“Hey,” a middle school improv class member playing the serpent in the Genesis 3 account told the Garden of Eden’s first female inhabitant during Synod School worship, “I see you’re interested in that tree over there.” Read more »
August 23, 2023
A wily serpent and God in three persons lay out the Genesis story of sin and banishment during Synod School
“Hey,” a middle school improv class member playing the serpent in the Genesis 3 account told the Garden of Eden’s first female inhabitant during Synod School worship, “I see you’re interested in that tree over there.” Read more »
On Wednesday during Chapel service, about 50 members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) national staff prayed for and lamented Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which occurred 546 days ago, and the resulting warfare. Thursday is Ukrainian Independence Day, when the nation celebrates its independence from the former Soviet Union, which dates back to 1991. 
The Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, the PC(USA)’s advocacy director, recently told the Synod School gathered at Buena Vista University what Presbyterians believe. 
Closing with “Beautiful Things” by the artist Michael Gungor as performed by Synod School musicians, a recent worship service held in Schaller Memorial Chapel at Buena Vista University explored how Creation came about and what an act that occurred 4.5 billion years ago means for us today. 
As the keynoter for the 69th Annual Synod School at Buena Vista University, it was the job of the Rev. Jimmie Hawkins to remind the more than 500 people gathered what Presbyterians believe. 
With a nod to the 29,000 or so RAGBRAI riders who’d arrived in Storm Lake, Iowa, hours earlier, the Rev. DeEtte Decker showed up for opening worship at the 69th Annual Synod School on a borrowed bicycle that she pedaled down the center aisle of Buena Vista University’s Schaller Memorial Chapel. 
In “Oppenheimer,” the Christopher Nolan film released by Universal Studios on July 21, there’s one breathless moment when J. Robert Oppenheimer, portrayed by Cillian Murphy, walks General Leslie Groves, played by Matt Damon, out onto a vast plain in the middle of the New Mexico desert. 
Members and friends of Lakeside Presbyterian Church in Storm Lake, Iowa, recently supersized the church’s welcome mat, welcoming scores of visitors attending the Synod School put on annually by the Synod of Lakes and Prairies even as they prepared further hospitality to some of the 29,000 people who were bicycling into town as part of RAGBRAI, the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. 
Camille Hernandez, author of the upcoming book “The Hero and the Whore: Reclaiming Healing and Liberation Through the Stories of Sexual Exploitation in the Bible,” said during a recent edition of “A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast” that “a larger conversation on sexual violence” has been made possible because of the #MeToo movement. 
Video: https://vimeo.com/840948023
Through a collaboration between Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and 1001 New Worshiping Communities, church planters and spiritual leaders visited Puerto Rico in June to learn about ongoing efforts to rebuild after hurricane disasters. 1001 New Worshiping Communities leaders recognized many commonalities with pastors in Puerto Rico, including the necessity of bivocational calls and a need for community engagement and the work of healing and relief.