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Mission Yearbook
With a nod to the 29,000 or so RAGBRAI riders who’d arrived in Storm Lake, Iowa, hours earlier, the Rev. DeEtte Decker showed up for opening worship at the 69th Annual Synod School on a borrowed bicycle that she pedaled down the center aisle of Buena Vista University’s Schaller Memorial Chapel.
Members and friends of Lakeside Presbyterian Church in Storm Lake, Iowa, recently supersized the church’s welcome mat, welcoming scores of visitors attending the Synod School put on annually by the Synod of Lakes and Prairies even as they prepared further hospitality to some of the 29,000 people who were bicycling into town as part of RAGBRAI, the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.
Camille Hernandez, author of the upcoming book “The Hero and the Whore: Reclaiming Healing and Liberation Through the Stories of Sexual Exploitation in the Bible,” said during a recent edition of “A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast” that “a larger conversation on sexual violence” has been made possible because of the #MeToo movement.
Video: https://vimeo.com/840948023
Through a collaboration between Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and 1001 New Worshiping Communities, church planters and spiritual leaders visited Puerto Rico in June to learn about ongoing efforts to rebuild after hurricane disasters. 1001 New Worshiping Communities leaders recognized many commonalities with pastors in Puerto Rico, including the necessity of bivocational calls and a need for community engagement and the work of healing and relief.
“They keep coming.” The affirmation echoed through the Roots 101 African American Museum on a Friday in July as the participants in the Trailblazers Program spoke and marched during a live preview of the short film “1963-Still: Same Shot.”
“Screams and hubbubs! The children were excited and happy to leave the huts and go play outside. The air was thick and full of dust and flakes falling from the sky. They thought it was snowing, something which never happened on their tropical island. They were surprised and curious. They run after the flakes, catching them with their hands, rubbing them in their hair and on their bodies,” an eyewitness recalled.
Ally Henny, a speaker and the author of the recently published “I Won’t Shut Up: Finding Your Voice When the World Tries to Silence You,” speaks her mind during a recent episode of “A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast,” which can be heard here.
From hearing firsthand accounts about the plight of Palestinians to collaborating with a local group that makes textile art, being part of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Mosaic of Peace conference in the Holy Land was a memorable experience for past participant Megan Acedo.
Presbyterian Mission Agency mission co-workers the Revs. Shelvis and Nancy Smith-Mather were recently in the United States to meet with several entities at the United Nations to create awareness around the critical needs of those living in South Sudan under the barrage of continued violence and near-civil war. Hosted by the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations, the Smith-Mathers led a morning chapel service for a group of in-person and online worshipers via Zoom.
Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock, an acclaimed author and theologian and a senior vice president and director of the Shay Moral Injury Center at Volunteers of America, served this past summer as the McClendon Scholar-in-Residence at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. She recently gave an online lecture, “Moral Injury and Climate Change: Reclaiming Our Love for This Earth.”
