In writing to the pope on behalf of the PC(USA), Parsons and Presa are calling upon Presbyterians to join with their sisters and brothers in the Roman Catholic Church in praying for the newly elected Pope Francis I, and wishing him the fullness of God’s grace as he begins this new ministry.
“Recognizing the challenges within the Roman Catholic Church and the world, these are challenging times to be called into leadership,” Parsons said. “We commend the cardinals for their election of the first pontiff from the Americas—particularly Latin America—to lead the worldwide communion of Catholics. We pray and trust that the humility and grace which have marked his leadership in Argentina will touch the whole of the Roman church, the wider Christian community and whole human family.”
Seven presbyteries in Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, and West Virginia have been selected as the 2013 partners for the fourth year of For Such a Time as This, an innovative pastoral residency program designed to serve underserved congregations and develop missional pastors.
The building occupied by Westminster Presbyterian Church in Duluth, Minn., is slated to be demolished soon, including a large stained-glass window in the church’s sanctuary. Before the building comes down, members of the church are seeking a buyer for the triangular-shaped window, which was not damaged.
The number of Americans with no religious affiliation continues to rise. Fewer young people are going to church. And the effects of recession have placed greater burdens on religious institutions in a time of shrinking resources.
Once the new pope is elected, he will have two big initial decisions to make: whether to accept the job, and what his new papal name will be. Gregory? Leo? Benedict? No one knows what the next pope will pick. But choosing a new moniker is a decision that’s tied up in history, tradition and more than a little symbolic value.
With the voting now underway in the election of a new pope, the College of Cardinals will seek a prayerful, joyful pastor ― and a savvy enough manager who could bring order to the medieval chaos of church bureaucracy. A CEO pope, if you will.
“Stewardship is the meaning of life. All life is given by the love of God. Everything and everyone belongs to God,” said the Rev. Michael Jinkins, speaking March 11 at the Stewardship Kaleidoscope meeting here.
Hundreds of people in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore attacked the city’s predominantly Christian Badami Bagh neighborhood on March 9 and set fire to homes after accusations that a Christian man had committed blasphemy against Islam's prophet, said a police officer. On March 11, 2013, a protest rally with more than two thousand Christian participants, led by the Rev. Humphrey Sarfraz Peters, Bishop of Peshawar marched from the St. John’s Cathedral, Peshawar to the Peshawar Press Club passing through the busy Sadar Bazar.
The skills used in improvisational theatre and community organizing can be applied to ministry and ways of doing church, participants at NEXT Church learned March 5.
With Passover just two weeks away, the timing of a massive infestation of locusts in Egypt is striking many Israelis as downright biblical.