The Rev. Dr. Valdir França, World Mission’s coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean, said Sunday’s contentious elections in Venezuela were tranquil and there was no evidence of any voter intimidation. Read more »
December 9, 2020
Ecumenical observers declare Venezuela’s elections transparent and efficient
The Rev. Dr. Valdir França, World Mission’s coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean, said Sunday’s contentious elections in Venezuela were tranquil and there was no evidence of any voter intimidation. Read more »
Ecumenical Partners in Outreach, a network of mainline denominational leaders engaged in church planting and revitalization, hosted its first ever “Founders’ Festival” via Zoom in early December. 
The Rev. Grace Bowen, interim pastor at the First Presbyterian Church of Newtown in Elmhurst, New York since September 2019, has died at age 69. 
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness is joining with other faith-based groups in a national call-in day for action on COVID-relief legislation. 
2015 was supposed to be a big year for Rose Bryant, with positive changes for her and her son. It ended up being just that — but not like she expected, and it all began with disappointment. 
The mission to build a more just world is a clear one for longtime Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) global partner CEDEPCA (the Protestant Center for Pastoral Studies in Central America). The building blocks CEDEPCA uses include biblical and theological formation, women’s ministry, disaster assistance and intercultural encounters. 
This past October, member churches of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) gathered for regional webinars to raise awareness about online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC) and share their plans for action. NCCP is a global partner of Presbyterian World Mission. Resource people from ECPAT Philippines (End Child Prostitution and Trafficking) (facebook.com/ECPATPhilippines) and Child Rights Network (CRN, (facebook.com/CRNPhilippines) provided presentations to promote awareness. Pastor Hazel Salatan, a United Methodist pastor who is in the faculty development program focused on Christian education at Union Theological Seminary, Philippines, urged churches and faith communities to provide safe spaces for children. 
Fittingly for 2020, here’s a complicated but feel-good Advent story about a Presbyterian camp and conference center in Ohio. 
The Presbyterian constitution directs believers “to manifest more visibly the unity of the body of Christ” (G-5.0101). Our daily reading from Ephesians suggests the way of Christian unity is made by speaking truth with love in a way that grows the body of Christ. Sunday’s readings included Paul’s writing to the church in Corinth where Paul is constantly challenging natural divisions with a greater goal of being the Body of Christ. 
Look for signs of hope. The teachers of resilience offer this wisdom to the storm-tossed, the overwhelmed, the anxious. You may be way ahead of me here, but it’s advice I’m trying to take.