Membership had gone from 1,400 to about 160 over the decades. Maintaining a 10-acre campus, with a tall-steeple sanctuary built in 1950, drained money and energy. Church leaders struggled with the implications of closing or merging. It’s not a new story. However, Evergreen Presbyterian Church in Memphis, Tennessee, is writing a new chapter not only in a nontraditional place, but with new friends and missions.
With every event of gun violence, does the Spirit tug at you to do something? Yet what? And how? And do I have the courage and skill to do it? Or… I’ve been working on this — how do I become more effective? If these questions call to you, the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship invites you — and perhaps others from your church — to attend the inaugural James Atwood Institute for Congregational Courage at the Ghost Ranch Education and Retreat Center in Abiquiu, New Mexico, August 22-25. Honoring the late Presbyterian prophet of gun violence prevention, James Atwood, the Institute will offer intense continuing education for clergy and lay leaders in a range of educational, pastoral and action strategies for gun violence prevention mission in the local congregation.