A few days before Hurricane Laura made landfall as a category 4 storm in the early hours of Aug. 27, Marie Nelson, associate director of Gilmont Camp and Conference Center in Gilmer, Texas, reached out via email to the administrators of the nonprofit Evergreen Life Services, a community for adults of differing intellectual and developmental abilities in Lake Charles, Louisiana. She wanted to make sure they knew residents and staff from Evergreen would be welcome to shelter at the camp if needed, just as they had done briefly after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Read more »
September 10, 2020
Hurricane hospitality and the connectional church
A few days before Hurricane Laura made landfall as a category 4 storm in the early hours of Aug. 27, Marie Nelson, associate director of Gilmont Camp and Conference Center in Gilmer, Texas, reached out via email to the administrators of the nonprofit Evergreen Life Services, a community for adults of differing intellectual and developmental abilities in Lake Charles, Louisiana. She wanted to make sure they knew residents and staff from Evergreen would be welcome to shelter at the camp if needed, just as they had done briefly after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Read more »
tony Point Center (SPC) and Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary (JCSTS) have once again teamed up to develop and offer an online curriculum to support the Matthew 25 vision. This second course is titled “Underpinnings of Systemic Poverty” and gives participants a lens through which they can better understand the underlying forces at work in communities that are disproportionately poor. 
“We may be physically distant,” the Rev. Dr. Derrick McQueen said at the opening of his Facebook Live appearance Wednesday with the Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty, “but we’re always spiritually close.” 
Even in difficult times, our faith assures us to trust and hope in God’s blessing — and not to be stingy with our time, talent and treasure. 
Mission co-workers the Rev. Bob and Kristi Rice firmly believe that God has a reason for them to be in the United States at this time. 
Whenever a disaster strikes, the Rev. Erica Rader does three things: she gives to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA), she gives to a food bank in the impacted area, and she prays.
Now she is finding out what those gifts to PDA are supporting. 
She was disappointed and deflated as she reflected on three years of pastoring her church: This isn’t what I thought ministry would be like. Trying to be as gentle as possible, I asked, “What did you expect?” 
The Rev. Dr. Glen Bell, an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) with 30 years of experience, joined the Presbyterian Foundation on Aug. 31 as Senior Vice President of Development. 
Congregations are continuing to look for creative solutions to engage their members musically without the health risks of communal singing. 
Several Union Presbyterian Seminary faculty members are participating in a nationwide social justice action Tuesday and Wednesday to draw attention to racial injustice in the United States. During Scholar Strike, inspired by the actions of professional basketball and baseball players who struck last month, faculty members will set aside many of their usual institutional duties to engage in activities with students and the public that promote change.