According to the Rev. (Capt.) Lyman M. Smith, director of the Presbyterian Council for Chaplains and Military Personnel, “more than 18 million veterans live among us. And of those 18 million, some 18 are likely to die by suicide today.” Read more »
January 21, 2020
Presbyterian chaplain: Congregations can prevent veteran suicide by building connections
According to the Rev. (Capt.) Lyman M. Smith, director of the Presbyterian Council for Chaplains and Military Personnel, “more than 18 million veterans live among us. And of those 18 million, some 18 are likely to die by suicide today.” Read more »
In mid-August, a video crew supported by Blessed Tomorrow, a Presbyterian Hunger Program partner, filmed a chapel service at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville. Portions of the service, as well as an interview with the Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett, the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s president and executive director, are now featured in a climate action video, “Jesus Calls Us” (available at vimeo.com/370339034). 
At her lowest point, the Rev. Tamara John cut off her hair and gained 50 pounds.
“Subconsciously, I wanted to make myself look and feel as ugly as possible,” she said.
On the front lines as an RV park minister to the community where she lived in a fifth wheel custom-made RV, John said she was feeling responsible for the loss of a man in her community who had died by suicide. 
In the shadow of what many consider the worst refugee camp in Europe is a beacon of hope, operated mostly by volunteers, a group called Lesvos Solidarity. 
Thirty-six presbyteries in the United States have formal ties with partner churches in Africa. There are practical reasons for that, the Rev. Debbie Braaksma recently told worshipers in the Presbyterian Center. Among them: The safety of the gospel depends on seeing how it’s lived out in other cultures. 
When faced with chaos and danger, four World War II U.S. Army chaplains on a critically damaged Army transport together chose to offer their shipmates the peace they could. When nothing more could be done, these same chaplains laid down their lives, giving a few of those around them a chance for life. (For more about the Four Chaplains, see fourchaplains.org/the-saga-of-the-four-chaplains.) 
A Corp is not new, though it may look a little different these days. 
A Washington activist with ties to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has received an honor from Essence magazine that puts her in company with former first lady Michelle Obama, gymnast Simone Biles and other “movers and shakers,” such as filmmaker Ava Marie DuVernay. 
There were tears in her eyes, as I’d expected there might be, and also an expression that seemed to say, “Thank you,” as her gaze met mine. Thank you for giving voice to the pain and injustice, for naming the complicity. Thank you for seeing me. 
African American women are stepping up to new roles of pastoral ministry, and they are joyously paying forward the opportunities that they were given.