Over the years, disagreements between the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Foundation and the General Assembly Mission Council (GAMC) have sometimes made the gulf between the two agencies seem far wider than the one-mile-across Ohio River that separates them.

The disputes have usually centered around the appropriate use of restricted funds — over which the foundation has fiduciary responsibility but which the GAMC is charged to spend in accordance with the mission priorities established by the General Assembly.

Now, after two years of intense work by a joint working group, the two entities are nearing agreement on a vision, strategy and plan …

ACKSON, MS — For working adults who want to optimize their advantage in the marketplace, Belhaven College has announced the Master of Science in Leadership degree. The 36-credit hour accredited graduate program is designed to enhance the professional skills of business managers and executives. It is especially tailored to accommodate adult professionals who seek to develop their management and leadership roles in business, education, church and other areas of their professional lives.

The Master of Science in Leadership focuses on developing the student’s comprehension of the complex and multifaceted factors that affect the decision-making process within the organization. The program …

Organizers of the World Mission Celebration ’09 are anticipating that the event will draw hundreds of Presbyterians with a passion for mission that’s empowered by their allegiance to Jesus Christ.

Gathering under the theme “Branches of the Same Vine,” the Oct. 22–24 celebration will offer a wide-ranging program that is expected to attract people who represent the broad diversity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s international mission endeavors.

Like the John 15 passage on which its theme is based, the Cincinnati conference is centered on a common life and mission in Christ, says conference planning team chair Don Dawson, director of …

What is the place of covenanted same-gender partnerships in the Christian community?

It is a question the General Assembly Special Committee to Study Issues of Civil Union and Christian Marriage is posing to the church for input.

It is also one piece of the mandate the 218th General Assembly (2008) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) gave the committee when the assembly called on its Moderator to appoint the group.

The full mandate calls for the committee to study “the history of the laws governing marriage and civil union, including current policy debates; how the theology and practice of marriage have …

Participants in the Re-Forming Ministry program who have gathered here to reflect on their work affirmed that the initiative has cultivated communities of theological friendships, and asserted that continued adaptive change would build and draw others in.

Those involved in the program of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Theology and Worship since its inception in 2004 have gathered for a conference June 28-July 1 “to engage in theological conversations together” about what has taken place thus far and what is to come.

This journey will be “gathering the harvest of five years of good and faithful work,” said the …

The Rev. Fahed Abu-Akel, moderator of the 214th General Assembly (2002) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), was elected moderator of the National Middle Eastern Presbyterian Caucus (NMEPC) June 11 during the Big Tent event in Atlanta. He will serve a two-year term.

The NMEPC was recognized as the PC(USA)’s fifth racial ethnic caucus during the 208th General Assembly in 1996. The caucus acts as the official representative body and voice of Middle Eastern Presbyterians. The caucus’s mission statement is: “As Christian Middle Eastern Americans who trace their faith origin to the apostolic age, we have a particular responsibility to …