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Dear Presbytery Executive

I am aware of yet another situation in which the Presbytery of “Wherever You Are” ought to be thoroughly ashamed of itself. The presbytery is about to drop the ball again by failing to exercise its rightful, mandated disciplinary action on behalf of God’s Presbyterian people. The presbytery is going to lose another talented, dedicated, and capable pastor because the Committee on Ministry is about to cave yet another time to the interests of a few well-heeled adult babies who find that the Gospel their pastor preaches is not the Gospel they want to hear.

Display seeks to open eyes to war, peace

SAN JOSE, July 22 – The woman stood in the bright afternoon sun, her head bowed, tears streaking her face. A Presbyterian minister – who had never met her before, who was in town for General Assembly and happened to be walking by – opened his arms and pulled her into a comforting embrace. Before long, tears streaked his face too.

Changing the world depends on responding to God’s opportunities, Montreat youth told at closing keynote presentation

MONTREAT  — Brought jumping and shouting to their feet by a rendition of “Amazing Grace” sung to the tune of the Lynyrd Skynyrd rock anthem “Sweet Home Alabama.”

Vulnerability, openness to others key to growth, Montreat youth told

MONTREAT — Participants in week three of the 2008 Montreat Youth Conferences here have been talking the last couple days about the power of sin to break relationships between people and God and the ones they love.

Church Unbound, Day 2: Unbinding the chains

An unbound church must come to terms with its own chains. So said Christine Yoder, as she launched the first full day of the Church Unbound Conference in Montreat, N.C, on July 2.

Letter from GA Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow

July 9, 2008
 
Dear Friends,
 
I just got done reading a great post on prayer from Jan Edmiston, pastor in the DC area and her post, Praying for Enemies.
It got me thinking about the first two weeks* of my term as Moderator.

Church unbound, loosed against the dragon

“We on the board believe that the church is changing. We don’t know exactly where it’s going, but the Outlook Foundation wants to be supportive of the church as it goes through these changes.” With those words, board chair Stacy Johnson welcomed 250 conferees to the Church Unbound Conference held on July 1-5 in Montreat, N.C.  It was the first ever event of its kind.

Atlanta Presbyterians finds a faithful and energetic church in Iran

Iran has been cast in our country's media as our presumed enemy. Distressing images and angry rhetoric on our televisions can make it challenging to remember that the Iranian people are just like us, created in God’s image. It is about those people — and not the politics — that this article is written; hopefully, it will give you a few other images to call to mind the next time you think of Iran.

Young or old, Jesus can dispel doubt, Green tells Montreat youth gathering

MONTREAT — When friends would tell Bridgett Green about their dramatic conversion stories, she wondered.

Lazarus story a paradigm for Jesus’ redemption from sin, youth told

MONTREAT — When the writers of the Westminster Confession penned the words Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God, “they thought even kids could understand that,” Patrick Laney told week three of the 2008 Montreat Youth Conferences this morning (July 8).

Ulrich Mauser dies July 5; Funeral services Wednesday

Ulrich W. Mauser, 81, the retired Otto A. Piper Professor of Biblical Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, of Trafford, Pa., died July 5.

Montreat Youth Conference kicks off

MONTREAT — With whoops and hollers, waving arms and happy feet, more than 1,300 high schoolers from throughout the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) kicked off the Montreat Youth Conference here Sunday night (July 6).

Cliff Kirkpatrick recipient of E.T. Thompson Award

The board of directors of The Presbyterian Outlook has awarded its 2008 Ernest Trice Thompson Award for church leadership to Clifton Kirkpatrick, an ecumenical leader who has served as stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for the past 12 years. Editor Jack Haberer and immediate past president of the Outlook board, Richard Ray, presented the award at the Outlook’s June 21 banquet that marked the opening of the General Assembly in San Jose, Calif. 

Ecumenical group flounders as racism goes unaddressed

An ecumenical group of Christian denominations that was determined to address racism inside and outside the church is facing an uncertain future after two of its three historically black member-churches stopped attending its meetings.

Presbyterian churches display anti-torture banners; Effort coincides with ‘Torture Awareness Month’

LOUISVILLE — Southside Church in Tucson, Ariz., has erected a new sign in front of its rustic, southwestern-style, adobe building just like the one Nauraushaun Church has placed in front of its modern, red-brick edifice in Pearl River, N.Y.

Doing good, doing better: Short-term mission more than a trip

Transformative or tourism?

This is high season for short-term mission trips, with congregations all over the United States sending groups to paint and hammer, teach and worship, and fix teeth.

Los Ranchos, Kenyan presbyteries work together

About 15 years ago, Los Ranchos Presbytery in southern California and Limuru Presbytery in Kenya began a partnership journey together “with good intentions,” says Steven Toshio Yamaguchi, Los Ranchos’ executive presbyter.

Jorge Lara-Braud, pastor, theologian, fighter for the poor dies at 77

LOUISVILLE — Jorge Lara-Braud, 77, a Presbyterian lay pastor, theologian, and social activist who devoted his life to improving the lot of the marginalized and oppressed, died June 22 after a fall near his home in Austin, Texas.