주 안에서 나의 형제 자매된 여러분에게 크리스마스 인사를 드립니다. 내 이름은 토니 드 라 로사 (Tony De La Rosa)이며, 미국 장로교 선교국 (PMA)의 임시 총무입니다. 나는 장로교 선교국 이사회와 직원들을 대신하여 여러분이 복되고 즐거운 성탄절을 보내시기 바랍니다. 

"To All?"— Because this year has been in some ways so shocking and sad for us here in Paris, I thought we all needed a different take on the proverbial reason for the season. And so I invite you to reflect with me on Paul’s Christmas story in these amazing words to Titus: “For the grace of God appeared, bringing salvation to all.” This is the good news of Christmas, a kind of Titus Twitter Tweet that sums up the message of the incarnation and why we celebrate this night!

The communication staff of the Presbyterian Mission Agency was thinking of a special way to say thank you to our loyal readers and contributors during Christmas. One of the first suggestions was a song. Not only a song, but a song performed by someone employed at the Presbyterian Center.

For most of us, the Christmas season is a hectic time and seems to start earlier each year. Black Friday has spilled into Thanksgiving Day, and the store hours are getting longer and longer. Many stores will stay open into Christmas Day itself in an effort to catch that last consumer dollar.

In the meantime, church choirs and pastors prepare for Christmas pageants and candlelight services to commemorate the Christ child’s birth.

For Janet Wolf, however, Christmas will always be “a story that belongs in the streets among the oppressed.”

Four members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) traveled to Ukraine and Russian this summer to listen to church leaders and those affected by the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, and learn about the churches’ role in bringing peace and healing to the two Slavic nations. 

The devastating impact of flooding and drought continue to cause heartaches for the people of Malawi. Officials with the Malawi ACT Forum are telling the Presbyterian Mission Agency that hunger in Malawi is growing despite relief efforts by government and various NGOs, especially in rural areas. Most markets have no maize to sell and the sporadic rain has people concerned that the 2016 harvest could be in jeopardy.

Continuous snows, floods and the strongest hurricane ever recorded make up some of the biggest weather stories to come out of 2015. While U.S. communities still deal with the impact of this year’s unusual weather patterns, staff members of the Presbyterian Hunger Program and Environmental Ministries say poor countries are facing serious economic and health issues related to the weather.

Ruling Elder David Parker, a member of First Presbyterian Church in Statesville, North Carolina, has announced that he will be standing for moderator of the 222nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 2016. Parker adds his name to the list of those vying for the position along with co-moderator candidates Jan Edmiston and and Denise Anderson.

“Once you open the door of possibility things happen,” says the Rev. Karen Hagen, pastor of Tippecanoe Presbyterian Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Things really began to happen for this 51-member congregation when they decided to open their church doors in response to the needs of homeless persons in the Bay View area of their city.

Over the years, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has responded to massive weather events like Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy or major earthquakes and tsunamis in other countries. But 2015 brought a new set of challenges to PDA staff and volunteers. “What we’ve had this year has been an extraordinary number of what I call cascading events. They start small and then just keep coming on in intensity,” said Laurie Kraus, PDA coordinator.