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Council moves to create separate disaster assistance corporation

LOUISVILLE -- Acknowledging the need to adapt to new patterns of charitable giving in the United States, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s General Assembly Council voted in September to separately incorporate Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA).

A "very limited, related and dependent" PDA corporation will be able to accept employer matching funds for employee gifts, as well as government and foundation grants, many of which are currently not available to church agencies.

The incorporation would also give PDA higher visibility, as it would be included on published lists of non-profit charities that exclude church groups.

Islamic scholars seek ‘common ground’ with Christian leaders

Geneva, 11 October (ENI)--More than 130 Muslim scholars have said in a letter to Christian leaders, including Pope Benedict XVI and the head of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Samuel Kobia, that world peace depends on cooperation between Christianity and Islam.

         'Our common future is at stake. The very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake,' the 138 signatories state in the letter made public on 11 October.

         The letter is also addressed to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I and other Orthodox church leaders, as well as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and the leaders of world groupings of Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed Christians.

Peace still a distant dream in Darfur

Nyala, Sudan, 10 October (ENI)--The killing in late September of 10 peacekeepers from the African Union in Sudan's volatile western region of Darfur is the most dramatic and publicized example of a steady decline in security during the last six months, and one that threatens humanitarian efforts championed by a wide spectrum of international faith-based groups and coalitions.

Ufford-Chase to receive Dignitas Humana Award

Rick Ufford-Chase, executive director of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship and moderator of the 216^th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), is being awarded the 2007 Dignitas Humana Award by St. John's School of Theology-Seminary.

St. John's, in Collegeville, Minn., grants the award annually to recognize...  

How will you vote on proposed amendments to the Constitution?

Your presbytery will soon be voting on proposed amendments to the Constitution.  You face an important question: How WELL will your elders and ministers vote?  That is, how well will they understand what's being asked of them? Will they be well informed?

Kirkpatrick will not seek fourth term; Committee seeking nominee

Clifton Kirkpatrick -- tall, ecumenically-minded, a nimble public speaker, and sometime lightening rod for controversy -- has decided not to seek a fourth term as stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Kirkpatrick's term of service will be completed at the close of the General Assembly meeting in San Jose in June 2008. His departure leaves the field open for a new leader of the Office of the General Assembly -- the chief constitutional officer of the denomination and its representative in meeting with religious leaders from around the world.

Clifton Kirkpatrick’s statement:

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

It has been an incredible blessing to be able to serve as Stated Clerk of the General Assembly for now going on twelve years, and to serve in leadership in the General Assembly and its mission for over twenty-six years. I give thanks to God for you who have been my partners in this journey, for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and for this unique opportunity to share in the service of Christ through this great church. This has been the best job I have ever had and a wonderful way to live out my call to ministry.

Council, regional execs wrestle with the “between”

LOUISVILLE -- "We are between eras."

Or: "Are you willing to let Christ change your life?"

Those could be bumper stickers for the discussion Presbyterian leaders held Sept. 18-19 in Louisville, a joint gathering of presbytery and synod executives and members of the General Assembly Council.

These church leaders are looking for a way forward during a time of tremendous change -- changes in leadership in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), in technology, in the way Americans think about religion, in the way Christians in the U.S. relate to the rest of the world. The list could go on and on.

Sam Roberson, general presbyter of Charlotte Presbytery, was the guy who said "we are between eras" -- but he was just one person describing what's happening. Others suggested bumper stickers or text messages for the PC(USA) including "Presbyterian Church Finally Figures Out that God Really is In Charge."

Baskin leaves Outlook after reorganization

The Board of Directors of The Presbyterian Outlook Foundation meeting in Richmond, Va., September 6-7 voted to reorganize the staff and eliminate the position of publisher. Publisher Robert P. Baskin ended his service with the Outlook effective September 30 in order to pursue other business ventures.

Search begins for Stated Clerk nominee

LOUISVILLE -- The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s Stated Clerk Nomination Committee (SCNC), elected at the 217th General Assembly in 2006 in Birmingham, AL, is now accepting applications for the position of General Assembly stated clerk, the top ecclesiastical post in the 2.3-million-member denomination.

Next summer's 218th General Assembly in San Jose, CA, will elect the successor to the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, who announced last month that he will not seek a fourth three-year term.

Mission Conference: Balancing local resources with international priorities

LOUISVILLE -- There has been a lot of talk in recent days about the shift in mission work, with the center of gravity moving to the congregations and presbyteries.

And now there's beginning to be more discussion of what works and doesn't work so well when local people get involved in international mission work. How can the enthusiasm of so many Presbyterians for making a difference around the world be linked to tried-and-true strategies for working in partnership?

Will Browne, the former associate director of Worldwide Ministries for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), led a panel discussion on that, before more than 600 people at the World Mission '07 "Celebration of Grace" convocation, which met in Louisville Oct. 2-5.  Browne said Presbyterians from the U.S. "come to mission with a little bit of danger of hubris, danger of pride that we are people who have something to offer to the rest of the world. In some ways I think that is very true.

Mission leader: New directions needed for mission work

LOUISVILLE -- Hunter Farrell, the new director of World Mission for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), calls this a crossroads time for Presbyterians -- with the health and vitality of the denomination at stake.

"I believe we in the Presbyterian church are at a crossroads, a kairos moment, a time when we're going to have to choose which direction in which to go," said Hunter Farrell, director of World Mission for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Farrell was speaking to more than 600 people who gathered in Louisville Oct. 2-5 for the World Mission '07 "Celebration of Grace" convocation -- an effort by the denomination to jump-start enthusiasm for international mission and to build closer connections between the national staff and Presbyterians involved in world mission at the local level.

Conference commissions 48 itinerating missionaries to “light a fire”

         LOUISVILLE -- It was a moment of pure celebration: the commissioning, during an evening worship service, of 48 missionaries as they embark on a month of itinerating, telling Presbyterians in churches around the country of the impact that Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) international mission efforts are making.

         These missionaries -- who serve from Asia to Africa to South America -- teach in seminaries and heal the sick and work with church partners around the world to provide jobs and education and justice to the suffering.

         They were sent off for what's being called Mission Challenge '07, a month of "telling the story," sent off with blessing from a national gathering of Presbyterians who are dedicated to supporting mission around the world -- and to doing it right, in an atmosphere of partnership and mutual respect.

Opponents of US Episcopal Church’s direction, eye alternative

New York, 1 October (ENI)--A group of North American Episcopal (Anglican) bishops has joined in a partnership to usher in an 'Anglican union' they hope will serve as a formal ecclesiastical alternative to the US Episcopal Church.

General Assembly committee begins its search for a Stated Clerk Nominee

The Stated Clerk Nomination Committee (SCNC), elected at the 217^th General Assembly in Birmingham, AL, is now accepting applications for the position of Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).