As the Rev. Jacoba Vermaak — people call her Pastor Kobie — talks with people who have begun lining up for a week of free groceries at 5 o’clock each Monday morning, she spends a few moments listening to each person describe how they never imagined they would be standing in line for a handout. Simply put, it was beyond what they expected for themselves. Read more »
January 29, 2021
As the need increases, so do expressions of God’s love
As the Rev. Jacoba Vermaak — people call her Pastor Kobie — talks with people who have begun lining up for a week of free groceries at 5 o’clock each Monday morning, she spends a few moments listening to each person describe how they never imagined they would be standing in line for a handout. Simply put, it was beyond what they expected for themselves. Read more »
Despite the curtailment of theater-going by the pandemic, 2020 was nonetheless a good one for those looking for films that do more than entertain us. I was again hard-pressed to pare down to just 10 my list of 20 or so films dealing seriously with ethics or social justice. Thus, as usual, you will find at the end of the article a list of other worthy films you should also watch before the end of the year. 
For the first time in the 30-year history of the Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program, the COVID-19 global pandemic forced the program to be a virtual one during 2020-2021. Adapting quickly to the contextual realities was difficult, but according to participants, the virtual format has challenged them and help them grow. 
The Youth Services Opportunities Project (YSOP), a short-term mission program founded nearly 40 years ago by Edward Doty, is continuing its mission — virtually — during the pandemic. 
Behind the admittedly corny saying that graces many a collectable coffee mug, “Ministers never retire, but are simply put out to pastor,” there lies a grain of truth — retiring church workers face some very real challenges. 
A Tuesday statement signed by 110 U.S. organizations and more than 200 international groups calls on the Biden administration to suspend annual combined military exercises with South Korea in order to restart diplomacy with North Korea. 
On the eve of last week’s inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, two institutions at Union Presbyterian Seminary hosted the webinar “From Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter: Movements for Black Lives Across Generations and Genders.” Watch the 90-minute webinar here. 
Meaningful worship doesn’t necessarily rely on the traditional Presbyterian Sunday morning centerpiece — a well-crafted and carefully-exegeted 20-minute sermon. 
On day one of the 2020 Virtual Vital Congregations Gathering, four panelists from Trinity Presbytery described how beginning the two-year VC initiative in January 2020 — and its Seven Marks of a Vital Congregation — helped prepare them as church leaders for the pandemic. 
Thanks to the Rev. John Ruehl and a handful of other faith leaders in Savannah, Georgia, about 150 students in the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System began virtual learning for the 2020-21 school yearin person in a place they might know well — their local church.