General Assembly Stated Clerk J. Herbert Nelson, II, was among many who offered tribute to the Reverend Michael Lukens at a retirement party in his honor. Lukens is concluding his service as stated clerk of the Presbytery of Winnebago after forty-eight years in the post. His retirement is official December 31, 2017.

“Your connection to an era of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America during a time when William P. Thompson served as Stated Clerk of the denomination is both iconic and legendary,” Nelson told Lukens on the eve of the December 2 celebration at Heritage Hill State Park in Green Bay, Wisconsin, referring to Lukens’ lengthy and probably record-breaking tenure.

Children’s book publishers – hoping perhaps for the next contemporary classic, another “Polar Express” or “Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins” – have sent out a blizzard of holiday choices this year.

Gifts received by the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) and the Presbyterian Foundation on #GivingTuesday this year totaled $63,379, a significant jump over the $37,440 the two agencies raised on #GivingTuesday last year.

The 2020 Vision Team is trying to work its way through a first draft of its report to the 2018 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – hoping to hit the right mix of being short, yet challenging; being grounded in biblical history and also looking forward. For sure, it’s an intricate dance.

Mientras crecía, cada Navidad la pasábamos en casa de mis abuelos en San Juan Bautista, California. Imagine a una treintena de parientes que ríen, comen, bromean y se abrazan en un pequeño hogar hecho de madera de dos dormitorios. Los niños y niñas pasaban de la sala de estar, con su televisión majestuosa y cuadrada, al comedor, a la cocina siempre ocupada presidida por mi abuela, al porche cerrado, al camino de entrada, al establo y al campo de atrás donde mi abuelo vigilaba al cerdo ahumado, con mi papá y mis tíos haciéndole compañía. Y luego, otra vez del campo de atrás, atravesando del establo, al otro lado del camino de entrada, al porche trasero, atravesando la cocina aún ocupada, pasando por el comedor y a la sala de estar.

성장하는 동안 모든 크리스마스는 캘리포니아의 산 환 바우티스타^{San Juan Bautista}에 있는 조부모님의 집에서 보냈습니다. 30여명의 친척들이 웃고, 먹고, 농담하고, 포옹하며 침실이 두 개인 나무 집에서 지낸다고 상상해 보십시오. 아이들은 침실에서 식당으로, 할머니가 주재하는 항상 바쁜 부엌으로, 뒤 베란다에서, 차도를 지나, 헛간을 통해 아버지와 삼촌과 함께 할아버지가 훈제 돼지 고기를 지키고 있었던 뒤뜰로 뛰어다녔습니다. 그리고 다시 뒷밭에서, 헛간을 통해, 차도를 가로 질러, 뒤쪽 현관으로, 바쁜 부엌을 통해, 식사 공간을 지나 거실로 뛰어다닙니다.

<한국어><Espaňol> Every Christmas day of my growing-up years was spent at my grandparents’ house in San Juan Bautista, California. Imagine thirty or so relatives laughing, eating, joking, and hugging in a little two-bedroom, wood-frame home. The kids rambled from the living room, with its stately, boxy television, to the dining area, to the always-busy kitchen, presided over by my grandmother, out the enclosed back porch, across the driveway, through the barn, and into the back field where my grandfather was keeping watch over the smoked pork, with my dad and uncles keeping him company. And then back again from the back field, through the barn, across the driveway, onto the back porch, through the still-busy kitchen, passing the dining area, and into the living room.

The small community of Aztec, New Mexico, is still reeling from last week’s shooting at a local high school that left two students and the alleged gunman dead. San Juan County authorities say William Atchison, 21, planned the attack at Aztec High School and had purchased a 9mm Glock last month.

As a young boy, the Rev. Ken Fuquay felt a call to preach, but he wasn’t sure if it was real or just a shadow cast by his father. The son of a Pentecostal Holiness minister, Fuquay is still referred to as “Tommy’s son” in some circles.

Leaders of Pacific Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and a year-old Southern California church movement called “Matthew 25/Mateo 25” have recently secured the release of a Guatemalan immigrant pastor who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last summer.

Pastor Noe Carias entered ICE headquarters, accompanied by his wife and children, in late-summer. Though he had been granted permission by ICE in prior years (called a “stay of removal”) to remain in the United States with permission, on this day he was carried off in handcuffs to the Adelanto Detention Center.