Advocate | Fall 2015
God’s New Things: See it! Hear it! Live it!
Forgetting the Past with a Purpose
By: Rodger Nishioka "Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old." Isaiah 43:18 In a recent lecture, Walter Brueggemann, professor emeritus here at Columbia Theological Seminary, said that most people deal with the past in one of two ways:...
Step Out onto the Ledge
By: Thom Cunningham My son wanted to step out on the “Ledge” last year on his 7th birthday. The Ledge is a glass box that hangs 1,353 feet above Chicago’s Magnificent Mile on the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. As my...
A Time for Growth and Change
By: Zeta Lamberson Every fall new things happen. School starts back up after a summer break with new teachers, new classrooms, new companions on the journey. New teams are formed in sports leagues. New bands and orchestras are assembled. New teachers, youth leaders,...
Looking Ahead . . . Advent and Christmas
By: Sandy Safford Looking for some new ideas for the coming church season? This column, which we hope to include in each issue of the Advocate, is intended to give you some resources to consider for the months ahead. Maybe it will just remind you of something you...
Exploring Digital Media for Ministry
By: Kyle Oliver Something is happening in Christian education and formation. Ministry models are changing. Curricula and other resources are adapting. Teachers and learners are discovering the joys and challenges of using new media to enrich their faith journeys. For...
Educator of the Year for 2016: Beth Hayes
By: APCE Phoebe Elizabeth Abrams Hayes (Beth) grew up in a PCUSA church that played a very significant role in her early life. Her early involvement with that church family inspired her to major in religious education at Converse College in Spartanburg, South...
Resources to Explore: God’s New Things
By: Mary E. Speedy Check out resources from Annual Event speakers and others who will open your eyes to God's new things. When "Spiritual but Not Religious" Is Not Enough: Seeing God in Surprising Places, Even the Church, Lillian Daniel. Jericho, 2013. Playing off the...
The Four Types of Nones
By: Lillian Daniel You probably heard about it in the news. It was called the Pew Study on Religious Participation in America. Some experts went out and surveyed all kinds of people to find out what exactly we are doing with ourselves in this country religiously. The...
Worship at Home and On the Way
By: Luke Hyder The summer breeze was sending ripples cascading across the surface of the lake in front of me. Shafts of sunlight pierced the canopy of tall cedars above my head. And while my fingers were plucking simple chords on a guitar, my body resonated with the...
Having an Open Spirit
By: Nanette Sawyer Recently as I was sitting with my Spiritual Director, I raised my hands in the air and spoke exuberantly to God. I said, “Look at me, God!” I meant it in the sense of “look at all the great things about me!” Does that sound arrogant? When I think...