While Hurricane Florence dominated media coverage in the U.S., the most intense storm of the year battered the Philippines, Guam, the Marshall Islands, China and Hong Kong, causing extensive damage, loss of life, landslides and severe flooding to residents. Super Typhoon Mangkhut battered the northern Philippines with wind speeds up to 175 miles per hour, more powerful than a Category 5 hurricane. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is working with its area partners, the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and ACT Alliance, to assess the damage and deliver timely response actions.

On the eve of the International Day of Peace, nine peacemakers from around the world arrived in the U.S. to begin their three-week visit to presbyteries, congregations, universities, men’s and women’s groups, theological institutions and other groups across the country. On Wednesday morning, they gathered at Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s national offices in Louisville to participate in a chapel commissioning service. After two days of orientation, each will travel separately across the country to share their peacemaking vision and experiences with their American audiences as part of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program’s International Peacemakers program.

On September 20, 2017, life changed for millions of people living in Puerto Rico. That’s when Hurricane Maria, packing winds in excess of 174 miles an hour, slammed into the island. The Category 4 storm left millions homeless, destroyed the island’s power grid, and killed thousands. A year later, the island is still in the midst of recovery.

At 7:30 a.m. on November 29, 2017, the church phones at First United Presbyterian Church in Tarentum, Pa., were ringing. Callers wanted to know if the church had met the match for Giving Tuesday — and indeed, they had, and then some, says Rev. Philip Beck, pastor of First United PC.

At its fall meeting in Pittsburgh on September 11-13, the executive committee of the Presbyteries’ Cooperative Committee on Examinations for Candidates (PCC) gave final approval to a plan to move from four to three administrations each year of the senior exams (Bible Exegesis, Polity, Theology, and Worship and Sacraments) beginning with the 2019-2020 academic year.

Racial and gender diversity, drugs, hunger — big-city challenges have come to Main Street U.S.A. Presbyterians Today is launching a three-part series, “Rural Realities,” to explore the challenges and blessings for today’s rural churches as they navigate a new reality. In the first installment, PT talks to pastors about the racial diversity and gender identification issues in their small communities.

Why would families leave Guatemala to work in a meat-packing plant in Ohio?

Calling it devastating news, the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has sent a letter to President Donald Trump, urging the administration to change its planned course for refugee resettlement. The U.S. Government is planning to resettle only 30,000 refugees in the Federal Fiscal Year 2019.

“It is devastating news for the thousands of refugees who are living in a place of temporary refuge, their lives put on hold as they look for a country willing to open its doors to them,” the letter reads. “It is devastating news for the thousands of refugees already resettled in the United States who are separated from loved ones by war, flight, and left behind, waiting to be reunited.”

Can million-dollar donations to anti-hunger groups be a bad thing? Should Christians who are called to serve and work toward eliminating hunger and poverty in our communities question corporate generosity as a viable tool to achieve a faithful goal? Food activist and author Andrew Fisher recently presented these questions and more at a University of Louisville event that was co-sponsored by the Presbyterian Hunger Program. Fisher spoke to an audience of approximately 50 graduate and undergraduate students and a smaller number of community members interested in hunger issues, detailing the “unholy alliance” that exists between corporate America and anti-hunger organizations.

Leaders in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have issued a statement to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria’s impact on Puerto Rico. The Category 4 hurricane hit the island on September 20, 2017, forcing millions from their homes, destroying the island’s power infrastructure, and leaving thousands dead.