October 6, 2006
Tricentennial of American Presbyterianism celebrated
Philadelphia service marks 300th anniversary of first presbytery meeting
The Rev. Joan Gray was among those present for the tricentennial celebration. Photo by Joe Williams.
PHILADELPHIA – The great cloud of Presbyterian witnesses most certainly would have been pleased on Sunday, Oct. 1.
Peering down at the goings on inside Old Pine Street Presbyterian Church here, they had to be smiling as they watched their offspring paying homage to them. And no doubt they marveled at just how far their church had come in 300 years.
A colorful procession of presbytery banners, two choirs and a brass ensemble, an array of denominational officials and a hearty crowd gathered to mark the 300th anniversary of the first presbytery meeting in America. Held in Philadelphia in 1706, the meeting set the foundation for what is today the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
View a clip of the Rev. Joan Gray's sermon. 
View a clip of the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick's sermon.
[Continue reading the story.]
August 25, 2006
Moderator, stated clerk nix ‘moratorium’ call
Tell New Wineskins they lack authority to suspend Constitution
by Presbyterian News Service
LOUSIVILLE — Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick and Moderator Joan Gray responded this week to correspondence they received from the New Wineskins Association of Churches that calls for a moratorium on disciplining churches that seek to leave the denomination.
The New Wineskins approved the call for a moratorium in July, and the association subsequently empowered their moderator, the Rev. Dean Weaver, to send a letter and details of their action to Kirkpatrick and Gray.
The full text of Kirkpatrick and Gray’s response, dated Aug. 22:
Dear Mr. Weaver,
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Thank you for your recent letter on behalf of the New Wineskins Association of Churches, including the “Action of the 2006 Convocation of Voting Delegates.” We appreciate your letting us know the mind of this gathering and sharing your concerns. This is a challenging time in the life of our church, and in reading your letter we are reminded that “If one member [of the body] suffers, all suffer together with it” (I Cor. 12:26a).
[Continue reading the story.]
August 16, 2006
The fruit-bearing business
A message to Presbyterians from the moderator
by the Rev. Joan S. Gray
Moderator of the 217th General Assembly
ATLANTA — As I move into my term as moderator of the 217th General Assembly, I want to put before the church a passage of scripture that has been a foundation of my ministry. In his farewell address to his disciples, Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). [Continue reading the story.]
July 7, 2006
Making a way where there is no way
Moderator addresses 'future of the church' conference
by Toya Richards Hill
MONTREAT, NC - The church was never meant to be a place where people only pulled from their human resources, but instead it is to be a "God-powered institution," Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Moderator Joan Gray said earlier this week. [Continue reading the story.]
June 28, 2006
Moderator, stated clerk issue pastoral letter on General Assembly
'God's spirit was with us,' Gray, Kirkpatrick say
by Jerry L. Van Marter
LOUISVILLE — Knowing their decisions would be interpreted — and misinterpreted – in a number of ways, commissioners to the recently concluded 217th General Assembly asked Moderator Joan Gray and Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick to write a pastoral letter to the church. [Continue reading the story.]
New moderator reflects on faith-walk adventure
Current struggles are where "God meets and blesses us"
by Corey Schlosser-Hall
BIRMINGHAM, June 15 — Fresh off her election and installation as the new moderator of the 217th General Assembly (2006) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Rev. Joan Gray suggested to a group of reporters, "Maybe we could reframe our current situation as the struggle in which God meets and blesses us." [Continue reading the story.]
Atlanta minister is elected moderator
Joan Gray wins on third ballot
by Jerry L. Van Marter
BIRMINGHAM, June 15 — The Rev. Joan S. Gray, a minister in Greater Atlanta Presbytery who said she doesn’t have many answers for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s problems but is willing to let God lead the way, was elected moderator of the 2.3 million-member denomination’s 217th General Assembly on June 15. [Continue reading the story.] |
