Throughout these times of quarantine, I have found myself singing more — children’s English and Spanish songs with our 2-year-old son, Leandro. These are songs I remember from high school and university choir, hymns, my mom’s songs or just humming random tunes. If I’m honest, my singing is not always an expression of joy. As I write this, we are on Day 71 (May 25) of strict quarantine in Peru, and we are permitted to leave our home only for groceries, bank transactions and medical needs. Our curfew, complete Sunday lockdown and closed international borders also are still in effect.
I never understood the gravity of the words “Thank you for your service” until I began serving as a chaplain at a VA Medical Center about nine years ago. I could never have imagined that God would call me to ministry at the VA. Although several of my family members were/are veterans, their military service was not a big part of our family narrative or my frame of reference. I had generally aligned with a pacifist stance. In fact, I can remember crying as a 9-year-old when Operation Desert Storm formally began. I had not experienced our country being at war before and remember feelings of insecurity, grief and yearning for peace — feelings that I have felt many more times since then as conflicts and wars continue across the globe and our world has not yet fully experienced the peace of God’s reign.
This past spring, Joel Winchip, executive director of Presbyterian Church Camp & Conference Association (PCCCA), wasn’t sure what camps would be able to do about offering summer programming.
Pastors from four churches invited congregants to listen in recently while the Rev. Dr. Richard Boyce, vice president and dean of Union Presbyterian Seminary’s Charlotte campus, led the online discussion “Where is God in a Pandemic? Understanding and Responding to Suffering.”
The Rev. Dr. José Irizarry has plenty of roles and titles, including Vice President of Education for the Board of Pensions. In recent weeks, he told the Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty during a Facebook Live event, the pandemic has added a new important title to his portfolio: Minister of Household.
In what can be the steep learning curve of creating meaningful online worship services, what pastor or worship leader would look askance at tips on making sermon preparation and preaching less stressful?
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rev. Dave Rohrer of Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Bothell, Washington, hosted a Zoom conversation along with several other pastors of the Presbytery of the Northwest Coast.
The Rev. Kay Day, a mission co-worker in Rwanda, believes she has witnessed true integrity in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Since 2013, Day has been a lecturer in English and practical theology, preparing students for pastoral ministry at the Protestant Institute of Arts and Sciences (PIASS). The school is supported by five Protestant denominations, including the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s mission partner, the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda. The school strives to produce graduates who will contribute to Rwanda’s spiritual, intellectual and socio-economic life.
It was early March, and the daily routine at Atlanta’s Mercy Community Church had been thrown for a loop.
Every Monday through Thursday, the church is a gathering place for around 50 people who are experiencing homelessness or are marginally housed to do everything from talking and sharing a couple of meals to working on getting help with legal and medical issues, as well as other needs. But suddenly, with the rapid spread of the coronavirus, gathering wasn’t a great idea.
The Rev. Dr. Neichelle Guidry’s alma mater is Clark Atlanta University, where the motto — attributed to the ancient general Hannibal, who was once asked about the wisdom of crossing a mountain pass on elephants — is, “I shall find a way or make one.”
