When author and artist P. Lynn Miller proposed the theme of “lament” to the national Bible Study Committee of Presbyterian Women four years ago, no one had any idea how timely the topic would be now.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a dramatic shift in the way organizations around the country are conducting business. For the first time in the history of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the organization will not hold an in-person General Assembly. This year the 224th General Assembly, originally scheduled to be held in Baltimore, will be a virtual event.

Martha H. Reisner, a church consultant for the Board of Pensions, used to pick her churches based on how good the musical program was. Then, when she married a Presbyterian minister, Reisner gained a denominational home — and the Rev. Jim Reisner gained an accomplished soloist for his church choir.

On one of the final days before commissioners to the 224th General Assembly (2020) will be asked to change it from a commission that can take actions on its own to a committee that makes recommendations, the Moving Forward Implementation Commission on Thursday issued a five-page administrative supplement.

With the 224th General Assembly (2020) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) convening in less than 24 hours, the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) received its final update from the event leaders on Thursday afternoon.

A timely and sometimes painful discussion on the impact of COVID-19 and racism on Native Americans ended on a hopeful note Tuesday, with a panelist invoking an image from nature.

The Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), was honored Wednesday night by Jobs With Justice, a union rights organization, for his social justice work over the years.

During an online presentation, Nelson received the Reverend James Orange Award for Movement Leadership. Erica Smiley, executive director, described meeting Nelson while he pastored a church in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing those who were enslaved, in January 1863. However, it wasn't until two years later, on June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers landed in Galveston, Texas, with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. After this, more than 250,000 slaves across Texas learned that they were free.

The Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) delivered virtual greetings to a gathering of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK) this week. The PCK and delegates of Korean churches gathered in Seoul for a conference entitled, “The Way of Korean Church after COVID-19”.

The Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, offered regrets that he could not deliver the greetings in person, but assured membership of the connection between the two churches.

Congregations striving to maintain their outward incarnational focus, one of the seven marks of congregational vitality, can thrive for at least two reasons: they’re ministering to others while at the same time being ministered to.