1001 New Worshiping Communities (NWC) is offering its leaders and pastors an opportunity for rest, renewal and reflection time through a round of Sabbath and sabbatical grants. There are two opportunities available.
In the late 1980s, when I was serving as a youth group leader in my local congregation, my pastor invited me to attend a gathering that I recognize now as the early stages of a new movement for youth in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Even as I was being drawn headlong into the phenomenon that was — and still is — the Presbyterian Youth Triennium, I had no idea how the lens through which I viewed the PC(USA) was about to change.
World Food Day — celebrated on Oct. 16 every year — commemorates the founding in 1945 of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The FAO was created to respond to famines and the tragedy of hunger in a world of God’s abundance. Despite the abundance of land, water, nutrients, and sunlight on this precious planet, even in the 21st century, hundreds of millions of people go hungry on Oct. 16 and every day of the year.
On this day in 1945, the United Nations Charter came into force. “We the Peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war … to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours …”
During a virtual discussion on helping white people talk about racism, a compelling question popped up in the chat box. The gist: How can a person bring up antiracism in a church where most members don’t want any more change and would prefer to go back to “better times”?
Like great Black preachers from previous generations, including Dr. James Cone and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., modern-day prophetic preachers have two main jobs, Dr. Anthea Butler said during the first day of the online Festival of Homiletics: bringing solace to people in the pews in times of trouble and speaking truth to power.
The founding pastor of Brambleton Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Elizabeth Brookens-Sturman, remembers what it was like to establish a new Christian church presence in the area just beyond the Capital Beltway. That’s why she isn’t taking lightly Brambleton’s honor of being named the “best of” churches in Ashburn, Virginia, announced in a recent issue of a local magazine.
The 2022 version of Presbyterian Youth Triennium will feature a Matthew 25 framework, activities that will extend a full year following Triennium and enough innovation to send thousands of high schoolers and young adults scurrying to register — once registration goes live this winter.
Peter is to be the rock in which the church would be built upon, really? Outspoken and fearless in declaring Jesus’ message, let us not forget that Peter is the same person who cowered in denial when Jesus was about to be crucified. Still, after all is said and done, the proper focus is not Peter’s courage and lack thereof, but the fact that our Lord chose this fallible human as the touchstone of God’s intention to establish the community of the faithful here on earth. So, what can we say about this “church” in 2021?
Mental Illness Awareness Week is Oct. 3–9, 2021. As the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) notes, millions of Americans live with a mental health condition, and all of us are affected either directly or indirectly. This week provides a time for mental health advocates across the country to come together as one unified voice. See nami.org.
