Latest Posts

BOP reviewing policies on reserves, governance

In an effort to maintain members' trust and sustain its reputation, the Board of Pensions (BOP) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is reviewing several of its guidelines and policies.

The self-review takes in everything from the pension plan's contingency reserve to how it recruits and trains prospective members and governs itself. "Every few years, we undertake significant review, especially of the valuation methodology for the pension plan and the death and disability plan," said Robert W. Maggs Jr., the board's president and CEO. "We are trustees ... for over $6.5 billion dollars, and over 56,000 people count on us for their benefits or financial assistance. We can't risk reputational harm because of non-compliance or a bad governance process."

With that in mind, the 32-member board of Presbyterian clergy and lay members from throughout the United States is at both ends of the microscope.

PC(USA) mission goals explored at GAC meeting

For the first time, the General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is meeting in the spring -- and the next General Assembly isn't roaring directly outside the door, demanding to be let in.

So these denominational leaders are using the time, that extra little bit of breathing room, to think big-picture, to talk about how some of the strategic initiatives it's set in play -- efforts to look comprehensively at denominational funding and governance, for example -- are working out.

Charles Townes wins 2005 Templeton Prize

Charles Townes, the Nobel laureate whose inventions include the maser and laser and who has spent decades as a leading advocate for the convergence of science and religion, has won the 2005 Templeton Prize. The prize, valued at more than $1.5 million, was announced March 9 at a news conference at the Church Center for the United Nations in New York.

Easter congregations: New beginnings, new hope

Resurrection, when you think about it, can be very specific: one man, one cross, one life sacrificed for others.

But the Easter celebration also is a story across all time, a story of rebirth and new beginnings and hope.

Some Presbyterian congregations have their own Easter stories to tell. Some are of brand-new life, some of exciting new combinations, some of coaxing fresh growth out of old roots. In each case, these are Christians willing to do what Jesus did at Easter: to listen faithfully for God's voice, and to follow.

“Monologue of the Religious Right” over, Jim Wallis tells LPTS

LOUISVILLE -- Jim Wallis, the editor-in-chief of Sojourners Magazine, is a man who once was arrested in the Capitol rotunda, in front of eighth graders studying civics, while demonstrating against tax cuts for the rich. He describes himself as "a 19^th century evangelist born in the wrong century."

Because Wallis is the kind of evangelical Christian who stands in the streets and speaks up for what he thinks is right, who thinks religion should always inform politics, who resonates in his bones with those 19^th century Christians who fought for the abolition of slavery and for women's right to vote and for child labor laws.

He's in the midst of a book tour for the just-published and best-selling "God's Politics: Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It."

Torrance inaugurated as PTS president

Iain R. Torrance, a former moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, a scholar and writer with a deep interest in ecumenical concerns, was inaugurated and installed on March 11 as the sixth president of Princeton Theological Seminary.

In structuring his inauguration, Torrance clearly paid attention to today's ecumenical realities. The inaugural events included presentations from Christian, Muslim and Jewish theologians. And the audience as Torrance gave his inaugural address included a Greek Orthodox leader from New Jersey and more than 60 representatives from institutions of higher education, including the four ancient universities of Scotland as well as U.S. schools not directly connected with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), such as the divinity schools of Yale and Howard universities.

Majority of PC(USA) lay persons unaware of divestment vote, says poll

Despite the flap it's caused even internationally, many Presbyterian churchgoers are not aware of the vote the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) took last summer to authorize a process of selective, phased divestment in some companies doing business in Israel.

And among those who did know, there were differing opinions about the wisdom of what the assembly had done. A survey found ministers and liberals tending to favor the divestment action, and laypeople and conservatives tending to be opposed.