An excited buzz rose above the clatter of dishes in the refectory as Columbia Theological Seminary welcomed reunion classes, retired faculty, family and friends of the community for the Alumni/ae Association meeting and dinner April 12.
Susannah Cook, outgoing association president, conducted the evening’s business, including the election of 2010-11 officers, Ann Kelly, president; Anne Apple, vice president; and Hugh Hamilton, secretary. Cook also announced that alumni/ae annual fund participation increased by 5 percent during the 2009-10 fiscal year.
An awards presentation followed the meeting. The Rev. Mark Adams was named the recipient of the Pioneer in Mission award. Adams …
On Sunday, March 21, while in Cuba with a delegation of leaders from the Synod of the Sun, I was invited to preach at Iglesia Presbiteriana de Luyano in a poor neighborhood of Havana. I was ably and entertainingly assisted by the Rev. Adolfo Ham, a renowned Cuban Presbyterian theologian and pastor emeritus of the Luyano Church.
The immaculate building bustled with activity all morning — every room and several outdoor areas packed for Sunday school with church members of all ages. Between Sunday school and church, worshipers gathered on a patio for snacks and conversation. The sanctuary, which seats …
This July several thousand Presbyterians will attend the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Minneapolis. But there are many more who would like to be at the Assembly, but can’t attend because of time, distance or other commitments.
There is, however, a way for all to participate.
While many local Presbyterians will serve in ministries of hospitality during the Assembly, showing commissioners and visitors alike the neighborliness that is characteristic of Presbyterians, others can help through prayer.
The Committee on Local Arrangements (COLA) is looking for about 1,000 people who are willing to serve as prayer partners, …
Although some churches retreat within their own walls and adopt an “us vs. them” worldview, a group of Pennsylvania congregations have learned that cooperation is better than competition.
The Rev. Tom Hamilton is pastor of Canonsburg United Presbyterian Church, one of seven Presbyterian churches that have formed a partnership to further one another’s evangelism and ministry. He credits Washington Presbytery for starting the initiative in the spring of 2009.
“We took advantage of the remnant of a schism in one church to build something new,” said the Rev. Charles Perrine, interim general presbyter.
Yes, Virginia, there is a vital Presbyterian Church in Cuba.
I was invited to travel to the island last month with the presbytery and synod staffs of the Synod of the Sun. We spent time at the Matanzas Evangelical Theological Seminary talking about the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba. We also toured churches in each of the three presbyteries.
We heard remarkable testimonies of faithfulness and hope in these Cuban congregations. Church members told us about the long time in their history immediately following the revolution when only one or two people …
Three large classrooms at Dongguan Church here are filled on a Friday afternoon with well over 1,000 church members who are studying Psalm 92. A young female pastor leads the Bible study in one room; her image is projected on large screens in the other two rooms by closed circuit television. Students nibble on the remnants of their lunches as they take copious notes.
The class is just part of a seven-day "revival," in which lay leaders of the 40,000-member Dongguan Church — founded more than 100 years ago by Presbyterian missionary John Ross — are being trained to lead …
Another company has reached an agreement with a farmworkers' rights group with strong ties to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), taking the next step in the workers' fight for fair wages and working conditions.
On April 1, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Aramark Corporation released a statement agreeing to establish a supplier code of conduct with input from farmworkers. Aramark will also increase payment to workers by 1.5 cents for every pound of tomatoes picked.
CIW is a community-based worker organization in Florida that advocates for the rights of workers in that state’s tomato fields. It partners with the PC(USA)'s …
The Church as a global community of faith to be mutually respected and shared is the focus of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary's 2010 Festival of Theology and Reunion, April 25-28. This year's theme is "The Global Church: Implications for Mission and Ministry."
"Five hundred years after events of the Reformation, churches shaped by this important movement are asking themselves what it means to affirm that reformation is an ongoing process, one of which the Church always stands in need. Today, new life from communities in the Global South is rapidly transforming the map of the Christian world," said the …
On March 20, Presbyterians at Ecumenical Advocacy Days heard from several leaders in Washington who serve in a variety of capacities but who agree that faith-based organizations have a role in political advocacy.
The Rev. J. Herbert Nelson is the new director of public witness in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s Washington Office. He spoke about the responsibility of God's people to be "priestly in love and prophetic in speaking truth to power."
The dinner was also a time to say farewell to the Rev. Phil Tom. Tom was the former associate for small church and community ministry in the …