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Isabel Wood Rogers: educator, church leader, author (1924-2007)

c. 2007 Religion News Service

Isabel Wood Rogers died March 18 at Westminster Canterbury, Richmond, at the age of 82, after a battle with cancer. "Dr. Izzie" as she was often called, left us a rich heritage.

She was born in Tallahassee, grew up and then took degrees at Florida State University, the University of Virginia (political science), the Presbyterian School of Christian Education (Richmond, Va.) and Duke University where she earned a Ph.D. in theology and ethics and was Phi Beta Kappa. After serving as Presbyterian chaplain and director of religious activities at Georgia College and State University she settled down as professor of applied Christianity at PSCE, now Union-PSCE in Richmond, for 37 years from 1961 to 1998.

She left us a heritage of insightful written works, focusing on her interests.

Izzie wrote a brief study entitled, In a Word: The Power of Language  in which she explores the "shaping power" of language, such as words the biblical authors used to describe God as a "decreeing, punishing, conquering" and also "delivering, "divine." She warned against idolatry of race, class, age, and even of ourselves as we use language that creates God in our own image.

Jill Hudson named PC(USA) governing body coordinator

(PNS) Jill M. Hudson, longtime executive presbyter for Whitewater Valley Presbytery in Indianapolis, Ind., has been named middle governing body relations coordinator for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), beginning in September.

Hudson will succeed Gary Torrens, also a former presbytery executive, who is retiring in November after eight years in the position.

The announcement was made by Cliff Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the General Assembly, and Linda Bryant Valentine, executive director of the General Assembly Council. The position is shared between the General Assembly Council and the Office of the General Assembly.

Ross chosen new president of Davidson

Davidson, N.C. -- The board of trustees of Davidson College today introduced their 17th president, Thomas W. Ross Sr., a 1972 graduate of the college. Ross has been serving as executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation in Winston-Salem, N.C.  He previously served for 17 years as a North Carolina superior court judge.

Ross will take the reins of the college on August 1. He succeeds Robert F. Vagt, who retires from the post after this academic year. Vagt served as president for 10 years. 

Brian Blount: New President of Union-PSCE

Richmond, Va.- March 30, 2007 - The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Blount, a New Testament professor from Princeton Theological Seminary, has been called by the Board of Trustees of Union Theological Seminary & Presbyterian School of Christian Education to serve as its next president.

Blount, 50, will succeed Louis B. Weeks who retires June 30, 2007. Blount will assume the presidency July 1.

A native of Smithfield, Va., Blount served as pastor of Carver Memorial Presbyterian Church in Newport News, Va., from 1982 to 1988. For the past 15 years, he has taught New Testament to students preparing for ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Donald A. Hostetter died April 8 in Ireland

Donald A. Hostetter, executive director emeritus of the Presbyterian Conference Association in Holmes, N.Y., died early on Easter Sunday morning in a hospital in Ireland.  He had been unconscious for a week following a collapse on an airplane returning from leading a tour to the Greek Islands.

20 minutes with Cliff Kirkpatrick – the complete interview

Outlook Editor Jack Haberer recently sat down with PC(USA) Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick to discuss some of the pressing issues in the church. This was originally published in three parts, but the entire article is presented online here with combined reader feedback.

JH: Some churches are talking about leaving the denomination. Why do you think they want to leave?

CK: In so many ways this season of church-leaving feels like where I came in to this some 40 to 45 years ago when my own church went to the PCA. The reasons are different but they are somewhat the same. They are obviously Christians--Presbyterians--who feel deeply, who have a passionate sense of dedication to the life of Jesus Christ and the inerrancy of the Word of God. 

What has upset them is not simply the report that was adopted at the Assembly, but that it was confirmation in their minds of what they long had perceived: that the larger church is not valuing their deeply-held Christian convictions. I also sense that they feel that they've been left out. One of the issues in the PUP report that you can critique is, I sense, that it did not deal as much with power as with the other subjects. Some people felt left out by that ... There's in some sense a loss of hope. Beyond that, there are organized groups that are trying to lead people out, and at times I think they share what's not always correct information. So it's the combination of those factors that are weighing on people's hearts that has them losing hope in the PC(USA) that I love and you love really being an expression of what God intends for the church. 

PC(USA) leaders debate better communicating with constituency

"Communication, communication, communication."

That's how Linda Valentine, executive director of the General Assembly Council, recently expressed what she sees as a top need of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

She frequently cites, for example, a Presbyterian Panel survey from May 2005 that revealed only 15 percent of Presbyterians in the pews considered themselves to be "generally informed" about the denomination's mission work.

It's become almost a mantra -- there's a disconnect between the national church and the grassroots, and that to build support (both financial and otherwise), the denomination needs to do a better job of "telling the story" of Presbyterians involved in mission.

Exactly what that means, however -- how to tell those stories most effectively, what technology and strategies to use in a financially-constricted environment -- is still being worked out. It's also not totally clear what impact those "good news" stories about the PC(USA) might have on the denomination's track record of unrelenting conflict.

Church-backed aid agencies want children to be civilians in Sudan

Nairobi, 19 April (ENI)--A consortium of international relief agencies, monitoring violations of the rights of children in areas of armed conflict, is calling for their protection in the west of Sudan, warning that their well-being is at a critical juncture.

'Children are very much affected given the displacement, uncertainty and numbers of armed militias that are involved in Darfur,' Karimi Kinoti, a regional representative of the British agency, Christian Aid, told Ecumenical News International at the launch of the group's latest report, Sudan's Children at Crossroads, An Urgent Need for Protection.

Presbyterian and other religious leaders mourn Virginia Tech

'Deepest sympathies and heartfelt prayers come from us at the Presbyterian Outlook and from all Presbyterians everywhere to the family and friends..

Denominational leaders wrestle with funding options

In the beginning, the Mission Funding Task Force of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) set out to develop a new funding system for the denomination.

But one of the most significant things the funding task force figured out was that it couldn't fix the PC(USA)'s financial problems -- they couldn't dream up some new configuration to make it all better. Conrad Rocha, a council member from New Mexico who leads the task force, said this is not a problem along the lines of "you have a roof that has a leak" -- something that can be repaired quickly -- but more like a chronic illness the denomination must learn to live with.

Another 20 minutes with Cliff Kirkpatrick

Outlook Editor Jack Haberer, recently sat down with PC(USA) Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick to discuss some of the pressing issues in the church. This is the second of a three-part account of the conversation, but the entire interview is now available at the following link:

Read the entire article with comments here

JH: Over the years you have attended lots of events of organizations around the church, particularly interest organizations of the left and right. Of late you seem to be attending a lot fewer of them and are sending staff in your place. Is there a message being conveyed in that? Or what would be the reason for that? 

CK: I don't know that I've been to that many (fewer). I was at the Coalition meeting in Atlanta along with the Presbyterian Global Fellowship. I met with the tall steeple pastors prior to the New Wineskins recently in Orlando. I guess I did miss the Covenant Network. There are several reasons for it.  Part of the reason is some family dynamics and part is my commitments to the World Alliance [of Reformed Churches].