Each year, Presbyterian congregations join with partners around the country (and globe) to lift up World Food Day (Oct. 16) during the Food Week of Action – from the Sunday before World Food Day until the Sunday after. The week also includes the International Day of Rural Women (Oct. 15) and the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (Oct. 17).
During my first year as a pastor, there were certain milestones I knew to look forward to. I looked forward to the first time I stood at the Communion table and invited my congregation to share in the feast, and the first time I marked an infant with water and proclaimed how much God loved her in baptism. I looked forward to my first Christmas and first sunrise Easter service. But there were other firsts that I didn’t know about that caught me off guard with their beauty.
Around 180 people registered for the recent Presbyterians for Earth Care webinar “The Climate Crisis: Where are we in 2023?” Dr. Colin Evans, a post-doctoral research associate at the Northeast Regional Climate Change Center at Cornell University, spoke and answered questions afterward. Watch the webinar, hosted the Rev. Bruce Gillette, moderator of PEC, by going here.
A recent visit by family and supporters to an Indonesian prison sparked renewed optimism that Mary Jane Veloso, a domestic worker and trafficking victim who at one time faced a death sentence may eventually secure her release.
Born more than 600 years ago and burned at the stake for heresy at age 19, Joan of Arc still had a lot to teach a roomful of Synod School students this year — especially with guidance from Dr. Scott Stanfield, Emeritus Professor of English at Nebraska Wesleyan University and a longtime Synod School participant.
Susan Stabile, a distinguished senior fellow at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis and a spiritual director and retreat leader, taught a fascinating and helpful week-long class at Synod School, “Jesus the Storyteller: Learning from the Parables.”
The trauma and heartbreak of the Korean War continues to linger many decades after the signing of an agreement to end active military fighting on the Korean Peninsula.
Born in the Synod of Lakes and Prairies, Restorative Actions describes itself as “a grassroots voluntary initiative for churches, individuals, mid councils and agencies of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), as well as ecumenical partners and interested organizations, to take a leadership stance in opposed to racism and racial privilege” by allowing “U.S. Americans who benefit from institutional racism to provide a credible witness for justice by surrendering ill-gotten gains toward the establishment of just relationships with Afro-Americans and Indigenous communities.”
The Rev. Bill Davnie was a Presbyterian pastor for five years before hearing a different call: He then served 27 years as a career Foreign Service Officer.
Ellen Smith, World Mission’s regional liaison for Central and Eastern Europe, led a packed and thought-provoking mini-course during Synod School on the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s mission in Ukraine.
