Sixteen staff members within the Office of the General Assembly make up Mid Council Ministries. This group focuses on a number of ministry support issues, from training and education to constitutional support and immigration, among many more. The Rev. Jihyun Oh directs this group.
A new video distributed exclusively on social media last week asked, “What’s the secret to creating successful partnerships with immigrant worshiping communities?” The 45-second video concluded, “It’s all in the sauce. The secret sauce … And yes, there will be barbeque.”
While serving as the synod representative on the Board of Directors for Presbyterian Women, I suggested that the synod begin a Justice & Peace Book Discussion Group that would not interfere with the Native American Book Discussion Group already in process. Thus, the first year of the Justice & Peace National Book Discussion Group was born.
A new virtual Bible study, launched on Feb. 1 by Racial Equity and Women’s Intercultural Ministries to celebrate Black History Month, continues through mid-March with an outstanding roster of presenters. The series, called “Models of Black Resistance Past and Present,” will be hosted on Zoom with advance registration required.
In partnership with Presbyterian Women, Racial Equity and Women’s Intercultural Ministries will host its annual Celebrate the Gifts of Women worship service at 9 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday via livestream on the PC(USA) Facebook page. Celebrate the Gifts of Women Sunday is on March 5.
As church groups look to help refugees and asylees, ministry that received direct encouragement from last summer’s General Assembly, one Louisville congregation continues to stand out as a possible model and inspiration.
“On Sunday, March 10, 1822, four men and six women swore an oath together in district school #1 on the corner of Concord and Adams Street in the village of Brooklyn,” reads Collette Foster, a member of First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, New York, in a video series celebrating the congregation’s bicentennial. “Their idea,” Foster continues, “was to organize a house of worship and to found the only Presbyterian church in their settlement of 7,000 people.”
A simple question asked nearly a decade ago by a Seattle-area pastor interested in learning more about the Presbyterian Church in Colombia has blossomed into a partnership that reflects a mutual passion for theological and academic inquiry, worship, faith and the desire to simply “be” together.
Along with easing any tension over their task as evangelists, on Thursday Dr. Cheni Khonje taught a crowd of nearly 200 ruling elders and deacons some new language around the concepts of “welcome” and “relationship.”
The Presbyteries’ Cooperative Committee on Examinations for Candidates (PCC) has received a considerable amount of feedback regarding the use of Judges 19:1–30 as the basis for the Winter 2023 Bible Exegesis Exam. It will be reviewing those communications and considering possible further actions in response to them during its annual meeting the week of March 13.