The 2022 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be in Louisville, Kentucky – not Columbus, Ohio, as originally planned – and will be a mixture of in-person committee work and online plenary sessions. That’s at the heart of action the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly took in closed session Dec. 3. Rick Jones, communications director for the Office of the General Assembly, said in an email following that closed session: Dates for the 2022 General Assembly have not yet been set, although it’s likely to be in the summer. There will be 13 General Assembly committees, meeting at the denomination’s national offices in downtown Louisville on a staggered schedule, three at a time over the course of two weeks. The committee meetings will be live-streamed, so people not at the meetings could tune in. There will be “additional time allocated to each committee to handle all business.” Plenary sessions will be held online “with the exception of … [Read more...]
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Outlook Reporting 10 hours ago
What will the 2022 General Assembly look like? Plans are taking shape
The 2022 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be in Louisville, Kentucky – not Columbus, Ohio, as originally planned – and will be a mixture of in-person committee work and online plenary sessions. That’s at the heart of action the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly took in closed session Dec. 3. Rick Jones, communications director for the Office of the General Assembly, said in an email following that closed session: Dates for the 2022 General Assembly have not yet been set, although it’s likely to… continue reading... -
Worship Resources 15 hours ago
December 6 — Preparing for Christ during Advent: Family faith formation @ home
Welcome Bring your family’s Advent wreath to the center of your gathering. Make sure you have matches or a lighter. One: Last week we lit the first Advent candle that invited us to wait during this special season. Today we continue to celebrate Advent as we watch for the coming of Jesus. All: Emmanuel, God with us. (light the first Advent candle from last week) One: Our circle to remind us of God’s unending love and presence. All: Emmanuel, God with us. One: The evergreens… continue reading... -
Book Reviews 20 hours ago
Revolution of Values: Reclaiming Public Faith for the Common Good
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove IVP Books, 216 pages 2020 has been a year of tumult. (Perhaps the understatement of the year.) A global pandemic. Renewed protests over the killing of Black men and women going about their daily lives. Federal troops dispatched to American cities allegedly in response to said protests in numbers unprecedented in this century. A presidential election rife with racist claims, partisan bickering and finger-pointing, misinformation about voter fraud and even more fake news. How do mainline Protestants navigate this world in a faith-filled way? In his new book,… continue reading...
Parties in Stamford case had tried to expedite process in order to get a ruling on the merits of the case January 1, 1995 Uncategorized117 views The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission -- in sidestepping the question of exactly how deeply a session should be required to probe into the private life of a gay elder who has acknowledged being in a committed, life-long relationship but has declined to say whether he is sexually active -- has put the question off but has not put it to rest.- Ministering with the Earth January 1, 1998 Book Reviews157 views By Mary Elizabeth MooreChalice. 1998. 226 pp. Pb. $19.99. ISBN 0-8272-2323-4 Ministering with the Earth is a quiltwork, both the on-the-ground activity and Moore's book about so ministering. Moore, professor of theology and Christian education at Claremont School of Theology, is fond of the metaphor, suitably pastoral and feminist.
- Remembered Voice: Reclaiming the Legacy of 'Neo-Orthodoxy' January 1, 1998 Book Reviews134 views By Douglas John HallWJKP. 1998. 145 pp. Pb. $18. ISBN 0-664-25772-0 It was in this order. I first read Tillich's Dynamics of Faith. Riveting. Next came The Courage to Be. Gripping. Then I went back and read the first volume of the Systematic Theology. Things began to make sense. Next came Biblical Religion and the Search for Ultimate Reality. Positive.
Getting social for the sake of the gospel November 17, 2020 Editorials1 comment What is your relationship to social media? What about the congregation’s use of social media? I confess to having a love/hate relationship with it. In exasperation after one too many hurtful comments, I deleted my Facebook account and felt utter relief as a result. While I occasionally miss seeing pictures of friends and their families, never once have I wanted to reengage with the platform. I do, however, have Instagram and Twitter accounts. I suppose I am more than ambivalent but less than enthusiastic about social media. However, I do recognize the importance of using every medium available to us to pro...
Meet the Outlook’s interim leadership: Roger Gench and Jay Blossom November 16, 2020 Editor's viewpoints1 comment Dear Presbyterian Outlook reader,
On behalf of the Presbyterian Outlook Foundation Board of Directors I am pleased to share the news that Roger J. Gench and Jay S.F. Blossom have accepted the call to serve as our interim editors. In this period of transition, we are committed to providing our readers and supporters with denominational coverage, excellent commentary and theologically sound church resources at the level of excellence to which you have been accustomed. Roger and Jay are well positioned to provide strong leadership during this interim time and are both committed to maintaining t...
Goodbye, thank you, and a prayer November 13, 2020 Editor's viewpoints1 comment Friends,
On my last day as editor of the Presbyterian Outlook, I want to say one final time: Thank you! I will cherish this season of ministry and rejoice always in the people with whom I’ve had the privilege of working alongside. I leave you with this prayer:
God who calls and sends, creates and names us, you make of us one people, one household, one body. We too often fail to treasure the gift of one another, but in times of transition, in notable milestones and moments of clarity, you grant us glimpses of the grace afforded us in our relationships with each other. For writers who attempt to shap...
What will the 2022 General Assembly look like? Plans are taking shape
Tagged With: COGA • GA225
December 6 — Preparing for Christ during Advent: Family faith formation @ home
Welcome Bring your family’s Advent wreath to the center of your gathering. Make sure you have matches or a lighter. One: Last week we lit the first Advent candle that invited us to wait during this special season. Today we continue to celebrate Advent as we watch for the coming of Jesus. All: Emmanuel, God with us. (light the first Advent candle from last week) One: Our circle to remind us of God’s unending love and presence. All: Emmanuel, God with us. One: The evergreens to remind us the hope we find in Jesus is eternal. All: Emmanuel, God with us. One: The four candles mark the four weeks of joy and anticipation as we wait for the babe in the manger and the coming of Christ again. All: Emmanuel, God with us. One: The candles remind us that Jesus is the light of the world. All: Emmanuel, God with us. One: Four candles are blue or purple as a reminder to prepare for Jesus’ coming. All: Emmanuel, God … [Read more...]
Protests, pandemics and politics: The top 2020 searches for Bible passages online
(RNS) — In the midst of a strange and stressful year, people turned to the same place they have for decades in their search for answers. The internet. But once online, many looked to a much older source: the Bible. The website BibleGateway.com, which allows users to read and search the text of multiple translations of the Bible, saw unusual spikes in related searches around the first COVID-19 lockdowns last spring, the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and the protests that followed in the summer and the U.S. presidential election this fall, according to Bible Gateway’s Year in Review. Users searched for Bible verses related to politics, social issues, the end times and — perhaps not surprisingly — pandemics at least 10 times more this year than they did in 2019, according to the website. It’s not unusual to see current events reflected in the website’s search results, according to Bible Gateway content manager Jonathan Petersen. “People are trying to find … [Read more...]
Revolution of Values: Reclaiming Public Faith for the Common Good
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove IVP Books, 216 pages 2020 has been a year of tumult. (Perhaps the understatement of the year.) A global pandemic. Renewed protests over the killing of Black men and women going about their daily lives. Federal troops dispatched to American cities allegedly in response to said protests in numbers unprecedented in this century. A presidential election rife with racist claims, partisan bickering and finger-pointing, misinformation about voter fraud and even more fake news. How do mainline Protestants navigate this world in a faith-filled way? In his new book, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove explores the religious culture wars that have paved the way for 2020 to be so… 2020. His primary argument: The religious right taught America to misread the Bible. Since the late 1970s, Wilson-Hartgrove posits, political operatives have worked to frame the cultural concerns of conservative white Christians as the moral issues in public life. Having grown up in the Southern … [Read more...]
Expecting during the unexpected: Becoming a father with Joseph
My wife and I are due during Holy Week of 2021. We’re both full-time co-pastors, which means our kid isn’t just a PK (pastor’s kid), he or she will be a PKx2. Naturally, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for our child-to-be. “Sorry we missed your birthday, kid, we were busy telling people about how their sins killed God on Good Friday.” The feeling of expecting is different than I imagined it would be. I suppose I thought pregnancy would be nine months of pure unadulterated bliss, full of belly touches, baby kicks and concrete hope. And let me be clear, those things are phenomenal. In the throes of such societal uncertainty, fist-bumping my child is about as cool as it gets. Even so, when people hear that we’re expecting, their response is often the same, “You must be so excited!” It’s an understandable response. And yes, it’s exciting. When I first found out we were pregnant I drove my father’s jeep around my hometown with tears in my eyes listening to Taylor Swift’s “1989” album. But … [Read more...]
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary pilots ‘Hope and Healing’ program
(PNS) A continuing education program at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is teaching rural faith leaders how to better respond to mental health crises. The first iteration of the program — “Hope and Healing: Mental Health First Aid Training” —wrapped up last month. It included about 20 participants who took part in a three-session course offered by the seminary’s Continuing Education office, with assistance from the Pittsburgh Pastoral Institute. The course included case studies as well as first-aid training, which taught participants how to quickly assess mental health issues and make appropriate referrals. “What we wanted to do was to equip these pastors to be the equivalent of spiritual and mental health EMTs,” or first responders, who could step into a situation and know what to do, said Dr. Helen Blier, project director. “From our first to our third session, we were able to notice an observable change in the confidence and comfort level participants had in … [Read more...]
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