Henry County, the home of First Presbyterian Church in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, lacks an animal shelter — but not for long.

The “What’s the Secret Sauce?” conference wrapped up at North Avenue Presbyterian Church in Atlanta on April 27 with a multilingual worship led by leaders of new worshiping communities from around the country.

“We all have accents, and really, an accent is nothing to be ashamed of but to be proud of because accents are beautiful,” the the Rev. Rafael Viana said during his plenary presentation for the “What’s the Secret Sauce?” conference in Atlanta last week.

Everywhere he looked, the Rev. Allen Shelton saw tremendous gaps — gaps that were keeping high school-aged young people of color like Tariq Mayo from succeeding in life. Shelton, a veteran educator, community advocate and pastor, was determined not to watch Tariq — and so many other promising youth — fall through the cracks of an increasingly broken educational system.

The Office of the General Assembly released its annual statistics report this week and the downward trend in membership continues. For 2022, the PC(USA) reports a loss of 53,105 members, nearly 2,000 more than reported the year before. Current membership still stands at just over 1.1 million. There was also a loss of 108 churches last year, bringing the total to 8,705.

Yuriy Lifanse has been named as a 2023 International Peacemaker for the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program. He is a leader in the Community of Sant’Egidio, an international lay Catholic association committed to social service, which was founded in 1968 and has about 50,000 members worldwide.

Each year, Presbyterians across the globe acknowledge Heritage Sunday, a day to reflect on and celebrate the vast and lengthy history of the faith. Heritage Sunday always falls on the Sunday closest to May 21—the opening date of the inaugural General Assembly in the United States in 1789. This year, Heritage Sunday will fall on the same date: May 21, 2023.

First Presbyterian Church in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, gathered Sunday first to worship God and celebrate the many ways the congregation is following Jesus in the Matthew 25 movement. Afterward — following a thrilling Bach postlude on the church’s pipe organ by high schooler Ethan Sexauer — worshipers continued the celebration with a mission fair in fellowship hall.