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Presbyterians Today
‘How should the church respond when sin disrupts the church’s unity, creates division among the children of God, and constructs unjust systems that steal life from God’s creation?’ This question begins the introduction of the Belhar Confession in the PC(USA)’s Book of Confessions.
MRTI implements the General Assembly’s policies on socially responsible investing by engaging companies in which the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) owns stock.
Lee McDermott is concerned. Opioid addiction is rapidly sweeping out of control in his neighborhood. And while the Presbyterian pastor in a rural southwestern Pennsylvania community is not only worried for those who are struggling with these habits, he’s also troubled by the fact that many religious leaders refuse to face the problem. And many congregants don’t want to talk about it. As a result, families end up living in fear and shame.
Politics can divide a church. I remember how shocked I was the first time I heard the question. As I stood in the receiving line during my first year as an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), one of the parishioners asked point-blank, “Pastor, do you love Jesus or the social gospel?”
Becoming a Presbyterian pastor was nowhere on the Rev. Dr. Betty Tom’s radar. She had attended Baptist and Pentecostal churches most of her life and was serving in a nondenominational church, and she was content. However, Tom’s life took an unexpected turn when she enrolled in seminary. As she worked her way through the courses of Christian Theological Seminary (CTS) in Indianapolis, the time came for her to do her supervised field experience, when seminarians go to work in their field of study in a church.
Presbyterians do mission as partnership. They listen to, learn from and support Christians and their ministries around the world.
Our culture is in the grip of a ‘fake news’ epidemic. Christians are falling prey to it, and, if we’re not careful, the church’s witness could be deeply harmed.
Wisdom. That’s one of the things the Rev. Jacob Duché prayed for at the first Continental Congress in 1774—wisdom in forming a nation. Prayers for wisdom and unity continue in the United States on the National Day of Prayer.
Overwhelmingly, Presbyterians who participated in a summer 2016 Presbyterian Panel survey agreed that the concept of God’s grace means that God loves everyone, no matter who they are or what they do. This is an important finding, because even though Presbyterians may disagree on immigration policies or how we engage in social welfare, or even on what constitutes racism or sexism or any other “ism,” we agree on this: God’s love is available to everyone. No matter what.
If you go to a church that follows the Revised Common Lectionary, you may have heard (or preached) a sermon last Sunday based upon the story of Mary, Martha and their brother Lazarus (John 11:1-44). Jesus’ raising of Lazarus from the dead is the last of John’s seven narrated “signs” of Jesus, all of which point to his identity as Messiah and lead people to believe in him.
