With the provocative statement, “Imagine if heaven was like one endless orgasm,” Debra Hirsch opened her morning presentation to the National Gathering of The Fellowship Community, held Aug. 18-20 at the First Presbyterian Church, San Diego. A church leader, author, and trained counselor, who has worked in the field of sexuality for over 25 years, Hirsch also uses the line to open her new book, Redeeming Sex: Naked Conversations about Sexuality and Spirituality.
Though life for Christian workers in the Middle East is a somewhat complicated affair, the Rev. Scott Parker believes their presence in the region is essential and respected. “Christians, and specifically Presbyterians, were part of the people who brought hospitals and universities into the Middle East,” he says. “The work is highly regarded by most people.”
Presbyterians close to the conflict in South Sudan are praying the peace agreement signed today by President Salva Kiir will bring about lasting peace. The agreement was signed Wednesday around 5 p.m. EAT (eastern Africa time) in front of a group of regional African leaders in Juba. Kiir’s rival, Riek Machar, signed the agreement a week ago in Ethiopia, but Kiir refused to sign saying he needed more time to review it.
A summary of Synod and Presbytery news and events submitted to Presbyterian News Service.
Two of the most distinguished scholars in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be sharing their wisdom on pastoral vocation as part of the Company of New Pastors’ (CNP) Pastoral Conversations series.
Nearly 1,000 people gathered on a rainy Saturday evening inside Anderson Auditorium at the Montreat (N.C.) Conference Center to hear from one of the leading civil rights activists in the nation. Congressman John R. Lewis shared stories of how he met Martin Luther King, Jr. and got involved in the civil rights movement in the early 1960’s.
High winds and dry weather continue to fan the flames in the northwest as wildfires spread, damaging or destroying homes and businesses. Representatives of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance’s National Response Team have spent nearly a week meeting with the Presbytery of the Inland Northwest and the Synod of Alaska-Northwest to assess the damage and determine needs. The fires in Washington State and Idaho alone have burned thousands of acres over the past two weeks and the work to contain the fires continues.
The church lives its life through the liturgical seasons. Those seasons remind us of the biblical story and prepare us to celebrate the gift of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. In Advent we live in a season of expectations—the expectations of awaiting the promise of new life and a new way of living.
I firmly believe the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has entered into a new chapter of its common life. That chapter is full of much promise as we continue to follow God into the world. It also is my belief that this new chapter needs new leadership.
“For many new immigrant women, the only places they may find leadership opportunities are in their women’s groups, which are often very insular,” said the Rev. Terri Ofori, chaplain at Bloomfield (N.J.) College and chaplain to the Synod Commission of the Northeast. “I want the women that I’m speaking with to understand that they have the power to change that. That they have more power than they may realize and that their voices need to be heard across the church.”
It’s been about a week and a half since surgery and every single day feels better. It’s a daily lesson to take things slowly, refraining from pushing myself so that I don’t set myself back.
The gift of all of this time has been the surrounding community offering prayers and words of encouragement. Opening my inbox or logging into Facebook offered a distraction from the surgery. I could feel the love and support despite the distance between all of us. Our families came to fill our fridge and freezer with food, clean, and enjoy time with our son. We’re still working on digging ourselves out from under all of the comfort food!