MONTREAT, N.C. -- Mary Elva Smith, the new director of the Women's Ministries Program Area of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), said here recently that she'd like to see the denomination push for another global women's conference that she said will restore the validity of feminist theology in the church.
The magazine Monday Morning -- which for 66 years provided a place for Presbyterian pastors to shout out on matters in the church and the world -- is ceasing publication at the end of this year, for financial reasons.
Updated 3 p.m. EDT Aug. 16 to include additional information.
A curriculum produced "by Presbyterians for Presbyterians" is continuing to have financial problems -- in part because so few congregations in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are using it -- so the denomination has decided to suspend development of the next phase of the curriculum to try to contain the losses.
Before proceeding, you need to read the strange little story in Numbers 15:32-36.
This passage from the ancient world has an important connection with a prominent object in our present world, to wit: the moon. Now a family magazine should be careful about what it exposes. Therefore, at least one of the current uses of the term "moon" will remain decently covered by being uncovered here -- uncovered in the sense of being roundly undescribed.
ISBN 0-664-22141-6This book is the report of a journalist's investigation into the many ways in which the Bible is understood, used and studied in America, and her reflection as a reporter on the findings of her study.
ISBN 0-9192-1796-4This study reflects the glaring incongruities of the religious situation in the United States today. Religion in general (whatever that may mean) remains popular but for many there is little substance.
ISBN 1-58051-061-2The theme of this book is the reconciliation of folly and holiness. In beautifully written paragraphs, folly is described not as foolishness or buffoonery, but as vulnerability; risk above safety; truth above security; love above self-gain; and celebration over somberness. (Harvey Cox's "A Feast of Fools" and Henri Nouwen's "Clowning in Rome" play upon the same theme.)
ISBN 0800631846In this collection of 12 essays and lectures, Juergen Moltmann writes about some of the significant issues with which people must wrestle who seek to live in the modern world and address it from the perspective of a biblical and Christian faith.
ISBN 0800632303
ISBN 0-8308-1585-6Diana Garland has produced a comprehensive guide to family ministry. Based on her expertise in teaching and research, she presents social, cultural, psychological and historical understandings of family.
ISBN 0-664-50109-5"Being Presbyterian in the Bible Belt" is pithy, witty and well-organized. So much did I enjoy it that I bought five copies to give to my Austin, Texas, high school graduates this year. Although Ted and Alex claim the "Bible belt" as the arena for this, their first book together, I would recommend this book to my former youth groups in California and Utah in a heartbeat.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- This is high-voltage worship many young people love: the kind where you clap your hands and stomp your feet, shouting over and over, "God will, God will, rock you!"
And this is what they expect when they go back home.
As July comes to a close, some of those who believe the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) made a big mistake in June, when the 213th General Assembly voted to recommend lifting a ban on ordaining those who are not married and not celibate, will gather in Denver to strategize about the future.
A few weeks ago, with the 213th General Assembly of the PC(USA) fast approaching, Bill Hawley knew what he had to do. He didn't think he'd survive the agony of another Assembly fractured over the question of ordaining gays and lesbians. His blood pressure was sky-high.
It would cost him his job, but it was time to come out of the closet.
Church and state may be separate, but sometimes they look strangely similar. The work of the PC(USA)'s 213th General Assembly in Louisville, with its internal elections, passionate floor speeches and host of committees reporting to an over-riding body, was much like that of a state legislature.
Ted Wardlaw stood at the microphone, waiting his turn to speak during the 213th General Assembly's debate over removing the "fidelity and chastity" rules for church officers.
MONTREAT, N.C. -- Rhashell Hunter stepped to the podium for the Thursday night communion service. Then she stepped out of it right to the center of the Anderson Auditorium stage, preaching away, with slides popping up on a screen behind her, a deliberately off-key duet with the pianist and interplay with a planted trio in the audience.
Following World War II, men flocked back to churches, bringing their families with them. In the 1950s and early '60s, 40 percent of Sunday congregations were male, and 3,000-5,000 men attended national gatherings at the Palmer House in Chicago. As late as 1991, 1,000 men attended a gathering in Louisville.
So they took branches of palm trees
and went out to meet him,
crying, "Hosanna!"
-- John 12:13
"You academicians need to draw in religious leaders," stated the strong Muslim politician Naledi Pandor as she addressed the International Academy of Practical Theology in Stellenbosch, South Africa, on April 6.
The Library of Congress and Montpelier, Va., are holding 250th birthday celebrations this year for James Madison, fourth President of the United States. Although not as well-known as more deistic celebrities Washington and Jefferson, the Virginian deserves attention as the chief architect of the Constitution and Bill of Rights of the new United States of America. 
Readers ought to take note of this occasion because of Madison's Presbyterian connections as pointed out in G. W. Sheldon's recent brief but suggestive book, The Political Philosophy of James Madison (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins, 2001).
Although short physically, Madison stood tall intellectually with a lifelong appetite for knowledge and wisdom. He was nurtured by his Anglican family and Presbyterian ministers Donald Robertson and John Witherspoon, Scottish Presbyterian transplants to the New World.
In 1763 at the age of 12, Madison began five years of study at Robertson's Virginia boarding school. His teacher introduced him to languages, the Bible, with a Calvinist twist probably from the Westminster Confession, Greek and Roman historians and philosophers, and more contemporary greats such as Locke and Montesquieu.
The Library of Congress and Montpelier, Va., are holding 250th birthday celebrations this year for James Madison, fourth President of the United States. Although not as well-known as more deistic celebrities Washington and Jefferson, the Virginian deserves attention as the chief architect of the Constitution and Bill of Rights of the new United States of America.
In his report to commissioners given at the beginning of the 213th General Assembly, outgoing Moderator Syngman Rhee fervently called for "a more excellent way," a way based on love and mutual forbearance as set forth by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians.
ISBN 0-664-50046 In every Presbyterian ordination service for elders, deacons or ministers of the Word and Sacrament, a series of huge, life-sized questions are asked. One of them, which trips off the tongue with deceptive ease, is: "Will you fulfill your office in obedience to Jesus Christ, under the authority of Scripture, and be continually guided by our confessions?"
ISBN 0-253-33580-9From the latter part of the 19th century through the first quarter of the 20th, mainstream Protestantism's post-millennial stance (that Christ will return after a "thousand years of earthly bliss," p. xi) led to strenuous efforts toward bringing in the kingdom of God and the evangelization of the world "in this generation." It was a period of social reform, social progress, which, at a later date, led to movements toward social justice.
ISBN 0-687-08202-1 What should one expect of a book titled The Ten Commandments in Christian Life, published in 1999 when hysteria pervaded the media over a "Bible Belt" idea of posting the Ten Commandments on the walls of an Alabama courtroom?
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