God of Heaven and Earth, as we fix our eyes on you, help us see as you see, hear as you hear, love as you love and serve as you serve. Renew us day by day until you call us to our eternal home with you. Read more »
November 10, 2019
Nativity of the Lord/Christmas Day
God of Heaven and Earth, as we fix our eyes on you, help us see as you see, hear as you hear, love as you love and serve as you serve. Renew us day by day until you call us to our eternal home with you. Read more »
I know this is a slight deviation from the beloved German Christmas carol, but you know how sometimes on a Monday morning you have a hymn stuck in your head from Sunday’s worship? I have one particular Christmas Eve etched into my childhood memories. 
This isn’t a story about how a small church runs a big program. It’s not a story about how a small church grows into a bigger church. It’s a story about the lessons a group of adults learned from a handful of children as God challenged the adults to try something new. 
A travel study seminar to the Philippines and Hong Kong — May 1–15, 2020 — will focus on the root causes and current challenges of forced migration and labor trafficking. The trip includes two days of travel, seven days in the Philippines and five days in Hong Kong. 
Politics are personal. As God’s people, we feel our politics. When we watch the news or read it on our iPad, we experience a potpourri of emotions. We get excited, angry, demoralized, indignant, frustrated and more. Some of us take a sabbath from Facebook, while others turn off Twitter. 
Recent flooding in South Sudan and ongoing political unrest in Haiti have prompted the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to provide humanitarian aid to partner organizations in those countries to help individuals and families affected by the crises. 
Women are playing increasingly pivotal roles at every level in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). From moderators to heads of agencies, from stated clerks at the middle governing body level to synod and presbytery executives and pastors, women are at the forefront. And not to be excluded from this wave of women leadership are Native American women. 
After four years of service with the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Matanzas and the Church in Cuba, the Rev. Dr. David Cortés Fuentes and Josey Sáez Acevedo have answered God’s call to serve as mission co-workers in the Dominican Republic. 
Burnout. Just reading the word is enough to cause the shoulders to droop, the body to want to curl up in a ball and find somewhere to rest. For many church leaders it can be an ever-present companion in the life and ministry of the congregation. 
One of my earliest memories of feeling fully spiritually alive beyond the church was in my mother’s kitchen. My family often entertained guests, and the time put into preparing meals was a gesture of hospitality and caregiving.
In my adult life, finding time to put that kind of care into cooking is rare, but the uninterrupted time I find while cooking has become my spiritual practice, especially as life becomes more digitized and we create much less with our hands.