Forgiving those who have hurt us — even when it’s excruciating. Keeping our promises — even when it’s more difficult than we ever expected. These challenges that Jesus ties together in his Sermon on the Mount (take time to read Matthew 5:21–37 now) came together on a trip last October to New Mexico, Utah and Arizona, where the Synod of the Southwest invited executives to meet almost 20 Native American congregations. It was at once inspiring and sobering, as the congregations demonstrated stirring faith amid challenges rarely experienced by dominant culture congregations. Read more »
January 25, 2023
Keeping our promises
Forgiving those who have hurt us — even when it’s excruciating. Keeping our promises — even when it’s more difficult than we ever expected. These challenges that Jesus ties together in his Sermon on the Mount (take time to read Matthew 5:21–37 now) came together on a trip last October to New Mexico, Utah and Arizona, where the Synod of the Southwest invited executives to meet almost 20 Native American congregations. It was at once inspiring and sobering, as the congregations demonstrated stirring faith amid challenges rarely experienced by dominant culture congregations. Read more »
Dr. Thema Bryant, a clinical psychologist and a pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, is quoted as saying: “Rest is revolutionary. Self-care and community care are soul food. Dancing and singing amid everything that pulls you to disconnect from yourself is radical.” 
In November, students attending the Presbyterian School of Kabuga in Rwanda were treated to a visit from delegates representing the All Africa Conference of Churches, who took time during a conference on climate change to meet with the students and plant trees with them. 
This Saturday, St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church and New Hope Presbyterian Church will celebrate their merger, guaranteeing vital ministry will continue at the corner of South Magnolia and Orange avenues in Anaheim, California. 
More than 135 people were on hand Tuesday for a webinar as timely as it was relevant: Older Adults and Climate Change. Presbyterians for Earth Care offered the hour-long session, which featured brief presentations from three panelists. 
This past summer, on the heels of bidding “Happy Retirement” to its executive presbyter, the Rev. Dr. Robert Foltz-Morrison, the Presbytery of New York City launched a search process for a transitional/interim EP ahead of an anticipated search for a “permanent” EP. 
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is among 165 faith-based organizations that have signed onto a letter opposing actions that they fear will lead to a new asylum ban in the United States to address continued challenges at the Southwest border. 
Every Thursday, I try to wear black to stand in solidarity with my siblings who are experiencing violence. Some days I forget, but working from home gives me the opportunity to correct it. But those who experience violence can’t forget, because they live with the trauma of it every day. What if we, in our daily lives, loved others like God in Christ loves them? Would we turn a blind eye to the violence and injustice we know is happening around us? What if we lived in a world that did not tolerate violence? What if the church stood as a voice against violence? 
In a world that is becoming increasingly indifferent to religion, more people are wrestling with the existential questions our human nature brings about. What is my purpose in life? Is there really a God? How can God exist when everything seems so unfair? 
It was New Year’s Day 1773. The faithful in the English town of Olney, though, were not thinking about old acquaintances being forgotten. (It would be another 15 years before Robert Burns would write his poem that would forever become synonymous with New Year’s Eve revelry.) They were thinking about grace and all its amazingness.