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Bethlehem 2006: Would Jesus approve?

"And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel." (Matthew 2:6).

 

Nestled on a hillside in the Judean mountain range, Bethlehem looks like many other Middle-Eastern towns -- the business district fairly cramped, with windy poorly tarred roads, the outlying areas a mix of farmhouses and villas built into steep, craggy hillsides.

But of course, Bethlehem is different from all the others.

While there is no longer a stable, or any ancient hint that this was Jesus' birthplace, it is to this small town that thousands make their way every year, especially in December. Most Christians drive into the town in buses, with their tour guides pointing out the key locations before making their pilgrimage to the Church of the Nativity, which tradition holds was constructed on the spot where Mary gave birth.

Voices

The real Bethlehem

Recently I visited New Orleans for the first time. I had traveled to Gulfport, Mississippi for a church mission trip to help the Presbytery of Mississippi in Katrina rebuilding. 

I arrived a day ahead of the team and decided to take the opportunity to visit the Big Easy. Not knowing where to go, I looked for familiar street names.  I found my way to Canal Street, and then onto Bourbon Street, and into the French Quarter. As I drove through the French Quarter, looking at the homes and the architecture, I had the distinct feeling that I had been there before. Something about the place just seemed very familiar. I couldn't quite place what it was.

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Mission in transition

LOUISVILLE -- Will Browne described these days as being "a weird twilight zone" for those involved in the mission work of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

The denomination is reorganizing -- basically reconfiguring the house top-to-bottom. Some top staff members have left, some new leaders are coming aboard.

Groups outside the denomination's structure are jumping in to international mission in fresh and energetic ways -- for example, by using the Internet to link evangelistic partners around the world. A newly-created alliance between Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship and the Outreach Foundation intends to start sending its own missionaries by the summer of 2007. The Presbyterian Global Fellowship will hold its second national gathering Aug. 16-18 in Houston.

And Browne said the denomination's staff has "probably been guilty of defining mission in too small a circle" -- in trying to control too much, and not understanding clearly enough how significantly the grassroots church is involved in international mission work.

Editorials

A sailor’s Retrospective

What an exciting, uplifting, heartbreaking, feisty year it has been! Is it appropriate to diagnose the PC(USA)-in-2006 as the year of denominational-manic-depressive disorder? I can certainly assess it to have been--for this editor--the year of unsmooth sailing. 

Just one year ago, this pastor stepped outside the pulpit to enter the world of writing and editing. He felt overwhelmed by the trust placed in him by the board of directors that knew that their Presbyterian Outlook had long provided the denomination a ballast for stability, a rudder for setting direction, and a set of sails to promote forward movement. He also felt terribly perplexed--and admitted so--that his writer-editor duties were overlapping his tenure as member of a controversial task force.   

Voices

Presbyterian mission in a flat world, part 2

Editor's Note: This is the second article in a three-part series presented at the New Wilmington Missionary Conference in July 2006.

 

Last issue we started to look at how Thomas Friendman's "flat world" might have implications for our new patterns of missional involvement. Let me describe four of the ten "flatteners" that have changed our world and should change our missiology. 

1. 11/9/89: "The New Age of Creativity: When the walls came down and the windows went up." The Berlin wall fell on 11/9. Friedman says, "I realized that the ordinary men and women of East Germany peacefully and persistently had taken matters into their own hands. This was 'their revolution'" (p. 51). "It tipped the balance of power across the world toward those advocating democratic, consensual, free-market-oriented governance, and away from those advocating authoritarian rule with centrally planned economies." This meant greater freedom, more contact across borders, and it paved the way for common standards.  It must be repeated because as Americans we seldom appreciate the transformation that 11/9 began. Openness, freedom and more democratic possibilities were created first in eastern Europe and then in all of the former Soviet countries, then in China and now in Vietnam, Laos and other countries.

Voices

Some things to throw away!

Ephesians 4:22, 23- Throw away your former way of living ... and put on the new person.

 

I read that in a certain Italian village on New Year's Eve that they don't dress up or go to festive parties. Rather as midnight nears, the street traffic disappears, the pedestrians go home, and the police take cover because they know what is about to happen. At the stroke of midnight, the windows of every village house open and with reckless abandon the citizens begin throwing away worn-out furniture, chipped glasses, cracked dishes, old clothes, old pots and pans, old shoes, and pictures of old boyfriends and girlfriends. All of those things that the people do not want to haul with them into the New Year go thrown out their windows onto the street below. There are times in our lives when we need to throw away some things. As New Year's Day approaches, I plan to throw away two things in hopes of a 'God-blessed year.'

Voices

Theologizing on planting trees in Afghanistan

And out of the ground Yahweh God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9.)

 

As in all lands of the world, God made every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food to grow in Afghanistan. Among these trees God also planted the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 

Many streams of religious spirituality have flowed into this land, yet the fruit of the tree of life has generally been denied to its people. The policies and actions of its kings, warlords, and tribal chieftains who manipulated the power of the knowledge of good and evil for their own advantage reduced the quality and quantity of the life of the people they governed. 

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What exit polls say about faith and the November elections

In the recent mid-term elections, moral issues such as the war in Iraq and concern over poverty and torture played a significant role -- more so than "wedge" issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage, according to a new exit poll released Nov. 15.

The exit poll was commissioned by Faith in Public Life https://www.faithinpubliclife.org/ and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, https://thecatholicalliance.org/new/ both groups working to mobilize voters concerned about religious issues.

"Americans voted their values in this election," said Katie Barge, communications director for Faith in Public Life.

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What can your denomination do for you?

LOUISVILLE -- In a denomination that is losing members and cutting budgets, what does it mean to be a "connectional church?" Why does being part of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) matter?

For Carolyn Crawford, congregational life pastor at Bel Air Church in Los Angeles, that's sometimes hard to answer. Hers is a fast-growing congregation -- with about 100 folks showing up for new-member classes four times a year.

"I can count it on one hand, if that," the number of people who say they've come to Bel Air specifically because it's Presbyterian, Crawford said at the national Moderator's Conference Nov. 17.

"What would you tell me to tell those new members, or people in the pews" about why being Presbyterian matters, she asked.

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Southern California Pastor Tom Taylor tapped to lead PC(USA) mission programs

LOUISVILLE -- The Rev. Tom Taylor, a Southern California pastor, touted by colleagues as a bridge-builder in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has been named deputy executive director for mission by General Assembly Council (GAC) Executive Director Linda Valentine.

His appointment needed confirmation by the GAC's executive committee at its meeting Dec. 7; his expected date to begin work was Jan. 8.

Taylor, currently pastor of the 1,400-member Glenkirk Church in Glendora, Calif., will oversee all of the GAC's mission activities including supervision of six program directors who were to be named after Taylor to manage the council's six restructured program areas.

Outlook Features

Canons of convenience: Churches face choices for worship on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day

 

Last year, some megachurches got tongues flapping fast when they decided to cancel worship services on Christmas Day -- which happened to be Sunday morning.

This year, churches face another Christmas "what to do" decision, because Dec. 24 lands on a Sunday. So congregations big and small must decide whether to offer both Sunday morning worship and a full lineup of Christmas Eve services -- or whether that's just too much.

Some people want a traditional late-night Christmas Eve service, with a choir and communion and candlelight.

Editorials

All I Want

 

We say that the spirit of Christmas is the spirit of giving. That's all well and good--noble, to be sure! But the children know otherwise. It's about receiving. Christmas is all about making your list, checking it twice, and looking to see if Santa is naughty or nice.

The Christian story of Christmas is all about receiving. The holiday proclaims the good news that God has given the gift of Immanuel, the incarnate Son of God, who has come to be our Savior. What's more, in his teaching ministry, that Savior kept offering us additional gifts. He even pleaded with his followers to ask, to seek, and to knock, promising that they would receive, find, and discover doors open to them.

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Mixing faith and politics

Isaiah 9:2-7; Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)

 

We know how the story goes: Unmarried pregnant teenager; no room at the inn; baby born in a manger; Emmanuel, God-with-us. It's so familiar -- prompting one little boy to ask his pastor with that blunt, no-holds-barred, child-like honesty: "Do we have to hear that same story again?"

Over-familiarity is challenging for preachers, too, an occupational hazard for those whose job is to listen to ancient texts and proclaim a fresh message from God. It takes commitment. But it also takes courage. Presbyterian pastor James Lowry warns: "Any preacher who can sleep soundly on Saturday nights. ... Any preacher who has no form of gastrointestinal distress on Sunday mornings" -- or on Christmas Eve! -- "has not dealt with the texts ... and is not to be heeded."  

Book Reviews

The Leaven of Laughter for Advent and Christmas

 

In the darkness of Christmas morn

 

by James E. Atwood. Victoria, B.C., Canada: Trafford. ISBN 1-4251-0004-X. Pb., 120 pp., $13.95.

 

Last summer, my brother gave me a book of church humor filled with lame stories every pastor has heard before: the children's sermon that involves describing a small animal ("It sounds like a squirrel, but I know you're going to tell us it's Jesus."); the man stranded on his roof during a flood who waved away the life boat and the helicopter believing "God would save him" only to be chastised at heaven's gate for refusing God's practical assistance.

You know the kinds of stories I'm talking about. Corny, schmaltzy stories with shaky theology and dated metaphors. This is not that book.

Voices

How are visitors greeted in your congregation on Christmas Eve?

 

The answer to this question will vary in Presbyterian churches, and the way in which we respond reflects our most fundamental attitude toward outreach and evangelism. Almost every congregation desires church growth and sets it as a primary long-range goal, but sometimes our behavior prevents the very thing we say we seek.

I have a vivid memory from a Christmas Eve service when I was a boy in my home church. The pastor welcomed the congregation with words something like, "I want to wish many of you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, a joyous Easter, a pleasant Fourth of July, and a Happy Thanksgiving because I know that I will not be seeing most of you for another year!" Maybe, in Daniel Powter's words, he "had a bad day." However, even as a child I knew this attitude was unfeeling and insensitive, and as a pastor I have never even thought, much less said, such a thing during any service I have led.

Voices

Cop cars and coffee: Being a police chaplain

Wahoo-oo! Barreling through the streets of Pasadena, lights flashing, sirens blaring, the cop driving the patrol car at full alert, radio crackling. Oh, it's go-o-ood! Hey, that's police chaplaincy.

We-e-ell, sometimes. Every now and then. Maybe. Kinda.

Police chaplaincy can be exciting, true. It can also be boring, dirty, disgusting, sometimes even dangerous.

Voices

Presbyterian mission in a flat world

History is not the story of those who "sense" there is a problem. We all sense that there are problems in governments, societies, and churches. Everyone knows it and everyone complains about it. History is marked by those who have the clarity to see when it is time to act, those who understand why we must act, and those who can then communicate how to act.

Very few Presbyterians are pleased with our denomination's involvement in global mission at present. Very few people are pleased to know that at one time we had more than 2,000 full-time missionaries serving in the world (1959) and now we have fewer than 240. This is not a matter of theology or ideology. This is a general frustration with the present missional and cultural context in which we find our churches and ourselves. The world's needs and the Gospel imperative both point to the obligation to move forward with greater innovation, participation, and creativity. This is not the time for a single prophetic leader to come forward and say, "This is the way." This is the time when all men and women of goodwill, committed to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, hold hands and say, "Come, let's all move forward together. Step in the river and let's go to the promised land of mission."

Movie Reviews

Déjà Vu

'Déjà Vu':  The problem with time-travel movies is that the logic always breaks down somewhere.  So it is here.  We want to root for Denzel Washington, the likable detective, and his impossible romance with Paula Patton, the once-and-future victim, but the time-warp theory gets, well, warped.

'The Pursuit Of Happyness':  We've also seen the Dad-struggles-to-raise-his-son-by-himself movie.  Because this one is based on a true story, and because Will Smith is playing the primary character with his real-life son, Jaden, this one has a very authentic feel to it.  But the screenplay is a slow spiral downward for two hours, followed by a few moments of triumphalism at the end.  Yes, we get to walk out relieved, but most of the experience is, well, not one of 'happyness.'

Movie Reviews

‘Apocalypto’ & ‘Breaking and Entering’

One is set in modern-day England, the other among the ancient Mayans, just prior to the time the Spaniards arrived.  Both are about 'nice' people who encounter outlaws.  In both, the characters' ordeal is such that nothing will be the same for them afterwards.  In both, a startling revelation alters the whole paradigm.  In both, at the end, the main characters are desperately clinging to a love fiercely tested.

Movie Reviews

The Good German

What was it like in Berlin, in the summer of 1945?  In "The Good German," we get a surreal glimpse, and the picture isn't pretty.

There's rubble everywhere.  Bombed-out buildings are part of the landscape, as are the gaunt faces, the food lines, and the palpable smell of despair.  The Allies have already partitioned the defeated city, and the rifts between them are already swelling to the surface, even as the Potsdam Conference decides how the victors will divide the spoils.

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Covenant Network celebrates women’s ordination strides, looks to further challenges

COLUMBUS -- It's been 50 years since Life magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstadt showed up for Margaret Towner's ordination service in Syracuse, N.Y.

Her mother borrowed a pastor's robe and some women hemmed it up so she wouldn't trip over it.

Earlier, some of the male pastors from Cayuga-Syracuse presbytery, believing that it was time for the Presbyterian church to finally ordain a woman, had taken some of their skeptical colleagues out to play golf. They let the skeptics win. Then they started talking about the possibility of ordaining Towner.

She was ordained on October 24, 1956 -- to her amazement, the first woman to become a minister in the Presbyterian church.

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Living in a new place: Covenant Network discusses post-GA PC(USA)

COLUMBUS -- Joan Gray, a dedicated gardener and the moderator of the 217th General Assembly, calls this an "out of season time for the Presbyterian church."

It's not a definite time for sowing, for pruning, for reaping the fruit. It's an "out-of-season season," Gray said -- a time of uncertainty.

And the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, which drew about 350 people to its recent national meeting, reflected that uncertainty -- much of it centering around how the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) should respond to the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the PC(USA).

Here's the short version. Many evangelicals in the church are churned up about the task force report -- talking about withholding funds, making lists of essential tenets, possibly leaving the denomination. The task force report emphasizes that decisions about ordination are made at the local level -- and conservatives are pushing measures in many presbyteries to make it clear that sexually active gays and lesbians won't be ordained, at least not there.

Progressives, on the other hand, tend to be happier with the task force report -- but not with the PC(USA)'s constitution, which limits ordination to those who practice fidelity if they're married or chastity if they're single.

So how hard do they push to try to change the constitution?

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