The 700 or so people attending the Presbyterian Association of Musicians’ Worship & Music Conference this week were welcomed to worship Monday by the pleasing sound of 13 people playing 26 handbells.

The Bible is sprinkled with dialogue, dissonance and debate. That’s a good thing and it’s something that makes the Bible unique among sacred texts, Dr. William Brown said Monday during a class he’s offering at the Worship & Music Conference being held this week at Monreat Conference Center by the Presbyterian Association of Musicians.

In a conversation recorded earlier and aired on Monday during the Juneteenth celebration, the Rev. Michael Lynn Moore, intercultural associate for Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries, welcomed four panelists for an online discussion on “Forty Acres, No Mule: A Conversation of Black Presbyterian Leaders on Congregational Stability and Church Financial Reimagination.” Watch their hour-long discussion here.

“We’re so glad you’re here. We’ve been waiting for you for three years,” Karrie Rushing, co-director of the Presbyterian Association of Musicians’ Worship & Music Conference, told the 700 or so people gathered for opening worship Sunday inside Anderson Auditorium at Montreat Conference Center.

Carried onward throughout her sermon by expressions of support and applause, the Rev. Dr. Diane Givens Moffett brought the 47th biennial conference of the National Black Presbyterian Caucus to a close Saturday with message about taking a second look and seeing what’s in plain view.

The National Black Presbyterian Caucus held a banquet Friday night honoring the retiring Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, and Nelson honored caucus members right back with an hour-long valedictory that was clearly heartfelt, sometimes funny and always insightful.

In a nifty bit of role reversal, the Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty of the Presbyterian Foundation, who has hosted 75 editions of the “Leading Theologically” broadcast, sat for an interview Thursday with the Rev. Teri Ott, editor and publisher of The Presbyterian Outlook. Listen to their half-hour conversation here or here.

Hermeneutic skills of a higher order were on display Friday during the National Black Presbyterian Caucus’ opening worship service, which featured inspired and insightful preaching by the Rev. Gregory Bentley, Co-Moderator of the 224th General Assembly (2020).

While they may not agree on pumpkin or pecan, the youth group of First Presbyterian Church of Aberdeen in Washington knows that the way to their congregation’s heart is through its stomach.

Enthusiastic energy filled the Compass Ballroom at the Marriott Hotel in North Charleston, South Carolina Thursday morning as the 2023 conference of the National Black Presbyterian Caucus (NBPC) commenced. While the national conference takes place biennially, this year’s event, called “A Gathering of Black Presbyterians,” is the first to be held in person since the pandemic began. A virtual gathering was held in 2021.