Presbyterians from across the nation will gather in Louisville to celebrate the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Big Tent conference on August 1–3 at the Kentucky International Convention Center. The conference will culminate with a community-wide street party to commemorate the organization’s 25th year in Louisville and the 30th anniversary of the reunion that formed the PC(USA).
The street party will take place at the Presbyterian Center, located downtown at 100 Witherspoon Street and on 2nd Street (between Washington and Witherspoon Streets, on August 3 from 5:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.
“This celebration recognizes a very special time in the history of the Presbyterian Church(U.S.A.). Twenty-five years ago, then Louisville mayor Jerry Abramson and a host of Louisville community leaders, including John Mulder, who was the president of the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary at that time and David Jones Sr., persuaded the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to relocate its headquarters to this great city,” said Linda Valentine, executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. “The Big Tent conference will bring Presbyterians from all over the county here to Louisville to be a part of this historic celebration.”
The street party will include games, food, live music, building tours, and a flash-mob performance by the employees of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The official program begins at 6:00 p.m.
Big Tent offers an unprecedented 10 national Presbyterian conferences and more than 160 workshops and allows Presbyterians from all over to experience the deep sense of community one would expect at a national gathering of Presbyterians—a great big family reunion.
For more information on the conference and the street party, contact Gail Strange, director of Mission Communications, at 502-569-5340 or 502-494-9876 (cell) or gail.strange@pcusa.org.