The Rev. Mary Brueggemann, a retired United Church of Christ pastor, began the Presbyterian Association of Musicians conference  Bible study on Justice in the New Testament Tuesday with a quote about the Old Testament.

As reports of inhumane conditions in child detention facilities near the United States-Mexico border surfaced over the weekend, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) staff working on immigration and asylum issues, like many observers, were shocked and saddened.

By grace, Synod of the Trinity staff became involved with the Community Responders Network in Central Pennsylvania last spring to support them in getting three reader’s theater-style skits around bias into video production. By grace, we met Ann Van Dyke, the writer of those skits, and as we got to know her, we learned of her work in civil rights for the state of Pennsylvania for many years. Out of her personal calling, Van Dyke offered to do some work with us around hate.

The title of this piece is a question that I’ve often been asked, as I have ended up in an informal leadership role in this loosely structured, PC(USA)-related collection of partnerships.

As the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) continues to settle into a new organizational structure at the General Assembly level, the Moving Forward Implementation Commission has taken action on who is responsible for legal matters involving the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation. The commission met in closed session on Sunday night and announced on Monday that the Board of the PC(USA), A Corporation, has authority on church litigation.

As part of the first week of the 2019 Presbyterian Association of Musicians Conference being held at Montreat Conference Center, Adam Tice was about to deliver his first Routley Lecture. Just before he began, he was telling a conference participant how he was going to speak about music and peace — and congregational singing and peacemaking. “That person said, ‘Well, first you’re going to have to define what you mean by peace,’” Tice said.

During six years in El Salvador as a mission co-worker with the Joining Hands Network, Kristi Van Nostran worked to bring people to a common table and create a network to support ongoing efforts around justice and food sovereignty. Now she is working with two Southern California presbyteries to once again walk alongside her Central American brothers and sisters.

The Korean War began on June 25, 1950 on a Sunday, the day of rest for most people. On Sunday, June 23, Korean Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis, Ind., invited Korean War veterans and their families for Sunday worship and fellowship following the service. The Korean church has observed Korean War Commemoration Sunday annually for over a decade, giving thanks for the sacrifice of those who fought on Korean soil. 

The Presbytery of Mid-Kentucky helped two Louisville congregations formalize their future together by holding worship Monday in the Harvey Browne Presbyterian Church chapel that’s used for worship each Sunday by the Korean Presbyterian Church of Louisville.

“Peace is not the absence of chaos, but the presence of hope.” That was the message from the Rev. Dr. Rodger Nishioka Sunday evening during opening worship kicking off week two of the 2019 Presbyterian Association of Musicians’ worship and music conference being held at the Montreat Conference Center.