Mission Yearbook

Growing Congregation Finds Purpose in Helping Others

Growing congregation finds purpose in helping others A year and a half ago, 10 people gathered in Jeanie Shaw’s living room in Sacramento, California, to worship. Before long, they moved to her backyard. This past Easter, the growing group—more than 100 people—gathered to celebrate the resurrection of Christ and three adult baptisms.

Community School Partnership Helps Boys at Risk

Community school partnership helps boys at risk “Let’s rock the DREAAM House.” Those are the words coming from 10 excited five-year-old boys participating in the DREAAM Summer Pre -K Academy. The DREAAM House is a community-school partnership significantly funded by First Presbyterian Church of Champaign and Southeastern Illinois Presbytery.

Making Inroads Against Human Trafficking

Making inroads against human trafficking When Jill Bolander Cohen’s stepdaughter called her one afternoon, she didn’t expect her stepdaughter to be asking for her to help a high school victim of human trafficking. “This young woman’s mother sold her to a trafficker for $25,000,” Cohen says. “Her mother needed the money to open and operate her business, and the young woman’s trafficker was shipping her around the country as she worked to pay back her mother’s debts.”

Minute for Mission: Presbyterian Association of Musicians

Minute for Mission: Presbyterian Association of Musicians The Presbyterian Association of Musicians (PAM) shaped and enabled my current vocation as a church musician. I have enjoyed multiple careers. My first career was as a school music teacher. My second career was as an actuary. While that career was intellectually and monetarily rewarding, it was not my true vocational calling.

Changes in Organization and Mission Present Challenges and Opportunities

Changes in organization and mission present challenges and opportunities The Synod of Alaska-Northwest continues to live into a new and creative way of being a synod. After decades of being a large program body, it has recently moved to a reduced function as provided for by the Book of Order. Although mission in the form of programs no longer occurs, the ties between the member presbyteries are perhaps stronger than in the past. The synod does mission only in terms of how it supports its member presbyteries, taking seriously the mandate of the 211th General Assembly (1999): to “develop, encourage, equip, and resource congregations and their leaders, . . . enhance the effectiveness of congregations, and find simplified, flexible and more responsive ways to . . . work in a rapidly changing environment.”

Broad Street Ministry Extends Welcome in Downtown Philadelphia

Broad Street Ministry extends welcome in downtown Philadelphia “YOU BELONG HERE NO MATTER WHAT,” reads the sign outside Broad Street Ministry in the heart of Philadelphia—a city where deep poverty and rapid gentrification exist side by side. The sign’s bright green lettering is one of the first things people notice when walking by the church’s arched façade.

New Worshiping Community Breaks Down Cultural Barriers

New worshiping community breaks down cultural barriers For Eric Hanna, what began as a dinner invitation became an integral part of a spiritual journey. Last year a classmate at the University of Washington invited Hanna to a meal and Bible study at International Friendship House in Seattle. Friendship House is home to International Disciples, a new worshiping community that seeks to empower international and American college students in the Seattle area to be global Christian leaders.

Congregations Answer the Call to Environmental Stewardship

Congregations answer the call to environmental stewardship Although the 222nd General Assembly (2016) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ended nearly six weeks ago, Presbyterian congregations near the host city of Portland, Oregon, make a key theme of the assembly—environmental stewardship—an ongoing ministry.