“In God We Trust” only became our official motto in 1956, at the height of the Cold War and the McCarthy witch-hunt for communists, as a means to separate us from godless communism.
“The symbolism of the closed door was the wrong symbol,” said Chartres, who also announced an initiative, led by a former investment banker, with the aim of “reconnecting the financial with the ethical”.
A generation ago, seminaries were less eager for curriculum reform as they felt pastors could learn practical skills on the job, Aleshire said. But now, churches increasingly need pastors to arrive ready to tackle a myriad of challenges, from addressing alcoholism and domestic violence to creating access for the disabled.
It seems to me that what people believe about life after death says more about them than it does about God.
The protest at St Paul’s was seen by an unexpectedly large number of people as the expression of a widespread and deep exasperation with the financial establishment that shows no sign at all of diminishing. There is still a powerful sense around – fair or not – of a whole society paying for the errors and irresponsibility of bankers; of messages not getting through; of impatience with a return to ‘business as usual’ – represented by still soaring bonuses and little visible change in banking practices.
Can African churches in fact use the present crisis as an opportunity to rediscover the sources of their inner security? …did Stott not offer a more generous ecclesial vision, and a more charitable way to speak the truth in love, than does GAFCON? …In what ways should American Christians moderate their imperialist ambitions to set standards and offer solutions to the rest of the world?
“We need to pray that we will be empowered to speak clearly to our elected agents in government who make decisions about climate change.”