When leaders at First Presbyterian Church of Mt. Pleasant first heard about the Matthew 25 initiative, they thought it was "a good challenge" to think about how their faith guides them to serve their community.

R. Gustav Niebuhr, a pioneering Presbyterian journalist and scholar whose many awards included the 2000 David Steele Distinguished Writer Award from the Presbyterian Writers Guild, died Oct. 20 at age 68 from long-term complications from Parkinson’s Disease. His obituary is here, with a remembrance from Syracuse University, where he taught, found here.

To help the denomination’s newest mid-council moderators design and carry out purposeful meetings, organizers of last weekend’s Moderators’ Conference gathered a who’s who of helpful voices. 

Saturday at the Moderators’ Conference, the Rev. Dr. Tim Cargal led an afternoon workshop looking at the realities of church affiliation in the 21st century, including data points that contradict a number of preconceptions about congregational ministry in 2023.

Cargal, Associate Director for Ministry Leadership Development in the Office of the General Assembly, opened “We’re Not in Kansas Anymore: The Changing Religious Landscape in USA and PC(USA)” by telling in-person and Zoom attendees they would receive access to the presentation slide deck, including a slide containing citation footnotes for further exploration. The workshop’s title alludes to both “The Wizard of Oz” and Thomas Frank’s book “What’s The Matter with Kansas?”,  a look at the reasons for Kansas’s political turn from progressive to conservative.

The staff of “Unbound: An Interactive Journal of Christian Social Justice” is back with a sequel to its award-winning devotional “Starry Black Night: A Womanist Advent 2020.”

어렸을 때 교회에서 청지기 자세에 대해 가장 처음 들은 것은 세 t (시간time, 재능talent,  물질treasure)를 사용한 고전적이고 매력적인 정의였습니다. (스페인어로는 tiempo, talento, y tesoro의 세 t인데 나중에 알고 보니 영어에서도 똑같았습니다.)  이것은 청지기 자세를 물질적인 것에만 관련짓지 않고, 그리스도인으로서 하나님과 교회에 대한 우리의 헌신을 포괄하는 훈련으로 이해합니다. 우리는 다음과 같은 질문을 던져 보게 됩니다: 교회에 얼마나 많은 시간을 헌신하며 참여하고 리더십을 행하고 있는가? 어떻게 하나님을 섬기기 위해 재능과 능력을 사용하고 있는가? 어떻게 물질이나 재정적인 수단으로 교회의 사역과 선교를 지원하고 있는가?

Una de las primeras cosas que escuché sobre la mayordomía cuando era niña en la iglesia fue la definición clásica y fácil de recordar de las «Tres T» que luego aprendí que funcionaba también en inglés: tiempo, talento y tesoro (time, talent, treasure). Esta era una manera de pensar en la mayordomía no sólo como una conexión con las cosas materiales, sino también como una disciplina que abarca todo nuestro compromiso como personas cristianas con Dios y con la iglesia. Este concepto nos desafiaba a reflexionar: ¿Cuánto tiempo comprometo para la iglesia a través de mi participación y liderazgo? ¿Cómo uso mis talentos y habilidades para servir a Dios? ¿Cómo apoyo el ministerio y la misión de la iglesia a través de mi tesoro o apoyo financiero?

One of the first things that I heard about stewardship when I was a child in church was the classic and catchy definition of the three t’s that I later learned worked even in English: time, talent, and treasure (tiempo, talento, y tesoro in Spanish). This was a way to think about stewardship not just in connection to material things, but also as a discipline that encompassed our whole commitment as Christians to God and to the church. We were challenged to consider: How much time do I commit to church through my participation and leadership? How do I use my talents and skills to serve God? How do I support the ministry and mission of the church through my treasure or financial support?

Talking in greater detail about a subject she touched on during Friday’s plenary discussion “What and Why We Mid Council,” Jihyun Oh, Director of Mid Council Ministries, led the Moderators’ Conference workshop “Considering Equity While Moderating and Leading.”

The Friday afternoon discussion included conversation about implicit bias and ways to welcome more voices into the discernment and decision-making process, including “frameworks and tools to help bring our values and our actions into closer alignment in terms of equity,” as stated on the workshop announcement. Attendees in Louisville and online shared insights about ways bias impacts ministry in their localities.

The Office of Theology & Worship in the Presbyterian Mission Agency offered up a workshop during last weekend’s Moderators’ Conference designed to give incoming mid council moderators tools for thinking, praying and living the faith day by day.

The conference, sponsored each year by Mid Council Ministries in the Office of the General Assembly, bore the theme “Unbounded We Thrive.” It was offered at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville, Kentucky, and online to the moderators of presbyteries and synods, especially those new to the role.