“Tell the story of Center Church honestly: the good, the bad and the ugly.” This guiding principle framed the Rev. Tom Moore’s workshop at Stewardship Kaleidoscope 2022. Moore told participants the story of Center Presbyterian Church in McMurray, Pennsylvania, showing the importance of honesty and transparency when it comes to the church and its finances.
The Rev. Dr. Luke Powery, Dean at the Chapel at Duke University and an associate professor at the Duke Divinity School, used the account of the Valley of Dry Bones found in Ezekiel 37:1-14 last week to remind preachers that sermons about resurrection must first encounter death in a real way.
“Irresponsible borrowing decisions are felt on the backs of the people” Catherine Gordon, representative for international issues in the Office of Public Witness, said in Debt, Disaster and Corruption, the first in a series of global debt webinars co-sponsored by OPW, the Presbyterian Hunger Program and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.
Reflecting the ecumenical spirit of Stewardship Kaleidoscope, Mark Stauffer, past Council president and treasurer of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, and the Rev. Joseph Moore, Ministry Relations Officer of the Presbyterian Foundation, co-presented a workshop called “Stewardship After the Gift.”
At a recent PHS LIVE session, Presbyterian Historical Society Executive Director Nancy J. Taylor interviewed Dr. Gene Zubovich about his book, “Before the Religious Right: Liberal Protestants, Human Rights, and the Polarization of the United States.”
Zubovich’s history tracks the influence and growth of American liberal Protestantism, from the 1920s to just before the outbreak of World War II, the post-war climate in the 1940s and the Cold War Era. He highlights various distinctive features of each generation’s liberal protestant leaders, the primary focus of each era and the schisms and divisions that occurred in the movement as the years progressed.
Professor Kristin Henning, who teaches at Georgetown Law, directs its Juvenile Justice Clinic & Initiative and wrote “The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth,” was the most recent speaker in New York Avenue Presbyterian Church’s McClendon Scholar Program. More than 500 people from across the country registered to attend the online event, held late last month.
The Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP) will host a webinar on Congregation-Based Community Organizing (CBCO) at noon Eastern Time on Wednesday, Nov. 16, to help energize congregations interested in championing issues within their communities, such as affordable housing.
The view from the 15th-floor hotel conference room of Savannah’s Historic Landmark District was impressive. Tall church steeples reaching to the sky testified to the generosity of congregations over the centuries. But in a contemporary church world where dedication to Christian faith is flagging, what can pastors and ministry leaders do to revive the spirit of giving?
The Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), believes the impact of violence in the U.S. is at a critical level. In this week’s devotional, Nelson says it’s time to turn to God for hope.
It has been over a month since Hurricane Ian wreaked havoc across the Caribbean, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. But for those living in the wake of the storm, the challenges continue.