WHAT IS A VIGIL, ANYWAY?
This year will be the fourth annual Vigil on Good Friday and Holy Saturday – April 6-7. The Vigil starts with a service in the… Read More »WHAT IS A VIGIL, ANYWAY?
St. Stephen News
Palm Sunday Easter Basket Mission Project
Palm Sunday Easter Basket Project for PCHAS KIDS Pick out a name of a beautiful needy child from the local Presbyterian Children’s Homes clientele and… Read More »Palm Sunday Easter Basket Mission Project
Holy Week Events, Where Can YOU Participate?
Holy Week Events, April 1 – 8 Please See Where YOU Can Participate Sunday 10:45 a.m. – Palm Sunday Donkey Procession 12:15 p.m. – Spring Festival… Read More »Holy Week Events, Where Can YOU Participate?
Wine & Dine Auction, April 14, 5:30 – 8 p.m.
Wine & Dine Auction Benefitting SSPC Day School, April 14, 5:30 – 8:00 p.m. Paschal Jazz Band Back Again! Mexican Food! Sangria! Free Babysitting! Bring Children… Read More »Wine & Dine Auction, April 14, 5:30 – 8 p.m.
Beatles Concert, Sunday, March 25, 4 p.m.
The 2011-2012 St. Stephen Special Series presents. . . 52 Years: The Long and Winding Road. . . The Music of “The Beatles” (A Concert,… Read More »Beatles Concert, Sunday, March 25, 4 p.m.
Easter Massacres and Good Friday Accords
On Easter morning, March 30, 1997, newspapers reported that “a peaceful rally against government corruption in the plaza outside of the Parliament building in Phnom Penh, Cambodia was turned into a killing field by grenade hurling soldiers. The blasts, which killed 20 and wounded 117, were part of a calculated attack by troops loyal to Second Prime Minister Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge field commander.” Their target was democratic activist Sam Rainsy, who barely escaped with his life. (“U.S. Policy and the 1997 Easter Sunday Massacre in Cambodia,”By Al Santoli. Special To The U.S. Veteran Dispatch March/April/May/ 1997. )Read More »Easter Massacres and Good Friday Accords
The Sermon I Preached After Last Year’s NEXT Church Conference
The Presbyterian Church “NEXT church” conference is in Dallas at the end of this month. I found last year’s first NEXT con inspiring and educational. This is the sermon I preached on my return. It was Transfiguration Sunday.
The Vision Glorious
1 Peter 1: 16-21
March 7, 2011
St. Stephen Presbyterian Church
Fort Worth, TX
Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch, Preacher
This past weekend I attended the “Next Church” conference in Indianapolis. I always feel l have to explain that this isn’t the “Next Church” as in, “What’s the next church I’m going to be pastor of?” I’m not going anywhere. No, it’s “Next Church” as in, “What is the next church we, as a denomination, are becoming?” The conference brought pastors, elders, and seminarians together to discuss the future of the PCUSA. It was exciting but also sobering. I’ll start with why we are asking the question in the first place.
The PCUSA and denominational Christianity in general, appear to be at a crossroads. Our authority is no longer taken for granted. Indeed, the authority of the Christian message seems to be universally questioned. Both the church’s message and the forms we use to convey that message seem quaint and outdated, or worse, oppressive and exclusive. We seem both unwilling and unable to change with the times. Are we a dinosaur? Jurassic Church, hopelessly outdated and unable to survive the speeding, earth-shattering impact of the comet of change that’s transforming the world around us?Read More »The Sermon I Preached After Last Year’s NEXT Church Conference
The Church Come of Age
By Rev. Fritz Ritsch, D. Min., Pastor, St. Stephen Presbyterian Church, Fort Worth, Texas
There was a moment at the NEXT Church Conference in Dallas that made my jaw set and my stomach clench.Read More »The Church Come of Age
The Roof and the Youth of St. Stephen!
Just a few weeks ago, I was installed and ordained as a youth elder in our church… which seems kind of odd… youth…elder, … oxymoron.… Read More »The Roof and the Youth of St. Stephen!
Timeline: Bonhoeffer and Church-Based Attempts to Resist Hitler, 1933-39
This is the timeline we’ll be using in The Northminster Sunday School Class, Sunday, Feb. 20, when we’re discussing Bonhoeffer’s attempt at Church-Based Resistance.Read More »Timeline: Bonhoeffer and Church-Based Attempts to Resist Hitler, 1933-39