Category Archives: Booklets & Journals

Who’s In? Who’s Out?

This insightful essay, Who’s In? Who’s Out? by church theologian Joseph Small, is particularly relevant given the debates currently being conducted in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Indeed, this trenchant theological reflection may well come at a kairotic moment (in the words of Paul Tillich), as the church seeks to understand what characteristics define this ecclesial community and what constitutes […]

The Shape Of Pastoral Ministry

Occasional Paper #13 reprints two significant essays that are no longer readily available. “The Maceration of the Minister” by the late Lutheran theologian Joseph Sittler is an incisive, sympathetic analysis of the plight of ministers. “The Teaching Authority of the Minister in the Reformed Tradition: A Contemporary Proposal” by Richard R. Osmer, the Thomas W. […]

Confessional Standards for a Confessing Church

From the Publisher’s Note: […] The term “confessing church” has come to mean something altogether different in the current Presbyterian context, however, as right-wing organizations seek to use confessional statements as theological sledgehammers to bludgeon Presbyterians into a rigid orthodoxy that divisively excludes certain persons from ecclesiastical leadership. It is in this context that Union Theological Seminary— Presbyterian School of Christian […]

Peace, Unity, and Purity?

From the Publisher’s Note: The Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church was created by the 213th General Assembly (2001) in a denominational context of polarization.… In the pages that follow, you are invited to engage this process of consideration via the ruminations of three leaders of the church. It is my hope that these […]

Congregational Transformation

This booklet is about Congregational Redevelopment and is one in a series of how-to booklets produced by the Evangelism and Church Development Program Area of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). To redevelop a congregation is to redirect its ministry in response to significant changes that may have taken place either among its membership or in the […]