Mission Yearbook

A home away from home

Presbyterians have been stepping up to help Afghan families feel welcome in the United States, from providing meals and housing to helping children get registered in school.

A rock-solid testament

Just outside of the town of Blacksburg, South Carolina, which is located about 40 miles southwest of Charlotte, North Carolina, sits a church with a unique rock exterior. It sits on a plot of land along Highway 5 across the street from its cemetery. There is perhaps no other church like it in the area, at least none that could match its solid-rock edifice that was built by Black men who left a permanent symbol in honor of God and their place of worship for future generations.

Windshields and rearview mirrors

It makes a big difference how much time we spend looking forward to what’s coming our way, and how much time we spend looking backward at where we’ve been. At least it does in driver’s education. I remember my driver’s ed instructor telling us to look in our rearview mirrors once every two seconds — which seems like bad advice to give to a bunch of literalistic teenagers.

Minute for Mission: World Refugee Day

June 20 is World Refugee Day. Displaced from their homes amid unimaginable circumstances, refugees’ journeys are long and difficult.

Minute for Mission: Juneteenth

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.

Joining in the prayer of Creation

At the beginning of the recent Theology, Formation & Evangelism ministry cohort on spiritual practices, the Rev. Dr. David Gambrell began a presentation on daily prayer in a curious way.

Final goodbyes

It’s a precious gift to be there to say goodbye. But when the actual moment comes, it can be hard to know what to do or where to start. Maybe we are thrown by the beeping ICU screens. Or maybe we don’t know how to begin unwinding a conflict that has been years in the making. Sometimes there’s plenty of time to say all that is needed, and the words flow with ease. Many times, though, we struggle for words in those precious moments. As Stephen Jenkinson, who has written extensively about grief, observed: We often stumble into our dying as amateurs.

‘This seems to be the right tool at the right time’

Two presbytery executives who have seen firsthand what the Matthew 25 invitation can do to make ministry and evangelism more effective and more inclusive joined the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s president and executive director, the Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett, for the second edition of “Being Matthew 25.” The conversation is hosted each month by the Rev. DeEtte Decker, the Mission Agency’s social media strategist. Watch the episode here.