Make A Donation
Click Here >
Mission Yearbook
“If we learn how to listen, we can hear in the voice of Creation a kind of dissonance. On the one hand, we can hear a sweet song in praise of our beloved Creator; on the other, an anguished plea, lamenting our mistreatment of this our common home.”
On the last day of Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) orientation, we are sent off to be commissioned at churches in the area. Several churches in the area agree to host small groups of YAVs for worship where we are commissioned for our year of service, followed by a meal and conversations. We as YAVs come as we are, bringing our whole selves, exhausted from the past week of orientation, to a table of strangers, to share our intentions for our year of service and what we have already begun learning during the first week.
In the middle of the chaotic summer of 2020, I find myself one early Saturday morning at the recently opened pool that we use in the summer. Perhaps due to my vocation (youth ministry), I really enjoy and learn from observing and listening to young people.
“Seems like changes come faster and faster all the time!” My grandmother, who was born in 1904, told me this one day, as she described her youth without cars and then astronauts on the moon six decades later. Some of the changes over her 97 years were unwelcome. She never did buy a microwave. Other changes, like the “www” in her morning newspaper ads, intrigued her.
Many of us probably kept a journal at some point growing up. I know I did. And when I look back at them, I read entries about what I did, what I ate and the time I went to bed on any given day. I’m not sure why I ever thought that last piece of information about my fascinating 10-year-old life would be important for any future reading. It seems, though, taking inventory of our days comes naturally to us.
Three new worshiping communities in Arizona, Georgia and Louisiana have been named winners of the 2022 Sam & Helen R. Walton Awards. Each recipient, listed below, will receive $15,000 for their excellence in furthering Presbyterian mission in their communities and neighborhoods.
A recent edition of Leading Theologically took on a nautical theme as host the Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty and guest Gina Yeager-Buckley launched into this topic: “Turning the Ship: What Ministry Feels Like Right Now.”
A recent article published by Vox titled “Everyone wants forgiveness, but no one is being forgiven” captured our attention. “Modern outrage is a cycle,” the subhead reads. “Could a culture of public forgiveness ever break it?”
One of the things that attracted the Rev. Daniel Van Beek to Franklin Presbyterian Church was its commitment to Matthew 25. “Their pastor had left, and the interim hadn’t even come, yet they still moved forward with Matthew 25,” said Van Beek, who joined the Franklin, Kentucky, congregation in 2020.
Each Saturday during March, people gathered at each of Mid-Kentucky Presbytery’s four African American congregations to hear the stories of each congregation, including its heritage and ministry.
