"Is your pastor a theologian?"
Is your pastor a theologian? A long time ago, when I was first at Princeton Theological Seminary, President James McCord informed incoming students that all pastors should consider themselves to be...
View ArticleWhen Lightning Strikes
Local television and radio stations across the width of New York State issued warnings of a series of rolling thunderstorms approaching the area. Some of them might be severe, the announcers said,...
View ArticleStone Age Theology
The response to the tragic tsunami on December 26 in a wide area of southern Asia has been overwhelmingly positive as the United Nations, numerous countries around the world, non-governmental agencies...
View Article"Do you have a dream?'
Sometimes a dream is not a nightmare; it is a message from God that is received waking or sleeping and you cannot mistake it. Paul had a dream when he was asleep that he should go to Macedonia. It was...
View ArticleHow Do We Change The Book of Order?
The Book of Order is a compendium of Presbyterian experience based on nearly three hundred years of practice, prayer and study of Scripture. Occasionally church officers get the mistaken opinion that...
View ArticleHow do we know the will of God for our congregations?"
This question makes three presuppositions: "¢ there really is a being called God; "¢ God wills good things for us; "¢ we can know what this will is. Without the knowledge of God's will it is...
View Article"Four presbyters and a church"
Editor's note: This is the fourth in a series of stories entitled: "What is a Presbyterian Elder?" (link to 'For Church Officers' articles) The word "elder" in the Greek New Testament is presbuteros...
View ArticleHow your session can change Presbyterian policy
In the October 3, 2005 issue of The Presbyterian Outlook, the question "How Do We Change the Book of Order?" was answered by reviewing steps and deadlines that must be followed to change our constitution.
View Article"Bees and vinegar: How should elders treat people?"
A woman who lives near the church likes to walk her dogs in the Rockwood State Forest. One day her two Labs disappeared into the brush and a minute later one of them came flying through the air,...
View Article"What do you know about Presbyterian missionaries?"
Many of our congregations support missionaries at home and abroad with financial contributions and prayers but how much concrete information do members and officers have about the men and women who...
View ArticleWhat Do Elders Do?
Editor's note: This is the fifth in a series of stories entitled: "What is a Presbyterian Elder?" According to the Book of Order, elders have responsibilities that are rather broadly defined:...
View ArticleThe top ten responsibilities of the Session
(Editor's Note: this article is the sixth and final one in a series on "What is a Presbyterian Elder?") Whenever I ask our young people a rhetorical question at the time for the Children's Sermon...
View ArticleThe Book of Confessions: Questions for reflection and indigestion
How well do you know and understand the documents in the Book of Confessions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)? Although all officers make ordination promises to receive and adopt the essential...
View ArticleLeaving the PC(USA): What Are The Facts?
Recent discussions in many quarters are focused on congregations and presbyteries considering removing themselves from the denomination. Questions about dissolution and secession or expressions of...
View ArticleHymns as fresh as daily bread
It is good news that the 217th General Assembly approved the production of a new denominational hymnbook by Presbyterian Publishing. Although The Presbyterian Hymnal has been an excellent tool for...
View ArticleThe Universe Is God's
The following hymn accompanies an article by Earl S. Johnson Jr in the August 28, 2006 issue of the Outlook. (link to Hymns as fresh as daily bread) Tune: Nun danket alle Gott 6.7.6.7. 6.6.6.6 .Text:...
View ArticleNon-statistical congregational analysis
Recently every congregation should have received the report from the General Assembly entitled Statistics, January 1-December 31, 2005 (for a fee of $10). In it records from every Presbyterian Church...
View ArticlePreventing pastoral depreciation
In her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Gilead (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004, p. 6), Marilynne Robinson has the main character, a minister who is reaching the end of his pastorate, write the following...
View ArticleBenefits, drawbacks of visiting members
Most church officers would agree that personal contact with new people who are visiting the church and with members who have special needs is a good thing. Religious institutions are unique in that...
View ArticleHow are visitors greeted in your congregation on Christmas Eve?
The answer to this question will vary in Presbyterian churches, and the way in which we respond reflects our most fundamental attitude toward outreach and evangelism. Almost every congregation...
View ArticleFor the church Refrigerator
Recently one of church's most beloved elders passed away unexpectedly. We all were in a state of sadness and shock and wanted something to help remember Grace. When her daughter and I met at Grace's...
View ArticleIs Christ alive in your church?
This is a good question for church officers to consider, especially at Easter. But what does it really mean? If we preach Christ raised from the dead on the third day, do we have a concrete sense...
View ArticleDoes it do any good to pray at long distance?"
Recently I received an e-mail asking for prayer for a friend I had not seen in a long time. Jerry had routine hip replacement surgery and seemed to be doing fine. Two days later he had a massive...
View ArticleNew ways to communicate with members
One of the major problems in modern congregations is discovering how to communicate effectively with members. If the pastor gives a sermon on Mother's Day, for example, about family life and ways for...
View ArticleYou CAN reach out to college students
When I was a college student in Holland, Mich., there were about 35 congregations affiliated with the Reformed Church but there was only one Presbyterian church and it was so small that it met in a...
View ArticleThe priority for this General Assembly
This coming General Assembly can correct a false categorical declaration the Assembly made in 1978 — “that the practice of homosexuality is sin.”
View ArticleKeeping pastoral care information confidential
One of the most important tasks of church officers and pastors is to visit the sick, take care of shut-ins, and meet with members who are in personal or public distress.
View ArticleBeyond the walls: Small West Virginia churches look outward to surrounding...
Editor’s note: This is the latest in a series of stories about congregations engaged in significant outreach and evangelism ministries, reflecting the General Assembly’s commitment to “Grow Christ’s...
View ArticleNot Your Parents’ Offering Plate:Stewardship 2010 and beyond
If you have been struggling with your own giving to the church or your congregation is having a difficult time raising its annual budget or meeting capital expenses, J. Clif Christopher’s book, Not...
View ArticleOp-Ed: Reflecting on the preliminary report of the Special Committee on Marriage
In the Gospel of Luke, an expert in religious law stands up to test Jesus, asking what he must do to earn eternal life.
View ArticleWide-Awake Christians
I have been rereading a book by Clarence Jordan (author of the Cotton Patch translations of the New Testament) entitled The Sermon On the Mount ( Judson Press, Revised, 1952).
View Article“Steward Ship,” a practical approach
In her recent book “Spiritual Leadership for Church Officers, A Handbook” (Louisville: Geneva Press, 2009), Joan Gray, former moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.),...
View ArticleA LITANY OF REFLECTION,From: A Community Wide 9/11 Observance
Leader: Ten years we were brought to our knees as a nation in shock,fear, anger, grief. For perhaps the first time, we woke up to God’s truth thatwe are as vulnerable as the rest of humanity.
View ArticleNCC announces Kinnamon's departure
NEW YORK (National Council of Churches) The Executive Committee of the National Council of Churches has announced that the Rev. Dr. MichaelKinnamon completed his service as NCC General Secretary on...
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Webinar – Engage Discipleship
A Presbyterian Outlook 90-minute webinar presented by Ray Jones Tuesday, October 1, 2013 at 4 p.m. ET How is your congregation raising up new disciples? Are you looking for new approaches to ignite and...
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