“Aurora has become a place where immigrants and refugees from all over the world are settling now,” said the Rev. Doug Friesema, pastor of Aurora First Presbyterian Church in Colorado, whose congregation has opened up its space to five other congregations that serve Spanish-speaking immigrants, refugees, individuals from the African diaspora and African Americans.
In the heart of Beirut, mosques and churches stand side-by-side. The Prophet Elijah Cathedral, a Greek Melkite Catholic Church, is one of those churches. Father Agapios Kfoury wanted to do something different in the middle of Nejme Square when he started serving this parish in late 2013. He wanted to build bridges of knowledge and understanding. And so was born the idea of co-hosting iftar meals during Ramadan to break the daily fast.
Contrary to popular belief, the growing rate of incarcerated women has been twice as high compared to their male counterparts. In addition to their increasing population, women have a higher mortality rate. Despite these alarming statistics, women still receive the same services that were originally designed to serve men. These services are void of structure for gender-based violence such as issues surrounding assault recovery, financial literacy, custody and the intersectionality of race.
Historically, Presbyterians “are used to being on a bigger stage and having what we say mean something,” the Acting Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Rev. Bronwen Boswell, said during a recent episode of “A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast.” “We get caught up in that decline thinking rather than saying, ‘What is it we still have? What are the resources we have plenty of, and how do we need to look at the way ministry is going into the future?’”
There may be no place thirstier for life than the desert after a long period of no rain, the Rev. Melanie Marsh said during the second day’s worship service at APCE’s Annual Event held in St. Louis and online. Marsh used a National Geographic clip to demonstrate rain’s dramatic effect on the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park southeast of Los Angeles.
In the vast sea of vendors that populate the Marketplace & Bookstore at the Association of Partners in Christian Education 2024 Annual Event, there’s only one who literally makes a splash.
And that would be Gracie.
Telling the Parable of the Good Samaritan from the perspective of the man who’d been left for dead, the Rev. Cedric Portis Sr. preached a thought-provoking sermon during opening worship for the Annual Event of the Association of Partners in Christian Education, which recently met in St. Louis.
Participants from across the country, representing 15 of the 16 synods of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), traveled to the Atlanta area the week of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday for the first Matthew 25 Summit. The Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, Presbytery of Baltimore and Denver Presbytery drew the greatest number of participants, but 93 of the 166 presbyteries of the PC(USA) — 56% — were represented at the Summit. The event was fully booked with a waiting list of 30 by the time it commenced on the campus of New Life Presbyterian Church in South Fulton and online.
“Achieving gender equality and women’s well-being in all aspects of life is more crucial than ever if we want to create prosperous economies and a healthy planet,” according to the United Nations. “However, we are facing a key challenge: the alarming $360 billion annual deficit in gender-equality measures by 2030.”
The Presbytery of Utah is gearing up for the 226th General Assembly this summer. In the first in a series of videos, Utah area pastors, members and presbytery leaders talk about the beautiful outdoors, friendly communities and the embrace of ecumenical ministry. Utah Presbyterians are looking forward to showing how “God is at work throughout the state.”
