Burnout. Just reading the word is enough to cause the shoulders to droop, the body to want to curl up in a ball and find somewhere to rest. For many church leaders it can be an ever-present companion in the life and ministry of the congregation.
One of my earliest memories of feeling fully spiritually alive beyond the church was in my mother’s kitchen. My family often entertained guests, and the time put into preparing meals was a gesture of hospitality and caregiving.
In May, a denominational communications survey was launched to determine what the Church most wants and needs from Communications. Nearly 11,000 people responded to questions including “What is most useful about communications from the national offices?” and “What is most frustrating?” and “What denominational information would you like that you are not currently getting?” Some of their responses might surprise you.
When talking about his work, Mark Hare knows how to capture your attention. A mission co-worker in the Dominican Republic, he was sharing the details of his project with Mouvman Peyizan Papay (MPP), a grassroots organization in Haiti. At the heart of his presentation was the goal of introducing Community Health Evangelism (CHE) in the ecovillages built in Papaye, about 75 miles north of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
The Presbyterian Church of the Siuslaw in Florence, Oregon, displays a large Celtic cross on its property. That cross inspired a unique ministry for longtime church member Andy J. LaTomme Jr. For nearly three decades, the 99-year-old has been giving out wooden replicas of that cross to church members and visitors alike.
In the minds of many Presbyterians, the concept of stewardship is forever linked to the church’s fall fundraising campaign to support the budget. This multi-week drive culminates in “Stewardship Sunday,” during which pledge cards are brought forward and prayers are offered that the money represented there will be enough. This process makes some people so uncomfortable that they confess to skipping church, claiming, “I don’t want to listen to talk about money for an entire month.”
People of many races and representing several faith traditions gathered Tuesday to commemorate Angela, the first African to arrive in the American Colonies 400 years ago for the purpose of enslavement.
The Board of Trustees of Columbia Theological Seminary has appointed David Huffine, a certified fundraising executive, to be the seminary’s vice president for Advancement, according to a seminary news release.
Until last weekend, the Rev. Sean Chow, the Western region and training associate for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s 1001 new worshiping community movement, had never someone so little being baptized.
From the Iranian Revolution to the attacks on September 11, 2001, questions and fears about Islam have proliferated American Christian life for decades. Yet more recently, the tangle of Christian-Muslim relations has become more complicated, with those in power mainstreaming Islamophobia as a path to political and societal power.