After the shopping surge of Black Friday and Cyber Monday ends, #GivingTuesday offers an opportunity to bear witness to the spirit of gratitude expressed on Thanksgiving Day, a Presbyterian Mission leader said.
October 22nd couldn’t have been a more beautiful morning. Hundreds of individuals and families from around the Kansas City Metro woke up and instead of putting on their Sunday best, they dressed in work clothes, boots, and gloves; gathered rakes, scissors, knitting needles, and casserole dishes; and drove to church to worship in, well, a different way.
Marie 'Breezy' Lusted, a Presbyterian mission co-worker and long-term volunteer, served as a nurse and Bible translator in Ethiopia for 56 years. She passed away in North Carolina on October 29 at the age 85. Her sisters, Ruth and Anita, a niece, Cindy, and a close friend were at her bedside.
Several years ago, we faced a mystery in our home. When my older children were 3 and 4 years old, all of our children’s books were getting ruined. The pages were wrinkled, folded and ripping. The books could not fit on the shelves because the damaged pages made each book take up twice as much shelf space as it should have. We were forced to throw the kids’ favorite books in the garbage because they were unreadable. I saw it as a crisis of responsibility. How could our children be so careless with their possessions?
The minister was giving a sermon on “total giving.” When it came time to take up the offering, the plate came to a pew where there was a very small boy. He looked up at the usher and said, “Could you lower the plate?” Thinking that he wanted to see into the plate, the usher held it down a bit. “No,” said the boy, “a little lower, please.” The usher lowered it a bit more. “More; could you just put it on the floor?” the boy asked. The usher was aghast but finally put it on the floor. The boy stepped into it, stood there, and said, “This is what I give to the Lord.” — A Stewardship Scrapbook
La Junta de Pensiones de la Iglesia Presbiteriana (EE.UU.) anunció hoy que no recolectara cuotas para el plan de beneficios en los tres presbiterios y sus iglesias en Puerto Rico. Por ahora, el período de exención se aplica a las cuotas adeudadas desde septiembre hasta diciembre del 2017 y se volverá a evaluar al culminar el año.
Having spent her career at church-affiliated colleges, Cindy Gnadinger is ready for a new challenge as president of Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin. She becomes the first woman to fill the president’s post at the school, which is one of seven Presbyterian-related institutions in covenant with the Synod of Lakes and Prairies.
The Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) announced today it is waiving benefits plan dues for the three presbyteries and their churches in Puerto Rico. For now, the waiver period applies to dues owed September through December 2017 and will be reassessed at the close of the year.
Sarah Jane Moore grew up in a small Illinois farm town where few spoke of diversity. The minority population stood at zero percent and only a few people of color attended her college.