LOUISVILLE – Dinner was over, parliamentary training was done. And it was question-and-answer time for the co-moderators of the 2018 General Assembly, Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri and Cindy Kohlmann. They gathered in Louisville Nov. 16 with the moderators of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mid-councils at the annual Moderators’ Conference. Here’s some of what the elected church leaders from presbyteries and synods wanted to know of the General Assembly leaders. How did you meet? The short version: a mutual friend, who knew that Kohlmann was considering standing for moderator, introduced them. “I felt overwhelmingly that I wanted to stand with someone who was Spanish-speaking,” and from Puerto Rico, said Kohlmann, who’s a minister and mid-council executive. So the friend, who knew of Cintrón-Olivieri’s years of service as a ruling elder in the denomination, an English as a Second Language teacher and a conference administrator, asked if she would consider standing as well, and if … [Read more...]
After the Longest Night (album & songbook)
Steve Thorngate Reviewed by Luke Hyder After the Longest Night (album & songbook) by Steve Thorngate Advent can be a season of awkward juxtapositions. We begin a new church year just as the calendar year is coming to a close. We celebrate the coming of the Light of the World just as the nights have become their darkest. We worship in longing and hopeful preparation for One who has already come, and yet who is still to come. Finding balance between the conflicting themes of Advent can be a difficult task, especially when planning worship services and choosing songs for our congregations to sing. Steve Thorngate, in his newly released project of songs for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, “After the Longest Night,” has struck that balance beautifully, giving the church a collection of songs, hymns and canticles that can be sung throughout this season and across many types of churches. The album and accompanying digital songbook provide an attractive and accessible mix of original … [Read more...]
Prayer for the victims of the California fires
Devastation. Displacement. Death. Lord, the images from California capture only a fraction of the suffering and pain consuming your people who seek missing loved ones, wait to return to non-existent homes and worry about what comes next week, next month, next year. Hearing the voices of public officials and fire fighters, citizens and local politicians, all trying to remain hopeful, helpful and calm, we know they are fearful, frayed and exhausted. We ask, Holy Comforter, that you envelop them with courage and strengthen them for the work ahead. We pray that the fire of the Holy Spirit will replace the flames of grief with those of stamina, power and peace. We trust, God, that your breath of mercy, grace and rebirth will blow among the winds that spread destruction and bring relief and the assurance of your good and promised future. Knowing that the earth and all that is in it belongs to you, Lord of All, we commit to caring for creation, every person, every creature, in ways that … [Read more...]
Mentoring: Biblical, Theological and Practical Perspectives
Dean K. Thompson and D. Cameron Murchison, editors Eerdmans Publishing, 240 pages Reviewed by Heath K. Rada Run, don’t walk, to purchase your copy of this new book. Outstanding theological leaders Dean Thompson and Cam Murchison have assembled material from some of the most respected and competent mentors known to religious leaders today. This book has the potential to be a classic in its field, and fills a major void in studies of faithful mentoring. The various mentoring perspectives throughout this book will appeal to many mainline Protestant groups, their pastors and laity, evangelical pastors and laity, Roman Catholic clergy and laity, seminarians and their professors, youth and young adult advocates. But it also has significant information and foundational data related to African-American and Hispanic/Latino/a groups, advocates of women’s equality concerns, as well as a range of readers concerned about social and cultural criticism, ethics, theology, biblical studies, … [Read more...]
Caring is not enough: Reflections on transgender pastoral care
“Caring is not enough.” “Good intentions are not enough.” Erin Swenson, a licensed counselor and transgender Presbyterian minister from Atlanta, told those gathered for her workshop: “Caring is not enough.” Pastors, chaplains and other faith leaders need to be prepared, equipped and willing to journey alongside transgender and gender non-conforming people and their families. The “Beyond Pink and Blue: Transitions and Transgender Care” conference in Charlottesville, Virginia, kicked off on Sunday, October 21, in the wake of news out of Washington that President Trump planned to eliminate “transgender” and the rudimentary protections that went along with the category. Participants, presenters and the cloud of witnesses in the virtual cloud had no idea that the timing of the conference would resonate with culture so closely. No information, conversation or story felt theoretical; all seemed urgent and more a matter of life and death than ever. “A matter of life and death” is no … [Read more...]
It’s a great time to be a Presbyterian
It’s easy for me to “remember back” to the PC(USA)’s decisions to ordain gay ministers and allow for the officiating of same-gender marriages (according to the conscience of pastor and session), because the first of these decisions happened during my first pastoral internship, and I moderated the voting on the second. I know there were a lot of mixed emotions around these decisions at the time, but as a “younger person,” I couldn’t help but be excited that these two more socially liberal changes for the church might be an olive branch to younger people who had left or had never been in the church. My generation (of 1980s kids) and those following tend to be socially liberal as a majority, and many resent the church for condemning those they love (or themselves) who didn’t fit inside the church at the time. Now, whatever your theological leaning on these “social issues,” I do think Jesus would have wanted the church to be a safe space for all. And, if our Presbyterian denomination … [Read more...]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 297
- Next Page »
Tweet With Us
Be A Facebook Fan
Our World in Photos
Pin With Us