Middleburg Presbyterian Church, a small community church southwest of Jacksonville in Clay County, Florida, participates in a feeding program called Operation Backpack. The outreach program works with the guidance counselor at a nearby elementary school. The counselor identifies the children and families who will receive a backpack filled with healthy child-friendly food. Read more »
October 23, 2020
Living out the Matthew 25 vision to eradicate systemic poverty in Presbytery of St. Augustine
Middleburg Presbyterian Church, a small community church southwest of Jacksonville in Clay County, Florida, participates in a feeding program called Operation Backpack. The outreach program works with the guidance counselor at a nearby elementary school. The counselor identifies the children and families who will receive a backpack filled with healthy child-friendly food. Read more »
Hurricane Delta clobbered southwest Louisiana on Oct. 9, making landfall just 13 miles east of where Hurricane Laura came ashore as a strong Category 4 storm just six weeks earlier. And, between these two direct hits, Hurricane Sally, a Category 2 storm with 105 mile-per-hour winds, dumped double-digit rainfall totals from Gulf Shores, Alabama, to Pensacola, Florida. Small, slow-moving Tropical Storm Beta caused severe flooding along the Texas and Louisiana coastlines. 
Continuing their partnership, Stony Point Center and Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary have developed another online curriculum to support the Matthew 25 vision. 
In partnership with the Presbyterian Intercultural Young Adult Network (PIYAN), Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries (RE&WIM) held its second October Election-Fest event last week, an intercultural voting dialogue for young adult leaders of color to discuss issues of concern for them as they navigate a difficult and critically important election year. 
Pastors from four churches invited congregants to listen in recently while the Rev. Dr. Richard Boyce, vice president and dean of Union Presbyterian Seminary’s Charlotte campus, led the online discussion “Where is God in a Pandemic? Understanding and Responding to Suffering.” 
The Rev. Dr. José Irizarry has plenty of roles and titles, including Vice President of Education for the Board of Pensions. In recent weeks, he told the Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty during a Facebook Live event, the pandemic has added a new important title to his portfolio: Minister of Household. 
In what can be the steep learning curve of creating meaningful online worship services, what pastor or worship leader would look askance at tips on making sermon preparation and preaching less stressful? 
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rev. Dave Rohrer of Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Bothell, Washington, hosted a Zoom conversation along with several other pastors of the Presbytery of the Northwest Coast. 
Each Wednesday at 3 p.m. Eastern Time, the office of Vital Congregations of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) hosts an online “vital conversation” via Zoom and Facebook Live. The current series is focusing on the Seven Marks of Vital Congregations, such as Wednesday’s conversation “All Voices on Deck,” which examined the role of the church’s translation services ministry in empowering servant leaders for the church. 
The Rev. Kay Day, a mission co-worker in Rwanda, believes she has witnessed true integrity in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Since 2013, Day has been a lecturer in English and practical theology, preparing students for pastoral ministry at the Protestant Institute of Arts and Sciences (PIASS). The school is supported by five Protestant denominations, including the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s mission partner, the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda. The school strives to produce graduates who will contribute to Rwanda’s spiritual, intellectual and socio-economic life.