The adobe walls are all that remain of the C.H. Cook Memorial Church in Sacaton, Arizona. Built in 1887, the historic church was destroyed by fire on March 25.
“If the new Healthy Pastors, Healthy Congregations program were a breakfast food, you could say it’s selling like hotcakes,” said Andy Browne, Vice President of Church Relations for the Board of Pensions.
Here’s a nugget of sound advice from the general secretary of the World Communion of Reformed Churches: Don’t come to the ecumenical picnic without bringing some sandwiches.
A wondrous change is taking place — a movement of the Spirit. Presbyterian congregations are reprioritizing the work of the Church, taking it from an institution of survival to a way of getting actively engaged in the community and making the world a better place.
Samantha Paige Davis had to start her lunchtime talk at Compassion, Peace & Justice Training Day re-framing her given topic: “Movement Building in a Time of Fear.”
Many individuals and families are just one paycheck away from homelessness, explained Rachel Eliser, a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) serving with Safe Parking LA, a nonprofit committed to providing a safe and secure place for vehicle dwellers to sleep. The Safe Parking LA program is modeled after programs in other cities in California, including Santa Barbara, San Diego and San Jose, as well as communities in Washington state and Oregon.
The closest the Rev. Bethany Peerbolte has come to heartache associated with Mother’s Day was a couple years ago, when her parents moved from Michigan to North Carolina. “I’m like, ‘If that was hard for me, I can’t imagine what the people in my church are going through when they’ve lost a mother or haven’t had a mother figure who’s really been kind and loving to them, like a mother should be.’”
Asked to preach at both services of the Iglesia Evangélica Presbiteriana Central in Guatemala City on Palm Sunday, the Rev. Jose Luis Casal told the more than 200 people present for the second service, “It’s Palm Sunday. What are we going to talk about? The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem!”
Transformation will be the driving force during the Friday plenary at the Big Tent celebration in Baltimore in early August.
Grounded in Romans 12:2, the guiding Scripture for this year’s event, the Rev. Amantha Barbee will lead attendees in a challenging discussion of the word “transformation” from the multiple lenses of one’s self, one’s family, the world and even religious institution.
Paul Estes, a first-grader from Torrington, Wyoming, looks forward to shedding his wiggly tooth and welcoming a visit from the tooth fairy.