On March 15, the Kenyan government confirmed the first cases of COVID-19 and announced a nationwide ban on large gatherings, along with the closure of schools and nonessential businesses. Two days later, the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) held a press conference to announce the closure of its worship services in adherence with the government directive.

For decades, children whose clothing has caught fire have been taught by teachers and firefighters alike to stop, drop and roll.

When the Rev. Dr. Rodney S. Sadler Jr. thinks of biblical accounts describing God’s community, the multitude from every nation as described in Rev. 7 springs to his mind, the “diverse panorama of people before the throne of God,” as he told the Presbyterian Foundation’s Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty during Wednesday’s Facebook Live event, “What Does the Lord Require in Uprising?”

Staff and members of Mid-Kentucky Presbytery have used the PC(USA)’s most recently-adopted confession, the Confession of Belhar, in a new video designed to remember the victims of violence against persons of color, including Kentuckians Breonna Taylor and David McAtee, George Floyd of Minnesota and Ahmaud Arbery of Georgia.

With news this week that Warner Brothers is providing its 2019 film “Just Mercy” free for viewing on platforms including YouTube, the Rev. Dr.  Edward McNulty, a Presbyterian pastor and film critic, has developed discussion questions and provided a review of the film.

Many individuals and churches have answered the call to make cloth masks to address the shortage of personal protective equipment for frontline medical professionals.

The Board of Directors of the Board of Pensions has named Donald A. Walker III to succeed Judith D. Freyer as Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer. The appointment is effective July 1.

A group of mid council leaders has come together in a video to share prayers, heartaches, and hopes in the midst of nationwide demonstrations. The video is in response to the recent deaths of African Americans at the hands of law enforcement, which has increased racial tensions.

Matthew J. Skolnik, the general presbyter of the Muskingum Valley Presbytery in eastern Ohio, produced the video that is now being shared across the denomination.

As cities across the U.S. continue to deal with demonstrations stemming from the Memorial Day death of George Floyd, the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba (IPRC) has weighed in on the matter. In a letter to the Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), church Moderator, the Reverend Dora Arce-Valentín, and General Secretary, the Reverend Edelberto Valdés Fleites, thanked the denomination for its continued support over the years.

In Hong Kong, new cases of COVID-19 have dwindled to a handful in recent weeks. Concern has now shifted to China’s plan to impose a tough new national security law.