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All the national PC(USA) news
"from left to right"
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Task Force discusses how to close meetings –
By John H. Adams, The Layman |
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The Theological Task Force on Peace, Purity and Unity wrestled briefly with how to exercise its recently granted authority to close its meetings to the public without resolving the issue. |
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Statement by the Presbyterian Lay Committee
on the developments in the Episcopal Church, USA |
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"...the Biblical ethic is no safer among Presbyterians than among Episcopalians, for it is under siege from Presbyterian officials who refuse to enforce the standard, officially sanctioned programs that defy it, and activist groups that undermine it..." |
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| "To" Christians and "for" Christians – by Jim Berkley |
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When Scripture is read and interpreted, what does the reader/exegete say?
"Listen TO the Word of God" means that "What you're going to hear IS the Word of God – every bit of it – and we need to attend to it...
"Listen FOR the Word of God" implies that what you're going to hear from the Bible is a mixed bag... |
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Perspectives – August 2003 issue
An online publication of the Office of the General Assembly |
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• Reflections of a GA Commissioner – by Kathryn Baker
• Conflict Management 101 – by Susan R. Andrews
• Indian Hill Visit – by Dan Krutz
• Racial Ethnic Women and PW: Bringing Wholeness to the Table – by Catrelia Hunter |
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| John Rhea dies at age 92 |
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Rhea was instrumental in establishing older-adult ministries in the Presbyterian Church (USA), and was the founder of the National Association of Retired Ministers, Their Spouses and Survivors. |
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News of and for the wider Church,
in the USA and around the world
plus: opinions, resources
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Will human beings truly remain human? – By Wesley J. Smith
Transhumanists' Brave New World |
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Transhumanism is a nascent and explicitly eugenic philosophy that advocates seizing control of human evolution through bioengineering. Transhumanists come from the highest levels of academe.
Transhumanists are biotech-absolutists. They assert that humans should not merely be allowed to metamorphose themselves through plastic surgery, cyber-technology, and the like, but should have the right to control the destiny of their genes via progeny design and fabrication. This could include replacing natural chromosomes with artificial chromosomes, increasing or decreasing the number of chromosomes in offspring or clones, and even, in Professor James Hughes’s words, "mixing species boundaries."
University of Alabama bioethicist Gregory E. Pence, an enthusiastic proponent of cloning-to-produce-children, also promotes mixing human and animal genes. |
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| Compromise over homosexuality at your peril, African Anglican leaders warned |
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Religious analysts in Africa have warned that any decision by African church leaders to compromise over the homosexuality issue could trigger mass defections from Anglicanism to Africa-instituted denominations, seen to conform more closely to "African Christian values."
"It will not be a surprise" if the Anglican Church breaks from the Church of England and other allied Western institutions, said religious scholar Ernest Ngigi of the University of Nairobi. |
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Episcopalians might as well watch football on Sunday
By Steve Yuhas |
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"United States members of the Episcopal Church have got to be asking themselves what their church actually stands for after the sweeping approval of two controversial homosexual agenda items at their national conference that threaten to split the church...
"Religions are wonderful things, but having a religion that is devoid of moral clarity is pointless. With football season coming up – Episcopalians would be better served staying home and watching a game on Sunday – the rules have changed less in football than they have in the Episcopal Church." |
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Episcopal Church endorses narcissism
By Mark Steyn, Chicago Sun-Times |
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So the peculiar obsession of the dying Anglican church in Britain, America and Canada with homosexuality is a kind of transformation. Having lost the masses, the church has found a niche demographic, and it's desperately trying to re-package its old inventory. And, if in their need to endow their gay fetish with spiritual purpose, they sound a little loopy, bear with 'em. They're still fumbling for the rationale. The bishop of Maryland, for example, made a painful attempt to square the awkward Biblical strictures on homosexuality with Bishop Robinson's vigorous sex life. His line is that God isn't against gay sex per se, just gay sex practiced by heterosexual men. Really. ''We might say about the Sodom passage,'' he elaborated, ''that it is not really about a group of gay men behaving badly, but a group of heterosexual men behaving atrociously.'' Similarly, in Romans, Paul isn't objecting to homosexual men having sex with each other, just heterosexual
men having sex with each other.
Who knew? So God's cool with practicing straights, He's cool with practicing gays, it's just bi-guys He's got a problem with. Or have I misunderstood the bishop's argument?
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| Lutherans take note of Episcopal gay bishop vote, Catholics warn of 'serious implications' |
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The head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America said Monday he was "mindful" that the Episcopal Church confirmed its first openly gay bishop last week, but his denomination would not quickly follow suit.
Separately, a leading Roman Catholic clergyman said the Episcopal vote had "serious implications in the search for Christian unity."
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| ADL concerned that The Passion will fuel anti-semitism |
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After having attended a private screening of Mel Gibson's new film, "The Passion," theAnti-Defamation League (ADL) voiced concerns that the film, if released in its present form, "will fuel hatred, bigotry and anti-Semitism" by reinforcing the notion of collective Jewish guilt for the death of Jesus
"Sadly, the film contains many of the dangerous teachings that Christians and Jews have worked for so many years to counter," said Rabbi Korn. |
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Weblog, compiled by Ted Olsen:
Judge will reconsider decision on church land use |
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Two months after U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson ruled the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) of 2000 an unconstitutional "blunderbuss of a remedy," he agreed to reconsider his decision. |
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| Experiencing God's presents – By J.I. Packer |
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The church is not a bus where one person does the driving. It's like an anthill, where everyone works. |
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BreakPoint with Charles Colson
In God's wonderful image – Remembering Dr. Paul Brand |
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When Dr. Paul Brand met his first leprosy patients, he was told, "Nothing can be done with hands—or feet—like this. It's just leprosy." Translation: Deformed limbs are part of the disease; we can't fight it.
But "just leprosy" wasn't part of Paul Brand's vocabulary. He discovered that leprosy deformities could be corrected, performed surgeries on thousands, and taught his skills to others who carry on today.
Part of Dr. Brand's success stems from the fact that he didn't merely treat the affected extremity. He viewed patients not as cases, but as God's creatures.
At the death of Dr. Paul Brand, "we sorrow not as those who have no hope," for his legacy of faith and service inspires us and reminds us that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" for His good pleasure. |
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| Canada's Catholic leaders vow fight on gay marriages |
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Canada's political leaders are pushing ahead to legalize same-sex marriage despite warnings by the country's Roman Catholic bishops that politicians could pay the ultimate spiritual price for their stance on the issue.
"I pray for the prime minister because I think his eternal salvation is in jeopardy," Bishop Fred Henry of Calgary said. |
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| Statement from the friends and family of Bruce Balfour who is imprisoned in Lebanon |
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 "...Bruce recently returned to Lebanon to resume his work as overseer of the ‘Cedars of Lebanon’ reforestation project. Approximately 10 days after his return to the country, a friend received an anonymous phone call, informing him that Bruce had been arrested on July 10, 2003, shortly after his arrival in the country..." |
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| Wedding-day kiss will be couple's first |
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Jill Merry and Adrian Burwell began dating last November. They got engaged in May. But the first time they kiss will be Aug. 16 — at the altar, in front of more than 600 people.
For the couple, who met at a Southern Baptist evangelical church in Renton [WA], not kissing, not hugging and not having sex before they are married is an avowal of purity.
"We have all the same emotions everyone else does. We just decided to put guidelines to it," said Merry, 26, of Bellevue. "We knew that if we starting touching, things were going to start happening."
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In Europe, productivity and religion decline in tandem
By David Yount |
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The typical German works 22 percent fewer hours than the average American, and the Dutch and Norwegians even fewer. A larger proportion of Americans are employed. Between 1973 and 1998 the percentage of Americans on the job rose from 41 percent to 49 percent, while in Germany the percentage fell to 44 percent and to 39 percent in France.
Whereas the overwhelmingly Catholic Italians and French labor between 15-20 percent fewer hours than we, the Protestant Dutch, Germans, and Norwegians work 25-30 percent less.
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| India: Bill banning cow slaughter introduced – The Hindu |
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Offenders would attract a punishment of a minimum of two years and a maximum of seven years rigorous imprisonment along with a fine up to Rs. 10,000 ($217).
The preamble of the draft Bill states that the "cow is the embodiment of divine virtues like love, compassion, benevolence, tolerance and non-violence".
Related link: BBC News article |
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Guideposts feature
Trampled – In all my years on the ranch, I’d never seen a cow attack anyone. Until one got ahold of me – By Melba Davidson |
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"I’ll come right out and say it: I love cows. I’m a fourth-generation cattle rancher. My husband, Larry, and I have been married 34 years, partners all the way. I sort of look on our herd as my children... I even pray for them..." |
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CT Book of the Week:
'A Golden Age' of religious tolerance?
Review by Kate Elliot van Liere |
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The Ornament of the World analyzes how the intellectual elites of medieval Spain eschewed fundamentalism and showed surprising sensitivity in reconciling competing truths.
Click here to order this book |
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| Black and white churches spur neighborhood – and corporate – growth |
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As developers began to disinvest from inner-city neighborhoods like Harlem during the 1980s, Black churches and some mosques quickly helped to fill the void and did something that took even some of their own parishioners by surprise: They began to build.
More than 20 years later, these religious institutions are real players in helping to reshape some of the city’s working class neighborhoods, propelling development in places that were once ignored. |
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