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National Celebration of Confessing Churches Movement
Reports from the Presbyterian Layman
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Theologian says Barmen relevant for today's Confessing Churches Professor Ulrich Mauser said there are theological links with the Confessing Church in Nazi Germany. |
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Volunteers are sought -- for whatever follows Rev. Doug Pratt of Allison Park, Pa. called Monday for others to consider whether they might continue the work as volunteers. |
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'Look up, pray up, stand up and speak up for the Lord' The pastor of the first Confessing Church, in a rousing sermon, urged nearly 1,000 Presbyterians to "look up, pray up, stand up and speak up" for the Lord. |
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Pre-Celebration sermon includes judgment, hope Dr. Roberta Hestenes culled judgment and hope from the book of Revelation in a sermon on the eve the three-day National Celebration of Confessing Churches. |
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More stories, photos on Celebration |
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National Celebration of Confessing Churches Movement
Reports from the Presbyterian Outlook
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Confessing churches should rebuild PC(USA) from the ground up, celebrants told Leslie Scanlon's report about the first day. |
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Struggle to live a holy life is about more than sex, Confessing Church audience told Leslie Scanlon's report about the second day. |
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National Celebration of Confessing Churches Movement
Reports from the Presbyterian News Service
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Re-forming? CCM celebrants unsure what grass-roots group might be becoming |
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Stay in the PC(USA), preachers urge Logan, Purves, Huffman tell CCM supporters not to ‘jump ship’ |
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Renewal is for the whole church, theologian says
Mauser says reformers’ goal must be greater unity, not schism |
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CCM reclaiming church, Williamson says Layman editor calls PC(USA) ‘the dry bones of a dying ecclesiastical structure’ |
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The Certain Trumpet
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The Presbyterian Forum's daily newspaper at the National Celebration of the Confessing Churches Movement, posted in PFD format. |
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Presbyterian Layman on PJC decision in Sebastian case
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"In essence, the presbytery court said sessions are not allowed to establish ordination standards for church officers that are not explicitly stated in the ordination vows published in the Book of Order -- even though the standards cited in the Sebastian resolution are grounded in Scripture and the denomination's Book of Confessions...." |
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Islam for kids: Required course
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In California, school subjects can be divided into the four Rs: Reading, 'Riting, 'Rithmetic -- and Religion.
A textbook used in public schools, including in San Francisco's schools, is creating a divide over its method of presenting Islam to children. Is it education or indoctrination, many wonder.
The book has been a mandatory portion of the state's social studies curriculum since 1991.
"Public schools are required by law to maintain strict neutrality on religious matters," said the Rev. Barry Lynn, the executive director of Americans United. "This project appears to have fallen well short of neutrality."
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Missing link to massacre? |
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A clue found last
month in southern Utah could link Mormon leader Brigham Young to the Mountain
Meadows Massacre of some 120 Arkansas immigrants in 1857.
A sheet of lead with writing scratched into it, found Jan. 22
below several inches of dirt and rat droppings, purports that the church president
ordered the slaying of pioneers in a wagon train bound from Arkansas to California. |
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| Ruins of an old Christian church on Lao-Tzu's turf
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"It's rather like the Hari Krishnas
being allowed to build a temple on the steps of St. Patrick's Cathedral,"
Mr. Palmer said on the telephone from Manchester, England, where he heads
the Alliance of Religions and Conservation, a nonprofit preservationist
group. "It immediately changes our picture of the church in China. Western
scholars had said that it was a heretical church, that it had no impact
on Chinese culture. And here we see that it was given an incredibly honored
position." |
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Former homosexual alleges TV show censored testimony
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When Stephen Bennett recently told a
national television audience how he left the gay lifestyle, he riveted the
attention of the largely homosexual and gay-friendly studio audience.
But when the show aired 13 days later, his testimony about the nature of
his religious conversion was missing - deliberately cut, Bennett believes,
by the show's producers, who objected to his Christian message.
Bennett says the producers deliberately misrepresented
his position by depicting him as someone who has been struggling with homosexuality
for the past 10 years, and not as a happily married man whose religious
conversion completely freed him from the same-sex attraction... |
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| A dust-covered bell tolled for all mankind
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On that national day of prayer
and remembrance, President Bush asked houses of worship across the nation
to ring their bells at noon.
The Rev. Daniel Matthews, Trinity's rector, called St. Paul's
building engineer at 11:30 a.m. that day.
"Mike, you've got to ring the bell at noon," Matthews said.
Mike explained the problem. St. Paul's has an electric bell and
the building still was without electricity. Besides, the bell tower was dark
and filled with dust and debris.
An hour later, Matthews got a call.
"This is Mike. Guess what? I crawled up in the tower with a flashlight,
found an iron pipe halfway up, dragged it up to the top of that big bell
and banged the hell out of it, praise the Lord," Matthews recalled.
But that wasn't the best part, Mike told the rector.
"When I got back down, I looked out the back door, and all the firefighters
and police and rescue workers had taken off their hats and put them over
their hearts." |
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The vote on Amendment 01-A: 40 yes - 109 no (2/27)
Details on our acclaimed, fast-loading Vote chart
See Graph: Cumulative Presbytery Votes by month (updated 02/27)
and the Chart of votes per Synod (updated 02/27) |
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Results of this week :
YES:
NO: South Dakota; Detroit (switched sides, a big surprise); Philadelphia; Charlotte; Cherokee
If the remaining presbyteries vote on 01-A as they did on 97-A, amendment 01-A will fail by 45 yes - 128 no (latest adjustment: 2/26)
(See our analysis "Will results be close to those of 97-A?")
Please,
to us. Thank you!
Official tally on all 8 amendments
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| Letters from readers |
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Jeffrey Hayes Wildrick on PJC decision in Sebastian case: "It is outrageous that in the Presbyterian Church (USA) a session should be prosecuted for making a statement of contemporary and Biblical orthodoxy. Perhaps some, having failed to impose their agenda on the church democratically, are now trying to achieve their ends through this legislative witch hunt." |
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Jim King "The PJC seems to be requiring the Sebastian church to pay attention to one section of the Book of Order, while forbidding them from exercising another section that is contained on the same page." |
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Bill Pawson writes about "the farcical ruling by the Central Florida PJC" and calls it "totalitarian abuse of the judicial process".
"The battle for the soul of our church has just taken a vicious and mean-spirited turn for the worse." |
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Ken Haines The PJC decision in the Sebastian case, " if allowed to stand, would vastly change the process for ordaining and examining elders and ministers... would rob the examinations process of any meaningful content or process of dialogue..." |
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Doug Ramaker responds to Viewpoint of Hal Porter. |
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George F. Lenz writes about the Viewpoint article " Straight or Gay" by Rev. Hal Porter : "What a strange "commentary" on a biblical passage by one supposedly having the education to be ordained a Minster of Word and Sacrament in our Church..." |
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Kathleen W. Busch "...If we kicked all the sinners out, there would be nobody in church on Sunday morning. I'm not afraid of sinners. I'm afraid of those who would call sin 'good.'" |
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Chris Brundage responds to Vern Gauthier's letter. |
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Ken Boyer writes in response to the Witherspoon Society’s statement on the defeat of "A" |
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Pete Smith referring to PNS article by Jerry Van Marter: "My wife and I would like to thank the PCUSA for requiring us to be faithful to one another, for at least another year, as we serve in the church. Next year, who knows? I hope we will still at least be friends..." |
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Jack Sharpe responding to Dean Waldt: "Love is not what I define it to be or what the church defines it to be or what culture has defined it to be... God defines love..." |
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Derek Simmons "I write recommending that everyone read the Waldt/Brundage letters... Thank you Rev. Waldt, and in a perverse sort of way, thank you too, Rev. Brundage." |
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Larry Rued "...Both Ms. Allen and Mr. Snelling commented on lobbying of the General Assembly Commissioners. I believe that lobbying extends far beyond. Lobbying can occur in the selection of members to a Presbytery's nominating Committee. Lobbying can occur in the selection of Commissioner nominees placed before the Nominating Committee..." |
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