By Lukas Vischer
Occasional Paper #20 gathers together some of Calvin’s statements about unity and provides an interpretive framework for understanding Calvin, the Reformed tradition and our own situation. The Office of Theology and Worship believes that "Pia Conspiratio" is a significant contribution to the church's current struggles over the nature of the church and the character of ecclesial unity.
By José Luis Casal, general missioner, Tres Rios Presbytery
The most demanding challenge of our time is how to be the church of Jesus Christ with a clear message for the people we serve. The Bible challenges us to see and respond to the “signs of the times.” This paper asks the following: are we to save a system (structure) or humankind?
By William C. Placher
Occasional Paper #3 — What happened in American theology during the quarter century between "The Confession of 1967" and "A Brief Statement of Faith"? The author examines the dynamics of theologies of liberation, the intellectual disestablishment and mainline Protestantism and developments in other disciplines as well as the disastrous split between theology and the church.
by José Luis Casal, Carol Howard Merritt, J. Herbert Nelson II, Cynthia Holder Rich and John L. Williams
Have we structured our life together in a way that serves our best aspirations? Do the current institutional arrangements of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) help us flourish? This paper discusses issues from previous generations of Presbyterians and whether some of them to reworked, reshaped ... or even replaced.
By John A. Radano
Occasional Paper #8 — Monsignor John A. Radano, head of the Western Section of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, offers a review of the Roman Catholic ecumenical commitment, a survey of Catholic contacts with Reformed churches and a prospectus of ecumenical possibilities.
By Leanne Van Dyk
In Theology and Worship Occasional Paper No. 15, Leanne Van Dyk develops a lively metaphor for thinking theologically. Growing Up Theologically spins out the process of organic growth as an imaginative way of understanding ourselves as people who can and do reflect on Christian faith and life, and who can mature in our theological thinking.
by Paul K. Hooker
In this essay Paul Hooker Hooker calls us to hear and respond to the questions we face in this time of intense transition — starting with one of the most basic questions: “who are we called to be?” Hooker points to resources we have at hand to help us formulate strong answers to that question.
By Philip Wickeri
Philip Wickeri believes that we are living in a time of fundamental change in the shape and structure of world Christianity. This change creates a crisis that may be described in terms of the churches' relationship to globalization, and its response to religious and cultural pluralism. Prof. Wickeri sets forth an understanding of "mission from the margins," suggesting that, throughout the history of the Christian churches, the cutting edge for mission has come from movements emerging outside established Christian centers. In today's context, these "marginal" movements include the African initiated churches, Pentecostals all over the world, …
by Cynthia M. Campbell and J. Fredrick Holper
Occasional Paper #6 contains keynote addresses delivered by Dr. Cynthia Campbell, president of McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, Ill., and Dr. J. Frederick Holper of Union Theological Seminary, Virginia, at the Festivals of Worship to introduce the Book of Common Worship (1993). The authors underscore the communal nature of Christian faith, which necessitates "common worship."
by Beau Weston
Have we structured our life together in a way that serves our best aspirations? Do the current institutional arrangements of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) help us flourish? Of the many things we carry with us from previous generations of Presbyterians, do they all continue to work well - or is it time for some of them to be reworked, reshaped ... or even replaced?
In Rebuilding the Presbyterian Establishment, Elder Beau Weston raises just such questions and builds on earlier analyses.