Monthly Archives: January 2014

Presbyterian News Headlines For The First Half Of January 2014

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I am going to take a break from my research and writing on church property news long enough to highlight a few news headlines. As I have been going back and forth to the headlines over the last few months I am thinking that maybe this model of doing half of a month at a time might be the right balance. We will see. But on to a few of the items that have caught my attention since the first of the year.

A lot happening in Scotland right now but let me mention one new item I have not covered previously — the Scottish Parliament holding hearings on a petition regarding the role of churches in the schools and a recommendation to limit their role.

MSPs hear bid to cut religious influence on schools – from Herald Scotland

Edinburgh secularists challenge religious privilege in Scotland’s education system – from National Secular Society

Church responds to Petitions Committee decision on religious representation on local authority education committees – from Chruch of Scotland

Also related to the Church of Scotland and schools is a program advocated for by the church to help all younger students with school meals

Chewing over the details: what will free school meals mean for Scots pupils? – from The Courier

And a chaplain who was dismissed because of comments he made on Facebook

Church of Scotland minister loses role as chaplain of Glasgow school after calling homosexuality a ‘disorder’ – from The Telegraph

There was also wide coverage of a BBC program that profiled Scottish minister’s wives

In and beyond the Manse – looking at the role of the Minister’s wife – from Stornoway Gazette

Scottish church ministers’ wives set to star in new reality television series – from Scottish Daily Record

And the Church of Scotland Youth program issued an interesting paper

A guide to ethical living from Church of Scotland Youth – from Scottish Christian

On to Africa – a few interesting headlines from there

Ghana: Minister Bemoans Corruption in Churches – from allAfrica

Presidential Authority Is Abused In Ghana-Rev. Martey – from Spy Ghana

Morally Refreshing Leadership from Moderator Martey – from GhanaWeb

BT Synod urges women to contest as independent candidates – from Nyasa Times

I have mentioned this before but here is an update

Paving the way: Lebanon’s first female pastor – from MSN News (although I think the author really does not understand some of the religious subtleties; the earlier story was much better)

And finally, this headline from the PC(USA)

Youth Convince Presbytery to Divest from Fossil Fuel Companies – from Burnsville Patch; this will be an overture from the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area to the 221st General Assembly and it looks like it will be a concurring overture to one already submitted by the Presbytery of Boston. Looking through the supporting materials I personally see some issues and I may elect to return to this for a more detailed discussion at a later time. Among other things a particular quote comes to mind… “One word: Plastics”

That’s it for this time. Back with more in a couple of weeks…

Presbyterian News Headlines For December 2013

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Yes, I am going to attempt to do a whole month at once to get caught up. This does mean that by necessity I will be a bit selective about the headlines included.

The month began with a public safety helicopter crash in Scotland that saw the Church of Scotland on the front line with chaplaincy services and worship services of remembrance:

Chaplains at front line of Glasgow tragedy – from Church of Scotland press release

Prayers for helicopter victims – from BBC News

And in Kenya, ten youths were killed and thirty six more injured in a bus crash as they were returning from a Presbyterian Church in East Africa youth conference:

President mourns Mariakani accident victims – from Standard Digital News

In Louisville it was decided that the resources were not available to reopen the Presbyterian Community Center that had been closed a few months earlier:

No hope of reopening the Presbyterian Community Center in Smoketown, board says – from Courier-Journal

Concerning damage to churches, we have two fires and the theft of copper pipes:

Fire damage closes 900-year-old Aberdour church at Christmas – from Fife Today

160-Year-Old Long Island Church Goes Up In Flames – from CBS New York

Wyoming church recovering after copper pipe theft – from Times Leader, in Pennsylvania

In Africa, words from church leaders to politicians:

Ghana pregnant with bribery, corruption — Moderator – from CitifmOnline

ASUU Strike: Presbyterian Prelate urges government action – from WorldStage News; about a student strike in Nigeria

Two Presbyterian-related schools in the U.S. got court orders exempting them on religious grounds from the Department of Health and Human Services Affordable Care Act Contraception Mandate:

Judge rules Geneva College does not have to provide coverage for contraception – from Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Christian universities and seminary win against HHS mandate in federal court – from examiner.com (Westminster Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania)

And finally, two more articles. The first a gift that allows a Presbyterian camp to continue and the second a new high-profile hire in the Church of Scotland Communications Office:

Woman, 81, leaves church camp $2.5 million from her estate – from WBRC (Birmingham)

BBC’s Rob Flett to join Church of Scotland comms team – from allmedia scotland.com

And with that we close out the year. Best wishes for the new one and back with more headlines in a few days.

Incarnation

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Happy Twelfth Day of Christmas! While I initially targeted this reflection for Christmas Day – or the First Day of Christmas – I ran a few
days late and then realized that the tie-in to the end of the Christmas season was a bit more powerful. So here are some brief and selected thoughts around an issue that has gotten a lot of press and verbiage this past month.

It has been an interesting time in the American popular media this year leading up to Christmas. Certain widely-publicized comments have opened up a wide-ranging discussion of race and popular perception.

Concerning one of those points I will only touch on the cultural discussion around Saint Nicholas far enough to comment that our modern perspective is built upon several layers of tradition so that it has grown in proportion by the compounding of multiple cultural influences. Far from the third century monk in Asia Minor upon whom the legend is based, our American concept of Santa Claus today is probably shaped most by Clement Moore instead of the historical person in much the same way as our concept of the Afterlife has been shaped not by Scripture but by Dante Alighieri.

So that brings me to the second historical character up for discussion: Jesus of Nazareth. In reflecting on this and reading some of the discussion what struck me is that we have no substantial physical description of Jesus as an historical figure. We have descriptions of his cousin John the Baptist (e.g. Matthew 3:4), although that is admittedly his dress and not physical appearance. We have messianic descriptions (e.g. Isaiah 52:13-53:12) and apocalyptic visions (e.g. Revelation 19:11-16 ). But when it comes to the basic aspects of Jesus’ appearance we have almost nothing to go on.

From the biblical account and genealogy we know that he was of the Tribe of Judah that his family seemed comfortably situated in Nazareth. We have no reason to think that he was not a typical first century Jew of Middle-Eastern or Mediterranean appearance. Exactly what he looked like I don’t know but I am pretty sure that in skin color and facial features he did not look like me.

The temptation we have is to see Jesus like ourselves and in one sense he is like each of us. Despite the Fall we each still carry something of the Image of God and we share that with Jesus. Taking that a step further, Jesus also suffered some of the same trials we do. In these commonalities there is a basis for our spiritual relationship as we pray and reflect upon his life and example. But there is a tension here as well — while we can see Jesus as like us as far as his being fully human, we need to avoid the trap of making Jesus in our own image. Jesus of Nazareth, as a historical figure, was a distinct individual with particular characteristics even if we don’t really know what they are.

So in this respect it is equally important to see Jesus as not like us. Just as we carry the Image of God the other members of our diverse human family do as well. If we are not careful when we make Jesus in our image we could implicitly say that he becomes exclusive and he is our own personal Jesus, not the savior of the whole world.

Which brings me to the 12th Day of Christmas…

Tomorrow is Epiphany when we remember the visit by the magi. In their visit the magi symbolically remind us of two important aspects of Jesus. The first is the role of Jesus as prophet, priest and king. The second is that in this visit he was worshiped by those who were not of his own people. The magi were gentiles from afar and in their visit two worlds collided in a variety of interesting ways. Epiphany is a celebration of Jesus as a savior of many nations and not just one people.

And so I encourage you to also let your world collide with others for the sake of the Gospel.

Merry Christmas. Happy Epiphany and best wishes for the coming year.

Top Ten (Plus) Presbyterian News Topics of 2013

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As we spend this day looking back I thought I would once again post my personal list of the top ten news topics related to Presbyterians around the world from 2013. In this list I deliberately use the term “topics” because, as you will see, there were a number of parallels in the different branches when it came to certain items.

And so here, in no particular order, are my picks for the top ten news topics of 2013…

Elections, Elections, Elections and a Referendum

This fall it seemed that various Presbyterian branches were regularly linked with elections happening in their state or country. The list includes the Presbyterian Synod in Mizoram state in India asking for – and getting – a change in polling dates, CCAP synods defining the terms for political involvement of clergy running for office and commentary from the Presbyterian Church of Ghana on election decisions.

Falling into this category is the work of the Church of Scotland running forums and debates ahead of next year’s Scottish independence referendum.

Disasters

Somehow the natural disasters, and the global Presbyterian response, for this year stick out more than in previous lists and it includes damage done in a tornado outbreak in the central U.S. in May and typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in November.

World Hotspots

The variety that could be included here is pretty large but let me mention Presbyterians speaking out to two of them – the response against attacks on Syria (e.g. PC(USA) ) and those speaking out about the violence in South Sudan (e.g. Presbyterian Church in Ireland).

In a particularly moving story, a Church of Scotland pastor lost many members of his family in an attack on a church in Pakistan and spoke of forgiving the attackers.

New Presbyterian Leaders at Seminaries

Four Presbyterian teaching elders were named, approved and/or installed at seminaries in the Presbyverse: Rev. Dr. Stafford Carson at Union Theological College, Belfast; Rev. Dr. M. Craig Barnes at Princeton Theological Seminary; Rev. Dr. Mark Labberton at Fuller Theological Seminary; Rev. Dr. J. Ligon Duncan at Reformed Theological Seminary.

Church of Scotland General Assembly Middle Way on Same-sex Issues

The Church of Scotland General Assembly dealt with ordination and marriage issues and rather than adopting one of the two options presented by their Special Commission chose a middle option that affirmed past teaching while opening the door to congregations being able to dissent. This led to their speaking against the proposed legislation in the Scottish Parliament that would permit same-sex marriage and asking for robust religious protections. In addition, the compromise solution was not completely satisfactory to the whole church and a few pastors and congregations have left.

Congregational Loss in the PC(USA) and Gracious Dismissal

In the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 2012 Membership Statistics for the first time ever the number of churches transferred out of the denomination (110 churches) was larger than the number of churches dissolved (86 churches).

Associated with this was the emphasis on presbyteries having Gracious Dismissal Policies and fairly generous allowances to be dismissed with property, although there was at least one PJC case and some civil litigation, e.g. Caldwell and Highland Park.

Re-purposing Church Buildings

Along with the dissolution of churches comes the question of what to do with the property? Although to be fair this also may be a question if the church outgrows their existing property. Answers this year include a residence in Scotland, a restaurant in Belfast, and maybe a town hall in Maryland. In addition, there were several, at least, demolished and controversy down under with a presbytery of the Uniting Church proposing to close churches and sell off the buildings to satisfy debts.

With that I have hit all the cross-branch and big-topic themes that I ranked highest and have to decide on the last three from a field of several worthy and interesting candidates. Well, this is my blog and I can adjust the rules so here are five more…

The BBC Northern Ireland produced a documentary on Irish Presbyterians called “An Independent People”

Also from Northern Ireland, there was an agreement that the leaders of the failed Presbyterian Mutual Society would be ineligible to head up other companies and word of at least one bank that declined the offer to take over the failing institution.

The work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission regarding the dark history of native residential schools continues in Canada and this year the Commission was addressed by the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Canada and the church issued a formal apology to Kenora residential school survivors.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services last year issued guidelines on what was required to be included in employee health care plans and several Presbyterian-affiliated organizations objected to the contraception mandate. This year at least two, Geneva College and Westminster Theological Seminary, won court cases exempting them from the HHS mandate. Review by the U.S. Supreme Court is expected so this may come back again next year.

And the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation issued a new hymnal, “Glory to God”, but not without a little controversy about one hymn that was originally to be included but deleted when a slight word change was not approved by the authors.

And there you have my suggestions for the top ten twelve Presbyterian news topics of 2013. Your mileage may vary.

So as we look ahead to 2014 – and many of my friends around the world are already there or now busy celebrating Hogmanay – I wish all of you a very Happy New Years and best wishes for the coming year.