On Monday more than 235 people from across the denomination spent two hours online exploring ways they can awaken to structural racism, one of three focus areas in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Matthew 25 invitation.
Relief efforts are under way in Beirut to help the more than 300,000 people displaced by the Aug. 4 port explosion that is now being called among the five strongest blasts in human history.
A campaign to help Baltimore youth become entrepreneurs has raised nearly $44,000 over the past several weeks. The Youth Rising Coalition (YRC), sponsored by the Presbytery of Baltimore, was the focus of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Hands and Feet Initiative during the 224th General Assembly (2020).
James Wilson Mead, a passionate volunteer and newsman and husband of the late and legendary Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly newsroom editor Jane Adelle (Thompson) Mead, died July 15 in Orinda, California, at age 89.
As churches shifted to digital worship due to the pandemic this past spring, it was clear to the Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow that he wasn’t going to try to replicate what happened each Sunday during in-person worship.
Since the uprising against systemic racism and police violence against people who are Black began at the end of May, Presbyterians across the country have joined in solidarity with their siblings of color in sermons and statements, by joining in peaceful protests, engaging in civic dialogue, and other actions.
The Rev. Ryan Althaus, the founder of Sweaty Sheep and the Hunger Advocate for the Presbytery of San Jose, convened a thoughtful and moving webinar over the weekend on mental illness and the church. His first-person story is told with candor and grace in the sidebar below.
Nearly two months into his second, four-year term, the Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), says the church needs to step out of its comfort zone to make an impact.
In the second part of his vision for the next four years, Nelson says that every Presbyterian from the local church to the national office will need to go to the greatest resistance to the gospel to be seen and effective.
At 7 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, Aug. 30, the Presbytery of Santa Fe will host an online memorial service for the Rev. Richard Avery, half of the Avery and Marsh songwriting duo who published more than 150 hymns, carols and anthems.
Another week passes and the protests continue; people fighting against white supremacy and police brutality. The murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor (who are not the latest but just the most public on the current news cycle), and the activism of the Black Lives Matter movement have started conversations among many Presbyterians at all levels of the church.