The Church of All Nations, a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregation in Minneapolis, is one of five congregations to receive a $10,000 Cultures of Call grant from The Fund for Theological Education (FTE).

The grant was awarded for the church’s “Discerning Vocations Together,” a program that integrates a resident internship program with congregational life, creating new opportunities for congregation members and resident interns to discern vocations together through forums, group meetings and community service.

FTE will award nearly $50,000 to five initiatives selected from proposals nationwide. The programs, to be implemented over the next 18 months, represent congregations in six different …

When the Rev. Buddy Monahan, chaplain at the Menaul School, first had the opportunity nearly 10 years ago to participate in a life-transforming diversity workshop led by the Rev. Eric Law, he knew that one day he would find a way to bring Law’s unique gifts to benefit the Menaul community.

Faced with the formidable challenge of funding, which emerged as a major obstacle to inviting Law to the private, PC(USA)-related secondary school in Albuquerque, N.M., Monahan tenaciously pursued his dream.

“Buddy was part of a group of church leaders in 2002 who attended a two-day event sponsored by …

A church food pantry is not particularly unusual.

But it’s the way that First Presbyterian Church of North Platte, Neb., organizes and manages its pantry that stands it out from the crowd.

When it started 25 years ago, the Grace Ministries Food Pantry was an ecumenical effort under a fellowship of ministers. For nearly two decades, the pantry was located in the Presbyterian church, and except for the first few months, the pantry’s directors have all been Presbyterian.

When the fellowship decided to step away from the project, it seemed natural for First Presbyterian Church — part of Central Nebraska …

Each year, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Board of Pensions (BOP) gives a Christmas gift to low-income pensioners who receive income or housing assistance grants through the board’s Assistance Program.

The Assistance Program is funded by individual contributions and the BOP’s portion of the PC(USA)’s Christmas Joy Offering, not from dues. Each eligible individual receives $250 and married couples receive $500.

In a recent “Weekly Letter,” BOP President Rob Maggs, shared some of the thank-you letters the board has received:

From Clovis, Calif. —

On behalf of my mother, I would like to thank you and the Board of Pensions for …

What better way is there to learn about the world and help those in need than by doing what we love?

Global Harmony, a community chorus started by North Como Presbyterian Church in Roseville, Minn., does that plus helps grow its church home.

Global Harmony Community Chorus was originally put together for a series of concerts in February 2005 to raise money in the wake of the tsunami that struck Southeast Asia in 2004, said Jennifer Anderson, the church’s director of music ministry and the director of the chorus. 

“One thing we like to do at North Como is …

Editor’s note: This week, after 15 years as associate executive for the Presbytery of Kiskiminetas in central Pennsylvania, the Rev. Erin Cox-Holmes takes up her new call as executive presbyter for the Presbytery of Donegal, in southeastern Pennsylvania. — Jerry L. Van Marter

Today I am thinking about transitions.

I am thinking about leaving.

As I write this, a giant U-Haul is bellied up to my garage door. The family is helping me to feed it. Boxes of books, mostly, along with the personal goods needed to make a nest for the next six months.

My last office nest …

A soccer field has become home to more than 5,000 traumatized Haitians here. It is one of many makeshift communities tucked in every corner of the city and in open fields in the outlying areas.

A massive earthquake Jan. 12 shook more than 400,000 people from the safety of their homes. Home doesn’t mean safe anymore. The communities can’t really be called tent cities because most of the people don’t have any kind of shelter. Wooden poles covered by sheets provide a little respite from the hot sun during the day.

Families hang their laundry to dry on the bleachers …

“Clergy and laity are two words that should never escape the lips of Presbyterians,” the Rev. Joe Small told members of Committees on Ministry and Preparation for Ministry here, insisting that Presbyterian polity and theology emphasizes “collegial ministry.”

Small, director of the office of Theology, Worship and Education for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s General Assembly Mission Council, called the “separation” of ministry “one of the big problems we have in the church today.”

Ministry within the church needs to be the responsibility of all the leaders — deacons, elders and pastors, Small said, speaking at Christ the King Retreat Center …

The National Committee on the Self-Development of People of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has approved grants for 13 self-help projects in the United States.

The $269,930 in grants comes from the PC(USA)’s One Great Hour of Sharing offering.

SDOP, funded primarily through the OGHS offering, enables members and non-members of the PC(USA) to establish partnerships with economically poor, oppressed and disadvantaged people in order to help them achieve sufficiency.

Grants were approved at a meeting of SDOP’s National Committee Jan. 22-23.

Projects funded cover a wide range: a group of women who have formed a cooperative that produces and markets …

“I make better choices now,” says Twin (name changed to protect his privacy), a member of Sixth-Grace Presbyterian Church’s Barbershop Raps Mentor Program, reflecting on his participation in the ministry.

Twin, a high school student in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood near the church, joined the program last summer when Sixth-Grace and local community organizations began an outreach ministry for young men ages 12 to 19.

Twin had been tight-lipped with his thoughts or feelings in rap sessions, group conversations between the young men and adult mentors, according to the Rev. Bernard Clark, a Baptist pastor and  community organizer who is one …