GA: FOG process to continue; report scheduled for 2010
SAN JOSE – The 218th General Assembly sent a proposed revision of the denomination’s Form of Government back for more work – with a report to come back to the next General Assembly in 2010.
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West Virginia pastor dies in homicide June 19
(PNS) Mark McCalla, pastor at Highlawn Church in Huntington, W.V., died of a gunshot wound June 19 in a homicide.
GA: Stated Clerk releases 2007 PC(USA) statistics
SAN JOSE — The official 2007 statistics for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) were released June 20 by the Office of the General Assembly on the convening day of the 218th General Assembly.
GA: GA calls for balance and justice on Israel/Palestine, Iraq, and other international issues
SAN JOSE — “It is no accident that the Committee on Peacemaking and International Issues takes so much time,” said outgoing Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick.
GA: Assembly approves new social creed, the first in a century
SAN JOSE — By a 5-to-1 margin, the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on June 27 approved “A Social Creed for the 21st Century,” exactly 100 years after the “Social Creed” of 1908 spoke to the harshness of industrial life at the turn of the last century.
GA: New youth sexuality curriculum to be written
A Church Growth and Christian Education Committee recommendation to produce human development resources for adolescents was approved by the 218th General Assembly June 25 after deliberations that included passionate, personal arguments for and against the creation of what was expected to take form as a new curriculum.
GA: GA adopts new ecumenical top ten
SAN JOSE – The question of how Christians can witness to their faith in an interfaith world is never easy — and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is hoping to provide guidance in that through a new ecumenical policy statement.
GA: Byron Wade is 218th General Assembly vice moderator
SAN JOSE – The Rev. Byron Wade, pastor of the Davie Street Church of Raleigh, N.C., was confirmed as vice moderator of the 218th General Assembly on June 25. In his address before the Assembly, Wade demonstrated the hope and enthusiasm he has for the church of Jesus Christ. He answered the installation questions while the one who chose him for his new role, GA Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow, looked on.
A word to musicians and pastors
Church musicians walk a delicate line. Many are classically trained. Their tastes might be broad, but at some level, many believe that “serious music” is better than “popular music,” and it is their job to defend musical excellence.
GA: Foundation and GAC begin new courtship
SAN JOSE – They had to endure some scolding, but the General Assembly Council (GAC) and the Presbyterian Foundation seem to have found a path for resolving future disputes over the disbursement of funds — disagreements that, during the meeting of the 218th General Assembly, slid messily out into public view.
GA: Marj Carpenter was “born to be a reporter”
Near the end of her remarks at the Presbyterian Writers Guild (PWG) luncheon June 26, Marj Carpenter said, “I like to write so much that I feel sorry for people who never get to write.”
GA: Heidelberg to Belhar: Changes in the offing for Book of Confessions
SAN JOSE – Commissioners to the 218th General Assembly voted to begin a four-year process to retranslate parts or all of the Heidelberg Catechism. After defeating a minority report that would have left intact the translation that was added to the Book of Confessions in 1967, the commissioners approved the plan of retranslation by a vote of 436 to 280.
Lomax urges peacemaking conference to “unplug from the peripherals”
Using computer troubleshooting as a metaphor for spiritual “troubleshooting,”
PPC names management team; Riess new editor
LOUISVILLE — The Presbyterian Publishing Corporation (PPC), the official publisher for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has unveiled a new management team following the confirmation of Marc Lewis as president and publisher.
Presbyterian Peace Conference gets underway in California
“Sowing Mustard Seeds: Working for God’s Justice — Confronting Poverty” is the theme of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Conference that began Tuesday (July 15) in Orange, Calif. The conference, being held on the campus of Chapman University, concludes July 19.
“The Dark Knight”
The latest edition of “Batman” is slick, scary, and contains an outstanding performance from an actor since deceased.
Where do we go from here: Church Unbound, Days 4 & 5
So, 250 Presbyterians gathered at a beautiful mountain retreat – provided by co-sponsor, the Montreat Conference Center.
PC(USA) leaders send follow-up letter to the church
LOUISVILLE — The three top leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have sent a follow-up letter to the one they issued immediately after the recent 218th General Assembly, asking Presbyterians “to continue to celebrate with us good news of our General Assembly and of our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).”
Film reviews: “Hancock,” “The Love Guru,” and “Hellboy 2”
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days — and also afterward — when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown.” (Genesis 6:4)
Radical engagement with the other: Church Unbound day 3
Radical engagement with the other: Church Unbound day 3
Conversion of kidnapped Christian girls to Islam is legal, says Pakistan Court
Bangalore, India — (ENI) A Christian father in Pakistan is trying without success through the courts to gain custody of his two pre-teen daughters who were kidnapped and made to convert to Islam.
Lambeth Conference opening on discordant note for Anglicans
Canterbury, England — (ENI) When the first Lambeth Conference opened in 1867, only 76 of the Anglican Communion's 144 bishops accepted an invitation by the Archbishop of Canterbury to attend because of disagreement among them about the way the church was shaping-up in British colonies.
World church council to attend Saudi-backed interfaith conference
Geneva — (ENI) The World Council of Churches says it will send representatives to a 16-18 July international interfaith conference convened in Madrid by the Muslim World League following an initiative by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah.
North Carolina church: Lib McGregor Simmons leads rare staff of three women associate pastors
LOUISVILLE — Elizabeth “Lib” McGregor Simmons was installed June 1 as the first-ever permanent female pastor and head of staff at 171-year-old Davidson College Church [www.dcpc.org] in Davidson, N.C. In the process, she became one of only a handful of women across the country leading large Presbyterian churches with multiple clergy staffs.
Here comes the sun: Delaware congregation says rooftop array reflects care for God’s creation
LOUISVILLE — Tapping into a higher power, Limestone Church in Wilmington, Del., is installing a solar-electric generating system, which will make the congregation the state’s first church to draw its electricity from the sun.
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