Westminster John Knox Press is pleased to announce the publication of Our Connectional Church: The Hopeful Future of the PC(USA) from Gradye Parsons with a foreword by Frank Clark Spencer. From Spring City, Tennessee, to Atlanta, Georgia, Parsons explores the unique faith traditions of four Presbyterian churches, demonstrating the diversity of ministry done by Presbyterians today. Read more »
June 11, 2018
Former Stated Clerk Parsons pens ‘Our Connectional Church’
Westminster John Knox Press is pleased to announce the publication of Our Connectional Church: The Hopeful Future of the PC(USA) from Gradye Parsons with a foreword by Frank Clark Spencer. From Spring City, Tennessee, to Atlanta, Georgia, Parsons explores the unique faith traditions of four Presbyterian churches, demonstrating the diversity of ministry done by Presbyterians today. Read more »
Despite some heat, a few blisters and at least one case of poison ivy, participants in the PC(USA) Walk for a Fossil Free World are encouraged as they enter the final days of their trek to St. Louis. The walk, a joint project of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship and Fossil Free PCUSA, began June 1 at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville. It ends June 16 at the start of the 223rd General Assembly. 
The death toll continues to climb following Sunday’s eruption of the Fuego Volcano in Guatemala. More than 100 people are known to have died following the blast, and more than 200 are still unaccounted for. Communities near the volcano are buried under ash and rock. 
At the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network (POAMN) national conference, titled “Savoring the Journey,” keynote speaker Dr. John Holton spent his evenings looking at the sky. 
Since 1984, the Mission to the U.S.A. (MUSA) program has connected the Synod of the Covenant in Michigan and Ohio with international clergy and lay leaders through fellowship, hospitality, mutual sharing and awareness. MUSA, which was initially co-sponsored by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for about two decades, has helped each mission partner break down cultural barriers and truly become brothers and sisters in Christ. 
With a student body that represents 20 different denominations, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary has named a scholar of diverse religions and cultures as its tenth president. 
Abel Perviez says he talked to God and asked for 19 more years to complete his life’s work. He started the Presbyterian mission in a tiny Cuban town dominated by a large sugar mill in January 2015 with just six worshipers. The mission is now up to 30 members and is still growing. 
In his opening sermon at the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network (POAMN) national conference, the Rev. Robert Watkins told attendees at Zephyr Point Presbyterian Conference Center that we in the church and culture — which is consumed with self — have forgotten how to live with and talk to each other. 
Presbyterian News Service recently submitted questions to Joseph Kinaird, chair of the Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI) about the upcoming General Assembly in St. Louis and its continuous discussions with the fossil fuel industry. 
One of our core beliefs as Presbyterians is that the more people involved in a decision, the more likely we are to figure out where God is leading us. That’s why so many teaching elders and ruling elders are attending General Assembly. It’s also why Presbyterians spend so much time in meetings. We believe that many cooks only make the broth tastier.