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Conservative groups receive more money; large donors’ identities are still kept secret

Conservative Presbyterian special interest groups tend to have deeper pockets than liberal ones — although who’s giving the money often isn’t being revealed.

This year, for the first time, groups that wanted to rent display space in the Exhibit Hall at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), held May 24-31 in Denver, were required by the Assembly to submit financial disclosure forms — Internal Revenue Service Form 990s, which the federal government requires nonprofit groups with incomes over certain thresholds to file.

Are We There Yet?

In his travel classic, Blue Highways, William Least Heat-Moon recounts this tale:

A woman in Texas had told me that she often threatened to write a book about her family vacations. Her title: Zoom! The drama of their trips, she said, occurred on the inside of the windshield with one family crisis after another. Her husband drove a thousand miles, much of it with his right arm over the backseat to hold down one of the children. She said, "Our vacations take us."

America: the Last Best Hope of Mankind

Note - The following sermon was sent by Denton as a response to the guest viewpoint "Of Flag and Faith."

At a recent meeting of the Presbytery of the James, the Peacemaking Committee had stricken from its report this commendation to all the churches — "pray for those fighting in the name of our government. Pray for their protection and safe return home;" in its place was a more generic motion to "pray for all engaged in combat and for their safe return home.

A Reflection on the life of Edward A. Dowey Jr.

Like almost every pastor, my early years in preparing for ministry were somewhat chaotic, even a bit on the bipolar side, swinging from one theological pole to another — not unlike a steel sphere in a pinball machine — accompanied by swings of mood and attitude.

Start with a centrist Sunday-school theology from my home church; add some revivalist leanings from summer mission experience; then the shock of "higher criticism" in college religion courses, etc.

Leech defends as good stewardship abrupt changes in foundation’s focus

Ushered onstage with a glowing introduction at the 215th General Assembly in Denver in late May, Presbyterian Foundation chief executive officer Robert E. Leech asked the elders in the auditorium to remember the church with a gift in their wills. "Make it 10 percent — it's only money," Leech said.

Leech asked the ministers at the assembly to push their congregations to give even more generously. "Make it 20 percent — it's only money."

Timing is Everything

On May 14 it was reported that "a Virginia lawyer has accused a Presbyterian minister of heresy." The lawyer in question is Paul Rolf Jensen of Reston, Va. The minister in question is W. Robert Martin III, our pastor at the Warren Wilson church in Western North Carolina Presbytery.

Not now. Not Yet? Not Ever?

As the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) debated once again in Denver what direction to take in the ongoing debate over ordination of non-celibate homosexuals, minister commissioner Fitz Neal stepped to the microphone with a reminder:

"Justice delayed may be justice denied. But at the same time, decisions rushed are often decisions regretted."

Showtime and Chair Days

"Wast Thou ordained, dear Father,/ To lose thy youth in peace,

and to achieve/ The silver livery of advisèd age/ And in thy reverence

and thy chair days . . . ." (II Henry VI. V.2. 45-8)

Because 94% of the land in Iowa is devoted to agriculture, the philosophy faculties of the various universities in that state regularly and predictably complain about so much attention paid to farm animals. Truth to tell, most Iowans do indeed put the horse before Descartes.

Dealing with Diversity

We flatter ourselves. No, it is true. Even the staunchest Calvinist among us sometimes thinks that we are in a mess so great that we will never get out of it. Name the issue and you will find voices that say, Woe is ours as Presbyterians in the U.S.A.!

Every generation faces this reality. While some issues truly are landmarks, issues of importance confront each of us in our own way. So it is also true that the issues that divide us today matter to us and to those that come after us. But let us not flatter ourselves too much. Our ancestors confronted this reality, and so will our descendants.

Despite War in Iraq, Muslims and Christians see ‘a realizable vision of a world at peace’

Can Muslims and Christians seriously engage with each other in these troubled times in creative, nonviolent ways? I am a witness to a community of 30 Christian and Muslim scholars who in early April, just beyond the sound of rockets and big guns, gave a resounding "yes" in answer to that question. We met and talked about our sacred Scriptures and how we view and interpret them. This was the second occasion for such an international gathering.