For some clergy, it is the problem that dare not speak its name. Affected pastors say they cannot be themselves among their congregations or colleagues, sometimes even with their own families.
It’s a huge and burdensome secret with the potential to destroy their careers, they say. They think they’re not the only ones, but feel terribly lonely, Religion News Service reports.
No, it’s not some kind of sexual secret — it’s loss of faith.
Daniel C. Dennett, co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University outside Boston, and Linda LaScola, a Washington-based clinical social worker, researcher and psychotherapist, …
Phyllis Byrd’s passion for Kenya and its people takes her ministry far beyond her job description as a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-worker.
It’s not that Byrd finds her work as the site coordinator for PC(USA)’s Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program lacking challenge and satisfaction. Byrd loves to see the volunteers serve others, mature in their faith, and develop a “we consciousness,” a sense of community and interdependence as they work with Kenyans. “That’s what the Young Adult Volunteer program is all about,” she says. “It builds a consciousness that we are in this together.”
It’s Byrd’s own sense of …
The last night of the New Wilmington Mission Conference, July 30, drew a crowd of hundreds for an evening of song, worship, reflection, storytelling, consecration and commitment.
One reason for the jam-packed evening was the homecoming of nine young adults who spent several weeks in Egypt as part of the conference’s Summer Service program. Celebrating its 50th summer this year, Summer Service sends young adults to different places across the nation and globe to spend time in mission and seeing the work of Christ firsthand.
RuthAnn Mansell was one of two young adults who went on the first …
Every church has them — dedicated members or staff who don’t seek praise or recognition, but whose work is essential to the life of the congregation.
Presbyterians Today is planning a special feature on those “unsung servants” who enrich the lives of their congregations in ways that are usually not recognized.
Deadline for submissions is September 1, 2010.
According to Editor Eva Stimson an “unsung servant” may be:
When conservative broadcaster Glenn Beck warned churchgoers to “run as fast as you can” if their pastors preach about “social justice,” was he also encouraging them to run from the Bible?
That’s what some progressive Christian leaders are arguing as battle lines are drawn for the 2010 mid-term elections. They say Beck and his Tea Party followers are, in a word, unbiblical.
Not so fast, say Tea Party activists, who claim biblical grounds for a libertarian-minded Jesus. He didn’t like tax-based welfare programs, they say, and encouraged his followers to give from the heart.
The insurgent Tea Party movement threatens …
Somalia is a “prime example” of an emergency the world has forgotten, says the ACT Alliance of churches and humanitarian agencies.
“With 1.5 million people — just under 10 percent of its population — forced from their homes by fighting, aid relief inside the country remains critical,” the Geneva-headquartered alliance said in an Aug. 6 press release. It noted that at least another 600,000 Somalis are refugees, living mainly in Kenya, Yemen and Ethiopia.
The statement came in advance of plans by ACT members in Somalia to issue a fresh appeal to provide basic services to displaced people in the …
Editor's note: This is the latest in a series of stories about congregations responding to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s call to "Grow Christ's Church Deep and Wide." The call to grow in evangelism, discipleship, servanthood and diversity was adopted by the 2008 General Assembly and renewed by the 2010 General Assembly. — Jerry L. Van Marter
Many churches operate soup kitchens, but First Presbyterian Church in Phoenix, Ore., has taken it a step further by fostering a sense of community.
City leaders and clergy had discussed how to address the economic situation in Phoenix that left many people …
The Rev. William H. Thomas, a tireless fighter for justice who marched in the Rev. Martin Luther King's funeral procession, spent a decade working for miners' rights in eastern Kentucky’s coal fields and then founded the Mon Valley Initiative and help the western Pennsylvania area cope with the collapse of the steel industry, died July 20 in his beloved Pittsburgh. He was 76.
A Pittsburgh native, Thomas graduated from Brentwood High School there, Grove City College, and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Ordained in 1959, Thomas' first pastorate was in Stamford, Conn. A civil rights advocate and member of the city's …
The Russian Orthodox Church continues to pray for relief from the heat and drought that has gripped Russia for two months, and one archbishop condemned some retailers for profiteering from the extreme weather conditions.
“That air conditioners sell for 50,000 roubles [$1,650] instead of 10,000, when people are dying of the heat is immoral and cruel,” said Archbishop Feofan of Stavropol and Vladikavkaz, speaking at a youth camp at Pyatigorsk, in the Stavropol region. “Sell them at the old price at least. This is God’s command, and compassion for one’s neighbor.”
The cleric acknowledged that Russia has a market economy …
A new study says that the population of North American Amish has increased by nearly 10 percent in the past two years, causing many communities to turn westward in search of new land.
Conducted by the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Penn., the study found that Amish communities in the U.S. have dramatically increased in size over the past decade.
The Amish population in the U.S. has more than doubled in the past 10 years. The current annual increase hovers at about 5 percent, meaning the population doubles approximately every 16 years.
The …