(PNS) LOUISVILLE -- This is a good year for Easter to come early!
The date of Easter this year, March 23, is the earliest it has been for almost 200 years. With all of the pain and suffering in the world, the conflict in our church, and the deep yearning for the good news that can only be answered by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, an early Easter is just what the world needs.
Thank God that Easter comes around every year.
Thank God that Good Friday comes around every year.
Thank God that Maundy Thursday comes around every year.
Thank God.
The liturgical cycle provokes Christians to remember and re-engage the defining events from Jesus' days on earth, which in turn invites us to remember and re-engage the transforming power of the gospel.
We need that liturgy cycle to overcome the effective efforts of a massive conspiracy against remembering.
Is torture always wrong, or are there situations that may make it necessary? And how might followers of Jesus best deal with this question?
For the past few years many Americans have been concerned about the use of techniques commonly understood to be torture, which the U. S. administration has defended as necessary to gain information from detainees. About sixty people came together at Columbia Theological Seminary, in Decatur, Ga., February 3-5, to seek ways of helping Presbyterians deal with this challenge.
Geneva -- (ENI) The general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Samuel Kobia, has announced that he will not seek a second term at the head of the world's biggest Christian grouping.
"Kobia made his intentions known today stating personal reasons for his decision not to seek a second term," the WCC announced on February 18 after almost nine hours of deliberations behind closed doors by its main governing body, the central committee.
"The central committee received this news with regret but accepts the decision of the general secretary," said the WCC moderator, the Rev. Walter Altmann, in a statement.
The WCC committee was to consider an extension to his current term, which ends December 31, 2008.
In 2003, Robert Jenson and Carl Braaten edited a little book entitled, In One Body Through the Cross, challenging churches in North America to discover their unity in Christ. In that book, Jenson and Braaten note that congregational life in the United States "often proceeds with little sense of contradiction between division from others and life as a realization of one church of Christ."1 We are no longer offended by denominational differences and indeed regard such variations as normal, i.e., as "the natural expression of a Christian marketplace with churches representing different options for a variety of spiritual tastes."
As one fascinated by the future and its possibilities, I find scenario planning -- creating stories of possible futures, and watching for signs as to how the future is unfolding -- to be a stimulating framework for observation. Peter Schwartz, in The Art of the Long View, and his consulting firm, GBN Global Business Network, popularized this planning technique that is used in for-profit as well as non-profit and governmental organizations. I like to think that my passion for scenario planning both honors and invokes the tradition of the Bible's visionaries and dreamers, whose own scenarios of what God's future would hold were awakened by the touch of the Spirit in their respective contexts and cultures.
Cleopas asks Jesus, Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? (v.18). But Cleopas himself appears to be uninformed about the transformation that took place among the multitude at the Cross.
The popular mind thinks that there was a murderous mob around the Cross crying, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" But such was not the case. The city of Jerusalem was and is relatively small with limited public space. Pilate's judgment hall could not have held more than a few dozen people. The High Priest and his supporters were naturally present for the political trial of Jesus. There is no hint that the supporters of Jesus were allowed into the room. On that occasion the High Priest's men (in the hall) responded to Pilate with the cry, "Crucify him." But on the street it was a different matter.
To worship is to be open to mystery,
The unexpected,
The soul before unknown,
The darkness of the light, and
The lightness of the dark
To receive what can only be given,
never taken, never controlled,
For good or ill.
Of course there was no fool like Henry VIII, and no fool's gold like desiring a male heir to the throne. He never did sire (a legitimate) one, but his daughter by Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth, reigned powerfully for 45 years.
Of course, Anne Boleyn was only legitimate because she insisted that Henry would have to divorce his Catholic wife, Katherine of Aragon, in order to have her. Just shunting Katherine off to a nunnery would not be enough, because then she would still be the Queen. And so Henry does the unthinkable: he divorces his Queen, permanently breaking relations with the Catholic Church, and thus establishing, by default, the Church of England. Protestantism, here, could hardly be deemed a theological Reformation. But, as we all know, that's not the end of the story.
If ministers have the fortitude to greet arriving and departing worshipers on Sunday, they will find themselves whipsawed between conflicting needs.
Longtime members want the pastor's attention and believe, quite justifiably, that they deserve it. Visitors, new members and those not yet incorporated into church life need the pastor's attention, too.
On a recent Sunday, I talked with a needy member at the front door and watched helplessly as a dozen newcomers left church without any connection. We didn't get their names or e-mail addresses, or say a word of welcome, or convey a desire to embrace.
If I had focused on the newcomers, of course, it would have been the member who left feeling ignored.
LOUISVILLE -- Former General Assembly Moderator Rick Ufford Chase and his wife, Kitty, have been named transitional co-directors of financially-troubled Stony Point Center, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)-owned conference center in New York.
They will share the full-time director's position beginning August 1, succeeding William Pindar, who recently resigned.
"Kitty and Rick are uniquely qualified to lead Stony Point Center into its vision for the future," said Gary Batty, president of the Stony Point governing board. "Not only do they have extensive backgrounds in peace and justice work that is deeply grounded in the practice of their faith, they also bring a passion for modeling an intentional community at Stony Point Center -- both strong components of the vision."
When do churches need a new hymnal -- not just new volumes, but new selections? Who decides how many hymns to include, which ones are "in" and which ones are "out"? Leslie Scanlon, Outlook national reporter, recently talked with David Eicher, the new hymnal editor for the Presbyterian Publishing Corp. to get more information on the new Presbyterian Hymnal now in the planning stages.
L.S.: Let's start with your background. Why don't you introduce yourself to the church a little bit?
D.E.: I've been involved in music in the Presbyterian Church for almost 30 years. My background was not Presbyterian; I was raised the son of a Church of the Brethren and grew up in a real hymn-singing tradition. My parents both sang. And my sister and I, when we got old enough -- the great excitement was when finally my voice changed and I could sing tenor, and then we had a soprano, alto, tenor and bass. The whole family would sing. One of our games in the car when we were traveling was to see how many stanzas of hymns we could sing through, without any books.
The idea seemed logical enough: find a third way. It was proposed initially in November 2000 by a gathering of presbytery executives. Like members of Congress, the executives speak into the life of the national church. Unlike the elected representatives, the executives spend 95% of their time back home, in one of 173 congressional districts, er uh, presbyteries.
Their primary task is to care for, keep connected with, and build up the local churches, pastors, officers, and members.
LOUISVILLE -- The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (GAPJC) has ruled that candidates for ordination must comply with the sexual behavior standards of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), even if they disagree in conscience with them.
The GAPJC, in a landmark ruling dated Feb. 11 on a case from Pittsburgh presbytery, declared that the authoritative interpretation that the General Assembly approved in 2006 does not permit exceptions to the requirement in the PC(USA)'s ordination standards, which say that candidates must practice fidelity if they are married or chastity if they are single.
The Constitutional Services section of the office of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.,) has issued an advisory on the recent rulings of the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Council on ordination standards. It states:
In 2006, the 217th General Assembly adopted an Authoritative Interpretation (AI) of G-6.01081 in the Book of Order that clarified the relative powers of the governing bodies within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). This AI was affirmed and clarified by the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (GAPJC) in February 2008 in the opinions found in three cases.2,3,4
LOUISVILLE -- In just two short months, the General Assembly Council will be asked to vote upon a proposed budget for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for the next two years. And one difficult decision the council will have to make at its meeting April 23-25 is how much to spend on international missionaries.
The bottom line: because the denomination does not have enough money, the number of mission co-workers serving the denomination overseas is dropping at what's been described as a "precipitous pace."
LOUISVILLE -- It's a season of reconfiguration for the General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) -- with new leadership and a new structure.
At its meeting in Louisville Feb. 13-15, the council approved a new "Mission Work Plan" that will guide its work for the next four years, although details of the PC(USA)'s budget for 2009 and 2010 won't be presented until the council meets again April 23-25.
The plan includes some broad commitments -- that the council will be collaborative, accountable, responsive, and excellent in its work.
As an advocate for overcoming disciple-making mediocrity by adapting the purpose-driven approach to ministry, I recognize that some leaders question whether this innovative strategy can indeed reflect non-negotiable Presbyterian beliefs and values. And some leaders wonder whether the Missional and Emerging Church movements have supplanted the purpose-driven approach as the best way to re-tool a congregation for life-changing ministry.
To some observers, the phrase "purpose-driven Presbyterian" is simply an oxymoron, since the concept was developed by Pastor Rick Warren at Saddleback Community Church, a Southern Baptist congregation! Yet the six Great Ends of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) i.e. (G-1.0200) mirror Warren's premise that Christ's church exists in order to cultivate worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and mission. (Two of the six "Great Ends" concern "mission," expressing our Reformed conviction that salvation is holistic, involving both the "proclamation of the Gospel" and the "promotion of social righteousness.")
It is clear that Jesus carefully planned the first part of the Triumphal Entry. He chose a village where he had friends. One of those friends was alerted to ready a colt and tie it in front of the house at a specified time. Its owner was waiting and watching. The disciples were told where to find the colt and both parties memorized passwords.
It is also clear that Jesus engaged in similar planning for the Last Supper. A man who could recognize the disciples was waiting with a water pot to lead them to a house where the owner had already offered his large, furnished upper room to Jesus. Those involved used passwords again. Meticulous planning clearly surfaces in both of these occasions during holy week. I would suggest a third: the Triumphal Entry itself.
Congregations should offer regular instruction on each spiritual discipline (prayer, study, fasting, service, giving, worship, confession, and silence), to show possible outlets for practice and examples from life.
In addition, congregations should offer opportunities to act, such as mission work and prayer vigils. Doing and learning need to go hand in hand. Otherwise, the doing loses its foundation, or the learning becomes sterile and precious.
The point isn't to promote a single way, but several ways that work together to promote spiritual well-being.Presbyterian Colleges and Seminaries Listed below are colleges and universities of various levels which are affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Click..
Cleopas asks Jesus, Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? (v.18). But Cleopas himself appears to be uninformed about the transformation that took place among the multitude at the Cross.
The popular mind thinks that there was a murderous mob around the Cross crying, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" But such was not the case. The city of Jerusalem was and is relatively small with limited public space. Pilate's judgment hall could not have held more than a few dozen people. The High Priest and his supporters were naturally present for the political trial of Jesus. There is no hint that the supporters of Jesus were allowed into the room. On that occasion the High Priest's men (in the hall) responded to Pilate with the cry, "Crucify him." But on the street it was a different matter.
LOUISVILLE -- Souper Bowl of Caring officials say Presbyterian churches collected more than $1 million in last month's annual anti-hunger campaign.
As of March 5, organizers say, 2,356 Presbyterian churches nationwide had raised $1,001,523 -- and collections haven't been fully reported. The total marks the second straight year that Presbyterian collections broke the $1 million mark.
So far some 14,654 organizations and congregations from a variety of U.S. religious denominations have reported collecting a record $9.5 million, according to Souper Bowl officials.
Was there a Weary Wednesday led into Maundy Thursday? A day when all that went before the palm branches and plotting, all..
Young Presbyterian women may be eligible for the National Network of Presbyterian College Women (NNPCW) Scholarship Fund program. The deadline for 2008 applications is April 11.
The NNPCW's scholarship program helps equip young women to be leaders in both church and society. Three scholarships are offered this year: one $1,000 scholarship for an NNPCW member active in empowering women on her campus and two $1,500 scholarships for new immigrant women pursuing a college education.
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