The General Assembly Mission Council unanimously voted today to confirm the Rev. Roger Dermody as the deputy executive director for mission of the GAMC, one of the six agencies of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
"He will be a great addition to our staff here," said Linda Valentine, executive director of the GAMC.
Valentine announced Dermody’s selection in April. He succeeds the Rev. Tom Taylor, who left the position in December to be the president and CEO of the Presbyterian Foundation.
In his new position, Dermody will oversee the GAMC's mission activities. He'll also oversee the office of Research Services, which …
Personnel from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance were setting up offices in Franklin, Tenn., Monday, beginning a long process of assessment in order to implement disaster recovery efforts.
Rob Moreland, Dale Martin and Kelly Buell, all members of PDA's national response team, were busy discussing how to tackle this disaster as news came in that 43 counties in Tennessee are now officially disaster areas. They spoke of how to assess needs in the Presbytery of the Mid-South, as well as the Presbytery of Middle Tennessee and of how to connect with relief efforts in the community in order to find those …
More than a few good voices — that's what the Committee on Local Arrangements (COLA) is seeking for the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) here in July.
COLA is inviting singers to join what will be a 500-voice choir that will sing for the Assembly's opening worship service at 10 a.m. Sunday, July 4, in the Minneapolis Convention Center.
Paula Sanders, executive coordinator for COLA, said complete church choirs and individuals are welcome to join the large choir.
Jere Lantz, choir director at Westminster Presbyterian Church here, will direct the large choir. Lantz holds a master's degree …
When Sam Moffett was appointed to mission service more than 60 years ago, he didn't have to be taught the value of empowering local Christians to lead their own churches.
He learned it by observing his father, the late Samuel Austin Moffett, one of the pioneering Protestant missionaries in Korea. "Within 17 years of my father's arrival in 1890, the missionaries had turned (church leadership) over to the Koreans," Moffett says.
This strategy helped shape a vibrant Christian movement on the Korean peninsula.
The senior Moffett witnessed the Great Revival of 1907 that began in the northern city of Pyongyang. …
A Philadelphia pastor, the Rev. James A. Belle, is the fifth candidate for moderator of the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Belle, pastor since November 2005 of Holy Trinity-Bethlehem Presbyterian Church, notified the Office of the General Assembly last week of his intent to seek the post. A vote to endorse his candidacy is scheduled when the Presbytery of Philadelphia meets May 25.
“I see biblical and confessional ‘illiteracy’ as the major obstacles facing our church today,” Belle wrote in a statement on key theological issues. “I hold ministers of the Word and Sacrament directly responsible within …
Five Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)-related publications won 16 awards in the 2009 "Best of the Christian Press" competition sponsored by the Associated Church Press.
The Presbyterian News Service and Presbyterians Today led the way, each taking home five awards. PNS and Horizons — the magazine of Presbyterian Women — placed in the "Best in Class" categories for news service and special interest magazine, respectively. PNS tied for third place in that category, and Horizons won the Award of Excellence, the top prize.
The independent Presbyterian Outlook and The Presbyterian Sun, a former print publication of the Synod of the …
The Rev. Eric G. Nielsen, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Eau Claire, Wisc., has been unanimously endorsed by Northern Waters Presbytery to stand for moderator of the upcoming 219th General Assembly, July 3-10 in Minneapolis. The presbytery took its action May 6.
He joins three other candidates for the Assembly’s top post — the Rev. Jin Kim of Minneapolis in the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area; Elder Cynthia Bolbach of Washington, D.C. in National Capital Presbytery; and the Rev. Maggie Lauterer, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Burnsville, N.C. in Western North Carolina Presbytery.
Nielsen, who has served …
"It is so easy to do good work out of abundance," says the Rev. Abel Mirabel Padilla, pastor of Guanabacoa Presbyterian Church in Havana Presbytery of the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba (IPRC). "It is a whole different expression of faith to serve out of extreme scarcity."
Such is life for the nine congregations, plus several informal "fellowships," that comprise Havana Presbytery, one of three presbyteries in the IPRC.
And yet, presbytery leaders recently told a delegation of U.S. Presbyterians from the Synod of the Sun, the presbytery chartered a new church in 2009 and continues to expand its outreach …
A small group of pastors, elders, and students gathered recently at Atlanta’s Interdenominational Theological Center to explore the final report to the 219th General Assembly from the Special Committee to Study Issues of Civil Union and Christian Marriage.
The Rev. Margaret Aymer, assistant professor of New Testament at ITC's Johnson C. Smith seminary, and a member of the special committee, led the conversation.
The committee appointed by Bruce Reyes-Chow, moderator of the 218th General Assembly (2008), was, as mandated, very diverse. "We were well split on gender, race and age," Aymer explained. "Ten members were ministers, five were elders and …
Five Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) new church developments will receive $25,000 each in mission program grants to further new church ministries. Two of the five new church developments are in Pennsylvania; the others are in Florida, South Carolina and Kentucky:
New Faith New Church Development, Greenwood, S.C. (Synod of South Atlantic), will be the first predominately African-American church in the Greater Greenwood area of Trinity Presbytery.
Providence New Church Development, Fernandina Beach, Fla. (Synod of South Atlantic), will be the first Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Yulee, a fast-growing unincorporated area of St. Augustine Presbytery.