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Rock Star Bono brings appeal for Africa to PC(USA) headquarters in Louisville

LOUISVILLE — It was a fine conjunction of forces: more than a thousand people, standing in a long chilly line under a sweet sliver of a moon, drawn to the parking lot of a conservative church in the Louisville suburbs by the prospect of listening to a rock star — Bono of U2 — who admits that he's not too comfortable in churches and that on this tour "the wheels are falling off my wagon a little bit — having no sleep and I drink too much."

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Howard Edington announces retirement

Howard Edington, 60, pastor of 5,500-member First church, Orlando, Fla., for two decades and a prominent figure among evangelical Presbyterians, has told his congregation that he will retire at the end of January 2003.

The retirement announcement by Edington, who saw the size of his downtown congregation more than triple during his 21 years as pastor, took some in the congregation by surprise. And the response has been both widespread praise and appreciation from his supporters for his work, and hints at some unrest within the congregation.

Voices

Real Presence

Advent/Christmas means nothing if it does not mean the real presence of the triune God with and for God’s people and the world. Incarnation, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, is real presence. The church of Jesus throughout the world, past, present, future, is the real presence of the body of Christ in God’s created order. The Holy Spirit, the awesome personal power of God in us and in all that God has made, is the real presence.

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Paying more for coffee helps Third World coffee growers make a decent living

Many Americans don't think twice about walking up to the counter in a cozy java joint and ordering a coffee drink for $3 or $4. What they may not know is that coffee farmers in many countries are struggling to sell their coffee for anywhere near a living wage — and that how people in the United States buy their coffee can have a direct impact on the quality of life for farmers in some of the poorest countries in the world.

Voices

Locating the Solution

Shall we ordain practicing homosexuals? The way the question is being posed leaves only two possible answers: yes or no. The form of the question has turned the inquiry from seeking more complex resolutions and has pushed us into looking for the solution in the wrong place.

It seems to me that when we strip all extraneous issues from the discussions, the matter grounds to a single question: Is a person born with a sexual preference?

Editorials

Building Community Among Strangers

The ultimate result of the Presbyterian Church opening itself to its Lord and the work of the Holy Spirit in the matter of building community will be what a recent General Assembly paper called "Building Community Among Strangers."

The paper eventually approved by the General Assembly in 1999 had a long and conflicted history, but what was produced was finally affirmed by most.

Book Reviews

Showing Mary: How Women can Share Prayers. Wisdom and the Blessings of God

By Renita J. Weems
Warner. 2002. 194 pp. $12.95. ISBN 0-446-53066-2

— Review by Lillian McCulloch Taylor

In Showing Mary, Vanderbilt biblical scholar Renita Weems has claimed Mary, the mother of Jesus, for Protestants — and especially for women. Weems views Mary not as a pious, passive woman, but as a strong, vibrant individual. Following the biblical text closely, Weems lays out her portrait of the mother of the divine son.

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Baltimore Presbytery takes no action on calls to enforce PC(USA) Constitution

Baltimore Presbytery met on Thursday, Nov. 21, and, after considerable discussion, did not adopt any of several proposals put before it regarding enforcement of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s Constitution.

Many evangelicals in the church have been watching Baltimore Presbytery closely to see how it would deal with Don Stroud, a gay minister who's declared publicly that he cannot in conscience comply with the part of the Constitution that restricts ordination to those who practice fidelity if they are married or chastity if they are single.

Voices

10 Years Later – Presbyterian Predicament, Presence and Possibilities

The year 2002 marks the 10th anniversary of the publication of The Presbyterian Presence: The Twentieth Century Experience. The seven volumes, plus study guide, were published by Westminster John Knox Press between 1990 and 1992.

The original initiative from the Lilly Endowment was to commission a series of case studies of mainstream Protestant denominations that were experiencing precipitate decline at the end of the 20th century.

Voices

Stewards of a Legacy of Vitality

Describe the current trajectory of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) as you see it and evaluate that trajectory based on what you consider the distinctive marks of the Presbyterian tradition.

How often do you recall final exam questions — or your answers? A decade has passed since I first sat in a classroom furiously composing a response to this question for "Presbyterian Heritage," a course taken in my middler year at Louisville Seminary.

Voices

‘Presbyterian Presence’ Pursued: The Editors look at the results

The current directed study on Reformed Theology for certification of Christian educators in our church refers readers to "‘The Presbyterian Predicament’ [by] Coalter, Mulder, Weeks (A six-volume set of the history . . . )." The actual title of the seven-volume set — they wrote another book later — was "The Presbyterian Presence in the 20th Century," but the mistake in thinking of our study as the "Presbyterian Predicament" is both a common one and a telling one.

Voices

Marginalized by an Apathetic, Sometimes Antagonistic Society

Ten years ago, our nation’s President was George H. W. Bush.

Ten years later, the family is the same, but the middle initials have changed. Ten years ago, we were making demands of Saddam Hussein. Ten years later, we are making demands of Saddam Hussein. Ten years ago, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was struggling over biblical hermeneutics and human sexuality. Ten years later . . . well, you get the idea by now.

Editorials

Rebuilding Community: In the Higher Governing Bodies

We’ve been discussing at some length in this column the need at this time for Presbyterians and the Presbyterian Church to recover the wellsprings of faith and to experience the rebuilding of community under Jesus Christ its Head, and by means of the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit.

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Donald Stroud – ‘I’m being faithful to what I feel is discipleship to Christ’

Donald Stroud, the gay Presbyterian minister who's been at the heart of a dispute in Baltimore Presbytery because of his public statements that he cannot in conscience comply with Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) prohibitions against ordaining sexually active gays and lesbians, grew up in the Presbyterian Church and began telling people when he was 9 that he was going to be a minister. Stroud also said he knew early on that there was "something different" about him, compared to other boys.

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Baltimore decision inflames supporters of call for a special session of 214th GA

Paul Rolf Jensen isn't surprised and he isn't happy.

The decision of two designated members of Baltimore Presbytery's Permanent Judicial Commission not to bring charges against Don Stroud, an openly gay minister who has said publicly that he cannot in conscience comply with the provision in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Constitution that limits ordination to those who practice fidelity if they are married or chastity if they are single, means "they have decided to use the Constitution as toilet paper," Jensen said in a written statement.

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Baltimore Presbytery judicial commission members, agree, no charges to be filed against Donald Stroud

Two members of Baltimore Presbytery's Permanent Judicial Commission designated to review an investigating committee's report say no disciplinary charges should be filed against Donald E. Stroud, a gay Presbyterian minister who is on the staff of That All May Freely Serve.

The commission members' letter to the presbytery, which will meet on Nov. 21, was made public Thursday by Charles P. Forbes, the presbytery's stated clerk.

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Don’t state defiance of the Constitution, ordain and install church officers, Covenant Network told

MINNEAPOLIS — Some in the Covenant Network of Presbyterians are arguing that the time has come to interpret what the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) really means when it limits ordination of elders and ministers to those who practice fidelity if they are married or chastity if they are single. And their conclusion: it does not say what many people think it does.

Book Reviews

Vital Signs: The Promise of Mainstream Protestantism

By Milton J Coalter, John M. Mulder and Lewis B. Weeks
WJKP. 2001. 137 pp. Pb. $16.95. ISBN 0-9724196-0-8

— Review by Lillian McCulloch Taylor


Pastors and church leaders will welcome the re-issue of this 1996 summary of 15 years of research concerning mainline Protestantism in America. Many will recall that the research was originally published in seven volumes under the general heading, The Presbyterian Presence, appearing between 1990 and 1992 from Westminster/John Knox Press. That research was aided by a significant grant from the Lilly Endowment.

What was needed upon conclusion of the seven-volum

Editorials

Rebuilding Community – In the Congregation

If the primary task of the Presbyterian Church today is the task of rebuilding community under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit — as has been suggested in recent weeks — then the primary locus of that building effort must be in the congregation. For the congregation is where the people of God have their spiritual home.

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Covenant Network looks to win over ‘the great middle of the church’

MINNEAPOLIS — It's clearly not a time for legislation: the Covenant Network of Presbyterians has no plans to push now for another amendment to the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) to remove restrictions on ordaining gays and lesbians who don't promise to be chaste. Instead, the group is working to win over what co-moderator Eugene Bay of Philadelphia called "the great middle of the church" and to broaden its agenda

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Moderator Abu-Akel opposes special session

MINNEAPOLIS -- Fahed Abu-Akel, moderator of the 214th General Assembly (2002) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has released a letter to the General Assembly's commissioners announcing his opposition to calling the Assembly back into session for a special meeting to address what some in the church are calling a "constitutional crisis."

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