Reflections For Renewal » PC(USA)

Responding to Rome: Presbyterians Should Embrace Honest Ecumenism

Michael Walker — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 07:02:24 +0000

As a Presbyterian passionately committed to the central insights of the Protestant Reformation, it feels a little awkward to say this: we should appreciate the recent statement on the church approved by the Vatican, and we should not embrace the highly publicized Protestant over-reactions to it.
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Trinitarian Spirituality: An Interview

Michael Walker — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 09:10:34 +0000

A few months ago I had the privilege of participating in an interview on “Trinitarian Spirituality” with a PC(USA) publication called “Hungryhearts.” Excerpts from that interview were published in the Spring edition of that magazine, and I just discovered that it’s available online. You can download a PDF copy of it here. The interview starts on p. 11.

My Recent Posts on The Outbox

Michael Walker — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 08:00:37 +0000

I know I appear to have been a slacker as of late, not having posted recently. The truth is, I have been a slacker. But I have also been posting a few things over on “The Outbox,” the missional resource blog of the Presbyterian Global Fellowship. Here are links to a few of my recent posts: (more…)

Missional Polity: Will it really help the church?

Michael Walker — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 05:56:54 +0000

After attending the recent meetings of the PC(USA)’s “Form of Government Task Force,” I’ve been thinking about how to “place” the efforts to develop a new “missional polity” for mainline churches. That is, how to place it in the more comprehensive effort of working for the missional transformation of our congregations and ultimately the larger church structures and denomination as a whole.

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In Search of a Missional Polity for Presbyterians

Michael Walker — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 05:52:14 +0000

Of the several important decisions made by the PC(USA)’s 217th General Assembly
(2006) that have yet to receive much attention, the formation of the
“Form of Government Task Force” (F.O.G.) is at the top of the list.
This new Task Force has been charged with proposing a re-written Form
of Government (the “G” section in the PCUSA’s Book of Order) to the
218th General Assembly (2008).

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Check out “The Outbox”

Michael Walker — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 08:04:38 +0000

If you haven’t already, make sure you check out the new blog site from
the Presbyterian Global Fellowship…a team of bloggers is posting
resources, ideas and exhortations. It’s updated daily, so there’s new content all the time. Click here to go there.

Ministry of Reconciliation or Clowning Around?: A Seminary Student Reflects On “C.P.E.”

Michael Walker — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 07:24:37 +0000

This is a guest post from Alec Flynt, a student at Princeton Seminary who is preparing for ordained ministry in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). As part of the ordination process, most presbyteries require participation in a program called “Clinical Pastoral Education.” This program varies from place to place, but it usually involves being a “chaplain” in a healthcare environment, a field where the definition and means of “healing” are often derived from the social sciences apart from a Christian theological foundation. Many people end up with the same question I had after doing CPE: “Why does the church want to train me for Christian ministry by asking me to learn how to be an atheological healthcare chaplain?” Or something of that order. The impact this required ‘training’ has on the ministry of the PC(USA) is significant. In this post, Alec Flynt reflects on his experience of CPE this past summer. His experience, like mine, should raise serious questions about the appropriateness of many of the CPE programs utilized by our church’s governing bodies to train ordinands for ministering the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Alec writes:

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Resigning As Director of PFR, Focusing on Family and Academic Life

Michael Walker — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 21:17:49 +0000

In addition to this letter below, please also see the announcement from the PFR Board of Directors.

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Missional Identity: Some Initial Reflections

Michael Walker — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 11:40:05 +0000

Today I’ve been thinking about “identity issues,” our assumptions about who we are and why our churches exist, which in turn inform why we choose to do the various activities, programs, etc. that busy our calendars. One of the most important and difficult challenges facing our congregations is their need to develop a new missional identity. For most of us, becoming missional will require a deep re-orientation of personal life and a challenging transformation of the leadership style, foci, and even structures of our congregations.

Unity and Purity, Humility and Moral Striving: Listening to Ephesians “In Christ”

Michael Walker — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 13:56:35 +0000

A couple weeks ago I promised to continue a series of reflections on the theme of “Yearning for Unity and Purity” in the PC(USA), commenting on the state of the church, looking at Ephesians and then a few books on the topic of church unity. This post looks at Ephesians. I’ll pick up on the other sources in subsequent posts. I’ll also try to interact with some of the comments that have been submitted.

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