Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

January 25, 2024

Since the Covid pandemic began in early 2020, we’ve gone from lockdown to shutdown, Mark Yaconelli told those attending the APCE Annual Event Wednesday during the first of three keynotes he’s scheduled to deliver. He saw plenty of examples of shutdown during a 91-stop book tour he completed last year following publication of his “Between the Listening and the Telling: How Stories Can Save Us.”

January 25, 2024

ST. LOUIS — In the vast sea of vendors that populate the Marketplace & Bookstore at the Association of Partners in Christian Education 2024 Annual Event, there’s only one who literally makes a splash.

January 24, 2024

Telling the Parable of the Good Samaritan from the perspective of the man who’d been beaten and left for dead, the Rev. Cedric Portis Sr. preached a rousing and thought-provoking sermon during opening worship Wednesday for the Annual Event of the Association of Partners in Christian Education, meeting in St. Louis and online through Saturday.

January 24, 2024

A spirit of playfulness — which found Christian educators romping around the room in a spirited game of Duck, Duck, Goose despite the early hour — filled the room at one of several pre-events being offered at the Association of Partners in Christian Education (APCE) 2024 Annual Event, “Come, all who are thirsty.”

January 24, 2024

“So much that was said went straight to my heart, and I am left inspired and dedicated to the work of Matthew 25 for months to come,” said Jennifer Morgan, ruling elder at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Madison, Wisconsin. “This Summit has strengthened my faith in other people, the Presbyterian Church as a whole, and our gracious, loving God!” said Morgan, who attended the Matthew 25 Summit with two other church members and a member of the staff at Covenant.

January 24, 2024

When a crowd was gathered on the hill to hear Jesus preach and the crowd was hungry, the disciples wanted to send them away. Instead, Jesus instructs them in Mark’s gospel, “you give them something to eat.”

Presbytery of Utah is ready for General Assembly

January 23, 2024

Randy Hobson | Office of the General Assembly

LOUISVILLE

The Presbytery of Utah is gearing up for the 226th General Assembly this summer. In the first in a series of videos, Utah area pastors, members, and presbytery leaders talk about the beautiful outdoors, friendly communities, and the embrace of ecumenical ministry. Utah Presbyterians are looking forward to showing how “God is at work throughout the state.”

January 23, 2024

Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and the Fred Rogers Institute at Saint Vincent College have partnered to offer a one-year post-doctoral fellowship in theology and ministry beginning in summer 2024.

January 23, 2024

On the heels of last week’s Matthew 25 Summit, Matthew 25 Being Connected events are being offered online in the coming weeks to help Presbyterians learn from and support one another as they do the work laid out in Jesus’ Judgment of the Nations in Matthew 25:31-46.

January 23, 2024

The Church Benefits Association (CBA) has elected the Rev. Dr. Frank Clark Spencer, President of The Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), as vice chair of its Board of Directors. Spencer’s election, at CBA’s annual meeting in December, reaffirms the Board of Pensions’ strategic partnership with other religious denominations to better serve leaders across faith communities.

January 23, 2024

“Trouble the Water,” a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) docuseries that encourages constructive conversations about race and racism, has been selected for wider distribution and is being knitted together into a full-length feature film that will be available for home viewing early this year.

Five applicants meeting with SCNC over Zoom

January 22, 2024

Fred Tangeman | Office of the General Assembly

The work of nominating a candidate to serve as the next Stated Clerk of the General Assembly continues this week, with the Stated Clerk Nomination Committee (SCNC) holding Zoom interviews with five candidates.

SCNC Moderator the Rev. Dr. Sallie Watson said that nine applications, “all from good applicants,” were received by the committee before the December 28 deadline, with applicants completing supplemental questions by January 10.

January 22, 2024

The Rev. Frank Diaz, whose work and ministry ranged from serving as an electrical engineer and Realtor to leading what is now the Presbyterian Mission Agency, died Jan. 14 at age 90.

January 22, 2024

Several Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-workers and other employees are moderating workshops and leading discussion groups at the People on the Move partner conference which convened Sunday in Rome, Italy.

January 22, 2024

As always, it is difficult deciding on what were the best 10 films for the past year, especially when a few potential ones, such as Ava DuVernay’s “Origin,” have not yet opened in the Cincinnati-Dayton area. (A penalty for living in what Hollywood regards as “flyover territory!) However, we cannot wait, so below are the 10 out of the many fine films reviewed in Visual Parables this past year that illuminate spiritual and/or ethical issues.

January 19, 2024

As attendees prepared for the final morning of  the Matthew 25 Summit at New Life Presbyterian Church in South Fulton, members of The Many, the conference’s vocal instrumental group in residence, led those gathered Thursday in a time of centering, communal prayer.

January 19, 2024

During the first of two days of in-person meetings Thursday, the Unification Commission heard an update from Acting Stated Clerk the Rev. Bronwen Boswell on how a pilot program unifying communications ministries in the Office of the General Assembly and the Presbyterian Mission Agency is proceeding.

January 19, 2024

Months in advance, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program has begun gearing up to welcome this year’s contingent of International Peacemakers and is now accepting applications from entities that would like to host them.

January 18, 2024

Drawing an insightful and inspirational Matthew 25 Summit to a close with worship Thursday, the Rev. Dr. Diane Givens Moffett asked those gathered at New Life Presbyterian Church in South Fulton, Georgia, and online to “consider with me” the thrust of her sermon, “Dream Driven.” View the sermon preached by Moffett, president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, here. Her sermon begins 48 minutes from the end.