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 W. Mauser, 81, the retired Otto A. Piper Professor of Biblical Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, of Trafford, Pa., died July 5.
“Kit Kittredge” hearkens back to an earlier time, the slow-paced days of the Depression, when little children played in tree houses, there was no television, and Momma had to take in boarders to make ends meet.
The initial reactions to the Authoritative Interpretation of G-6.0108 approved by the General Assembly in San Jose were dramatic. Some were rejoicing, others despairing, because they believed that the General Assembly, in approving the overture submitted by the John Knox Presbytery, had removed the impediment to the ordination of non-celibate gays and lesbians that had been declared by the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission in the case Bush v. Presbytery of Pittsburgh.
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).
Welcome to the ’tweener edition of The Presbyterian Outlook. We go to print too early to be able to report any news of the General Assembly (one exception: see p. 6). You receive the magazine about the time the Assembly is adjourning, so any pre-Assembly analysis we might offer is moot. Hence, we find ourselves caught in the middle — in between the times.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Editor’s Note: This sermon was preached recently at First Church in Dubuque, Iowa. The Scripture references include Psalm 146:1-7, Romans 13:1-7, and John 18:33-38a.
The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith and Politics in a Post-Religious Right America, by Jim Wallis. HarperOne, 2008. Hb., 352 pp. $25.95.
Before you read the first word of Jim Wallis’ transformative new book, you know something is different. Lined up like a political and theological renewal of the old television show The Odd Couple are names we know separately as representatives of vastly different worldviews.
As mainline congregations grapple with the “graying” of their ranks — average age pushing into the mid-60s — many recognize they need to serve “young adults” more effectively.
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.
LOUISVILLE — The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has joined a bipartisan group of some 200 religious leaders, former top government officials, and retired generals in calling on President George W. Bush to sign an executive order outlawing torture and cruel and inhuman treatment of detainees held in connection with the global war on terror.
SAN JOSE — The 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has urged the denomination’s Board of Pensions [www.pensions.org] to expand its medical coverage for children with congenital developmental disabilities to include occupational, speech, and physical authority.
The expanded benefits would apply to children with such maladies as Down’s syndrome and autism.
SAN JOSE — In a dangerous world, interfaith dialogue is even more important because “a fire next door will consume your own house,” a leading U.S. Muslim told the 218th General Assembly’s Ecumenical Breakfast June 26.
SAN JOSE — Youth groups in New Jersey, Indiana, and southern California have been chosen winners of the inaugural Youth Video Challenge sponsored by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Foundation on its social networking site, ymiLIVE.org [www.ymilive.org].
SAN JOSE — The 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) approved with amendments a resolution “On Calling for Tolerance and Peaceful Relations Between the Christian and Muslim Communities.” The vote was 547-149.
SAN JOSE — In two separate but related initiatives designed to address the persistent decline in Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) membership as well as the church’s commitment to grow in diversity, the 218th General Assembly wholeheartedly approved June 25 a Strategy for Church Growth for African American Congregations and a resolution to help Christ’s Church Grow Deep and Wide during the report of the Assembly Committee on Church Growth and Christian Education.
SAN JOSE — Equipping seminary students “to go out to equip others” is critical, the Rev. Sara Covin Juengst told a group of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) seminary leaders and others gathered for the Committee on Theological Education [www.pcusa.org/seminaries/cote.htm] (COTE) Breakfast on June 26.
SAN JOSE — Reclaiming the power of the gospel will greatly help with one of the most difficult challenges Presbyterians face— evangelism, according to the Rev. Eric Hoey, director of evangelism and church growth [www.pcusa.org/goodnews], who spoke at the evangelism breakfast June 26 at the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Commissioners and guests arriving at the PC(USA)‚s 218th General Assembly in San Jose, Calif., encountered John Calvin —— lots and lots of John Calvins.
SAN JOSE — When the 218th General Assembly voted to send out a proposed amendment to presbyteries to delete the “fidelity and chastity” ordination standard and replace it with a new version, a handful of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)‚s executive presbyters felt a need to gather for prayer.
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