To learn more about what goes into successful intentional pastoral transitions, the Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty turned to someone who’s recently undergone one: the Rev. Shannon Johnson Kershner, who left Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago last May and is now senior pastor and head of staff at Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. Listen to Hinson-Hasty’s 31-minute conversation with Kershner on his “Leading Theologically” broadcast here or here.
The Congo Mission Network (CMN) is hosting its annual conference on March 14–16 at the Charleston Atlantic Presbytery Conference Center in Charleston, South Carolina.
Jamie Bruesehoff, a recent guest on “A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast,” recalled the first day her transgender daughter, Rebekah, came to church as herself. The one person whom Bruesehoff feared might cause problems for her and her husband, the pastor of the church, made a beeline for her following worship.
“Nothing is constant but change,” says the philosopher, and we might as well add, “…changing ever faster.” Wherever we look today the world is changing and at an unprecedented rate.
Among the handful of clergy authors published by Cyclical Publishing is the Rev. Ryan Althaus, the Hunger and Inclusion Advocate for the Presbytery of San Jose, whose latest book carries the provocative title “The Expanse: Homos, Hobos, and the Holy Hereafter.”
One of the perks of being a PDA volunteer is getting to wear the infamous blue T-shirt. All you must do to earn a shirt is participate in PDA disaster recovery efforts. Whether you’ve been on a PDA work trip or any mission trip at all, you know how God’s Spirit stirs something within you when you when you volunteer. There’s something humbling and sacred about approaching a service opportunity with open hands and a willing heart. For some, a blue T-shirt may not mean much. But, for many, donning a blue PDA T-shirt is a symbol of pride and reminder of community resilience.
A queer psychotherapist who wrote a book about how people can rediscover their faith after a harmful church experience was a recent guest on “A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast.” Listen to the 35-minute conversation that hosts Simon Doong and the Rev. Lee Catoe had with Matthias Roberts, author of “Holy Runaways: Rediscovering Faith After Being Burned by Religion,” by going here.
When the Apostle Paul wrote about the varieties of God-given abilities conferred by the Spirit, the Rev. Peggy Krong — a gifted former English teacher — would be the first to admit that she likely missed out on the gift of financial expertise.
First Presbyterian Church of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, saw a need in its community for an animal shelter and heeded God’s command to care for its neighbor, Mt. Pleasant Correctional Facility.
It has resulted in a program that engages prisoners at the facility to help train animals cared for by the shelter, All God’s Creatures, and thus make them more adoptable.
A couple of weeks ago, the General Assembly Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations (GACEIR) met via Zoom for our winter meeting. In addition to working to review our work on actions referred to us from GA225, we spent time in worship and devotion. On Thursday, we remembered the church’s commitment to stand in solidarity with our siblings who are experiencing violence by wearing black. We invite you to join us each Thursday to stand with and pray for the end of violence in all areas of our lives.
