Writer, pastor and activist John Pavlovitz’s latest book is called “If God is Love, Don’t be a Jerk: Finding a Faith that Makes Us Better Humans.” He writes a blog called “Stuff that Needs to be Said.” He sees our world through the lenses of kindness and empathy, and his many talks around the country are infused with both.
The Rev. Dr. Michael W. Waters, whose “For Beautiful Black Boys Who Believe in a Better World” and “Liberty’s Civil Rights Road Trip” were both published by Flyaway Books, an imprint of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, appeared Wednesday as part of the Association of Partners in Christian Education’s annual event being held in Birmingham, Alabama.
“Are we innkeepers? Are we family? Are we guardians?”
Presbyterian educators recently intoned these questions in the opening of a virtual session addressing the changing modalities of Christian formation and support networks within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
The role that evangelism plays in Christian formation and in other facets of Christian ministry was at the center Tuesday of a thoughtful and lively edition of The Scattered Church, offered periodically by the offices that make up the Theology, Formation & Evangelism ministry area of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.
During his engaging mini-plenary, the Rev. Dr. Rodger Nishioka gave educators attending the annual event of the Association of Partners in Christian Education in Chicago a homework assignment: Memorize Isaiah 50:4 and recite it to the folks back home if they ask what you learned at the “Circle of Faith” event of the organization formerly known as the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators.
To set the stage for her “Circles of faith, Circle of Empowerment” message from Hebrews 11:23-28, the Rev. Dr. Lis Valle-Ruiz proclaimed during the recently renamed Association of Partners in Christian Education conference that attendees were going to experience the Holy Spirit throughout their whole body.
The Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis recently recalled for the renamed Association of Partners in Christian Education the scene — including tastes, smells and lasting impressions — of the first time she took communion when she was 7½ years old.
During opening worship at the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators annual gathering, the Rev. Shannon Johnson Kershner asked some 500 participants gathered in person and 200 joining online to put on “their glasses of imagination.”
Gina Yeager-Buckley began the conversation on “Why does the church need youth ministry” with the Presbyterian Youth Workers Association by asking participants to describe what their stories would have been like without it.
