|
Editorials
|
|
Written by Jack Haberer, Editor
|
|
Monday, 21 July 2008 00:00 |
|
Call me crazy, but it’s time for us Presbyterians to act like Congress. Yes, I know that the voter approval rating of the U.S. Congress — 19% in mid-June, even worse than the president’s — is the lowest in recorded history. But Congress does have three attributes we do well to emulate. |
|
Letters to the Editor
|
|
Written by James R. Black, interim pastor
|
|
Friday, 18 July 2008 15:25 |
|
Retired Chaplain Bucher, Jr., asks: “Have we a serious theologian in the PC(USA) (who) argues for having a U.S. flag in the sanctuary?” |
|
Letters to the Editor
|
|
Written by The Presbyterian Outlook
|
|
Tuesday, 15 July 2008 19:41 |
|
In his editorial comment, Jack Haberer states "Change is in the air, or to be more exact, a yearning for change fills our church's air like the scent of coffee fills the neighborhood Starbucks". |
|
Editorials
|
|
Written by Jack Haberer, Outlook Editor
|
|
Monday, 14 July 2008 00:00 |
|
“It was his youthfulness.” “He’s the new Rick Ufford-Chase.” |
|
Commentary
|
|
Written by Edward Koster
|
|
Tuesday, 08 July 2008 13:31 |
|
The initial reactions to the Authoritative Interpretation of G-6.0108 approved by the General Assembly in San Jose were dramatic. Some were rejoicing, others despairing, because they believed that the General Assembly, in approving the overture submitted by the John Knox Presbytery, had removed the impediment to the ordination of non-celibate gays and lesbians that had been declared by the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission in the case Bush v. Presbytery of Pittsburgh. |
|
Letters to the Editor
|
|
Written by Kirk Johnston
|
|
Tuesday, 08 July 2008 13:30 |
|
The June 28th, post-G.A. letter from PC(USA) leaders to members and churches is offensive on so many levels. First, the letter is dangerously misleading in that it does not tell the “whole truth”. |
|
Editorials
|
|
Written by Jack Haberer, Outlook Editor
|
|
Monday, 07 July 2008 00:00 |
|
Welcome to the ’tweener edition of The Presbyterian Outlook. We go to print too early to be able to report any news of the General Assembly (one exception: see p. 6). You receive the magazine about the time the Assembly is adjourning, so any pre-Assembly analysis we might offer is moot. Hence, we find ourselves caught in the middle — in between the times. |
|
Letters to the Editor
|
|
Written by Kirk Johnston
|
|
Saturday, 28 June 2008 00:24 |
|
Pastor John Buchanan’s remarks this week to the Covenant Network at the 218 General Assembly compel an answer. In regard to the Covenant Network’s goal of gaining ordination of homosexuals by removing current ordination standards, Buchanan is quoted as saying: “We’re going to get there because our children are already there. |
|
Letters to the Editor
|
|
Written by John H. Roark, pastor
|
|
Thursday, 26 June 2008 23:03 |
The recent "baseball" comments call for another. I read recently about a famous sermon by a Los Angeles preacher, E. V. Hill, pastor of a large African-American Baptist church there. He compares becoming a Christian and being a Christian to the bases one must run in a ball game:
|
|
Editorials
|
|
Written by Jack Haberer, Editor
|
|
Monday, 23 June 2008 08:00 |
|
As proud bearer of the nickname, “Honest Habe,” I begged to be given the part of that heroic senatorial candidate, when Mr. Warnaar assigned our fifth grade class to re-enact the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Greg Smith was assigned the role of Stephen A. Douglas, and, sure enough, I drew the name of Abraham Lincoln. |
|
Letters to the Editor
|
|
Written by Jerry L
|
|
Sunday, 22 June 2008 00:00 |
|
I read where the new moderator is an emergent church leader. No doubt some of the more liberal elements will rejoice while the conservatives will wonder just who and what he is. |
|
Letters to the Editor
|
|
Written by John M. O’Lane, pastor
|
|
Friday, 20 June 2008 17:14 |
|
Re: Facing off on FOG (pub. May 5, 2008)
Recently the members of Blackhawk Presbytery invited Gil Rendle to speak to the presbytery. |
|
|
Letters to the Editor
|
|
Written by Henry H. Bucher Jr.,
|
|
Thursday, 19 June 2008 05:00 |
|
Re: Patriotism in church (pub. June 16, 2008)
Tom Ehrich’s “Patriotism in church” … does indeed show that we “need to wrestle with tough questions” and that flying flags in church provide a teachable moment. |
|
Editorials
|
|
Written by Jack Haberer Editor
|
|
Monday, 16 June 2008 05:00 |
|
When the General Assembly commissioners* take up proposals regarding sexual orientation and practice, three questions will hang in the air. |
|
Editorials
|
|
Written by Jack Haberer Editor
|
|
Sunday, 01 June 2008 05:00 |
|
“What’s wrong with America is … ” For some of us, such words roll off our tongues effortlessly. For others of us, the sound of such syllables stings like a swarm of bees.
|
|
Guest Commentary
|
|
Written by Stephen A. Moss
|
|
Thursday, 29 May 2008 06:59 |
|
By way of disclosure, I am well into my 74th year, and have been a Presbyterian all of my life, first in the old Northern church, then the United Church in the North, then the old Southern Church, then the Northern Church (in the South), the Southern Church (in the almost North), and finally our present Presbyterian denomination. I have served as a deacon in two of those denominations, and a pastor in three of them. I was raised in a congregation with history that stretched back to the early 1700s, and in my teenage years I was |
|
Commentary
|
|
Written by Martin E. Marty
|
|
Thursday, 29 May 2008 05:00 |
|
"Women Blaze an Interfaith Trail: Two teachers become first Jewish female and first Muslim female to receive advanced degrees from Catholic Theological Union," and "She's First Jewish Graduate of Catholic Theological Union" were headlines in The Chicago Tribune and The Chicago Sun-Times on May 15. |
|
Guest Commentary
|
|
Written by Lisa Larges
|
|
Wednesday, 28 May 2008 17:35 |
|
On May 15 the California Supreme Court affirmed the rights of same gender couples to the legal protections and responsibilities of marriage. Not coincidentally, in 1948 it was the California Supreme Court that first extended equal protections to interracial couples — a full sixty years ago, twenty years before Loving v. Virginia declared all miscegenation laws unconstitutional. The ruling will go into effect thirty days after the decision. |
|
Editorials
|
|
Written by Jack Haberer Editor
|
|
Wednesday, 21 May 2008 23:55 |
The members of the General Assembly Council (GAC) have taken great strides to enlarge our world mission work. In the process, they and Presbyterian Foundation together have sought to deploy all available funds for use in mission and ministry.
However, three proposals coming before the San Jose GA this June 21-28 could alter the way those funds get invested and deployed (see p. 8). If the commissioners handle these proposals well, the mission of the church will be advanced. If mishandled, controls built into the system to ensure proper allocation of funds may be compromised.
|
|
Editorials
|
|
Written by Jack Haberer Editor
|
|
Sunday, 11 May 2008 16:27 |
|
How are your teeth? The Form of Government (FOG) section of the Book of Order will climb onto the dentist’s chair for commissioners’ diagnosis when the 218th General Assembly gathers in San Jose, Calif., this coming June 21-28.
|
|
Editorials
|
|
Written by Jack Haberer Editor
|
|
Sunday, 11 May 2008 16:07 |
|
I can’t wait for GA. I can’t wait for this General Assembly 36% more than I couldn’t wait for the past GAs. That’s because we’ll have 36% more commissioners (see p. 6) who will generate 36% more excitement. |
|
Editorials
|
|
Written by Jack Haberer Editor
|
|
Monday, 05 May 2008 00:00 |
|
He didn’t include you or me in his will, but his legacy has made us rich, and his vision continues to illumine our eyes years after his death — August 6, 1998 and one hundred years after his birth — May 7, 1908.
|
|
Editorials
|
|
Written by Jack Haberer Editor
|
|
Monday, 28 April 2008 00:00 |
|
They’re off! The race is on. The kickoff is in the air. The puck is on the ice. The first pitch is thrown. Choose your favorite athletic metaphor. Easter is behind us and the 218th General Assembly looms on the horizon — awaiting us on June 20 in San Jose, Calif. The season of contesting legislation and campaigning leaders has been launched. |
|
Editorials
|
|
Written by Jack Haberer
|
|
Monday, 21 April 2008 12:00 |
|
So how do you respond to the Jeremiah Wright episode? Most pastors would be thrilled to discover that after one's retirement from pastoral ministry millions of people watch videotaped excerpts of their sermons. Wright probably isn't thrilled. The broadcast on YouTube of excerpts from some of Wright's sermons has generated widespread |
|