The Presbyterian Outlook

News and Articles from the The Presbyterian Outlook

Top Search/Contact Area

Promoting congregational vitality

by

Among the 16 committees working within the 221st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Committee on Congregational Vitality had much to celebrate in their meetings. The Women of Faith Awards honored ruling elders Joanie Lukins and Helen Morrison, and teaching elder Joyce Shin. These awards were established in 1986 to honor women whose lives exemplify their Christian commitment. The committee announced the five recipients of the 2013 and 2014 Sam and Helen R. Walton Awards, made possible by a gift made in 1991 by Sam and Helen Walton through the Presbyterian Foundation to be used for new church developments. The denomination’s “Educate a Child/Transform the World” program was showcased. It has set a goal of educating one million children in the U.S. and worldwide over the next four years. “Education is the gateway out of poverty and it transforms lives,” said Veronica Cannon, committee vice moderator and a teaching elder commissioner from Charlotte. The … [Read more...]

Tagged With: GA221

Introducing Moderator Heath Rada

by

It didn’t take long after his election on the first ballot for Heath K. Rada — a smooth Southern Presbyterian — to find his moderatorial groove. Using old-fashioned, hand-written ballots, the 221st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) elected Rada — the only ruling elder in the mix — as its moderator on a night made surreal by difficulties with the assembly’s voting system. Rada won on the first ballot, earning 331 votes (52 percent) compared to 157 votes (25 percent) for John Wilkinson of Rochester, New York, and 143 votes (23 percent) for Kelly Allen of San Antonio, Texas, both teaching elders. After his election, Rada approached the stage hand-in-hand with his wife, Peggy, with whom he had recently celebrated his 48th wedding anniversary. Quickly christening him #modeRada on Twitter, the assembly showed an immediate affection for Rada, who selected as his vice-moderator essentially his demographic opposite: Larissa Kwong Abazia, a young Chinese-American … [Read more...]

Tagged With: GA221

Jinishian Memorial Program Praises PC(USA) Action Commemorating Armenian Genocide

by

On June 20, in Detroit, Michigan, the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted to recognize the Armenian Genocide, urging congregations to commemorate its centennial in 2015, and directing church leadership to call upon the United States President and Congress to condemn the acts as genocide as well. From 1915-1923 when the Ottoman Empire massacred 1.5 million Armenians and expelled one million more from their historic homeland (now Turkey), the Presbyterian Church directed relief funds to Armenians throughout those years, and its General Assemblies vehemently protested the “atrocities.” Over the last 50 years, Presbyterian support to struggling Armenian communities has come through the Jinishian Memorial Program (JMP) which operates relief, development and spiritual missions through inter-church partnerships in Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Jerusalem, and Armenia. This historic resolution—the first of its kind for a major American church body—was adopted by the 1.8- million-member church in … [Read more...]

Tagged With: GA221

General Assembly offering yields $13,500 for ministries in Detroit, around the world

by

LOUISVILLE (PNS)  Worshipers at the 221st General Assembly’s opening worship last month in Detroit gave more than $13,500 to ministries both local and global. Selected by the Rev. Neal Presa, moderator of the 220th Assembly (2012), the five designated recipients were Living Waters for the World, International Justice Mission, Near East School of Theology and the Presbytery of Detroit’s Gift Project and the Barnabas Youth Opportunities Center. “The 221st General Assembly gathered under the theme ‘Abounding in Hope,’ inspired by Romans 15:13,” Presa said in a statement, adding that the ministries selected abound in hope and are rooted in a deep love for God and neighbor. Presa asked leaders of the Presbytery of Detroit to select local ministries to receive the offering. The presbytery’s Committee on Local Arrangements organized the Gift Project, which collected more than 30 boxes of school supplies for local tutoring and literacy programs, most of which are associated with … [Read more...]

Tagged With: GA221

Assembly passes resolutions on Cuba and drones

by

DETROIT — The General Assembly urged the U.S. government to remove Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, and it called on all countries to halt the use of drones as weapons of war or for surveillance. Both measures were recommended by the Peacemaking and International Issues Committee.   Cuba The U.S. includes four countries on its list of state sponsors of terrorism: Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria. On the assembly floor, references were made to statements the committee moderator Jesus Sanchez Reyes, made earlier in the week regarding murders taking place in Cuba at the hands of Cuban soldiers. Christian Iosso of the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy staff mentioned Sanchez Reyes’ statements in addition to concerns about connections with Venezuela. “The question of whether those concerns were terrorism was the concern,” Iosso said. “We looked at specific laws and I believe the committee debated it fairly.” James Acquaah, ruling elder … [Read more...]

Tagged With: GA221

Overture on Hanmi Presbytery dissolution garners much discussion around multiculturalism and cultural proficiency

by

On the heels of discussion and vote on the Mid Council Commission II report the committee moved the recommendation to dissolve Hanmi Presbytery on the morning of Friday June 20th. Emotions were still running high when the recommendation from 05-07 on Hanmi’s dissolution was passed by a vote of 63-4 with following comment: The Assembly Committee on Mid Council Issues (5) gives thanks for and celebrates the historic and ongoing witness of the churches of Hanmi Presbytery and their important role in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). We regret that the recent work of the Administrative Commission has not been successful in resolving long-standing concerns, and we share the grief, the disappointment, and the loss with the congregations, the presbytery, the Administrative Commission, and the synod that this action has been taken. We look forward to discovering new ways of welcoming the Korean congregations into the life of the Synod and presbyteries, to the greater ministry of the … [Read more...]

Tagged With: GA221

CONTACT US: