Presbytery hymn-writer Carolyn Winfrey Gillette has composed a new hymn for post-election Sunday and beyond, and generously made it available free of charge. (Please include an acknowledgement when you copy it!)
Becoming a Multicultural Church
February 3, 2016 by
“What does God require of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in the 21st century? How do we live our faith as congregations of believers within an increasingly multicultural nation and world? What do we think and how do we feel about opportunities for crossing racial and cultural boundaries and barriers? What will be our responses to entrenched racism in the coming days? What models will we pass on to our young people who will become leaders for tomorrow? Then what is the vision that will inspire and guide us as we make our choices today?”
Letters to Jerri: On the Bible and Same-Sex Marriage
January 19, 2016 by
Fifteen brief essays by the Rev. Dr. D. Mark Davis: ‘I have written these “Letters to Jerri” in response to a question sent to me by a friend. Jerri and I began our Christian journeys as part of a theologically conservative and biblically fundamentalist faith tradition. I have moved on from that tradition, but my commitment to biblical theology is one of the many gifts that I received from that religious upbringing that I continue to appreciate.’
A La Familia – a resource in Spanish and English
January 12, 2016 by
Whether you speak English, Spanish, or both, you will benefit from this guide by the Rev. Dr. Miguel De La Torre of Iliff School of Theology in Denver, with the Rev. Dr. Ignacio Castuera and Lisbeth Meléndez Rivera. A La Familia: Una Conversación Sobre Nuestras Familias, la Biblia, la Orientación Sexual y la Identidad de Género (A Conversation About Our Families, the Bible, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) offers study and discussion questions for reflection as well as action ideas.
“Generous Peacemaking”
November 23, 2015 by
A Sermon on Isaiah 11:1-9 and Romans 15:5-7 by Kimberly L. Clayton for Covenant Conference 2015, Friday, November 6: “‘The church is called blessed because it is a peacemaker.’ I am intrigued by this slight difference in wording. This second image does not say what we are called to be, but instead declares what we are. A peacemaker. This clause in the Confession does not call us peacemakers—a bunch of individual peacemakers, each one of us doing our part, making peace in our own little sphere, as helpful as that would be in our individual families, my neighborhood, your school, her workplace, his circle of friends.
No, listen to it again: The church is called blessed because it is a peacemaker. A big ol’ unified peacemaker. We are in this together, united, one, with one another. These days, I’m afraid, the church is called a blessed many things—but I’m fairly certain that a peacemaker is not our best known characteristic.”
“Better Than a Hallelujah”
November 18, 2015 by
A Sermon on Isaiah 65:17-25 and 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, 6:1-2 by Marci Auld Glass for Covenant Conference 2015, Saturday, November 7: “The Belhar Confession reminds us that we are called to proclaim this new heaven and new earth that God is about to create. But we can’t do that in a way that tells people to be okay with the pain they are experiencing NOW, or with the injustice that is breaking their backs and their souls NOW. We aren’t called to be Pollyanna and deny the truth of people’s lived experience. As Paul Roberts said the other night, we are not called to just be nice. We are called to disrupt.”
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