Human trafficking can take many forms and permeates communities across the United States, according to the Human Trafficking Roundtable of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which educates and collaborates with others to take a human-rights based approach to this crime.
Gathering more than 1,550 Presbyterians in any one place takes a lot of God’s grace, patience and volunteers.
Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri doesn’t have the title of missionary or pastor, but her service to the church goes beyond the traditional Presbyterian roles.
“Sometimes we confuse evangelism, believing it only comes in one or two forms,” she says. “But in reality, it is in everything we do. You don’t have to get into a plane or drive faraway to witness. You do it where you are.”
Shortly after the Rev. Frank Yamada began his keynote address to the Big Tent today (Aug. 2), his cell phone rang. As he scrambled to answer, so did numerous others of the 1,000 participants gathered in the Kentucky International Convention Center ballroom.
Admitting that his cell phone ring was scripted, Yamada ― president of McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago ―asked, “Didn’t you check your own cellphones, wondering if it was your’s? Chances are you stopped concentrating when it happened on what I was saying. You were concentrating on that little buzz.”
Some Presbyterians believe that if they put on their Sunday best and wear a smiley face to church, their differences will melt away. That’s not necessarily the case, of course. But God does supply the gifts we need to bridge the gaps that divide, Vera K. White, associate for 1001 New Worshiping Communities for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) said during morning worship Friday (Aug. 2) at Big Tent.
When it comes to donating to charity, Britain’s small but fast-growing Muslim community comes out ahead of other religious groups, a recent survey shows.
Ron Peters has a vision for the 1,400 or so Presbyterians attending Big Tent this week: like Jesus’ followers at Pentecost, they too can see their anarchy be changed to awe, their alienation to reconciliation.
In the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, we read of the Holy Family escaping the terror of King Herod and his attack on the infant boys of Jerusalem. They find refuge and safety for a few years in the arms of the people of Egypt. Egyptian Christians take pride in their ancestors’ role of protecting Jesus and his parents. For the past month, we have experienced the hospitality and friendliness infused in Egyptian culture for ourselves. In some ways, the three of us might picture ourselves as that same family, being welcomed into the arms of the Egyptian people.
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) World Mission pre-conference keynote speaker Bob Lupton was living in suburban Atlanta but ministering in the heart of its downtown when he began to feel the tug of a calling. Just five weeks away from his new suburban home’s completion date, he told his wife he felt the need to move to the inner-city so his ministry could be more effective. So, they did, and it changed the way his ministry operated.
On Saturday, Aug. 3, Presbyterians from Louisville and across the nation will join with Lucas Benitez, farmworker and co-founder of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), an award-winning organization of Florida farmworkers, in a peaceful, public action calling on Wendy’s to join the Fair Food Program.