Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie opened Ecumenical Advocacy Days on Tuesday with a rousing sermon in which the biblical story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 became a rallying cry to be courageous, persistent and compassionate in a world where it often seems there aren’t enough resources to go around.
After seven years as the chief ecclesial officer of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, has announced plans to step down from his role as Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PC(USA) effective June 30, 2023. The decision, he says, came after long conversations with his family and extended time in prayer. The announcement comes just days after he told the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly that he would not seek a third term as Stated Clerk.
The Presbyterian Historical Society is the recipient of a 2023 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Humanities Collections and Reference Resources (HCRR) Implementation grant.
The $330,678 grant will fund the digitization of 22,500 images, newspaper clippings and related documents from the Religious News Service (RNS) Photograph Collection, as well as rehousing of the entire collection of 60,000 photographs and accompanying materials.
Columbia Theological Seminary has received a $1.24 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to establish “Wonder of Worship,” an initiative to prepare Christian leaders in the seminary’s degree programs and support partnering congregations in engaging children in worship and thereby nurture their faith.
In the Presbytery of Charlotte, which the Rev. Dr. Jan Edmiston serves as general presbyter, seven churches predate the United States. “People in our churches run banks and universities and hospitals and seminaries. I feel really fortunate to be here,” she told the Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty of the Presbyterian Foundation during last week’s episode of Leading Theologically, which can be viewed here or here.
As the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) asks “Who do we want to be as a church in the global community?” a related question was put to PC(USA) staff members and international partners gathering in Kuala Lumpur last month: “How can we collectively discern our calling in the world at this time and how can we support and encourage each other?”
Bringing those “we”s into mutuality through sustained dialogue and collaborative decision making is crucial to moving the church’s ministry efforts around the world into alignment with its principles, including “acknowledging, understanding and repenting its colonial past, its legacy and the recognition that even in our relationships today, with all our talk of partnership, harmful elements linger on.”
Youth are gathering across the 50 states and Puerto Rico thanks to resources and grants available through the Office of Presbyterian Youth and Triennium in the Presbyterian Mission Agency.
In honor of Earth Day, this week I had the opportunity to take out 70 students and faculty from Menaul High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for a guided hike and day of service on the Caja del Rio, one of the most significant cultural, historical, archaeological, spiritual and wildlife landscapes in the American Southwest.
The Rev. Jeromey Howard, who serves First Presbyterian Church in Montgomery, New York, started the third and final day of Presbyterian Mission Agency Board meetings Friday with a brief devotion taken from Micah 6:8.
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) communications staff were among those decorated Thursday night during the Associated Church Press Best of the Church Press Awards ceremony held in Chicago. See the results here.