As Hurricane Helene hurtled toward Florida and neighboring states, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and others in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) were monitoring the storm and calling for prayers amid predictions of catastrophic storm surge. Read more »
September 27, 2024
Hurricane Helene makes landfall, putting multiple presbyteries at risk
As Hurricane Helene hurtled toward Florida and neighboring states, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and others in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) were monitoring the storm and calling for prayers amid predictions of catastrophic storm surge. Read more »
While Presbyterian News Service was not present for the three days of Committee on the Office of the General Assembly meetings that concluded on Thursday, the news service did have the next best thing at its disposal: a question-and-answer session via email with Kate Trigger Duffert, Director of General Assembly Planning, one of the OGA staff and others present for COGA’s last in-person meeting ever at Zephyr Point Presbyterian Camp and Conference Center in Zephyr Cove, Nevada. 
The Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, founder and president of Dar al-Kalima University in Bethlehem, recently spoke at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., as part of the McClendon Scholar program. Watch his presentation, titled “Understanding Gaza: Political Context and Theological Challenges 
If establishing edible landscapes and climate resilient communities is the goal, Presbyterians for Earth Care provided at least some of the answers during an informative webinar Wednesday. 
What does it mean to belong? This question has sparked discussions across churches and denominations and among Brené Brown readers for the past decade.
According to the “belonging wheel” by Dr. Erik Carter, professor of Special Education at Baylor University and director of the Baylor Center on Disabilities, 10 essential components comprise a sense of belonging: feelings that you are heard, befriended, needed, loved, present, invited, welcomed, known, accepted and supported. 
During the online worship service four days ahead of Theological Education/Seminaries Sunday, national staff of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) were privileged to hear a sermon from the Rev. Dr. José Irizarry, the president of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. The Rev. Bill Davis, Senior Director of Theological Education Funds Development for the Presbyterian Foundation, helped lead worship, reading from James 3:1–12, one of the lectionary passages for Sept. 15. 
In an approach that presents any number of spoiler alert challenges, the Rev. Dr. Eric Barreto nonetheless recommends that preachers read Luke backward.
Barreto, the Frederick and Margaret L. Weyerhaeuser Associate Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary, was the Rev. Dr. Chip Hardwick’s recent guest on the Synod of the Covenant’s monthly “Equipping Preachers” webinar. 
Forty years ago, the Dutch Reformed Mission Church (DRMC) in South Africa adopted Belydenis van Belhar — the Confession of Belhar — in its first reading. Belhar was an outgrowth of the DRMC’s effort to grapple with the church’s participation in and defense of apartheid and touches prominently on themes of unity, reconciliation and justice. The DRMC adopted Belhar in its final form in 1986. 
The Republic of Rwanda, a small country in central Africa the size of Maryland, is commemorating the 30th year since the genocide tore the nation apart. In a 100-day period between April 7 and July 19, 1994, up to 800,000 Tutsis were slaughtered by Hutu militias, and an estimated 500,000 Tutsi women were raped. 
If they listen to Linda K. Smith and others in the know, Presbyterians can be much more than God’s frozen chosen — they can become downright cool.
Smith, a semi-retired sustainability consultant, recently gave a talk for Presbyterians for Earth Care she called “Cool Churches, Cool Presbyterians.”