Raised a Baptist, for ruling elder Felica Ezell-Gillespie, a trained jazz vocalist and musician, it was the music and jazz concerts where she occasionally performed that first brought her to visit a Presbyterian church. Several years later she found herself singing at a funeral held at Third Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, Missouri, and knew then that she wanted to return. Eventually, she became a member.

September is a month where “we begin new things, restart or reconnect in our small churches,” said Sandy Safford, a Christian educator and commissioned lay pastor who recently served a small church for 10 years.

In a party fueled by some of the favorite snack items of the new Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), colleagues at the Presbyterian Center welcomed the Rev. Jihyun Oh to the denomination’s highest ecclesial office Wednesday with smiles, their best wishes and no small number of hugs.

Every day of our tour revealed new corners of Armenia that I never imagined, but day six was my favorite. As we traveled to the Lori region in the north of Armenia, the fields along the highway burst with red and yellow poppies as low mountains rose in the distance.

With Ephesians 2:10 as their scriptural basis, the co-moderators of the 226th General Assembly, the Rev. CeCe Armstrong and the Rev. Tony Larson, joined the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Rev. Jihyun Oh, to lead a hybrid worship service Wednesday in the Chapel at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville, Kentucky. One by one, the three recently elected denominational leaders spoke on “Created,” “Called” and “Commissioned.”

The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness has launched an online video series to help members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and other interested voters prepare for the general election in November.

It’s easy to take clean drinking water for granted in the United States, but in countries like Haiti, it is a precious commodity.

MaryB. Safrit, a communicator, creator, coach and the host of the Found Family podcast, did the hosts of “A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast” a favor in a broadcast aired earlier this month, appearing as the guests of Simon Doong and the Rev. Lee Catoe on an episode of “A Matter of Faith” called “Knowing Ourselves (and Singleness).” Listen to their 67-minute conversation here.

I thought I knew Armenia. After all, this was my family’s fourth trip here since we adopted our youngest daughter, Hasmik, in 2006. I had seen much of the country, traveling as far south as Stepanakert in the breakaway republic of Artsakh. Each time we returned, I saw evidence that Armenia was shaking off its Soviet influence while proudly holding onto its culture and traditions. But this tour with the Jinishian Memorial Program (JMP) took me to corners of Armenia I had never experienced and allowed me to meet inspirational entrepreneurs and youth who are at the forefront of a young and dynamic country.

At times, do you have negative thoughts playing in your head that conflict with the biblical statement, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made”? If so, you’re not alone, according to the Rev. Laura Mariko Cheifetz, transitional associate pastor for Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church in Sunnyvale, California.