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Mission Presbytery says “no” to atheist; “not yet” to itself

After a heated two-hour debate, the Mission Presbytery voted June 9 to direct the St. Andrews Church in Austin, Tex., to remove self-professed atheist Robert Jensen from its active member rolls and to move him to their baptized member rolls. In a surprise move, near the end of the two-day meeting, the presbytery also voted to issue a 45-day stay of implementation.

To be moved to the rolls of baptized members would make Mr. Jensen, who is a professor of journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, equivalent to a child who has been baptized but has not made a profession of faith.

Two Presbyterian groups announce missionary-sending plans

In the wake of budget cuts at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), two Presbyterian groups have announced they will be sending their own missionaries overseas, probably starting this year.

Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship www.pff.net/ and The Outreach Foundation www.theoutreachfoundation.org/ issued a joint statement June 12 saying that "the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) faces a missionary sending crisis. The number of PC(USA) missionaries continues to shrink at a time when global partners are telling us that more are needed."

Linda Valentine nominated for GAC executive director position

Linda Bryant Valentine, a businesswoman and Presbyterian elder from Illinois, is being nominated to replace John Detterick as executive director of the General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Presbyterian Coalition, TTF discuss report ramifications

CHICAGO -- Folks were civil and respectful -- no one screamed and no one threw dishes. But a blunt exchange on May 10 between board members of the Presbyterian Coalition and five members of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) revealed some enduring differences of opinion about what the task force is trying to accomplish -- and about what it will mean for the church if the General Assembly approves the task force report in June.

Coalition leaders have been energetically critical of the task force report, as have others from the evangelical wing of the church.

The Covenant Network of Presbyterians, which wants the PC(USA) to ordain gays and lesbians, has been more positive. And on May 9 its board of directors released a statement https://www.covenantnetwork.org/news/time4hope.htm saying it won't offer advice to General Assembly commissioners on how to vote on the task force report, saying "we trust that the voice of the Holy Spirit may be heard more clearly if the voices of partisan advocacy are still."  

At this day-long gathering at a hotel in Chicago, a quarter of the 20 task force members took shots at answering a volley of questions from the Coalition -- about why they met so much in closed session, about whether the presbyteries should get to vote on what the task force is proposing, about whether they're in essence trying to "trump" the denomination's constitutional standards regarding the ordination of gays and lesbians.

Presbyterian Global Fellowship organized; mission focus

Saying that Presbyterians should turn their attention away from denominational struggles and back out towards the world, a group of more than a dozen congregations are announcing the creation of the Presbyterian Global Fellowship (https://www.presbyterianglobalfellowship.org).

While the exact shape of the endeavor is still being formulated, the new fellowship is intended to connect Presbyterian congregations in pursuing mission work and to encourage them to support the work they consider vital through designated, targeted giving.

Its organizers -- who have been praying and talking about this for the last several months -- include Michael Walker, executive director of Presbyterians for Renewal; D. Scott Weimer, senior pastor of North Avenue Presbyterian church in Atlanta; and Vic Pentz, senior pastor of Peachtree Presbyterian church, also in Atlanta.

Russell Nichols to retire as Hanover president

Hanover College President Russell Nichols will retire June 30, 2007, following his 20th year as president of Indiana's oldest four-year college, according to an announcement May 13.

Service honoring Bill Thompson held May 13; Sermon by Kirkpatrick

A memorial service for William Phelps "Bill" Thompson, former stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), was held May 13 in First Church, La Grange, Ill.

Current PC(USA) Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick paid tribute to his predecessor in a sermon "A Life Worthy of its Calling" based on the Bible passage Ephesians 4:1-7, 15-16.

True blue Cumberlanders

This summer (June 15-22, 2006) the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church will hold General Assemblies in Birmingham, Ala., at the same time. This planned event reminds us of a long history of our denominations. 

It all began with the organization of the first General Assembly of the PCUSA in 1787-88 and the adoption of the Westminster Confession and Catechisms as the doctrinal standards of the denomination with their decided predestinarian flavor, or so some believed. Presbyterians were moving westward and southward, into Kentucky territory with its forests in the western section of the Appalachian Mountains. The territory was very cumbersome for travel and building churches.

Ministry division heads, 72 other PC(USA) employees lose jobs in budget cutback; action is “a wake-up call” says Detterick

LOUISVILLE -- In what's being described as a "huge transition" in the way the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) does its work, the denomination is cutting $9.1 million from its budget -- which means 75 workers on the church's national staff have lost their jobs and the positions of 55 overseas missionaries are being eliminated. (link to list of names)

But John Detterick, executive director of the General Assembly Council, said the real story isn't only the numbers -- the deepest budget cut and most extensive reordering of the denomination's staff in nearly 15 years -- but the intent of a shrinking mainline denomination to reconfigure itself to be more responsive to Presbyterians at the local level.

"We are at a watershed," Detterick said during a news conference May 1 -- shifting from a denomination that tells congregations from on high which programs the PC(USA) will offer to one that supports the mission work being done by individual Presbyterians and congregations.

CCAM challenges church to face key issues at GA

The advisory board of the Cross Cultural Alliance of Ministries (CCAM) has challenged the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to focus on critical issues faced by the denomination at the 217th General Assembly this summer.

"We are leaders from the various racial ethnic caucuses, and speak for ourselves. While we have varying opinions about the final recommendations of  (PUP Task Force) report, we are of one mind that the issue of ordination standards must not monopolize the agenda and resources of the church. ... We need also to grapple with the matters that are at the heart of our decline," they said.

Gallup: Minorities in eight Muslim nations say 9-11 justified

(RNS) A Gallup poll of eight Muslim countries has found that only a small minority of their residents said the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were justified.

Between 5 percent and 18 percent of residents polled in those countries said the attacks were justified, Dalia Mogahed, executive director of Gallup's Muslim studies said May 2 at a forum that revealed some results of the Gallup Poll of the Muslim World.

The results were based on polling in Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan.