Richard Rieves, Memphis born and bred, has returned home to help Second Presbyterian plant a new church. Rieves, originally ordained in the PCA, is now ministering in the EPC to plant Downtown Presbyterian Church. The will be conducting their first Sunday morning worship service this coming week – October 3, at their new location at... Continue Reading

Anglo-Catholicism within the Church of England is dispersing like a cloud of incense rolling down the nave. Those Anglicans who have decided to take advantage of Pope Benedict XVI’s historic offer of special privileges within the Roman Catholic Church are already constructing a network of Ordinariate communities that will bear fruit in new Catholic parishes.... Continue Reading

McNeal compared the Church’s mission to an aircraft carrier. It’s not how many planes are stacked up on the deck, he said, it’s the kind of missions that are being flown. Mission leadership consultant Reggie McNeal challenged participants in the New Wineskins Association of Churches Convocation at Windwood Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas, Sept. 26-28,... Continue Reading

Launching a multi-site venue off-site is the only expansion project that respondents say effectively ministers to those who are unchurched According to a survey conducted by Christianity Today International and Cornerstone Knowledge Network (CKN) earlier this year, four out of the five types of expansion projects churches undertook in recent years were done to enhance... Continue Reading

Three outbursts of violence in or near churches, including one during worship services, are raising safety concerns for church leaders. Eddie Contreras, youth pastor at Walnut Park Casa De Mi Gloria Church in Garland, Texas, was speaking to a group of students Friday evening (Sept. 24) when Jose Pablo, a student struggling with family problems,... Continue Reading

“Synod PJC’s opinion was as sharply divided as the presbytery vote, including a declaration that Larges’ declared departure from G-6.0106b (fidelity/chastity standard) is a serious departure from both Reformed faith and polity.” In a 5-4 vote, the Synod of the Pacific Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) has upheld the Presbytery of San Francisco’s decision to ordain... Continue Reading

Frank Barker III of Barker Communications in Birmingham is offering both DVD and AC recordings of the special Blue Ridge Presbytery meeting on September 18. On September 18 the Blue Ridge Presbytery hosted a special event to which speakers both in favor of and against the adoption of proposed changes to BCO 14 of the... Continue Reading

On Saturday, September 25, 2010, Eastern Pennsylvania Presbytery voted not to approve the proposed BCO 14 amendments. Eastern Pennsylvania reported the following voting results: BCO 14-1: 11 yes, 15 no, and 3 abstentions. BCO 14-2: 11 yes, 15 no, and 3 abstentions. These amendments, if approved, would change the way the PCA General Assembly determines... Continue Reading

For the fifth time the General Assembly has asked presbyteries to ratify an amendment to the Book of Order’s Form of Government, Chapter 6, paragraph .0106, sentence b. What’s the difference? (Among other things) guidance replaces obedience: Currently, the express standard is that each and every ordained officer in the PCUSA “lead a life in... Continue Reading

There is no way to opt out and unlike per capita, there is no provision to withhold or redirect. These dues are not voluntary but mandated by G-14.0534 of the Book of Order. The 219th General Assembly of the PCUSA has asked the Board of Pensions to extend medical and retirement benefits to the same-sex... Continue Reading