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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.

Stone Age Theology

The response to the tragic tsunami on December 26 in a wide area of southern Asia has been overwhelmingly positive as the United Nations, numerous countries around the world, non-governmental agencies like the Red Cross, Oxfam, Catholic Charities, and United Jewish Appeal, orchestras in Vienna, celebrities and school children have donated generously to save lives and rebuild destroyed cities and villages.

Task Force names writing teams; Vote scheduled August 24-25

The Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) announced on March 10 the members of teams that will work over the next few months to write draft sections -- possible approaches that the task force will consider for inclusion in its final report to the denomination.

The task force will vote on its report to the denomination on August 24 and 25, in a meeting in Chicago added to its schedule specifically to take that vote. The report is to be presented to the church by September 15