The publication of this resource fulfills a commissioner resolution adopted by the 221st General Assembly (2014) directing that it be delivered to mid councils for study and action. It responds to the situation in “eighty-one countries where homosexuality is illegal, [and where] God’s global family includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people who face persecution for simply being who they are, for whom they love, and with whom they create a family.” This resource is intended to raise awareness and prompt compassionate action on behalf of the PC(USA). Read more »
January 25, 2017
New GA-mandated LGBT resource now available
The publication of this resource fulfills a commissioner resolution adopted by the 221st General Assembly (2014) directing that it be delivered to mid councils for study and action. It responds to the situation in “eighty-one countries where homosexuality is illegal, [and where] God’s global family includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people who face persecution for simply being who they are, for whom they love, and with whom they create a family.” This resource is intended to raise awareness and prompt compassionate action on behalf of the PC(USA). Read more »
Several years ago I had an opportunity to visit Westminster by-the-Sea Presbyterian Church in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, for a Sunday worship service. I had always enjoyed my visits to this church, knowing that I would hear outstanding music and an excellent sermon by their senior pastor, the Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Sumner. But I also heard another important message that day. Dr. Sumner spoke of the need for parishioners to attend to their physical health as well as their spiritual well-being. And on this particular Sunday, there would be an opportunity to do this by taking advantage of a free screening for skin cancer that a local dermatologist would be providing immediately after the worship service. 
LOUISVILLE – In a newly published video message, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Stated Clerk J. Herbert Nelson II says the mission of PC(USA)-related racial ethnic schools and colleges “are more critical now than they’ve ever been.” 
The Executive Committee of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board (PMAB) will hear a progress report from the Governance Task Force (GTF) at its January 26, 2017, meeting that suggests changes to the size and structure of the board, including the number of corresponding members. 
For the Rev. Kevin Johnson, the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the aftermath that surrounded his death, became a pivotal turning point in his life. Raised in Washington, D.C., Johnson climbed the stairwell of a high rise under construction after the shooting and witnessed a city in anger as riots broke out in the nation’s capital. 
November 2016 will always and forever be a special month in the life of Missing Peace, a 1001 New Worshiping Community in Ormond Beach, Florida. 
Being faithful in a polarized context February 9, 2017 “Why do you go to church?” we asked. “Because we believe in God,” said one. “To hear the Word,” offered another…. 
God’s plans and timing are different from ours. Just ask the Rev. Dr. Donna J. Sloan. Donna has packed her luggage, figuratively, more than once to answer God’s call to mission—a call she has felt since she was nine years old, growing up in Campbell, Ohio. 
LOUISVILLE – Fire officials in Inglewood, Tennessee, are still trying to determine the exact cause of two separate fires at Eastminster Presbyterian Church on Sunday. The first fire was extinguished quickly, according to Pastor Gilbert Varela. 
LOUISVILLE – A recent visit by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Co-Moderator, the Rev. Jan Edmiston, re-affirmed the church’s more than 20-year relationship with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). The CIW and consumer allies, including the PC(USA), are boycotting Wendy’s, which has refused to join the Fair Food Program (FFP). The FFP has dramatically improved wages and is ensuring humane conditions for farmworkers harvesting tomatoes, peppers, and strawberries for the nation’s largest fast-food, foodservice, and supermarket chains in seven states. Last year the CIW was awarded a Presidential Medal for the rapid and comprehensive gains the program has achieved in ending and preventing forced labor and other endemic abuses.