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Evangelism: Loving God and saying it out loud

NASHVILLE -- In mainline congregations doing a good job with evangelism, what's happening -- what's the secret to success?

Martha Grace Reese, a lawyer and Disciples of Christ minister, asked that question and set out to answer it in a four-year study funded by the Lilly Endowment. Through that project, she and her team conducted a statistical analysis of 150 mainline congregations that do well in reaching people with no church background.

And they interviewed more than 1,400 people and visited 50 congregations from seven mainline denominations, trying to discover what congregations successful at evangelism were doing and what was motivating them.

The results have just been published in a new book, Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism. And Reese shared some of what she learned at the National Presbyterian Evangelism Conference, a gathering of about 500 in Nashville Aug. 31-Sept. 3.

Wallis challenges Presbyterians to call for “justice conversion”

NASHVILLE -- The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has taken the right positions on social justice issues for years, Jim Wallis contends.

But that doesn't accomplish much, he says, if no one is listening.

Wallis is the editor-in-chief of Sojourners Magazine and an organizer of Call to Renewal, an interfaith advocacy group trying to bring people of faith together to work on issues such as poverty and the environment. Wallis travels the world speaking widely and provocatively, trying to change the political winds.

He wants to convince the politicians and the people with power that the grassroots is shifting -- that enough people care about things such as global warming or about children dying by the thousands each day because they don't have food or medicine that the politicians need to pay attention.

Wallis was the kick-off speaker at the National Presbyterian Evangelism Conference Aug. 31-Sept. 3 in Nashville -- part of a renewed emphasis the PC(USA) is trying to place on the importance of spreading the gospel. And he challenged Presbyterians, whose long suit historically has not been evangelism, to call for a "justice conversion," to overtly link religious faith and work on behalf of justice.

‘Claim ministry for your own,’ first-ever national conferees told

NASHVILLE -- Gradye Parsons, director of operations for the Office of the General Assembly, laid down the challenge from the very start of the first-ever National Elders Conference of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) August 29-31 with the theme "Elder as Spiritual Leader: Reclaiming the Call."

"We want to create a bunch of dangerous elders," Parsons said, elders "who know what the ministry of being an elder is about and want to claim that ministry for their own."

The 330 elders attending the conference faced a number of encouraging and challenging speakers on the facets of their ministry.       

Elders should be worship leaders, according to co-presenters Melva Costen and Rhashell Hunter. They thanked the elders in attendance for "saying yes" when pastors call on them to lead out in church ministries.

New ways to communicate with members

One of the major problems in modern congregations is discovering how to communicate effectively with members. If the pastor gives a sermon on Mother's Day, for example, about family life and ways for parents and children to grow together spiritually, chances are that many young parents will never hear it. They may be visiting their own families, attending the regional Junior High track meet or band festival, be at a picnic at the lake, or squeezing in time to get groceries and purchasing a new prom dress at the mall. On any given Sunday, it is unlikely that most churches will have more than 25 percent of the congregation in one place at one time.

One of the challenges for the modern church, therefore, is finding innovative ways to communicate outside of the Sunday service. In the case of Mother's Day a targeted mailing might be the answer. Instead of expecting parents to attend the service why not send the service to them? Acknowledging how busy they are, why not mail (or e-mail) a copy of the pastor's sermon on family life along with a reading list of recommended family devotional guides. Offer to give parents a free copy of the book they would like to use to foster discussion, prayer, and Scripture reading around their dinner table. Better yet, why not send them a DVD of the whole service or make a podcast available for downloading?

James Goodloe IV named executive director of Foundation for Reformed Theology

The Board of Directors of the Foundation for Reformed Theology has appointed James C. Goodloe IV to serve as its executive director, beginning November 1.  Based in Richmond, Va., where Goodloe resides, the Foundation provides funding, programming, and other resources "to renew the theology, ethos, social vision, and hope of the Reformed and Presbyterian community," their statement explains.

Response to grace should be gratitude, not pride, Nyomi says … WARC leader addresses GAC, governing body executives

LOUISVILLE -- God's assurances in 1 Peter that believers are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation" are dangerous words if they are misconstrued, World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) General Secretary Setri Nyomi told a gathering of General Assembly Council members and middle governing body executives here Sept. 17.

         In the dangerous world in which we find ourselves, claiming these words as proof that we are right and those who disagree with us are wrong can be very dangerous," Nyomi said. "Such a reading has too often led to hatred, violence and war."

Korean Presbyterians celebrate revival and release

It's the kind of news that shakes people to the core: 23 missionaries from a Presbyterian church in South Korea kidnapped by the Taliban along a highway in Afghanistan. The news of the abductions, the killings of two of the captives in July, and finally their release on the promise of no future Korean mission work in Afghanistan, have made the world increasingly aware of the role Korea plays in international evangelism.

2007-08 academic year opens for theological schools

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)-related seminaries and other affiliated theological schools report the following news reports as they begin a new academic year: 

Task force recommends continued publication of Presbyterians Today

A task force is recommending that Presbyterians Today, a magazine the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) publishes, be considered an "appropriate mission expense" and that it continue operation under the control of the General Assembly Council.
            The future of Presbyterians Today has been somewhat uncertain -- as it was on the list of possible budget cuts during a major downsizing of the denomination's national staff and programs in the spring of 2006.

Jane Spahr acquittal on same-sex wedding charges is overturned

(PNS) In a reversal of a lower church court ruling, the Rev. Jane Adams Spahr has been found guilty of violating the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage by performing weddings for two lesbian couples.

The Synod of the Pacific's Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) ruled 6-2 that while the "lesbian evangelist" and longtime Presbyterian minister "acted with conscience and conviction," her actions were still at odds with the church's constitution.

Presbyterian Coalition rises up to build

HOUSTON -- Do evangelicals look forward to a hopeful future for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)?  For the approximately 125 pastors and other leaders at the 10^th annual Gathering of Presbyterians, the opening addresses August 14 offered mixed messages, which is more positive than they have heard in years.

Like a student presenting her homework, the Coalition's executive director, Terry Schlossberg, launched the event by reciting to the attendees an outline of the tasks carried out to fulfill assignments last summer's attendees had urged upon the board.

First among the assignments was for the nearly two dozen renewal organizations to collaborate much more closely and even to consider merging.  A major meeting convened last fall brought the organizations together for the first of a series of meetings. Some of those organizations are planning to leave the denomination, others are committed to stay, and others are living with a high level of uncertainty. Given the different strategies and skill sets working within the organizations a merger is not anticipated, she reported, "but we were, nonetheless, unified." 

She enlarged that thought. "That was an important moment for us. We could see that the landscape had shifted and we realized that we needed each other more than ever."

FOG Task Force recommending replacing BOO chapters with new “statement”

LOUISVILLE -- While acknowledging that the first four chapters of the Book of Order are beloved by many in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Form of Government Task Force is recommending that the church replace those chapters with a new statement it has written called "The Foundations of Presbyterian Polity."

It could have gone a safer route, holding on to language in the church's constitution that in some quarters is already accepted and loved.

But "we do need to be bold," said task force co-moderator Sharon Davison, an elder from New York City. In what the task force is recommending, "we've basically turned the polity of the church on its head."

Upbeat Global Fellowship looks to build a positive future

HOUSTON -- The second annual conference of the Presbyterian Global Fellowship held here August 16-18 reverberated with a passion for mission and hope for a bright future for the church's work in that mission. "Even though the Church has gone off-course numerous times in history, it has gone through key course corrections that put it back on course," reminded opening speaker, David Peterson, who also served as host to the three-day event. The pastor of Memorial Drive Church in Houston told the 850 guests to his city, "I believe that the Presbyterian Church is going through a course correction in these days."

Striking many of the themes introduced at its 2006 inaugural conference, the PGF extended an invitation to the participants to join their efforts to support such a course correction. Unlike last year's conference, though, this conference did not harp against -- in fact, it seldom even mentioned -- the problems swirling around its own denomination.  Rather, it repeatedly lifted up an emerging, expanding vision for worldwide Christian endeavor.

Small offers suggestions –“gentle cautions” — to FOG Task Force

LOUISVILLE -- The work the Form of Government Task Force is doing to rewrite the constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is "critical" in the life of the denomination, Joseph Small told the task force.

"You are clearly not simply saying, `Let's take this big, thick book of regulations and make it into a leaner, meaner document that will free people up for faithfulness in mission,' " Small said. "You're doing that, but you're doing more than that. This is a chance that comes along not even once a generation ... to make some significant advances in the church's understanding of who and what it is."

But Small, director of Theology, Worship and Education Ministries for the PC(USA), had some gentle cautions to offer the group as well during its meeting in Louisville Aug. 16-18. His advice, he stressed, is based not just on personal opinion, but grows out of discussions among his staff regarding drafts of the task force's work that have been publicly posted on the Internet.