Two more Protestant denominations open their doors

09/10/2007 -- 10:15 PM

HCM City (VNA) - The Government Committee for Religious Affairs, on October
9, granted certificates for religious activities to the Presbyterian Church
of Viet Nam and the Christian Fellowship Church .

The Presbyterian Church of Viet Nam was established in 1989 and it to date
has more than 7,000 followers and 50 dignitaries.

Also established in 1989, the Christian Fellowship Church has up to 300,000
followers and 662 pastors in 59 cities and provinces. Over half of them are
derived from ethnic minority groups.

The two have brought to seven the total number of Protestant denominations
receiving certificates for religious activities in Viet Nam over the past
two years.-Enditem

The Power of a Vision

How many places of need just around the corner or across the world are waiting for someone to care and catch a vision of what God might want to be done in that place?

Here is one such place.

Theological Education Fund

Pittsburgh Seminary welcomed an incoming class of 90 students last fall.  Of that number, about one half were under the age of 25.  That  is good news.  The flip side is that many came in with undergraduate debt. 

October 11, 2007

To all my dear brothers and sisters in Seattle Presbytery

Greetings from Nairobi, Kenya!  You are about to begin Mission Fest Seattle – and how I wish I could be there with you to celebrate what God is doing around the world!  Let me at least share a bit of what God is doing, through your support

Thirteen years ago, at the end of 1994, I left Seattle where I was serving as the Director of Campus Ministries at Seattle Pacific University and as Parish Associate at University Presbyterian Church to serve at Daystar University in Nairobi Kenya.  I was one of the first PC(USA) mission personnel to be sent out under the San Gabriel initiative, meaning that I was more directly sent out by my local Presbytery – i.e. Seattle Presbytery.  I continue to serve here in Kenya, as a PC(USA) mission co-worker, supported by you.

THE CHURCH ON DAUPHINE STREET
(Rustin Thompson, Ann Hedreen, Seattle, 2007, 83min.)

While this new documentary film is set in the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, it is not about tragedy. Directors Rustin Thompson and Ann Hedreen find hope and unlikely connections in the story of one church in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans and a team of volunteers from Seattle who join forces with local volunteers to help rebuild the damaged church. Led by Irish priest Joseph Benson and African-American ex-Marine Arthine Vicks, the Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos parish is one of New Orleans’ most unusual and independent congregations. CHURCH ON DAUPHINE STREET explores the stories of a variety of its parishioners and volunteers, many of whom lost their homes and loved ones to the hurricane.

DVDs are available for $20.  People can send a check to White Noise Productions, 5454 57th Ave South, Seattle, WA 98118 and we will ship the DVD back to them within 2-3 days.

I was an undergraduate at UC-Berkeley when the Bible first became a book I really wanted to read. I lived in a large co-op called Barrington Hall, and it was there in a weekly student-led Bible discussion group that the random pieces of my worldview came together.  It was my discovery of Jesus Christ in the New Testament that made the difference for me, and it is he who integrated each part of my story into a new whole.

 Something has been lurking in my mind for a number of years about being Christian, my own sense of call to the ministry, and my understanding of the church. Since, in recent months, I have felt humbled, grateful, and blessed to serve my congregation as pastor during what I perceive to be a time of renewal, I would like to bring this something out of the shadows.

One major change that has swept the church in my lifetime is the change in what it means to "be a Christian".  In general terms, when I was young being a Christian meant that you went to church on Sunday, but not much more. Some counted as Christians even though they only attended church services on Christmas Eve and Easter.