Love Carved in Stone: A Fresh Look at the Ten Commandments Lesson 2: “Words of Love: Don’t Trivialize My Name” Exodus 20:7; Matthew 7:21-23 As a child, I looked up the meaning of my name, and the name book said: “Like a beautiful rose; an ancient deep-sea monster”! “Rosalind” is Germanic in origin and combines words for horse, “(h)ros,” and “linti,” which means “soft, gentle, tender, weak.” Thus, the original meaning is a docile horse. Hmm, this doesn’t quite fit me. Knowing the ancient meaning of my name really doesn’t tell you much about me. You would have to get to know me — what I value, my eccentricities, humor, habits and moods. With any person that we know well, we link their name with their character. Some people’s names are associated with integrity and honesty, while other people’s names are associated with gossip and finding fault. To use God’s name correctly, we must know what God stands for and what God values. “You shall not use the Lord your God’s name as if … [Read more...]
Meet the vice president of the Presbyterian Outlook board: Becca Gillespie Messman
Becca brings a myriad of talents to her service on the board. She is not only gifted with words, she is skilled with spreadsheets and numbers. Becca listens intently with the ability to tune out the noise, hear the signal and speak with clarity, truth and grace. She is able to put vision into action collaboratively and with great passion and care. Becca is co-pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Herndon, Virginia, where she has served for 13 years. There, she was part of the team that planted a congregation of recent immigrants and day laborers called “Lunch for the Soul.” She is co-chair of VOICE (Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement), a large multifaith organization in Northern Virginia that does groundbreaking work in public education, immigration, housing and criminal justice reform. She is a frequent presenter, workshop leader and writer around the denomination and community. She was glad to be a writer and blogger for the Outlook and was on the team … [Read more...]
Freebox, a theology
ISO a hunk of Styrofoam headed to the landfill. My Wednesday started with this post to a neighborhood message board – in search of Styrofoam. I’d purchased a pump for my bedroom air conditioner unit to draw the condensation up and out the window to save me from the muggy Chicago summer. It seemed simple enough to set up, even for someone with limited fix-it skills. But there was a problem: I had no way to run the hose out the window without leaving a wide gap through which all the blessed, cool, dry air could escape. I envisioned a hunk of Styrofoam to bridge the gap between the window and sill and through which I could poke the hose to vent the water outside. But there was another problem: I am neither handy nor crafty. In elementary school, I flunked cutting. While my classmates were busy cutting and assembling cool paper hats for the school play, I was sent to tidy up the backstage area. In junior high school, I barely passed the mandatory home economics sewing … [Read more...]
What is the future of Stony Point Center? Mission Agency Board to consider $10.3 million proposal
A group within the Presbyterian Mission Agency considering the future of Stony Point Center is recommending spending at least $10.3 million on capital improvements at Stony Point over the next decade, plus $300,000 over the next three years in additional staffing and another $75,000 in a capital campaign feasibility study. The future of the Stony Point – a conference center just north of New York City – has been an enduring question for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in recent years, as Stony Point has not been financially self-sustaining and has required periodic infusions of cash from the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA), both for urgent deferred maintenance and to support operational costs. This new recommendation – which the board will consider during its Sept. 26-28 meeting at Stony Point – describes a vision in which Stony Point becomes “the conference center for PMA” and a “Christian conference center designed for transformation.” Diane Moffett, executive director and … [Read more...]
Seculosity: How Career, Parenting, Technology, Food, Politics, and Romance Became Our New Religion and What to Do About It
David Zahl Fortress Press, 250 pages Reviewed by Rachel Landers Vaagenes Seculosity is a made-up word that aptly articulates a current unspoken truth: even though people are leaving capital-R religion in droves, there are many other systems of belief waiting to fill the gaps. These small-r religions, what David Zahl calls seculosity, are “a catchall for religiosity that is directed horizontally rather than vertically, at earthly rather than at heavenly objects.” The theological word for this is of course “idolatry,” but Zahl cleverly introduces ancient concepts with new words devoid of centuries-old baggage. Chapter by chapter, Zahl lays out how many of us (even Christians!) can substitute food, spouse, child, technology and more as a savior. These days, it can seem that fulfillment is just a Fitbit or a Whole30 away. Zahl points out the obvious (and not so obvious) problems with these pseudo-saviors. Because these things cannot do what we are asking of them (making us whole, … [Read more...]
What’s right about Grace Presbyterian Church?
Grace Presbyterian Church — Springfield, Virginia The deep, enduring friendship between the people of Grace Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Virginia, and St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Nablus, Palestine, has its roots – as so many important things do – in a Sunday school lesson. When a former minister, Susan Wilder, returned from three years in Jerusalem in 2002, she and her husband Tim taught a class about the challenges of life in Palestine. Grace’s current pastor, Ben Trawick, said that from the first class Grace’s members were looking for ways to share ministry with a partner church in Palestine. Their 12-year friendship with St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in the northern West Bank city of Nablus was born. From the start, connections were strong — from a real-time signing of a covenant between the two congregations to numerous visits of Grace members to Nablus and trips to Virginia by members of St. Philip’s. The two congregations exchange video greetings and have … [Read more...]
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