Oct. 17, the Rev. Brooke A. Scott was ordained and installed as the pastor at Church on Main, a Presbyterian congregation in Middletown, Delaware. A week later, the church was the target of some Twitter trolling by another pastor because of the Black Lives Matter and LGBTQIA+ Pride flags displayed on the front of the church.
Next time you see someone pull their car over, get out and start dancing to a favorite song on their radio or phone, give Makani Themba some credit. It was her idea, as expressed Saturday during the Presbyterian Week of Action’s webinar on Black Lives Matter entitled “Liberation Now!” Watch the 69-minute webinar here.
Many preachers get a little antsy about preaching on and around secular holidays, among them the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Mother’s Day — and that biggest secular holiday of all, Super Bowl Sunday. In their minds, the culture and the church ought to be kept at arm’s length from one another.
Excitement is building for this year’s Presbyterian Week of Action, which takes place Aug. 23-29. It will lift up not only Black Lives Matter but other marginalized groups, such as Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, who have been the target of hatred and discrimination.
Two years ago, before the pandemic, a pastor at a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) church in Texas was thinking about retiring at age 70. Now he hopes he can make it for 17 more months to reach the retirement age of 66 years and 4 months.
According to a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, “Mental Health & COVID-19,” one in four people aged 18-24 has seriously considered death by suicide in the last 30 days.
On the eve of last week’s inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, two institutions at Union Presbyterian Seminary hosted the webinar “From Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter: Movements for Black Lives Across Generations and Genders.” Watch the 90-minute webinar here.
The Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, and Associate Director of Advocacy, the Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, will hold a discussion about the Jan. 6 attack on the United States Capitol on Facebook Live Thursday.
As dark December transitions into nearly-as-dark January and February, preachers in need of resources can serve both God and their hearers by preaching the psalms of lamentation.
