When Saousan Jarjour came to Costa Mesa, California, the Rev. Tim McCalmont had no idea the impact she would have on him. A young woman from Homs, Jarjour came from Syria to study music at Orange Coast Community College. Its campus is across the street from Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, where McCalmont serves as pastor. Raised Presbyterian, Jarjour showed up in church one Sunday in 2004 and soon after started singing in the choir. 

The Presbyterian Disaster Assistance National Response Team (NRT) treats every annual meeting like a family reunion. More than 100 volunteers and team members gather each year for training, worship, sharing and, in many cases, laughter. There are no strangers, just a close group of Presbyterians eager to meet and greet, catch up on travels and occasionally rib one another. 

Higher education is the oldest form of Presbyterian Church mission beyond the congregation. With its roots tracing back to the Protestant Reformation in 16th century Europe, in the United States the Presbyterian emphasis on higher education dates to the early 1700s with the founding of the College of New Jersey, which later became Princeton University. Today, 56 colleges and universities continue to emphasize their historical relationship with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

In October 2013, Fellowship Presbyterian Church (FPC) in Huntsville, Alabama started their witness for earth care conservation by simply changing their light bulbs. In March 2014, they became a PC(USA) Earth Care Congregation (ECC). This year they will hold Earth Day worship services as a recertified ECC, which includes an earth care mindset that permeates their congregation and is complemented by an impressive food distribution community outreach program. As PC(USA) Associate for Environmental Ministries, Rebecca Barnes, says, “we recognize that earth care ministries do well to encompass issues of poverty and hunger alleviation, peacemaking, and more. Caring for all in God’s creation include social justice.”

Faith-based organizations presented significant input at an April 6, 2016 United Nations civil society hearing in New York City, a prelude to a UN High Level Meeting on HIV in New York on June 8-10.

As both a panelist and a presenter at Presbyterian & Pluralist: Equipping Presbyterian Colleges and Universities for Interfaith Leadership, ruling elder Rick Ufford-Chase laid bare his soul.

They come from Colorado, Texas, Indiana, Georgia, Minnesota, California and more. They are pastors, presbytery executives, elders or simply Presbyterians with a passion to help those in need. The newest members of the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance National Response Team were commissioned this past week as part of the PDA NRT’s annual meeting in St. Louis.

In an effort to meet the needs of a growing urban population, Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis has embarked upon a $80 million expansion project to better engage the needs of the city. Several funding streams, including a $35 million commitment from the congregation, have brought the “Open Doors Open Futures” project to life. A community celebration and groundbreaking ceremony will be held this Sunday, April 10, 2016, at 11:15 am. 

More than 100 members of the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance National Response Team came from across the country and gathered in a St. Louis hotel conference room in a sea of blue; kicking off their annual meeting with a celebration and cake.

An activist, a student, and a pastor walk into a library. That library is none other than the Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice (CLBSJ)—unique of its kind—created in 2011 with the express purpose of bringing a diverse, intergenerational community together around issues of social justice. The CLBSJ is an asset of the Community of Living Traditions at the Stony Point Center, one of three national conference centers of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)