(By Leslie Scanlon, The Presbyterian Outlook). The Way Forward Commission has begun to discern next steps for its work – including considering some issues it may be able to act on quickly, and starting to figure out how to organize its longer-term work. Part of the conversation is structural: for example, deciding what kind of…
By Leslie Scanlon, The Presbyterian Outlook. While the door to a viable Palestinian state is “closing rapidly, if it is still open at all,” the Presbyterian Church (USA) should support efforts for a political arrangement that accords with its values, including but not limited to a two-state solution and a Jerusalem where Jews, Muslims and…
By Leslie Scanlon, The Presbyterian Outlook. The Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI ) committee is recommending that the 2016 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) call on companies to conduct their business in a way consistent with international efforts to limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius. But MRTI, which oversees…
By Leslie Scanlon, The Presbyterian Outlook. Restructuring. It’s the melody wafting through so many conversations in the Presbyterian Church (USA) these days – and is virtually certain to be one of the refrains of the 2016 General Assembly. Overtures are pending about potentially merging the Office of the General Assembly and the Presbyterian Mission Agency….
Presbyterian News Service reports that: The online form for sharing thoughts on the identity and purpose of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) as part of a church-wide conversation initiated by the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly will now be available until December 18. The extended period allows time for even more people throughout…
By Leslie Scanlon, The Presbyterian Outlook. Gradye Parsons, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA) – the denomination’s top ecclesiastical officer – has announced that he won’t seek election to a third four-year term. That means the 2016 General Assembly will be asked to name a new stated clerk. It also means that the PCUSA…