It was easy to tell where the meeting was. The teal house was surrounded by people, its patio spilling light out onto the street.
Inside the patio, the scene continued. In one corner, toddlers were clustered around a TV cartoon show. On the other side of the porch, older children were engaged in a lesson about how to show God’s love. And in the midst of it, the host distributed juice and cookies to the newcomers.
Such gatherings are becoming more popular in Venezuela. Encouraged by the Presbyterian Church of Venezuela (Iglesia Presbiteriana de Venezuela, or IPV), these …
With dramatic changes occurring at all levels of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) is proposing that the upcoming 219th General Assembly create of commission to work with sessions, presbyteries and synods “on the mission and function of middle governing bodies.”
The proposal — unanimously approved by COGA at its Feb. 22-24 meeting here — calls for a 21-member commission to be appointed by the moderators of the 218th Assembly (the Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow) and the moderator to be elected by the 2010 Assembly, July 3-10 in Minneapolis.
As a commission, not …
The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) is recommending that the 222nd General Assembly (2016) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) be held in Portland, Ore.
The decision will be made by the upcoming 219th General Assembly, July 3-10 in Minneapolis. The 2012 and 2014 Assemblies will be held in Pittsburgh and Detroit, respectively.
The Assembly last met in Portland in 1967. At that Assembly, the former United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America adopted the Confession of 1967 and holding the 2016 Assembly there “would allow us to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ‘C-67’ in …
In the Central Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia (IPC), there are no church buildings.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t church, though.
The presbytery has about 345 members, spread across seven congregations. They meet for worship in homes. The members who live in Bogotá, Colombia’s capital and home to about 9 million people, sometimes meet at the Colegio Americano.
Education is a key focus of the presbytery, and the Colegio Americano is proof of that dedication. Founded as an all-girls school in 1869, the school is now co-ed and has about 2,000 students. Not all of …
John Knox Presbytery has voted to ordain to the ministry Scott D. Anderson, a gay man who has been in a committed relationship for close to two decades, and who declared a conscientious objection to the requirement in the ordination standards of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that those being ordained practice “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness.
Meeting in Madison, Wisc., on Feb. 20, John Knox voted 81-25 to ordain Anderson, who currently is executive director of the Wisconsin Council of Churches. He previously worked as a pastor …
Following up on its well-attended 2009 event, the Presbyterian Writers Guild has announced that the Presbyterian Writers Conference for 2010 will be held April 28-29, at the Scarritt-Bennett Center in Nashville, Tenn.
Online registration is available at the Presbyterian Writers Guild Web site.
The conference, which is aimed at helping writers produce marketable articles or books, develop a freelance career, and “impact the world with their words,” will again feature prolific Presbyterian author, Cecil Murphey.
Murphey’s most recent book, written with Don Piper, is 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death & Life. It spent …
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) youth groups across the country are invited to participate in the second on-line Youth Video Challenge as part of Youth Mission Initiative Live (ymiLIVE, pronounced why-em-eye LIVE).
Sponsored by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Foundation, youth groups will compete to win one of two $25,000 endowment funds established by the Foundation to benefit their church youth ministry programs.
For the contest, youth groups create a 2-4 minute video with their interpretation of John 7:38: Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living waters — which is the theme of the 219th General Assembly — then …
Having grown up as the son of a white Presbyterian pastor in North Carolina, Jeb Stuart has fond memories of the special community he experienced at church.
But Stuart, who came of age in the 1960s and ’70s, now sees the larger significance of that time and his position in America’s civil rights history.
Stuart wrote and directed the movie Blood Done Sign My Name, opening in limited released today (Feb. 19).
The movie, adapted from the bestselling autobiographical book of the same name by Timothy Tyson, is an epic civil rights drama. Set in 1970, it tells the …
Ready for an honest conversation about immigration and border issues? “Crossing Borders: Encountering God,” is an event for church members, church leaders and other interested individuals addressing border issues confronting the church and the world. The conference will be held April 15-17 in Phoenix, Ariz. In advance of the event, Frontera de Cristo, a border ministry supported by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), is hosting a border immersion trip to Douglas, Ariz., and Agua Prieta, Mexico.
The conference is designed as a conversation in which American participants can join with leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the National Presbyterian Church …
With the transfer of an additional $101,500 to ecumenical partners in Haiti, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) through Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has now contributed more than a half-million dollars to immediate emergency relief in the island nation following the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands.
PDA Coordinator Randy Ackley announced the most recent money transfer on Feb. 17.
PDA sent $100,000 immediately after the January earthquake, using funds from the One Great Hour of Sharing offering, received each year at Easter time. An denomination-wide emergency appeal was issued and a few days later an additional $109,000 was sent …