Growing up in the City of New York, the Rev. Samuel Son said he remembers pretending that he didn’t care how early in the process he was selected to play in a pickup baseball game. “We would stand there, trying to look like we didn’t care,” Son recalled during evening worship Monday at the Synod of Lakes and Prairies Synod School. “But at the same time, we tried to stand out. We definitely didn’t want to be the last kid [selected].” Read more »
July 27, 2021
‘An amazing love story’
Growing up in the City of New York, the Rev. Samuel Son said he remembers pretending that he didn’t care how early in the process he was selected to play in a pickup baseball game. “We would stand there, trying to look like we didn’t care,” Son recalled during evening worship Monday at the Synod of Lakes and Prairies Synod School. “But at the same time, we tried to stand out. We definitely didn’t want to be the last kid [selected].” Read more »
There is a growing awareness across the PC(USA) that racism and poverty are crises that must be addressed.
Thanks, in large part, to the Matthew 25 invitation, many of us are taking intentional steps to address our own complicity in perpetuating the systems that advantage some people while disadvantaging others. For that reason, I have made it my practice for the past few years to attempt to read Scripture from the perspective of the poor and the oppressed rather than through my own lens of privilege. 
Economic partnerships open the door for cooperation between Christians and Muslims through the House of Authentic Sense (HAS), Indonesia’s only fair trade co-op. Like many countries, Indonesia needs development projects that are designed to empower society, especially women, minorities and disabled communities. 
The gift of $22,000, which after legal fees would be worth around $250,000 in today’s dollars, was given to Knox Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati exactly 100 years ago to aid the congregation in constructing a new church. But according to Knox’s pastor, the Rev. Adam Fronczek, there was “some lore” in the congregation about the gift, which came from a woman who wanted to be buried inside the walls of the church. 
In the Republic of Niger, there is roughly one nurse or nurse midwife for every 10,000 people, and the country is not alone in its need. By 2030, the World Health Organization estimates there will be a projected shortfall of 18 million health workers worldwide, mostly in low- and lower-middle income countries. 
In the early 13th century, St. Francis of Assisi traveled to Egypt to meet with the Sultan so Francis could show the people there the way of salvation. What happened instead was a conversation about peace, interfaith dialogue and the necessity to join in service together regardless of religious differences. 
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness is asking people to contact their senators on behalf of millions of people living in the United States without immigration status. 
After telling the 450 or so people attending the Synod of Lakes and Prairies’ Synod School on Monday that they’re co-creators with God and, as John Calvin once said, “little manifestations of God’s glory,” the Rev. Dr. Jill Duffield proved her point by asking participants to use their cellphones to take first a selfie and then a photo of the people seated around them. 
When Dr. Tamar Wasoian was a little girl, she’d pray, “I want to serve you, God; please show me how to do it.”
This childhood prayer has turned into a life of service that has taken Wasoian from her birthplace in Aleppo, Syria, to her current home in Houston, on a journey she could never have imagined.
I served as a Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) through the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in South Korea from 2016–17. During my time there, one of the major eye-opening revelations was learning about the role of the United States during the Korean War and in maintaining the current North-South divide on the Korean Peninsula. No one taught me about this in my history classes.