Daily Briefing 6/24/16 with Carmen Fowler LaBerge
Daily Briefing 6/24/16 with Carmen Fowler LaBerge Daily Briefing 6/24/16 with Carmen Fowler LaBerge from Presbyterian Lay Committee on Vimeo.
Andrews: Be reconciled to God
Offering an unapologetically evangelical sermon during the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly’s Friday morning worship service, Dr. Jerry Andrews, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of San Diego, called for reconciliation. But it wasn’t the typical efforts to reconcile factions within the fractious denomination that Andrews spoke to. It was our basic need to be reconciled…
New Stated Clerk: We Are Going to do Everything Possible to Mend Broken Relationships
When J. Herbert Nelson asked his family if he should accept the nomination as Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA), his daughter made a clarifying comment. “Daddy, you ought to do it, because you’re a fixer,” she said. Nelson has been a redevelopment pastor, a church planter in an impoverished setting, and an advocate…
GA Rescinds Action of 2014 Assembly on Reducing the Number of Synods
The 222nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted by a margin of 421 TO 158 to rescind the action taken by the 221st General Assembly (2014) which directed the establishment of a new configuration of synod boundaries. The majority of the Mid Council Committee agreed with the recommendation to rescind the action based…
When Polity Becomes an Idolatry
To be at General Assembly — at least that of the Presbyterian Church (USA) — is to be dunked in polity. No sprinkled baptism, we’re talking full immersion. A prayer offered during the Immigration and Environment Committee deliberations on Tuesday thanked God for working through the processes of polity. While this prayer followed a vote…
Daily Briefing 6/23/16 with Carmen Fowler LaBerge
Daily Briefing 6/23/16 with Carmen Fowler LaBerge Daily Briefing 6/23/16 with Carmen Fowler LaBerge from Presbyterian Lay Committee on Vimeo.
“Wide Is the [Straight] Path …”
By Mateen Elass, on his personal blog. The Presbyterian Church (USA) has hammered one more nail into its own coffin — one wonders whether there is space for any further nails. Last Saturday, at the opening business session of its 222nd General Assembly in Portland, OR, the denominational leadership orchestrated an event which denied the gospel and lordship of…
Assembly Approves Directory of Worship Revision
After minimal discussion, the 222nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted on Wednesday to send a revised Directory of Worship for ratification by the presbyteries. The decision to write a revision grew out of the new Form of Government that received approval in 2011. Kristen Saldine educated the General Assembly commissioners about the…
Daily Briefing 6/22/16 with Carmen Fowler LaBerge
Daily Briefing 6/22/16 with Carmen Fowler LaBerge Daily Briefing 6/22/16 with Carmen Fowler LaBerge from Presbyterian Lay Committee on Vimeo.
GA Committee Recommends Expressing Regret, Not An Apology
After a lengthy, complicated and confusing process, which included juggling a main motion, a substitute motion and the original overture, the Social Justice Issues Committee voted 56-1 to approve an alternative to the “apology overture,” that was sent to the 222nd General Assembly by the Presbytery of New York City. And while the resolution approved…