As 2023 comes to a close, we have a few more moments in Presbyterian history to share with you — the first teleporting us back to our very own Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS) at the turn of the 20th century.
“Being Matthew 25: Summit Edition,” the broadcast that celebrates plenary speakers and workshops that will be offered during the Jan. 16-18, 2024 Matthew 25 Summit, featured the Rev. Dr. Marcia Mount Shoop at the microphone Wednesday. Listen to Shoop’s conversation with Melody Smith, associate director for Digital and Marketing Communications in the Presbyterian Mission Agency, by going here.
If you are a mid council leader or have attended recent General Assemblies, you know that when the Rev. Tricia Dykers Koenig is introduced, applause often follow. Dykers Koenig plays a key role in the Office of the General Assembly as Associate Director of Mid Council Ministries. In this week’s OGA In Focus, she shares about her work building relationships across the church.
More than 400 participants logged in to watch the first in a scheduled series of webinars devoted to the ongoing crisis in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank. Rabbi Alissa Wise, the lead organizer of Rabbis for Ceasefire, and the Rev. Fursan Zu’mot from the Arabic-speaking Congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan & the Holy Land (ELCJHL), led participants through an hour-long discussion that touched on humanitarian issues, differences between Christian Zionism and antisemitism, and the school of hatred seemingly being perpetuated from the ongoing conflict.
Raquel Willis, a transgender woman who wrote “The Risk it Takes to Bloom: On Life and Liberation,” quoted for a crowd gathered online and in person for the Westminster Town Hall Forum last week this snippet from Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye”: “I even think now that the land of the entire country was hostile to marigolds that year. This soil is bad for certain kinds of flowers. Certain seeds it will not nurture, certain fruit it will not bear, and when the land kills of its own volition, we acquiesce and say the victim had no right to live.”
Five new “Along the Road” podcast episodes have been made available since November, three from the “Encounter” series for mid council and church leaders and two “Nourish” episodes for deacons and ruling elders.
Listen to all Along the Road episodes directly from the Mid Council Ministries section of pcusa.org or from popular streaming services.
If the life of faith is like running a race, Mikayla Rose Sierra is leading the field.
A draft of the new commitments out of COP28 climate summit will not be enough on their own to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), as the UN climate conference in Dubai headed into the final phase this week.
This year, the week between Christmas and New Year's Day has a special significance for the future of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.): December 28 is the deadline for applications for Stated Clerk of the General Assembly.
With less than three weeks left in the application window, the Rev. Dr. Sallie Watson and other members of the Stated Clerk Nominating Committee (SCNC) are eager to encourage anyone giving thoughtful and prayerful consideration to the position not to miss the deadline.
David French, a decorated military veteran and former litigator who’s now a New York Times columnist and, last week, the McClendon Scholar at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., borrows from the prophet Micah for his three commandments for Christians in politics.