Human trafficking. It’s forced labor, a form of modern slavery. It’s a growing epidemic in the United States and abroad, one that is gaining more and more exposure. It’s an act that many are working to bring to an end. The topic was the focal point of a Compassion, Peace and Justice-sponsored session during the…
Sometimes a conspiracy theory isn’t merely a theory. Congregations embroiled in litigation with their presbyteries over church property have long suspected that legal strategies were being orchestrated nationally. However, since the revelation of “the Louisville Papers” in September 2006, verifiable proof was hard to find. Not anymore. The sanctions recently imposed by a civil court…
Sanctions have been imposed on a Presbyterian Church (USA) presbytery in the amount of $390,000 after the court “unavoidably” concluded that the presbytery had “in bad faith advanced frivolous arguments in support of a claimed right it knew had no legal or evidentiary support.” In the matter of Carrollton Presbyterian Church v. Presbytery of South…
By Emily Enders Odom Since 1997, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Church Leadership Connection (CLC) has served as the denomination’s online matching and referral system, bringing together call seekers and calling organizations with complementary skills and interests to serve the leadership needs of Christ’s church. A lot has changed in the past 16 years. “The needs…
By Denny Burk Timothy George explains why the Presbyterian Church USA has recently rejected the hymn “In Christ Alone” from its new hymnal: Recently, the wrath of God became a point of controversy in the decision of the Presbyterian Committee on Congregational Song to exclude from its new hymnal the much-loved song “In Christ Alone”…
By Jeff Gissing The Presbyterian Church (USA) recently released the findings of its “Religious and Demographic Profile of Presbyterians 2011” (the report). More than 6,000 clergy and members of the PC (USA) were asked to participate in the study for a three-year period. The goal was to sketch a broad landscape of the denomination in…
The 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) met in 2012 and forwarded to the 173 presbyteries for their affirmative or negative vote 11 proposed amendments to the denomination’s constitutional documents. A majority of presbyteries accepted the proposal to replace the Heidelberg catechism with a new translation. A majority also accepted the requirement that…
The angst is palpable in the June 27 letter from Gradye Parsons, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA), to Jeffrey Jeremiah, stated clerk of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. At issue is the EPC’s reception of congregations that have disaffiliated from the PCUSA. Parsons asserts that the EPC can only receive a congregation that has been…
By the Rev. P.J. Southam The Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, Director of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Washington Office of Public Witness is on a tour of 52 presbyteries. On Thursday, June 20 he was the featured guest speaker at the meeting of Missouri Union Presbytery in Jefferson City, Missouri. He spoke for approximately 30…
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — The Board of Directors of the Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (USA), responding to multiple stressors including financial projections that the self-insured church plan faces an inflection point in 2014 putting its sustainability at risk due to rising healthcare costs, declining enrollment, an aging demographic and potential impacts of federal…