Resources for the 219th General Assembly (2010)

All of us at The Presbyterian Leader.com are excited about this opportunity to offer General Assembly attendees a brief glimpse into what our site has to offer. To that end, we have decided to make our 219th General Assembly (2010) materials free to all visitors of the site. Create a free account and then download the desired material. We’ll keep you posted as new resources are developed.

 General Assembly Study In this study on the theme of the 219th General Assembly, “Rivers of Living Water,” Matthew Skinner observes that if Presbyterians were to embrace the General Assembly as a kind of spiritual festival, then Jesus’ words in John 7:37–38 might well raise our expectations accordingly. Important church business is accomplished at the General Assembly, but the context for this work is worship, celebration, remembrance, and hope for the future. This in-depth study gives readers a deeper understanding of the spirit of this year’s assembly and encourages us to bring renewed expectations to the event, creating a more rewarding experience.

Christian Theological Seminary Fall 2010 Lecture Series

Saltsburg Distinguished Lecture Series   Date: Sept. 29-30, 2010   All lectures are free of charge.

Lecturer: Dr. Gale A. Yee, Nancy W. King Professor of Biblical Studies, Episcopal Divinity School

“Shaking the Foundations of Privilege: The Bible and Eradicating Poverty”

Lecture 1 (Wednesday, Sept. 29, 6:00 pm): “Answering God’s Call: Bringing Justice to All.” This lecture will introduce the eight Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations and how churches and faith-based communities are already involved in the MDGs. It will provide a brief survey of the theological foundations that undergird the biblical injunctions regarding the poor and marginalized, beginning first with the creation of human persons in God’s image, who, like God’s very self, hears the cry of the poor and responds.

Lecture 2 (Thursday, Sept. 30, 1:00 pm): “Raising the Poor from the Dust: The Prophets Jim Wallis notes in God’s Politics that the poor and God’s response to injustice is the second most prominent theme in the Hebrew Scriptures. The special focus in this lecture will be on the stories of the prophets, Elijah and Elisha in 1 and 2 Kings and how they alleviated hunger and debt. These stories exhibit the harsh conditions of poverty caused by famine, war, and exploitation by the Israelite elites. They deal with starvation, infant mortality, disease, debt slavery, and human trafficking. Moreover, the major recipients of prophetic help were widows, women who were the most vulnerable in Israelite society.

Lecture 3 (Thursday, Sept. 30, 6:00 pm): “The Silenced Speak: Lessons from Biblical Women”  These three goals, “Promote gender equality and empower women,” “Reduce child mortality,” and “Improve maternal health” are very much related. Although the biblical text has often been used to subordinate and oppress women, feminist biblical scholars have also used the bible as a resource to empower women. Put in the mouths of women, the Song of Hannah (1 Sam 2) and Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1) envision of reversal of hierarchies, in which “The Lord raises up the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap.”

 Christian Theological Seminary is located at 1000 W. 42nd Street in Indianapolis.