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Mission Yearbook
As a fundamental pillar of our Christian experience and testimony, justice is inseparable from peace and a fulfilling life for every human being as proclaimed by the good news of the Kingdom of God. Currently, there is a grave deficit of both justice and peace in many countries around the world, particularly in Central America.
Now is the time eager applicants await their college acceptance letters. Individuals and families start to consider not just what institutions to attend but also how they will realistically pay for them. Churches around the country add these young adults and their families to their prayer lists and prepare to celebrate the members graduating this year. But for many seeking a degree, the PC(USA) can do more than just pray for their acceptance and ongoing education.
The Connection Shelter at historic First Presbyterian Church in downtown Mankato, Minnesota, has welcomed homeless people to spend the night from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. in their second-floor adapted facility from October through April since the fall of 2020. Homeless guests must sign up in advance. Dinner is provided by volunteers from sponsoring churches and from the community at large. When the guests depart from First Presbyterian at 8 a.m., they walk a few blocks to Centenary United Methodist Church for breakfast served by Holy Grounds staff and volunteers and then proceed to the nearby Salvation Army for shelter during the day if needed.
You cannot turn on the news these days without hearing about violence and displacement. We live in turbulent times. According to the United Nations, we are witnessing record high numbers of forced displacement and migration — over 100 million globally. The causes are many — civil wars, the rise in autocratic governments who violate human rights with impunity, drug wars and even domestic violence. Natural disasters, too, such as hurricanes, droughts and flooding. And when asked, most migrants will tell you that they have left home for a combination of these factors. Their destinations are often determined by where they have family or friends and the financial resources to get there.
Juneteenth, the official freeing of enslaved people on June 19, 1865, in Texas, is one of the most important events in American history — but most students haven’t even been taught it. Maybe that will change now that Juneteenth is a national holiday.
Christians are minorities in Asia and the Pacific. The area is known to be home to the most Buddhists in the world, with a projection of 476 million followers in 2050. Nonetheless, the Christian population may rise by about 33% and reach 381 million in 2050. The highest growth in church membership occurred between 1970–2020. In countries like China, the phenomenon of house churches continues to grow, which is in direct contrast with the global North, where church membership is declining.
In fact, the 17-year-old senior at SandHoke Early College High School in Raeford, North Carolina, said that getting onto “an ambulance bed and being picked up to be placed inside of the vehicle” was his favorite activity.
The main difference between this Father’s Day and Father’s Day 25 years ago can be measured in decibels.
Both of our children are grown and flew from our nest long years ago. Both are doing fine, more a testament to their hard work and perseverance than anything their mother and I did.
Very early on Easter Sunday, two women went to the historic cemetery in Decatur, Georgia, accompanied by a musician. They carried a Christ candle and copies of a printed liturgy. Others joined them, but it was hard to say how many, for they were just shapes in the darkness — spirit or flesh? It was hard to tell until the morning light reached its fingers through the trees and gravestones to pull away the shroud of the long night.
Describing himself as an “almost empty-nester” with a daughter set to soon attend college in Scotland and a son preparing for higher education two years later, the Rev. Dr. Andrew Pomerville, the president of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary since July 2023, says he’s seeing the world more and more through the eyes of younger people.
