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Common Ground: Task Force, small groups seeking way forward for PC(USA)

The Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is set to make its final report in September, and to some folks, that report will tell all -- whatever the task force recommends is what they will weigh as its contribution.

But others in the church are taking a different path. They want to know what the task force will say, of course, but they're also involved in their own communities in trying to model the kind of conversation across theological lines that the task force represents. For some of those people, that will be part of the task force's legacy too -- the example it has set for the broader church of bringing together Presbyterians who might vote against each other on some of the most contentious issues, but who through listening and prayer and hard work have come to understand and respect one another.

Movie Reviews

The Interpreter

It loses some of its force because it is fictional. But it could be about any number of countries in Africa that are all too non-fiction: genocides, ethnic cleansing, brutal slayings, mass graves, thousands of victims, thousands of refugees, thousands of the disinherited and dispossessed, thousands of expatriates yearning to go home, except home will never be the same.

Any movie that begins with an execution by children is going to be sobering throughout.  "The Interpreter" is a serious film intended to be taken seriously. 

Editorials

September 15

What is your presbytery, session, or congregation doing to prepare for September 15? That day is not on any ecclesiastical calendar. Many congregations are in "start-up" mode after summer vacation. Christian Education and Stewardship dominate the attention of the local church.

However, as far as the PC(USA) is concerned, this is the day the Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity will release its report for consideration, discernment, and conversation. This early release date affords the church in sessions, presbyteries, and church school classes ample time for open, free discussion before the 217th General Assembly meeting in June, 2006, in Birmingham, Ala. That assembly will be asked to act on its recommendations.

Book Reviews

Testimony: Talking Ourselves into Being Christian

Testimony: Talking Ourselves into Being Christian, by Thomas G. Long.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004.  ISBN 0-7879-6832-3. 

The writer of 1 Peter encouraged followers of Jesus to be prepared always to account for the hope that is in them (1 Peter 3:15-16).  Perhaps this accounts for the fear that is within us.

Book Reviews

Gilead

Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
ISBN 978-0-374-15389-2. 247 pages. $23.00. 

 

Gilead, the 2005 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, is a quiet book. The rhythm is slow, the thought deep, the language reserved, and the action understated. A reader looking for lurid sex, violence, or dramatic action scenes, will be disappointed.

Voices

Common Ground: Presbytery reflection groups open channels for dialogue

As the PCUSA Theological Task Force (TTF) on Peace, Unity, and Purity prepares its final report (to be distributed in September), we in the Presbytery of the James have made concerted efforts to be in conversation with each other regarding their work. We formed four theological reflection groups (and are in the process of starting four more), each of which represented a broad theological spectrum.

Voices

Common Ground: Young ministers follow Task Force example to dialogue on issues

“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.”

Uncategorized

PC(USA) churches challenged to meet educational needs, choose curricula

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.

Editorials

Majority Misrule

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.

Voices

Who is responsible for Christian Education in the local church?

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).

Voices

Looking past the cover: Selecting the best curricula for your congregation

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.

Voices

Curriculum Helps

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.

Voices

Finding your way through adult education choices

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.

Uncategorized

New Wineskins meeting June 15-18 faces questions, plans for future of PC(USA) in existing “disunity”

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.

Uncategorized

Thompson inaugurated at Louisville Seminary

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.

Uncategorized

Migrant situation: The border crosses us

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.

Editorials

Pastors: Approved and capable

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.

Book Reviews

God’s Politics

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!

Book Reviews

Making Disciples, Making Leaders: A Manual for Developing Church Officers

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.”

Book Reviews

Reconstructing Pastoral Theology: A Christological Foundation

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.

Editorials

Waiting for the end

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.

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