Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

January 26, 2024

APCE Annual Event keynoter Mark Yaconelli concluded his final plenary Friday with a story you just knew came with a happy ending. It did indeed, but the master storyteller drew it out so well that you were afraid it might turn out unexpectedly. More on that later.

January 26, 2024

APCE keynoter Mark Yaconelli, whose most recent book holds up the importance of storytelling, told a few compelling stories himself during his plenary talk on Thursday.

January 26, 2024

One Sunday, the Rev. Michelle Scott-Huffman had an epiphany. As the former pastor of Table of Grace, a non-traditional, radically inclusive faith community she planted in Jefferson City, Missouri, she knew that her leadership and preaching were central to worship. But one Sunday, the congregation showed her — and the Spirit told her — otherwise.

January 26, 2024

There may be no place thirstier for life than the desert after a long period of no rain, the Rev. Melanie Marsh said during Thursday’s worship service at APCE’s Annual Event being held in St. Louis and online. Marsh used a National Geographic clip to demonstrate rain’s dramatic effect on the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park southeast of Los Angeles.

Agency encourages putting a hold on national meetings at Texas’ non-PC(USA) conference centers while Federal courts debate Texas Senate Bill 4

January 25, 2024

Rick Jones | Office of the General Assembly

LOUISVILLE

When Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill into law last month giving the state permission to enforce certain aspects of federal immigration law, the Office of the General Assembly determined it was time to revisit how the church supports members with immigrant identities and ancestry. The agency has decided to follow existing General Assembly policy and encourage Presbyterian groups to refrain from holding any national meetings at non-PC(USA) convention spaces in Texas while Federal courts determine the bill’s legality.

First in-person meeting looked at General Assembly mandate and historic approaches to confessions

January 25, 2024

Fred Tangeman | Office of the General Assembly

Last month, members of the Special Committee to Write a New Confession held its first in-person meeting on the grounds of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Texas.

The three-day gathering in mid-December saw the committee beginning a process that is expected to culminate in the presentation of a draft confession to the 227th General Assembly (2026), for possible inclusion in the Book of Confessions. At the 226th General Assembly this summer, committee leaders will report findings of their work to date.

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.