COVID-19 has caused the world to change the way people connect and the way they do business. For nearly a year millions of people have been sheltering in place and worshiping online. However, not all churches have the resources and capabilities to offer virtual services to their members.
Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia, has received a grant of $969,528 from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help establish the “reKindle: Congregational Development in a Post COVID-19 Era” program through its Center for Lifelong Learning.
Congregations seeking renewal for their pastor are invited to apply to the Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Programs at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The Presbytery of Cincinnati has received a grant of $997,412.00 from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help establish the Living Churches Initiative under the presbytery’s newly-formed Center for Learning.
On behalf of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, the Mission Development Resources Committee (MDRC) has approved Mission Program Grants to 21 new worshiping communities. The “1001” communities receiving grants are listed below, followed by the presbytery and synod they belong to and a brief description of their mission and ministry:
During the final day of the virtual workshop “Dipping Deeper Into the Well of PC(USA) Ministries,” more than 50 Christian educators, pastors and other Presbyterian leaders heard panel discussions and wrestled with questions on how to form lifelong disciples who are grounded in the Reformed tradition and equipped for peacemaking, witnessing and working for justice and equity for all God’s people.
The Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP) has approved grants totaling $402,900 to communities in the United States and internationally to date in 2020. The money is from the One Great Hour of Sharing offering. The national SDOP Committee enables members and non-members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to form partnerships with oppressed and disadvantaged people in order to help them achieve self-sufficiency.
The Tooth Bus is a large bus outfitted with all the equipment needed to make and repair dentures. After over 10 years of visioning, fundraising and hard work by churches in the Presbytery of St. Augustine, the Tooth Bus has finally made its way to Jamaica. The plan is that the bus will be able to go most anywhere in Jamaica where there was a work site and have everything required to make dentures for those in need.
The Rev. Dr. Lindsay P. Armstrong and the Rev. Rafael Viana have spoken many times since they first met in 2016 — but they both remember one particular phone call vividly.
