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Thursday,
May 14, 2009
Come
to this page first...
it is
the quick and easy way to miss nothing
of
All the National PC(USA) news
Something we may have overlooked? Please, tell
us |
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| Reyes-Chow
and Merritt hit Internet with radio broadcast,
“God Complex” – by Leslie Scanlon /
The Presbyterian Outlook |
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During
its second broadcast, the new “God Complex”
radio show, a brand-new, bicoastal Internet radio
venture featuring General Assembly moderator Bruce
Reyes-Chow and blogger Carol Merritt, took on
the question of whether small churches can continue
to afford an educated clergy.
The show is another
effort to draw people in to conversation and to
build community through technology – in this
case, through Internet radio. People can listen
live at noon EDT each week or check out the archives,
and check out its chatroom, music, and commentators.
Its tagline, “Where fully divine runs smack
dab into fully human,” was chosen through
online voting.
Nearly 700 people
listened to the first episode. |
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Biographical
information released for Youth Ministries Task
Force
Fifteen-member panel will report to next summer’s
General Assembly |
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(PNS)
– The task force is charged with seeking
input from youth, young adults and adults and
with finding and presenting model programs that
focus on the needs and development of youth ministries.
The group will
report back to the 219th General Assembly in 2010
with specific recommendations for designing youth
ministries under a new vision for youth for the
PC(USA). |
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| 'Volunteerism?'
– blog by Carmen Fowler
/ The Layman |
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"There’s
a new law in the land. The new $5.7 billion service
law is officially called “The Edward M. Kennedy
Serve America Act,” and it increases the
number of Americorps paid “volunteers”
from 75,000 to 250,000 over the next eight years.
I am not worried (as some are) that this will
provide funding for folks to pursue political
agendas (people are going to pursue political
agendas, it is what people do). I am concerned
that it redefines “volunteerism” and
further reinforces the notion that there should
always be something in it for “me.”
"I come from
a community service, volunteerism oriented family.
My mom mobilized and equipped volunteers of all
kinds. My dad loved his years coaching Little
League and raising money for Sertoma’s youth
ranches and opportunities for deaf children. If
you had told my parents that one day we would
have to pay people to volunteer, their brows would
have furrowed. That’s contrary to the entire
spirit of the volunteerism. Yes, and it is certainly
contrary to the Spirit of authentic servanthood..." |
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Renews
Digital
– May 2009
A publication of Presbyterians for Renewal
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Contents:
• Why
another synod?
"...Some people, remembering the "two
synod" proposal from a decade ago, immediately
assumed this is what PFR was reviving. It is not.
Proposing the creation of one "revisionist"
synod and one "traditionalist" synod,
and asking congregations to affiliate one place
or the other, would be like declaring civil war.
Bad idea..."
• The Conspiracy of the Insignificant
• Come Hungry!: 2009 Christian Life Conference
• New Parnerships for Churches Engaged in
Mission
• TAG Consulting |
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| Scripture
lessons for today
– from
the Lectionary |
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"Clap
your hands, all you peoples;
shout to God with
loud songs of joy.
For the LORD, the Most High, is awesome,
a great king over
all the earth.
He subdued peoples under us,
and nations under
our feet..."
"The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a
second time, while he was still confined in the
court of the guard: Thus says the LORD who made
the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish
it – the LORD is his name: Call to me and
I will answer you, and will tell you great and
hidden things that you have not known..."
"Welcome those who are weak in faith, but
not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions.
Some believe in eating anything, while the weak
eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise
those who abstain, and those who abstain must
not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has
welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgment on
servants of another?..."
"Jesus then asked him, "What
is your name?" He said, "Legion";
for many demons had entered him. They begged him
not to order them to go back into the abyss..." |
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Today
in the Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study
The
Presbytery of Chicago |
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"At
First Presbyterian of Arlington Heights, the congregation’s
children have a growing relationship with children
of the Presbyterian Community in Kinshasa (CPC).
The congregation became acquainted with the African
church through Caryl Weinberg, a former PC(USA)
mission co-worker...The children have been learning
about the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
and what it means to give to mission work... " |
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| Vote
chart for 08-B: 77
yes – 93 no |
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If
the 3 remaining presbyteries would vote the same
way on 08-B as they did on 01-A (2001/2002), the
final result would be the rejection of 08-B by
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77
yes - 96 no (corrected numbers)
A margin of 11%:
44.5% - 55.5%
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Please,
email
results to us. Or call 641.673.9389. Thank
you! |
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News of all other churches.
in the USA and worldwide.
and their interaction with
the world around them.
Included: opinions, resources
|
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Voices
from the entire spectrum
Therefore:
Always something to like,
always something to dislike,
always something to ponder...
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| 'Vatican
to stop missionizing Jews' / The Jerusalem
Post |
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After
meeting the grand mufti of Jerusalem, Muhammad
Ahmad Hussein, and praying at the Western Wall
on Tuesday, Pope Benedict XVI arrived for a historic
meeting with the chief rabbis at Heichal Shlomo,
next to the capital's Great Synagogue, and agreed
that the Catholic Church will cease all missionary
activity among Jews.
In his welcoming
address, Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger thanked
the pope for his announcement, calling it an "historic
agreement and, "for us, an immensely important
message." |
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Egypt:
Convert’s religious rights case threatens
Islamists
Muslims said to fear that freedom to legally
change religion would wreak societal havoc. |
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Cairo
(Compass) – In the dilapidated office here
of three lawyers representing one of Egypt’s
“most wanted” Christian converts, the
mood was hopeful in spite of a barrage of death
threats against them and their client.
At a court hearing
on May 2, a judge agreed to a request by the convert
from Islam to join the two cases he has opened
to change his ID card to reflect his new faith.
The court set June 13 as the date to rule on the
case of Maher Ahmad El-Mo’otahssem Bellah
El-Gohary’s – who is in hiding from
outraged Islamists – and lawyer Nabil Ghobreyal
said he was hopeful that progress thus far will
lead to a favorable ruling.
At the same time,
El-Gohary’s lawyers termed potentially “catastrophic”
for Egyptian human rights a report sent to the
judge by the State Council, a consultative body
of Egypt’s Administrative Court. Expressing
outrage at El-Gohary’s “audacity”
to request a change in the religious designation
on his ID, the report claims the case is a threat
to societal order and violates sharia (Islamic
law). |
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| Muslim
leader condemns Israeli closure of 'papal' press
center |
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JERUSALEM
— (ENI) The grand mufti of Jerusalem has
protested that the Israeli authorities prevented
his meeting with journalists taking place at a
hotel in East Jerusalem. The press conference
was held in an open field.
Dressed in his
ceremonial clothes, Grand Mufti Muhammad Ahmad
Hussein, who was to meet Pope Benedict XVI on
May 12, said that Israel had rejected the right
of Palestinians to explain their situation to
representatives of the international media. |
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| Pope
gunman wants to convert to Christianity
/ AP |
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ANKARA,
Turkey – The gunman who shot Pope John Paul
II says he would like to convert to Christianity
at a baptism ceremony at the Vatican after his
release from prison in January. |
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Putting
things in context
By John L. Allen Jr. / The New York Times |
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"...I’m
part of the press corps traveling with the pope,
which gives me the chance to watch what Benedict
is saying and doing. I saw him at Mt. Nebo in
Jordan, recalling the “inseparable bond”
between the Catholic Church and Judaism; I watched
him at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, vowing
to “combat anti-Semitism wherever it is found”;
and I saw him visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem,
a moment of deep solidarity with Jews.
"Whatever
the disappointments from the Yad Vashem visit,
they’re not indicative of a pope with a lack
of respect for Judaism, or one who’s indifferent
to either anti-Semitism or the memory of the Holocaust..."
"I also know
that prior to his election as pope, then-Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger bluntly acknowledged Christian
complicity in the Holocaust..." |
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| Question
of sovereign Palestine raised in Pope's visit
to Bethlehem
/ ENI |
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Pope
Benedict XVI spoke in favour of Palestinian sovereignty
in an address in Bethlehem during his pilgrimage
to the Holy Land. |
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| Pope:
West Bank fence is a symbol of 'stalemate'
/ Haaretz |
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Pope
Benedict XVI yesterday branded the West Bank separation
fence a symbol of "stalemate" between
Israel and the Palestinians, urging both sides
to break a "spiral of violence." The
pope also called for "a sovereign Palestinian
homeland."
"Towering
over us, as we gather here this afternoon, is
a stark reminder of the stalemate that relations
between Israelis and Palestinians seem to have
reached - the wall," he said, standing by
the fence at a refugee camp in Bethlehem, Jesus'
birthplace. |
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Is
Alzheimer's disease in your future? New tool may
answer question by Todd Neale /
ABC NEWS
Dementia Index may help predict incurable degenerative
condition |
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A
15-point index including both conventional and
newly identified risk factors for the conditions
correctly classified 88 percent of patients according
to their risk of developing dementia within six
years, Deborah Barnes of the University of California
San Francisco and colleagues reported online in
Neurology. |
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Science,
spirituality, and some mismatched socks
Researchers turn up evidence of 'spooky' quantum
behavior and put it to work in encryption and
philosophy
By Gautam Naik / The Wall Street Journal |
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"One
of quantum physics' crazier notions is that two
particles seem to communicate with each other
instantly, even when they're billions of miles
apart. Albert Einstein, arguing that nothing travels
faster than light, dismissed this as impossible
"spooky action at a distance."
"The great
man may have been wrong. A series of recent mind-bending
laboratory experiments has given scientists an
unprecedented peek behind the quantum veil, confirming
that this realm is as mysterious as imagined.
"Quantum physics
is the study of the very small – atoms, photons
and other particles. Unlike the cause-and-effect
of our everyday physical world, subatomic particles
defy common sense and behave in wacky ways. That
includes the fact that a photon, which is a particle
of light, exists in a haze of multiple behaviors.
They spin in many ways, such as "up"
or "down," at the same time. Even trickier,
it's only when you take a peek – by measuring
it – that the photon fixes into a particular
state of spin.
"Stranger
still is entanglement. When two photons get "entangled"
they behave like a joint entity. Even when they're
miles apart, if the spin of one particle is changed,
the spin of the other instantly changes, too.
This direct influence of one object on another
distant one is called non-locality.
"These peculiar
properties have already been proven in a lab and
tapped to improve data encryption. They could
also one day be used to build much faster computers.
Some philosophers see quantum phenomena as a sign
of far greater unknown forces at work and it bolsters
their view that a spiritual dimension exists..." |
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| Habitat
for Humanity gets $100M gift / AP |
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The
housing market may be sputtering, but Habitat
for Humanity International is getting a $100 million
gift from an Atlanta developer who said his work
has offered him a look at the struggle of poor
people to find decent housing.
The nonprofit group
announced Thursday it received the largest individual
contribution in its history, an offering that
will help Habitat build 60,000 homes around the
globe.
It's one of the
largest gifts in recent years to a group devoted
to social services, according to the Center on
Philanthropy at Indiana University. A center official
called it "remarkable" – especially
in the midst of a gloomy economy. |
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| CWS
begins delivering aid to thousands displaced by
conflict in Pakistan by Lesley Crosson /
Church World Service |
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ISLAMABAD
– With hundreds of thousands of people in
northwest Pakistan fleeing fierce fighting in
the region, international humanitarian agency
Church World Service (CWS) has personnel from
its Pakistan/Afghanistan offices working to provide
basic shelter, food, water and sanitation to those
displaced in the region.
Initial assessments
by CWS aid workers on the ground indicate as many
as 800,000 are now displaced by the most recent
violence, on top of conflicts that pushed out
a half-million people in the last year. |
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Moral-values
groups hail tax ruling
By Ralph Z. Hallow / The Washington Times |
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In
a move cheered by conservatives, the Internal
Revenue Service has ruled that ministers and pastors
do not risk losing their tax-exempt status for
engaging in political acts on behalf of issues
such as traditional-values advocacy.
The IRS said in
a letter to the Niemoller Foundation that the
Houston-based nonprofit organization did not violate
its tax-exempt status when it brought together
pastors and politicians to champion moral issues
during Republican Gov. Rick Perry's 2006 re-election
campaign.
Short of endorsing
a particular candidate or spending substantial
portions of their nonprofit budgets on legislative
lobbying, ministers and their churches are free
to engage in political acts on behalf of moral
values, the IRS said. Clergy are also free to
encourage their congregations' members to get
out the vote based on those issues and values.
|
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Religious
people are better citizens, study says
By Daniel Burke / RNS |
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"First,
the silver lining: people of faith are better
citizens and better neighbors, and America is
“amazingly” religious compared to other
countries, says Harvard University professor Robert
Putnam.
"Now, the
cloud: young Americans are “vastly more secular”
than their older counterparts, according to Putnam.
“That is a
stunning development,” Putnam said. “The
youth are the future. Some of them are going to
get religious over time, but most of them are
not.”
"...religious
people may be God’s gift to civic engagement,
Putnam and University of Notre Dame scholar David
Campbell argue in their book, “American Grace:
How Religion is Reshaping our Civic and Political
Lives,” which is scheduled to be released
next year..." |
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Customs
confusion – New
visa rules trip up traveling religious workers.
By Bobby Ross Jr. / Christianity Today |
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After
an overnight flight from Denver, Christian singer
Don Francisco arrived at London's Heathrow Airport
intending to perform in an Easter music program
in the English port town of Poole.
Instead, the 63-year-old
American said, he was photographed, fingerprinted,
and taken to a small detention room with a seatless
toilet bolted to the wall.
Hours later, Francisco
said, armed guards led him to a van parked on
the tarmac, where he was ordered inside a cage
and driven to a British Airways jet.
"They escorted
me on board, where they handed the stewardess
an envelope containing my passport, boarding passes,
and other paperwork," he said.
Just like that,
Francisco was sent back home. His crime: listing
his occupation as "gospel singer" and
failing to obtain a religious worker visa –
something he had never needed on previous visits
to the country. |
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Marriage
as a Mormon value
By Julia Duin / The Washington Times |
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"Anyone
wonder why the Mormons do so well at marrying
off their young? I learned why last Sunday when
I dropped by the ward in Chevy Chase, a brick
building on Western Avenue. Sharply dressed 20-something
women and men in white shirts and ties chatted
in the foyer underneath scenes from the Book of
Mormon. A few couples clasped hands.
"The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' percentage
of married members (71 percent) is second only
to Hindus (79 percent), according to the Pew Forum.
Every other religious group ranges from 57 percent
to 60 percent.
"One reason
for these Mormon twosomes is that their church
actively fosters meet-ups. There are whole Young
Single Adult (YSA) wards for the 18-to-30-year-old
set..." |
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Italy
makes illegal immigration a crime
By Nicole Winfield / AP |
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Italy’s
lower chamber of parliament passed a hotly debated
bill yesterday making it a crime to enter or stay
in Italy illegally – the latest effort by
Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s conservative
forces to crack down on illegal migration.
The legislation
makes entering or staying in Italy without permission
a crime punishable by a fine of EUR5,000-EUR10,000.
Migrants would not face prison, but the bill provides
for up to three years in prison for anyone who
rents housing to an illegal immigrant.
The measure must
still be approved by the Senate for it to take
effect. |
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Socialism
and secularism suck vitality out of society
By Dennis Prager |
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"Outside
of politics, sports, and popular entertainment,
how many living Germans, or French, or Austrians,
or even Brits can you name?...
"Even well-informed
people who love art and literature and who follow
developments in science and medicine would be
hard pressed to come up with many, more often
any, names. In terms of greatness in literature,
art, music, the sciences, philosophy, and medical
breakthroughs, Europe has virtually fallen off
the radar screen.
"This is particularly
meaningful given how different the answer would
have been had you asked anyone the same question
between just 80 and 120 years ago – and certainly
before that. A plethora of world-renowned names
would have flowed...
"What has
happened is that Europe, with a few exceptions,
has lost its creativity, intellectual excitement,
industrial innovation, and risk taking. Europe’s
creative energy has been sapped..." |
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Demanding
to be served – Gay
activists and religious freedom
By Chuck Colson |
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"eHarmony
is a popular online dating service designed by
Neil Clark Warren, an evangelical Christian psychologist.
The site claims that, on average, 236 eHarmony
members marry every day. That’s good news.
"The bad news
is that, in 2005, a man claimed the company violated
his rights by not offering a matchmaking service
to homosexuals. He lodged a complaint with the
New Jersey attorney general, who found probable
cause that eHarmony had violated state anti-discrimination
laws. eHarmony vigorously disagreed.
"Nevertheless,
last year, eHarmony agreed to develop a matchmaking
service for same-sex couples – and pay $55,000
in fines.
"...we’ve
seen this scenario over and over again...
"It’s
as if the First Amendment no longer exists. I
can’t help but suspect that radical gays
deliberately target outfits run by religious believers
in order to force them to accommodate their political
agenda – or go out of business..." |
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Torture
debate prompts evangelical soul-searching
By Eric Gorski / AP |
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A
number of evangelical leaders have made opposition
to torture without exceptions a moral cause over
the past three years, part of a broadening of
the movement's agenda beyond traditional culture
war issues. Others in the movement, including
many Christian right leaders, have largely resisted
or stayed silent.
Now, President
Barack Obama's release of Bush administration
memos justifying harsh interrogation techniques
and a new poll showing white evangelicals more
sympathetic to torture have leaders taking stock
of whether evangelical opinion has shifted on
the topic.
The findings immediately
prompted questions for evangelicals: How exactly
did poll participants define torture, since the
survey did not? Did evangelicals reach their conclusions
because of their religious beliefs, or their politics
or ideological leanings? How do you untangle those
factors from each other? |
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More
giving, less taxing – A
Christianity Today editorial
President Obama's tax plan will hurt the very
people he's trying to help. |
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"In
recent weeks, Congress has been putting the breaks
on President Obama's plan to raise an additional
$318 billion in taxes to pay for the 2010 federal
budget. Aside from the federal budget's mind-blowing
cost of $3.6 trillion, his proposed tax increases
would effectively decrease income for charitable
organizations — and that would have devastating
consequences for America's many needy citizens.
"Specifically,
Obama's plan calls for significantly reducing
tax deductions for charitable giving for the wealthiest
taxpayers (couples making $250,000 a year, and
individuals making $200,000 a year)..." |
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Remedial
economics: Money, greed, and God
By James Tonkowich / IRD |
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"...In
the light of current events, the “failure
of capitalism” seems axiomatic, making the
title of Richards’ book look a bit out of
date. Look, for example, at the sub-prime mortgage
crisis, the drop in housing prices, and the crash
of the stock market that brought the crash of
the retirement hopes of thousands. Then there
is the probable bankruptcies of Chrysler and GM,
rising unemployment, and overall economic uncertainty.
"The suggested
responses are all statist: more government control
of the markets, that is, government control of
the price of everything from healthcare to corn,
interest rates to executive compensation...
"...before
Christians make any sudden moves to reject capitalism
and the free market, we need to think carefully
about the way the world actually works. That means
thinking carefully about economics. “Economic
truths are truths,” Jay Richards writes,
“But they don’t stand outside God’s
dominion. Being a Christian doesn’t mean
you can disregard economic facts.” |
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Pastor:
10 dumb things smart Christians believe
By Lillian Kwon / Christian Post |
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Many
Christians, new and seasoned alike, tend to bank
on promises that God never made, says one pastor.
So when God doesn't
come through on those "promises," some
are likely to become angry at God.
And "that
to me as a pastor over all my years is always
one of the saddest things," says Larry Osborne,
teaching pastor at North Coast Church in Vista,
Calif.
Osborne, whose
church draws over 7,000 people, is hoping to spare
a lot of Jesus followers from that anger. He’s
also hoping Christians will peruse Scripture more
and align themselves with what God really says
rather than the “word on the street.”
So he spelled out
some of the "dumb things smart Christians
believe" – ten, to be specific –
in Ten
Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe |
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R-E-S-P-E-C-T:
Should Christians "respect" other religions?
We are called to love and respect Muslims, not
Islam.
By Albert Mohler |
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"...evangelical
Christians may respect the sincerity with which
Muslims hold their beliefs, but we cannot respect
the beliefs themselves. We can respect Muslim
people for their contributions to human welfare,
scholarship, and culture. We can respect the brilliance
of Muslim scholarship in the medieval era and
the wonders of Islamic art and architecture. But
we cannot respect a belief system that denies
the truth of the gospel, insists that Jesus was
not God's Son, and takes millions of souls captive.
"This does
not make for good diplomacy, but we are called
to witness, not public relations...
"Respect is
a problematic category. In the end, Christians
must show respect for Muslims by sharing the Gospel
of Jesus Christ in the spirit of love and truth.." |
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Some
Christ Universal Temple members oppose Rev. Carlton
Pearson's appointment – by
Margaret Ramirez / The Chicago Tribune
Hundreds of Christ Universal Temple members oppose
minister's appointment |
| |
Rev.
Carlton Pearson is no stranger to controversy,
and his arrival to Chicago brings a new storm.
Pearson, once regarded
as one of the nation's most influential Pentecostal
preachers, was denounced as a heretic for his
teaching that everyone goes to heaven: Muslims,
Buddhists, gays, even the devil. He lost his followers,
his friends and his Oklahoma church. After being
shunned as an outcast, Pearson continued preaching
his controversial "gospel of inclusion"
and built a new following that raised his profile
again.
Now, Pearson faces
a different battle as he assumes leadership of
the 6,000-member Christ Universal Temple, one
of the Chicago's largest congregations.
Several hundred
members of the congregation are protesting Pearson's
appointment as senior minister, saying he lacks
the theological training to lead a New Thought
church like Christ Universal. The movement uses
a metaphysical interpretation of the Bible and
focuses on healing, meditation and thinking positive
thoughts to improve one's life.
Related: New
Thought / Wikipedia |
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| More
Thin Places in Exodus – Blog
by Mark D. Roberts |
| |
"In
my last post, I examined Mt. Sinai as a thin place,
that is, a place where God is experienced with
unusual proximity... If ever there was a thin
place, this would have to be Sinai, because that’s
where God first revealed himself to Moses in the
burning bush, and then made his presence known
in forming the covenant and giving the law to
Israel. Yet, as I mentioned at the end of my last
post, we have no reason to believe that the Israelites
continued to regard Sinai as a special place where
they might experience God in a special way..."
Related: Perrmalink
for this series of blogs on Thin Places |
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Best
of It: Reinhold Niebuhr - Prophet of Christian
Realism (Part 2)
Blog series by Michael Kruse about John Stackhouse,
Making the best of it |
| |
"So
what can we learn from Niebuhr’s Christian
Realism? John Stackhouse begins his reflection
on Niebuhr’s theologian in Making the Best
of It with the following observations..."
Related: Index
to this series of blogs |
| |
Post
Cold-War era needs vibrant religion news, says
Niebuhr
“Religion writing is dimming if not going
dark."
By Peter Kenny / ENI |
| |
INDIANAPOLIS
— The 21st century world cannot be understood
without understanding religion, says U.S. religion
journalist and professor Gustav Niebuhr.
“It’s
a terrible irony that religion is so prominent
in the world and yet so absent from the news,”
Niebuhr, a Presbyterian, told a gathering of journalists
from two groupings of North American journalists,
the Associated Church Press and the Evangelical
Press Association. “The post-Cold War world
can’t be understood without understanding
religion.”
Currently an associate
professor of media and religion at Syracuse University,
Niebuhr said that since his days as the religion
reporter for The New York Times, newspapers are
cutting back on news about religion and the civil
society with which it intersects. |
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