The older we get, the more we begin to think, “My memory isn’t what it used to be.” With each successive decade, we seem to remember less, and less accurately, than we used to. Sometimes we look back and see what we want to see, rather than what really happened. We see this in Numbers 11.
St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church and New Hope Presbyterian Church recently celebrated their merger, guaranteeing vital ministry will continue at the corner of South Magnolia and Orange avenues in Anaheim, California.
More than 135 people were on hand for a recent webinar as timely as it was relevant: Older Adults and Climate Change. Presbyterians for Earth Care offered the session, which featured brief presentations from three panelists.
Well aware that churches need additional tools for doing ministry as they emerge from the global pandemic, the Presbytery of Charlotte found the proverbial Swiss Army Knife to equip viewers during a Saturday morning webinar: the Rev. Jim Kitchens.
On Sunday, Jan. 22, Sally Azar was ordained as a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, making her the first female pastor in Palestine. In 2006, the Evangelical Church laid the foundation by deciding that women could also be ordained.
“Jesus came to give us life to the full. Is life to the full having a secure job and taking care of our families well, or could it be life to the full is that I feel true internal freedom?” said Dr. Jessica ChenFeng, quoting John 10:10 in the opening keynote for the “Pursuit of Asian American Happiness” virtual conference recently hosted by the Center for Asian American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary.
As he began to talk exclusively with unchurched people, Dr. Tom Bagley heard the same thing again and again from people who were spiritually curious about God and faith: They wanted nothing to do with the church because of its hypocrisy, judgmentalism and exclusivity.
The idea for the new podcast “Forging Faith” being offered by First Presbyterian Church of Royal Oak, Michigan, was hatched two years ago when a church member told his pastor, the Rev. Emma Nickel, that the church should try it.
When someone loses a loved one, we often say things like, “God needed another angel.’’ Really? I don’t think God works that way. There are times when I don’t want theological nuance. All I want is feel-it-in-my-gut-assurance. I want to feel God in my innermost self.
“Welcoming all in the name of Christ” might be easy to write into a church’s mission statement, but the challenge comes when faced with living it out and extending a hand to those in the transgender community. An inclusive, loving welcome is possible, though, with education and courage to open up those sanctuary doors.
