My husband and I had been married for three years when we had our first child. We learned quickly that even though we loved our daughter deeply, kids are disruptive and expensive. The change to our family meant learning to live on less sleep and a smaller income. It meant figuring out who would do midnight feedings and make sure there were clean diapers. Once our daughter started crawling, it meant rearranging everything so that it wouldn’t be destroyed by a curious, free-range toddler. Read more »
February 26, 2018
Holy disruption: children and small congregations
My husband and I had been married for three years when we had our first child. We learned quickly that even though we loved our daughter deeply, kids are disruptive and expensive. The change to our family meant learning to live on less sleep and a smaller income. It meant figuring out who would do midnight feedings and make sure there were clean diapers. Once our daughter started crawling, it meant rearranging everything so that it wouldn’t be destroyed by a curious, free-range toddler. Read more »
The plantation people of Sri Lanka harvest some of the world’s finest tea, yet they don’t get to enjoy it themselves. Instead, they are only allowed to take the bitter dust of the leaves. It’s a metaphor for their lives. 
If investors demanded it, would companies change their practices to benefit the environment and slow the effects of global warming? The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Faith-Based Investing and Corporate Engagement believes that this strategy can work, and that companies encouraged to do so may improve their practices through dialogue. The Presbyterian Board of Pensions and the Presbyterian Foundation are helping bolster this effort by paying for an additional staff person in this office. The staff person, Katie Carter, started work in 2017. 
La Corporación de publicación presbiteriana (PPC por sus siglas en inglés), desde el 1 de marzo, será la casa de publicaciones encargada de los recursos curriculares de la denominación, luego de llegarse a un acuerdo al final de esta semana con la Agencia Presbiteriana de misión (PMA). 
The Covenant Network of Presbyterians, More Light Presbyterians and the Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are working together to address what they are calling a “lingering injustice.” But they need your help. 
The 150-year-old Presbyterian Church at Tenafly is notable for its star power. Many of its members and cantors who lead hymns or participate in services have performed on Broadway, off-Broadway or with the New York City Opera. All of that musical talent will join forces to help Jerad Bortz, a veteran of “Wicked” who was left paralyzed from the chest down when he and his husband, songwriter Steven Skeels, were involved in a car accident on Feb. 4. 
The Kenya Mission Network conference meeting here February 8 – 10 touched on a topic that is critical to Kenyans: the potential closure of the Presbyterian University of East Africa as well as two other larger universities with religious roots. 
Dr. Fredrick O. Shoo is presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT). He is also author of a “Welcome” in the Handbook for the upcoming World Council of Churches Conference on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME). A 12-member delegation from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will attend the conference to learn from and share experiences of global mission. 
Everything from agriculture to microfinance to Kenyan politics to health and medical issues were part of discussions and presentations at the Kenya Mission Network meeting here Feb. 8 – 10.