Harold Kurtz, PFF Senior Associate,
endorsed by Cascades Presbytery as PCUSA Moderator candidate.
Cascades Presbytery, meeting
November 8-9, has endorsed the Rev. Harold E. Kurtz as its
choice for candidate for moderator of the 215th PC(USA)
General Assembly.
Known for his engaging,
inspirational and challenging viewpoints, Kurtz often
confronts the church with the changing face of Christianity.
He says, "The Church is exploding
in the two-thirds world not only in terms of numbers but also
in terms of vitality, missionary outreach and vision,
indigenization, and, yes, THEOLOGY...The expression of the
Gospel, the forms which the Church, the fellowship of the
followers of Jesus, is taking has radically changed and is
continuing in that vein at a rapid rate. God is moving in new
and radical ways. We are living out once again what started in
Cornelius’s house in Acts 10! And today, the focus of
commitment and spiritual energy to God’s Mission has moved to
the congregation..."
Kurtz is senior associate of
Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship, a Validated Mission Support
Group of the PC(USA) that widely promotes Presbyterian
denominational mission among unreached cultures around the
world, including immigrant groups in the US.
He served as executive director of
PFF from 1984-2000. Previous to his work with PFF he was
pastor, 1977-1984, of Kenton United Presbyterian Church,
Portland, OR which followed a 22-year mission assignment, with
his wife Polly, as United Presbyterian missionaries in
Ethiopia, 1955-1977.
Since his shift to senior associate
in 2000 Kurtz has traveled extensively in Africa, Europe and
Central Asia, nurturing newly opening Presbyterian frontier
mission opportunities. He is a popular speaker and preacher in
Presbyterian congregations and presbyteries as well. A booklet
of his on mission perspectives was published last month (in
Russian: "A Short Introduction To Missiology"), born out of
popular demand for his lectures this past year with Russian
Baptist evangelists eager to learn about how to best plant the
church in the Russian Far East.
Additional information about Harold
Kurtz, his ministry history and family can be found online at
www.pff.net/Staff/harold.htm. |
