Yukon Presbytery is reporting initial success in the development of its newest ministry model ― The Aywaan Parish, comprised of the three mostly Island-Yupik congregations in the villages of Gambell, Savoonga and Nome.
Africa needs a new aid structure that improves the lives of the continent’s people, church and civil society leaders said. “More than one trillion dollars has been transferred to Africa from countries across the world. Yet Africa is still characterized by many development challenges," they noted in a statement issued on April 29 at the end of a two-day meeting on “aid effectiveness.”
Four Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)-related publications won a total of 10 awards in the 95th annual “Best of the Christian Press” competition sponsored by the Associated Church Press (ACP), the oldest and largest religious press association in North America.
The Big Tent ― the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s biennial celebration of ministry and mission ― will be pitched in Indianapolis June 30-July 2.
The decision to keep the Big Tent event in Indianapolis this summer was made after church leaders examined the final text of the newly passed Indiana immigration bill (Senate Bill 590) and confirmed that it does not contain elements that would have necessitated a change of venue.
Church leaders were compelled to consider the change after the 219th General Assembly (2010) of the PC(USA) voted to “refrain from holding national meetings at hotels in those states where travel by immigrant Presbyterians of color or Hispanic ancestry might subject them to harassment due to legislation similar to Arizona Law SB 1070/HB2162.”
The assembly’s action was in response to Arizona legislation that includes provisions that allow law enforcement officers to check a person’s immigration status in some situations and make illegal the harboring or transporting of an undocumented immigrant in some cases.
Evangelist David Wilkerson, who wrote the popular book The Cross and the Switchblade, founded New York’s Times Square Church and an international ministry to gang members and drug addicts, died in a traffic accident on April 27, according to media reports.
Wilkerson, 79, died after his car slammed into a truck on a highway about 95 miles southeast of Dallas, according to The Associated Press. His wife, Gwen, was also injured but is expected to recover.
Wilkerson was known most for his outreach to street gangs, which he started after viewing a photo in Life magazine of New York …
The Rev. Trina Zelle has accepted the newly-formed position of National Organizer for the Presbyterian Health, Education and Welfare Association (PHEWA), a ministry of Compassion, Peace, and Justice Ministry, General Assembly Mission Council (GAMC), Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Rev. Zelle writes, “I am excited at the prospect of collaboration with experienced and committed leadership in strengthening and expanding this incredible organization.”
Ordained in 1980 by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Rev. Trina Zelle has served congregations in Connecticut, Minnesota, Hawaii, Texas, and Arizona. She also worked for ten years as a community organizer in partnership with immigrant women living along the Texas/New …