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big tent 2017
General Assembly Stated Clerk J. Herbert Nelson II told a Big Tent workshop here Saturday morning (June 8) that his recent trip to Wittenberg, Germany reminded him once again that ‘the Protestant Reformation occurred over a long period of time … that it wasn’t like two weeks and – bam – we’re done.’
This year Presbyterians join Christians around the world in celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. But the Reformation is not over. It’s important to remember that the church — and its worship — are continuing to be reformed, said David Gambrell, associate for worship for the Presbyterian Mission Agency and co-author of the revised Book of Common Worship.
2020 Vision Team discusses a church-sponsored coffee shop where the baristas are trained in pastoral care; a new congregation worshiping in a shopping mall; churches using their resources creatively — transforming unused buildings into affordable housing or incubators for faith development and spiritual practices.
Nearly 300 Big Tent participants were treated to Friday evening visits at one of five area Presbyterian congregations to hear various St. Louis experiences of racism and to begin processing the “Holy Conversations around Race” that began during this week’s event.
By a show of hands, a large portion of those attending a Big Tent plenary Friday afternoon (July 7) indicated they had at least read Waking Up White by Debby Irving, a book about white privilege commended to the church by General Assembly Co-Moderators Jan Edmiston and T. Denise Anderson.
Presbyterians attending Big Tent in St. Louis had an opportunity to hear the pros and cons of divesting from fossil fuel companies. The Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Office of Faith-Based Investing and Corporate Engagement hosted a workshop bringing together representatives to discuss when and if divestment should take place.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Research Services office rolled out a new website during the 2017 Big Tent that promises to make access to church statistical information more user-friendly than in the past.
Bounding up to the pulpit with his laptop computer, Big Tent Bible study leader Eric Barreto cut right to the chase: “We have a problem,” he told a chapel full of Presbyterians gathered in the Graham Chapel on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis.
Recently returned from the World Communion of Reformed Churches global gathering in Wittenberg, Germany – birthplace of the Protestant Reformation 500 years ago – Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Stated Clerk the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson II recalled a conversation with a local pastor.
In a room filled with individuals of all nationalities, the Presbyterian Intercultural Network (PIN) tackled the difficult subject of race relations in America.
