This just in from the Covenant Network, reporting on a case that reached the highest commission in my denomination, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission, or GAPJC), involving the ordination of an openly gay woman who, in keeping with our tradition, declared a scruple (conscientious objection) to several parts of the … Continue reading “There is Hope…”
Category: PC(USA)
A Church in Decline: Balancing the Need to Teach with the Need to Listen
I just read a blogpost by Carol Howard Merritt entitled “Generational Roadblocks: What sort of obstacles keeps a new generation of people away?” Carol is an amazingly prolific and prophetic writer about contemporary themes of church and young people (she mostly blogs for the Christian Century and Huffington Post). In this latest she outlines a … Continue reading “A Church in Decline: Balancing the Need to Teach with the Need to Listen”
The Social Networking Dilemma
I am in my final weeks as associate pastor at First Presbyterian Church of San Bernardino. In the PC(USA), it is required in most presbyteries (our regional governance) that a minister cut ties with a congregation completely upon leaving (unless, of course, one is bestowed with the honor of being “emeritus”, which usually only happens … Continue reading “The Social Networking Dilemma”
Like-mindedness at What Expense?
I find myself increasingly saddened by this seemingly obsessive focus on “like mindedness” in the Church on what seems to be all sides of most of the debates that have split the Church throughout the ages. In our age we are more aware of different ways of seeing and believing than in any other age … Continue reading “Like-mindedness at What Expense?”
Open Source Church – Part 3
This is the third and final part in a three part response to the Rev. Landon Whitsitt’s new book, Open Source Church: Making Room for the Wisdom of All. You can see my other two posts (much shorter and incomplete) here and here. Some of what I write here may be repetitive, but the following … Continue reading “Open Source Church – Part 3”