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Mission Yearbook
A day ahead of celebrating the varied facets of its Matthew 25 work, First Presbyterian Church of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, recently shared some of the key people in both the congregation and the community to discuss their work and future plans with Presbyterian News Service.
As they prepared to lobby on Capitol Hill about the climate crisis, food insecurity and other significant ills, Ecumenical Advocacy Days participants took in an online session on the role that climate finance can play in securing enough food for everyone.
Today, June 25, marks 72 years since the Korean War broke out. Throughout that June, skirmishes along the division border led to North Korean forces crossing the border en masse on the 25th. Most U.S. Americans believe the war then ended in 1953; however, only an armistice agreement was signed at that time. This means outright fighting in the war has paused, but the state-of-war itself has continued for 72 years.
The “What’s the Secret Sauce?” conference sponsored by the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s 1001 New Worshiping Communities and the New Church Development Commission of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta recently welcomed more than 80 participants in a dozen languages with barbecue from three countries and a joyous worship service. Colleagues in the Office of General Assembly and the PMA’s Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries were also partners in the event.
In the Presbytery of Charlotte, which the Rev. Dr. Jan Edmiston serves as general presbyter, seven churches predate the United States. “People in our churches run banks and universities and hospitals and seminaries. I feel really fortunate to be here,” she told the Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty of the Presbyterian Foundation during a recent episode of Leading Theologically, which can be viewed here or here.
When the pandemic shut down plans last year for the epic every-third-year event, its fearless and flexible organizers pivoted to take the theme, the swag, the funds and the fun to places where smaller groups of young people could gather safely and share where they saw God in their lives, their relationships and in their larger communities.
In honor of Earth Day in April, I had the opportunity to take out 70 students and faculty from Menaul High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for a guided hike and day of service on the Caja del Rio, one of the most significant cultural, historical, archaeological, spiritual and wildlife landscapes in the American Southwest. Sadly, it’s also considered one the most endangered landscapes in New Mexico as it faces huge threats from climate change, mining, illegal dumping and shooting, poaching, vandalism and theft of ancient petroglyphs and unlawful off-highway vehicle use that disrupts wildlife and cultural sites.
I retired from a 40-year career in ministry and moved from Middle Tennessee to Canton, North Carolina, on a whim. Also known as “Papertown,” Canton is a quaint mountain town on the headwaters of the Pigeon River. Its bustling industrial center is the Evergreen Paper Mill, which has been in operation for over 100 years. The mill has faced down chestnut blights, wrestled with forest management and water regulations since its inception, and defied a hostile buyout in the 1990s when nearly 2,000 employees paid $200 million to purchase it themselves.
You cannot turn on the news these days without hearing about violence and displacement. We live in turbulent times. According to the United Nations, we are witnessing record high numbers of forced displacement and migration — over 100 million globally. The causes are many — civil wars, the rise in autocratic governments who violate human rights with impunity, drug wars and even domestic violence. Natural disasters, too, such as hurricanes, droughts and flooding. And when asked, most migrants will tell you that they have left home for a combination of these factors. Their destinations are often determined by where they have family or friends and the financial resources to get there.
Juneteenth, the official freeing of enslaved people on June 19, 1865, in Texas, is one of the most important events in American history — but most students haven’t even been taught it. Maybe that will change now that Juneteenth is a national holiday.
