Leave it to nearly 200 Presbyterian mid council moderators and vice moderators to have a good time while honing their parliamentary procedure skills.
The Rev. Tricia Dykers-Koenig, associate director for Mid Council Relations in the Office of the General Assembly who lent her considerable parliamentary skills to the 224th General Assembly (2020), designed Friday’s training to give the mid council moderators real world scenarios, which they discussed in small groups, and three fun pop quizzes, which they answered online.
Like most national conferences since March, the annual Moderators’ Conference is being held via Zoom this year. During the second day of the digital gathering, attendees heard from a former Moderator and staff from the Office of the General Assembly (OGA) and the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) about the do’s and don’ts of running digital meetings and what the future might hold.
The Rev. Jihyun Oh, director of Mid Council Ministries with OGA, moderated a panel discussion with the Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow, Moderator of the 218th General Assembly (2008); the Rev. Molly Casteel, manager of equity and representation with OGA; and the Rev. David Gambrell, associate for worship in the Office of Theology and Worship in the PMA.
During the Gathering as One online conference of the Presbyterian Church Camp and Conference Association (PCCCA), leaders from around the United States and Canada explored how to enhance intergenerational connections in their outdoor ministries, where everyone — young participants, adults, families and entire church communities — could learn together through a shared faith experience.
The same God who in the Book of Exodus “turned the Red Sea into an interstate” for the Hebrew people and later fed them six mornings each week with something the people named “what is it?” (manna) will also, according to the Rev. Greg Bentley, “give us some ‘what is it?’ to get us through” the current pandemic.
During the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) #GivingTuesday 12-hour digital telethon set for Dec. 1, the Rev. Dr. Kathryn Threadgill and team will celebrate their Vital Congregations ministry. Along with dismantling structural racism and eradicating systemic poverty, building congregation vitality are the three foci of the denomination’s Matthew 25 invitation.
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) leadership is part of a new initiative by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) designed to encourage businesses to push for strong pro-climate policies at the state and federal level.
One major hurricane is a lot for any community to take in a year or even a decade. This week, the Rev. Edwin González-Castillo, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance’s (PDA) Associate for Disaster Response in Latin America and the Caribbean, is working to respond to nations struck by two major hurricanes in as many weeks.
As George Floyd’s murder ignited a movement against systemic racism in the U.S., the death of a young woman has become a rallying cry for justice in Haiti.
If you want to know what’s next in the life of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations, the director of NEXT Church is a good one to ask.
During his Wednesday keynote for the “Gathering as One” online conference of the Presbyterian Church Camp and Conference Association, the Rev. Dr. Jason Brian Santos managed to compare two experiences that seem very different: a week-long immersion into the contemplative Taizé community and a week at one’s favorite Presbyterian church camp or conference center.