“I am newly ordained yet already pessimistic about the future of this denomination. I am 30 years old and already tired by the same old arguments and voting trends. I am a Presbyterian who is ashamed that outsiders best know our denomination because of intense bickering rather than our proclamation of the gospel.
“I am not naïve enough to believe that simply talking to one another will smooth the splinters of our denomination. Yet I have confidence that the church of Jesus Christ still belongs to God—and not to a “group” or a “side” or a “network.” And I believe it is our job as leaders in the church to take the time to listen to where God might be leading us.”
"We hope to keep discovering who Jesus is calling us to be as we meet together in the same denomination – and we intend to keep learning, and growing in faith by God’s grace. We will meet again next year and continue our dialogue. We encourage you to do the same."
In a world of suicide bombings, text messaging and living wills, Christian education is complicated stuff.
The kindergarteners and some of the adults need to learn the basics. In many Presbyterian congregations, new member classes are full of former Baptists and Catholics and Methodists and people who haven't gone to any church in many, many years.
Many congregations want a Sunday school curriculum that's straightforward and easy to use. They have to choose between material produced by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and what's available from other sources -- on the Internet and in catalogs and Christian bookstores. Some have trained Christian educators; others rely on volunteers and a gut instinct for what will work.
The debate in the United States Senate over the "nuclear option" and the filibuster rule, whose centerfold is a Presbyterian from Nashville, Tenn., reminds me of the destructive experience of majoritarian rule that bedevils the amendment process for the Book of Order. One of the benevolent consequences of biennial assemblies is that we will be required to vote on those tedious changes less frequently.
Some of us remember when it took two-thirds of the presbyteries to change the constitution. The amendments that came forward for action had much greater depth and substance. Now we have a book that, except for the theological principles of governance, deserves (and I suspect receives) little respect. That is why in officer training we spend most of our time on the basics, especially Chapters I -- VII, X, and only those parts of XIV that apply to the election, examination, and ordination of officers.
When we ask who has the final authority to direct the Christian Education program in a Presbyterian church the answer is straightforward and simple. The session, as the ruling body of the congregation, has the responsibility to develop the church school and the educational program in each congregation (G-10.0102 f; W-6.2005).
In an era when there are more than 150 different publishers and distributors of children’s curricula alone, finding the resources that are best for your congregation can be challenging. The following four-step process, however, will help you make an informed decision and provide your teachers with good materials to support their ministries of faith formation.
Like other areas of the church’s life in the post-modern era, Adult Education faces a number of challenges and opportunities. Gone are the days when the majority of adults attended highly organized Sunday morning Church Schools centered on denominationally produced curriculum.
AUGSBURG
We are pleased to share the news of a new Bible study – No Experience Necessary. This study is accessible for people new to Bible study yet full of fresh insights for those more experienced. The author is Kelly Fryer, author of the bestselling Reclaiming the “L” Word. Kelly has a passion—and a gift—for empowering people to pick up the Bible and read it for themselves.
Across the country Presbyterians are seeking out new ways for adults to study the Bible. Small groups are meeting on weekdays so they have more time for study than is available during the Sunday school hour. Interest is high in deep study of Scriptures that leads to increased understanding and faith formation. Adults are willing to find time in their busy schedules to participate in such small group experiences.
It's almost like standing in a nursery looking at a plant that's getting ready to bud. You have some idea what it might look like, but you're not exactly sure what color it will be, how big it will get, whether it will thrive or struggle when it's planted in the soil.
From June 15-18, a meeting will be held in Minneapolis of a group called New Wineskins, which is looking for ways to transform the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) These evangelical Christians are ready and willing to think outside the box -- they want a new way of being Presbyterian and figure it will take lots of change to get there.
When Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 39, quietly strode toward Nazi prison gallows as the Second World War neared its end, he could hardly have known that 60 years later, his life, memory and legacy would remain the subject of keen debate and fascination — not to mention outright reverence.
LOUISVILLE -- Dean K. Thompson, a longtime pastor, was inaugurated and installed as the eighth president of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary on April 23 and stressed, in his inaugural address, the importance of finding one's vocation in a particular context.
ALTAR, MEXICO -- This is a place where simple truths -- that migrants should not have to die in the desert in search of a way to feed their families -- and all the complicated nuances of international trade and immigration policy get woven up together.
Talk about immigration policy, and before long you're talking about terrorism and globalization and job supply-and-demand and lawbreaking and justice, and so much more.
Father Daniel Groody, a priest who's director of the Center for Latino Spirituality at Notre Dame University and has spent time along the U.S.- Mexican border interviewing migrants and Border Patrol officers and vigilantes and humanitarian groups, says each group contributes something worth listening to, that this is complicated stuff. But the bits and pieces also begin to add up to understanding -- and a determination, on the part of some Presbyterians, that some things need to change.
It is a pleasure to welcome Randy Harris as Book Editor of the OUTLOOK. As you see from his bio he brings a great love of reading and an appreciation of books in many fields to this position, to this new venture.
We are grateful for the excellent work of Lillian McCulloch Taylor of North Carolina, who served as book editor for more than fifteen years. When Lillian came on board, the OUTLOOK still maintained "The Outlook Book Service," which was a true distribution source for curriculum, pastoral resources, and books. Like many of you, I can remember when one could receive orders from the Book Service faster than from any other Presbyterian enterprise. When Lillian began, her responsibility was multifold including promotion, reviews of resources.
by Jim Wallis. (Amazon Link)
Though I am not a big fan of bumper sticker theology, during the 2004 presidential elections, I did find one bumper sticker that I strongly felt should have a place on my car. I ordered the bumper sticker from the Sojourners community in Washington D.C. The sticker reads, “God is not a Republican or a Democrat.” Amen!
by Steven P. Eason. Louisville: Geneva Press, 2004. ISBN 0-664-50263-6. $19.95.
(Amazon Link)
The Book of Order states that “The minutes of session shall record the completion of a period of study and preparation” for newly- elected officers in the church. After that time of preparation, “the session shall examine them as to their personal faith; knowledge of the doctrine, government, and discipline contained in the Constitution of the church; and the duties of the office.”
by Andrew Purves. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press. 2004. pp. ixxxv, 236.
Pastors ought to read this book. It concerns the very important foundations that underlie much that we do as pastors. Its title, Reconstructing Pastoral Theology: A Christological Foundation, indicates the combination that makes this book so valuable—pastoral care with Christology.
If The Left Behind series of novels were not enough to disfigure the Christian faith in the public square, now we have the television series Revelations, an obvious effort to cash in on the fears and heresies of American life. These entertainments are fed by dispensationalists and pre-millenialists who have swirled into public influence in the last decade. They present a fantastic, anti-biblical view of how believers are invited by the Jesus of the Gospels to wait for his return when he shall come in glory to judge both the living and the dead.
Perhaps more pointedly than anywhere in Scripture, Matthew's gospel calls the church not to investigate apocalyptic events to discern when Christ will return, but to be obedient here and now. In the parable of the Last Judgment, where no one is left behind, we are divided into sheep and goats, and then Jesus tells us why. We have done the right thing (or the wrong thing) to him, as he is represented in real, historical time by his brothers and sisters, his "little ones" who were hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, and in prison. Some interpreters understand this to mean that the nations (gentiles or outsiders) will be judged by how they have treated members of the church. Other interpreters claim that this is a call to universal human obedience, and that all people of all religious persuasions will be judged (and received or rejected) by these criteria.
Pentecost Meditation on Joel 2:23-39
Frequently in the morning, after I’ve walked the dog, I’ll come in, get a cup of coffee and sit down on the kitchen floor; and then, when my wife joins me, I’ll ask her what she dreamed about. Most of the time, Ann says she can’t remember. But I remember what I dream about; and I enjoy relating the vivid things that come to me in my sleep. (Well, some of them, at any rate. A few I keep to myself.)
Editor’s Note: This challenge was issued on the blog of Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase as part of a focus on the ministry of accompaniment in tense situations. The blog address can be accessed through the PC(USA) website (www.pcusa.org) or directly at www.what-I-see.blogspot.com.
It's about Jesus Christ making a difference in the world. It's about turning young people on to what mission is really all about--in their schools, downtown or overseas. It's about helping the Church move out into the world.
The New Wilmington Missionary Conference brings more than 1,500 participants and visitors together every year for just these reasons. Attendees spend a week on the campus of Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa. to be challenged about mission needs here and around the world. The experience includes listening to speakers, sharing in small groups, praying late at night in the dorm halls, playing sports, meeting new friends, and eating breakfast with missionaries from Mozambique or Manhattan or Malaysia.
In the beginning, the concept was this: approach potential big donors, people whose pockets run very deep indeed, and convince them to give money to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) to support international mission work and church growth in the U.S. If there's anything Presbyterians can rally around, the thinking went, it would be that.
There's a lot of talk at the General Assembly Council these days about new ways of thinking, new directions -- creative ways of rearranging the furniture, maybe even remodeling the house. And one of the things the council is being asked to consider rearranging is itself.
In April 2006, the council will be asked to approve a new structure for the council itself. If that happens, the plan would be submitted to the General Assembly in Birmingham in June 2006 for final approval.
After months of discussion and hard work -- and a lot more passion than some might expect history to incite -- an agreement apparently has been struck to allow the Presbyterian Historical Society to continue to have a presence in Montreat, N.C.
Under a concept approved March 29 by the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly, the historical society's Philadelphia offices would serve as the main repository for archives of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
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