — (ENI) A global Protestant grouping representing 75 million Christians says a new global economic order that puts people first is urgently needed to help the poor, following a meeting of the G20 nations about the worldwide financial turmoil.

Nordic churches look to 60 years of Israel, Palestinian expulsion

(ENI) — Sixty years after the creation of the State of Israel and of the resulting expulsion of Palestinians from their homes, the (Lutheran) Church of Norway says that "the Church should see its responsibility in light of this, and care for Jews as well as Palestinians.”

Geneva exhibition shows Calvin approved of laughter and wine

GENEVA — (ENI) The 16th-century Reformation figure John Calvin is often portrayed as a stern Protestant but an exhibition in Geneva of selected passages from his writings shows a dimension of the reformer that many people do not know.

Jane Parker Huber dies at 82

LOUISVILLE — Jane Parker Huber, 82, renowned Presbyterian hymn writer and tireless advocate for women in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), died Nov. 16 in Hanover, Ind.

Zimbabwean Christians vow prayer offensive until crisis ends

Harare, 17 November (ENI)--Zimbabwean Christians have vowed to press on with
weekly prayer vigils "until something happens" after efforts at forming a
unity government to resolve the country's economic and political crisis
faltered.

Being God’s presence: Accompaniers help Colombia’s dispossessed

What does it mean for Christians to accompany those who are in need?

The Bible in the homosexuality debate

Editor’s note: This is the second installment of a three-part article. The first article, “Why do we Presbyterians continue to fight?” appeared in the Outlook issue of Nov. 10 (page 13). The third installment will appear in a later issue of the Outlook with the title, “How a focus on experience can further discussion.”

Churches now and in the future: A 21st century Babylonian exile

In a previous Outlook article, “Winded Thoroughbreds” (published Sept. 11, 2006), I wrote of a disturbing trend that emerged from our annual congregational statistics following the turn of the millennium. Many previously thriving churches began a serious downturn in membership and worship attendance, almost as if on cue. This article seeks to better understand the nature of this trend.

Doctrinal conformity: Not the hallmark of future Christianity

The recent survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life reveals that most Christians do not conform to church doctrine as once assumed. It noted that 70% of American Christians, including 56% of evangelicals and 83% of mainline Christians, agreed with the idea that many paths lead to eternal life. The secular media have more than welcomed this report and lifted it up as the latest insight into Christianity furthering an unwelcomed and unhelpful stereotype, among evangelicals most especially.

By the Numbers

After reading an article detailing how difficult it was for young people to find summer jobs I was reminded of just how instrumental my summer job of waiting tables was in preparing me for the pastorate. I gained humility from having to wear a hideous brown and green plaid shirt (this will happen when you look like a member of the Brady Bunch in the middle of the 90s).