Aug 21, 2016 |
By: As we move into fall programming, the Advocate will spend several weeks on a series of articles about Rituals and Transitions. We’ll hear from Gina Yeager-Buckley about connecting youth ministry to rites of passage in adolescence. Tammy Winchip will describe...
Aug 14, 2016 |
By: Kevin Burns Last Fall, in anticipation of the new Star Wars movie, members at Highland Presbyterian Church in Louisville, Kentucky explored the theology of the first six Star Wars movies (after all, we had some big fans!). The three sessions were conducted...
Aug 7, 2016 |
By: Mark Edwards Each January our youth take a hiatus from our normal age-specific Christian education classes. Instead, middle school students, high school students, and adults met together for an all-ages Sunday School class. Following upon last year’s four-part...
Jul 31, 2016 |
By: Debbie Hough He’s back! Or at least his world is back. Of course, I am referring to Harry Potter and his world of wizards and muggles and so much more. As I write this article the brand new play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is in previews in London set to...
Jul 24, 2016 |
By: Russell W. Dalton The blockbuster film X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) opens in ancient Egypt, with the world’s first and most powerful mutant, Apocalypse, entering a pyramid as thousands of people are gathered to worship him as a god. However, some human rebels cry,...
Jul 17, 2016 |
By: Steven Tuell A former student told me this story about a conversation overheard at her seminary. A classmate said that she had always loved Roman Catholic cathedrals: dim and cool and beautiful, illumined with jewel-colored stained glass, they had always felt to...
Jul 10, 2016 |
By: John Vest In my Ed Talk at the 2016 APCE Annual Event in Chicago, I showed a clip from the original Star Wars movie and the trailer for the newest film, The Force Awakens. I used these clips to illustrate my point that faith formation and spiritual growth are...
Jul 3, 2016 |
By: Seth Lovell God of all creation, Your presence is known and felt in every corner of the globe. As we answered the call to serve as your hands and feet in the world we found that we did not need to take action for you to go with us; you have gone before, and you...
Jun 26, 2016 |
By: Von Clemans Portland, Oregon – As I write this (6/24/16) the 222nd General Assembly of the PC(USA) is nearing its end after a week of orientations, committee meetings, and plenary sessions. Our four partner denominations have similar national gatherings. ...
Jun 19, 2016 |
By: John Van Sloten Over the past fifteen years I’ve preached on many movies: The Theory of Everything, The Croods, The Dark Knight, How to Train your Dragon, UP, Crash, Gran Torino, Where the Wild Things Are, and Ratatouille, to name a few. I’ve also written sermons...
