One of the higher profile decisions set to come out of the 224th General Assembly in June was to be a vote on adding three fossil fuel companies to the General Assembly Divestment/ Proscription list.
Now in his 22nd year as president of the University of Dubuque, the Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Bullock still finds he has a lot of work to do — even during a pandemic at a university and PC(USA)-affiliated seminary well known for distance learning.
LaGrange Presbyterian Church in LaGrange, Kentucky, had talked about posting its worship services online for years, but money and volunteer support seemed to be lacking. When the COVID-19 quarantine started, the church went into action to give members, friends and anyone else who might be looking for a virtual worship service an online option.
Before COVID-19 forced him to work from home, the Rev. Dr. Alonzo Johnson, coordinator of the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People, was walking in downtown Louisville one day when he came across a man holding a “I’m homeless and I’m hungry” sign. Johnson made eye contact and asked how the man was doing. The man clutched Johnson’s arms and told him, with tears streaming down his face, “Thank you for recognizing that I am a human being.”
Fort Collins church encourages it members to bike to church because it’s good for their health and it’s good for the Earth.
Disaster relief volunteers Richard and Susan Caldwell had been praying about their mission work and where God would lead them to when fate stepped in.
In the fall of 2015, mission co-worker Nadia Ayoub was attending a conference with colleagues in Budapest when the city’s Keleti train station became the epicenter of the refugee crisis overwhelming Europe. She could not forget the images of children sleeping on cardboard, families with not enough to eat and the pervasive fear of what would happen next. At that moment she felt a strong call to work with refugees.
The Governing Board of the National Council of Churches, meeting during the Easter season 2020, sends greetings to all with the eternal message, “Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!” These joyful words are a balm, especially during these difficult days when the COVID-19 pandemic is sweeping over the country, and indeed the entire world, causing illness, death, and the disruption of lives and livelihoods. At the time of our meeting on Tuesday, 3,090,844 people worldwide have tested positive for the virus, and 213,273 have died.
“Returning to Church,” a thoughtful and thorough resource for ministry during the pandemic and published by the Wisconsin Council of Churches, may be the best thing to come out of the Badger State since bratwurst.
As president of the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network, Michele Hendrix has long been an advocate for the PC(USA)’s Older Adult Week Sunday, which falls on May 3 this year.