A familiar face in the Office of the General Assembly is taking on the leadership role in Mid Council Ministries. Jihyun Oh, who currently serves as the OGA manager of call process support and teaching elder ministries, has been named director.
Oh is an ordained teaching elder/minister of Word & Sacrament who came to ministry as a very early 3rd career student. Prior to coming to the Office of the General Assembly, she served congregations as interim pastor, associate pastor, and parish associate. She also served the patients, families, and staff in the ICU’s of a Level I Trauma hospital as a chaplain.
The Presbyterian Mission Agency approved 12 Mission Program Grants to worshiping communities during its latest grant cycle. Among them are eight $7,500 seed grants to help an assortment of 1001 new worshiping communities get started in various presbyteries across the country.
Paul Fogg’s next post in the Presbyterian camp and conference center world comes with a strong sense of call.
Imagine a set of strings lying across a table, each one a different and vibrant color. Individually, the strings are beautiful — they are bright red, golden yellow, vivid green, chocolate brown, royal purple. Each has a different thickness, weight and texture; each was created in a different place, by different hands. Now imagine the strings woven together in a rich, multicolored pattern that creates a broad tapestry. The tapestry is even more beautiful; the interplay between the individual strings, their colors and textures, creates a work of art. Together, the tapestry is unique and strong.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s ecumenical, faith-based Young Adult Volunteers (YAV) program is taking steps to embrace equity and inclusion in its recruitment and programming. As part of this endeavor, YAV teamed up with World Mission from April 30-May 3 to hold a consultation with people of color at the Ghost Ranch Education & Retreat Center in New Mexico.
With both Father’s Day and World Refugee Day falling in the same week, the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is taking the opportunity to draw attention to the plight of migrant families coming to the U.S. In two letters to members of Congress, the stated clerk is calling for stronger measures to protect and represent families seeking to start a new life.
Referring to the recent deaths of migrant children who died in U.S. custody, Nelson says more should be done to protect those fleeing their homelands.
Organizers say nearly two million people have participated in protests in Hong Kong against a controversial extradition bill. Even though Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam publicly apologized Saturday and suspended any action on the legislation, protests continued Sunday.
Westminster John Knox Press is pleased to announce “Resist and Persist: Faith and the Fight for Equality” by Erin Wathen has been named a winner in the 21st annual Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards.
Last summer, I received a call to join Olympia Presbytery in planting a new worshiping community, Hagar’s Community Church, at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) — the largest women’s prison in Washington state.
As of Friday morning, 79 congregations, five presbyteries and one synod — Lakes and Prairies — had said yes to the Matthew 25 invitation, agreeing to become more actively engaged in the world by working on one or more of three focus areas: building congregational vitality, dismantling structural racism and eradicating systemic poverty.