Denise Anderson, Co-Moderator of the 222nd General Assembly (2016) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has accepted a new position with the Presbyterian Mission Agency. Anderson has been called as the new coordinator for racial and intercultural justice, working in connection with the agency’s Compassion, Peace & Justice and Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries. Read more »
August 23, 2018
Former Co-Moderator Denise Anderson joins Presbyterian Mission Agency
Denise Anderson, Co-Moderator of the 222nd General Assembly (2016) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has accepted a new position with the Presbyterian Mission Agency. Anderson has been called as the new coordinator for racial and intercultural justice, working in connection with the agency’s Compassion, Peace & Justice and Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries. Read more »
Growing up, one of my favorite shows was Little House on the Prairie. The characters were old and young, likable and unlikable. Even though some (like the Olesons!) were petty and others made mistakes, they were always there for each other when it counted. Little House had story lines for both kids and adults on the show. 
While many voices vied for the attention of Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general consistently listened to people seeking peace from the vantage point of faith, according to a Presbyterian mission leader. 
The plaque describing the shared history of two Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) churches is on prominent display for everyone to see as they exit the sanctuary of the 3,000-member First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. Underneath the Scripture passage declaring “there is neither slave, nor free” from Galatians 3:28 are these words:
“Among the 12 founding members of First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro in 1824 were the enslaved servants of the Rev. William D. Paisley (founding minister) and Robert Carson.” 
Too often we hear about something that is successful for another church and, when we investigate it, our immediate thought is “that won’t work here.” We often reject what it is before understanding why it works. Why it works is about inner connection, not surface trappings. 
For Bud Frimoth, a 92-year-old World War II veteran and retired minister of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), reading accounts of those working to contain the Mendocino Complex fires that have burned through 350,000 acres in California brought back a few memories from years ago. 
Cleanup continues in parts of the northeast following last week’s heavy rains and flooding. Torrential rains dropped several inches on communities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Hundreds of homes and businesses were flooded and cars were submerged in the muddy water. 
Dr. Brian K. Blount’s book “Go Preach! Mark’s Kingdom Message and the Black Church Today” sits on my desk. It’s one of the books that survived the move from our rental in Maryland to our Vermont home. During packing, I promised my husband I would limit the books to three large boxes. What didn’t fit wouldn’t come. There just wasn’t room in our 1760-something home for my dog-eared friends. It was painful, but I was brutal in my decisions as to which ones to keep and which ones to give away. It says a lot that “Go Preach!” made the cut. 
Evangelism is good news. The ministry of evangelism was never meant to be a tool by which we reach people to simply fill our churches. Evangelism is a ministry which blesses others. In A Light to the Nations, Michael Goheen writes, “Blessing is a biblical term with rich resonances, implying the reversal of sin’s curse and the restoration of creation’s fullness.” As God in Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, is changing our lives, we are invited into God’s mission of changing and transforming our communities and world. 
In 1996, the year after I graduated from seminary, presbyteries in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ordained 408 new ministers of Word and sacrament. Many of them continue to serve and lead in the PC(USA) two decades later in critical ways. In 2016, the PC(USA) ordained about half (47 percent) of the number we did in 1996, with only 214 ordained. While we have fewer congregations in 2016 than 1996, it is only 17 percent less, not 47 percent! The need for qualified ministers of Word and sacrament will increase as Baby Boomer generation pastors continue to retire over the next decade or so. The median age of a Presbyterian minister in 2017 was over 60 years old. The PC(USA) pastorate mirrors the demographics of about 20 mainline denominations in the U.S.