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Mission Yearbook
Today is the International Day of Peace, also known as “Peace Day.” For the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), every day should be Peace Day, but this is a special day, set aside by a unanimous U.N. resolution in 1981 and observed around the world. It provides “a globally shared date for all humanity to commit to peace above all differences and to contribute to building a culture of peace.”
Rendall Memorial Presbyterian Church is a small-in-numbers yet large-in-mission, Christ-centered, aging, progressive congregation in central (Black) Harlem. Its mission is to serve those in the community through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Evangelism happens at Rendall as a “by-product” of intentional, gospel-focused ministry that is relational, personal, spiritual and missional.
Of all the economic indicators this year, it seems that the “labor numbers” are pretty good. Even though prices have been rising, unemployment is at an almost record low. People are working again, but interestingly a labor shortage persists. Jobs are still available everywhere. “Help wanted” signs are hanging in merchant windows. Employers continue to offer better wages and benefits and flexible work hours, all with the hope of attracting workers to fill needed jobs. The labor numbers may be good, but labor is still a problem.
After earning a PhD and teaching for a few years, Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes decided to enroll in seminary, where her eyes were opened in an unexpected and unpleasant way.
Well into his baccalaureate address at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary this past spring, the Rev. Dr. Justin Reed asked graduates from the classes of 2020, 2021 and 2022, “How is God different now than when you started?”
Communicators with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) used written, visual and aural tools of their trade to garner 10 awards during this year’s Best of the Church Press ceremony held online.
My minister father frequently uttered pithy sayings and pieces of Scripture, one of which was the text from Matthew 6:34 about today’s trouble being enough for today. Of course, given his generation, such sayings were usually offered in the King James Version of the Bible, so his quotation of Matthew 6:34 was: “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
For the past five decades, the Rev. Jim Wallis has been exploring the complexity and possibility of two of his favorite words, “justice” and “faith.” Wallis, the founder of Sojourners magazine who now directs the Center on Faith and Justice at Georgetown University, recently delivered a talk at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., exploring whether American democracy is even possible given the threats to voting rights, civil rights and any number of other challenges Americans are facing.
The return to in-person worship is underway, and one can almost hear David’s joy echoed in Psalm 122, when he proclaimed, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’”
What do working for the common good and crafting have in common? They both require the commitment, flexibility and hope to let something new emerge from something old, raw or broken. In 2018, North Decatur Presbyterian Church in Decatur, Georgia, a congregation with long-held commitments to social justice, created a new ministry that weaves both crafting and activism together. They call it “craftivism.” And its mission is simply to craft for a cause.
