One of the planned highlights of the 224th General Assembly (2020) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was the presentation of the PC(USA) Crystal Teardrop Awards. The awards, presented by the Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PC(USA), are given to individuals who have worked to make the world a better place.
The awards were to be presented in person at the assembly gathering in Baltimore, but that was shelved with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. That hasn’t stopped the Stated Clerk from ensuring that this year’s recipients or family members are recognized.
The McCall Award, bestowed by the Presbyterian Association on Science, Technology, and the Christian Faith (PASTCF), goes this year to the board’s past president, the Rev. Jim Miller, of Summerville, South Carolina.
Tracey King-Ortega was recently asked to preach virtually on Matthew 25 at her home church, St. Peter’s by the Sea Presbyterian Church in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.
If a sacrament may be defined as a visible sign of an invisible grace, in a similarly sacramental fashion, God’s grace and love are on abundant, if mostly virtual, display through ‘Links of Love,’ a colorful paper chain representing Presbyterian generosity across the denomination, country and globe.
Global Christian leaders, including the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations, called on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to create a Commission of Inquiry into the death of George Floyd and systemic racism and police brutality in the U.S. and other parts of the world in a statement that did not mince words.
Baltimore’s Youth Rising Coalition got the chance Tuesday to show and tell Presbyterians across the nation what they’ve done with the mentoring, marketing, financial and networking opportunities afforded them.
Whoever wrote the book of Hebrews — especially the 11th chapter, which the Presbyterian Association of Musicians is studying this week as part of its online 50th anniversary celebration — wasn’t a very careful reader of the biblical account of humankind’s first murder, told in Genesis 4: 1-10.
The first plenary of the historic 224th General Assembly (2020) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is in the books and organizers are overall pleased with how the online process has worked so far.
From a technical aspect, all systems worked as expected and the overall performance was “fantastic,” according to Vicente Guna, manager of technologies for the Office of the General Assembly. There are a few coordination issues they will be improving for the next plenary sessions, but no major changes are planned for the systems.
In an effort to provide access to marriage and family therapy resources during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Louisville Seminary Counseling Center (LSCC) will begin offering services free of charge to its clients via phone and the online Zoom meeting platform beginning June 29. The seminary’s counseling center has been closed since March 16 due to the need to implement coronavirus social distancing protocols.
Launched in April 2019, Matthew 25 is a bold vision and invitation to actively engage congregations in the world around them. The invitation was launched before the COVID-19 pandemic, before the social unrest in the fight for justice and before many churches realized how important they were without their buildings.