One of the original 15 pilot churches certified as a PC(USA) Earth Care Congregation (ECC), First Presbyterian Church (FPC) in Asheville, North Carolina, is a congregation that seeks to put their faith into action not only with deeds of compassion but also through acts of social witness. Finding ways to advocate for justice for all of God’s children, including God’s creation, is essential to being faithful disciples of Christ. Read more »
March 26, 2019
Minute for Mission: Earth Day
One of the original 15 pilot churches certified as a PC(USA) Earth Care Congregation (ECC), First Presbyterian Church (FPC) in Asheville, North Carolina, is a congregation that seeks to put their faith into action not only with deeds of compassion but also through acts of social witness. Finding ways to advocate for justice for all of God’s children, including God’s creation, is essential to being faithful disciples of Christ. Read more »
In late January, Daniel Pappas was riding in a van with his video equipment traveling toward the border of Burma (Myanmar). Most people don’t get that kind of opportunity, but to him it’s just another happy step on a path he didn’t know he was taking. 
In South Sudan, nearly 6.1 million were severely food insecure in 2018, with 1.7 million people living on the edge of famine. Civil war has been raging there since 2013, destroying homes, lives and livelihoods. As people have had to flee their homes to escape violence, they have also had to abandon their fields and farming activities. 
Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown Minneapolis continues to break down walls between church and community. As an engaged urban partner, it is listening to, and praying for, the concerns of its people. 
The church in Davydovo, Russia, was a thriving community of 1,000 members from five surrounding villages before the revolution. It was abruptly closed by the Communist authorities in 1936. The building was used for storage and then as a club but was neglected for 70 years. The roof collapsed around 1960, and there was nothing left but the shell of a building — only walls. 
Every morning when I wake up here in San Jose, Costa Rica, I wonder what the day will hold. A trip to the hospital? A phone call from a family in need of food? Over and over in recent months, I have been reminded that being a mission co-worker of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) means standing alongside those in need. Accompanying vulnerable people means entering into their vulnerability and experiencing the unpredictability of life for those who have fled to a new country in search of refuge. 
Erica, it’s simple. People who grow food have too much, while some people go hungry. There must be a way to get the excess produce from the growers to the hungry.
There was a way, and my friend John Walker called it “gleaning”— a biblical practice of leaving some of your crops in the field for the poor. 
The Presbyterian Mission Agency will accept applications for the Katie Cannon scholarship beginning April 1. 
Doreen Alefaio was on the grounds of the United Nations checking messages on her phone when she realized what was happening back home in New Zealand. 
The Rev. Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon “would have been appalled” by the heartfelt and spirited salute she received by about 80 people gathered at an event this past winter at Second Presbyterian Church in Louisville, according to the Rev. Dr. Teresa L. Fry Brown.