The Reimagining America Project (RAP), a grassroots effort of clergy, activists and local leaders in and around Charlotte, North Carolina, who are working to reduce the unjust impacts race has on the systems of our society, was the subject of an illuminating webinar recently offered by Union Presbyterian Seminary and two of its institutions, the Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation (CSJR) and the Katie Geneva Cannon Center for Womanist Leadership. Read more »
April 23, 2024
That’s a RAP
The Reimagining America Project (RAP), a grassroots effort of clergy, activists and local leaders in and around Charlotte, North Carolina, who are working to reduce the unjust impacts race has on the systems of our society, was the subject of an illuminating webinar recently offered by Union Presbyterian Seminary and two of its institutions, the Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation (CSJR) and the Katie Geneva Cannon Center for Womanist Leadership. Read more »
On this day, communities around the world observe Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day. Together, we stand in solidarity with the Jewish people and pay tribute to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. An estimated 6 million European Jews and at least 5 million prisoners of war, Romany, Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals and other victims were murdered by the Nazis in one of the most horrendous campaigns in human history. On this day, as we pay tribute to the victims of the Holocaust, we also come together knowing that this act of remembrance is a commitment to a shared responsibility for humankind to ensure such crimes never happen again. 
Indigenous communities have been struck by the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit people (MMIW) for decades. This epidemic is a systemic failure where Indigenous women are going missing and being murdered at alarmingly high rates with minimal justice. Within the past several years, the MMIW movement has brought awareness of this violence to the public’s attention. Still, there is much work to be done. 
Held last week, the National Faith + Climate Forum assembled an unprecedented gathering of faith community members committed to build thriving congregations through care for Creation with faith-driven action. 
Three pastors serving churches in Mission Presbytery featured in this Presbyterians Today story recently took to the airwaves for an honest and illuminating conversation about clergy loneliness and isolation. Watch the 48-minute conversation that pastors Monica Thompson Smith, Jasiel Hernandez Garcia and Maria Vargas-Torres have with the author of the piece, Fred Tangeman of the communications staff in the Office of the General Assembly, and the managing editor of Presbyterians Today, the Rev. Layton Williams Berkes, who hosted the event, by going here or here. 
The first full week of May is a time for churches to celebrate older adults in their congregations and the vibrant ministry in which they are involved. In addition to having its planning guide updated annually, the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network (POAMN) recently launched multiple webpages of resources and videos designed to guide and enrich ministry with older adults. 
May Friendship Day, a Church Women United initiative, is most often celebrated on the first Friday of the month of May around a theme of shared concern for Christian women and their communities. The predecessor to May Friendship Day, May Fellowship Day, began in 1933 after two Christian women’s groups planned gatherings based on similar concerns: child health and children of migrant families. These groups united and, over the years, eventually became what we now know as Church Women United. The May celebration has been continually observed since 1933; in 1999, Church Women United changed the name from May Fellowship Day to May Friendship Day. 
Wisdom. That’s one of the things the Rev. Jacob Duché prayed for at the first Continental Congress in 1774 — wisdom in forming a nation. 
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. This month, we can all be mental health advocates, joining others to come together as one unified voice to decrease the stigma surrounding mental health and illness, increase visibility of treatment options and support those who deal with mental health concerns. 
Fifty-three years after its first observance, Earth Day is an annual reminder that what we do to the Earth matters. It matters to humanity, and it matters to God. Being an Earth Care Congregation brings a sense of joy that exudes to anyone you speak to who serves their respective congregation in this capacity.