Joining the Polity, Benefits and Mission Conference viz Zoom on Tuesday, the Rev. Mark Elsdon delivered on the message of his 2021 book of the same name: we aren’t broke.
Elsdon, a Presbyterian pastor who’s executive director of Pres House Campus Ministry and the Pres House Apartments at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and co-founded Rooted Good, told the nearly 300 people in attendance he’s “well aware of the narrative of scarcity” commonly heard in churches struggling with shrining membership and budgets.
If you are a word nerd like Rev. Kendal Land of First Presbyterian Church in Longview, Texas, then you know that “liturgy” comes from the Greek word “leitourgia” meaning “the work of the people.”
The nearly 300 Presbyterians gathered Tuesday for the start of the first Polity, Benefits and Mission Conference since the pandemic did what they enjoy doing the most: worshiping the God who has not forsaken them and continues to delight in hearing about their faith journeys.
No one can quite tell that story like the Rev. Ruth Faith Santana-Grace, Co-Moderator of the 225th General Assembly (2022), whose sermon, “In the Margins and Footnotes,” highlighted opening worship held in a hotel conference center just a few hundred feet from the Gateway Arch.
The assault on Israeli towns by Hamas that took place last Saturday and the subsequent retaliation by Israeli forces which included a declaration of war has resulted in more than 1,000 deaths on both sides and civilian hostages in a conflict that seemingly escalates by the hour. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) partners in the region are calling for prayer and a cessation of hostilities on both sides.
The process of training and equipping new ministers to serve their communities has gone through a lot of changes in recent years thanks to advancements in technology. But there’s more to becoming an effective minister than just taking the courses. In this week’s OGA In Focus, the Rev. Tim Cargal, associate director for ministry leadership development, shares the joys of helping ministers get the most out of their calling.
In March 2011, when a pastor called a long-serving community member right before his death, only God knew that conversation would be the beginning of a journey and a living example of restorative justice.
For 120 years now, First Presbyterian Church of Kewanee, Illinois, has possessed two rare treasures that members and friends often took for granted. The sanctuary of the church of about 60 members, located an hour southeast of the Quad Cities, is home to two stained-glass windows featuring people of color, including Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
Receiving a gift of any size carries with it both spiritual and financial obligations for a church. Solid financial management is an act of faithful stewardship. Such management requires policies, practices, and procedures for church finances that ensure that gifts are protected, maintained, and used for the purpose intended by the donor.
On July 4, 1963, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (UPCUSA) the Rev. Eugene Carson Blake and African American Elder Furman Templeton approached Gwynn Oaks Amusement Park in Baltimore. The pair, along with other civil rights activists, were arrested for trespassing. Months before Blake and Templeton’s attempt to desegregate the Maryland amusement park, the 175th UPCUSA General Assembly created the Commission on Religion and Race (CORAR). The new commission would be the focal point of the UPCUSA’s concern for race relations and would work with interfaith and ecumenical groups to address racism in the United States.
October 12, 1792, was the first observance in the United States of America of what we now know as “Columbus Day.” The Columbian Order of New York, better known as Tammany Hall, held a commemoration of the 300th anniversary of his historic arrival in the “New World.”