Mission Yearbook

Minute for Mission: Young Adult Volunteer Commissioning Sunday

Today, several congregations close to Stony Point Center, many from the Hudson River Presbytery, will host the 2018-19 YAV class for Commissioning Sunday. This day acts as a reminder to both the Young Adult Volunteers (YAVs) and our Church that we do not go alone in God’s mission.

New parent loan program now available for PC(USA) members

Applications are now being accepted for the new parent loan program through the Presbyterian Mission Agency. Available for Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) members, the parent loan, administered through Financial Aid for Service, offers a 6 percent interest rate.

A Presbyterian understanding of the 1st and 14th amendments: freedom of religion and equal protection under the law

Many of us have heard that the United States’ form of government was influenced by the practices and beliefs of Presbyterians who crossed the ocean to find religious freedom. Even today, our local municipal meetings and sessions of Congress mirror what takes place in church meeting rooms as elected ruling elders lead each congregation. However, we may not always know how traditional Reformed theology has influenced the beliefs that are the bedrock of the Constitution.

WCC climate change meeting explores ‘just transitions,’ plans for COP 24

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stressed that zero carbon emissions must be achieved by 2050 by the world if we are to avoid catastrophic climate impacts such severe and recurrent droughts and record-breaking storms as well as the inundation of small island states and coastal cities.

Educating the hearing-impaired

Glory Banda was born in Malawi. She was also born deaf. Soon after her parents realized that their child couldn’t hear, her father divorced her mother. Glory’s mother, desperate and brokenhearted, returned to live in her parents’ home. A child, who should have been a blessing, became the source of grief and pain.

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance needs more volunteers to help in disaster recovery

Strong hurricanes, record flooding and massive wildfires have taken their toll on volunteer groups aiding in cleanup and recovery in recent years. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance says groups have been working hard to help communities rebuild, but the number of powerful hurricanes and other natural disasters is making it harder to find enough people to meet the need.

Texas kids get a front row seat to living on a fixed income

It’s one thing to see or read about the struggles of people living in poverty, stretching every nickel or dime. It’s another to get a true sense of what the daily struggle is like. First Presbyterian Church of Fort Worth, Texas, recently gave young people a small dose of what many low-income residents in their community deal with when it hosted a camp for students in fourth through eighth grades.

International Peacemaker from South Sudan working toward unity in homeland

Founded in 2011, South Sudan is the world’s youngest country. But infighting among its two largest tribal groups — friction that dates back to the 19th century — has plunged the country into civil war and forced many of its young citizens to become soldiers instead of doctors, teachers or farmers. The Rev. Michael Muot Put, from the Nuer tribal community, is working to educate communities about the importance of peace among different ethnic groups and to provide a platform based on peace and unity.

From church conflict to church building

It’s a far cry from 2014 in the Presbytery of Nevada. This past year 12 of its 21 congregations experienced numerical, and spiritual, growth. Just a few years ago, churches were leaving the presbytery and the remaining congregations were resistant to paying per capita.