christian

God made the church to be an instrument of peace and justice

Peter is to be the rock in which the church would be built upon, really? Outspoken and fearless in declaring Jesus’ message, let us not forget that Peter is the same person who cowered in denial when Jesus was about to be crucified. Still, after all is said and done, the proper focus is not Peter’s courage and lack thereof, but the fact that our Lord chose this fallible human as the touchstone of God’s intention to establish the community of the faithful here on earth. So, what can we say about this “church” in 2021?

Hearing other voices in Rwanda

In the atmosphere of celebrating International Women’s Day on March 26, the Presbytery of Kigali organized a daylong workshop to remind women church leaders to continue fighting against the pandemics of COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS. Forty religious leaders were invited from the Rwandan Muslim Association, the Anglican Church, the Lutheran Church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Association of Baptist Churches, the Reformed Baptist Church and the Free Methodist Church.

Kids’ holiday books: Christ, candelabras — and critters

Children’s book publishers – hoping perhaps for the next contemporary classic, another “Polar Express” or “Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins” – have sent out a blizzard of holiday choices this year.

Third Thursday webinar presents ‘The view from Iraqi Kurdistan’

The Presbyterian Mission Agency’s office of Interfaith Relations invites you to join Rick Ufford-Chase this Thursday, June 15th at noon eastern time, for a Facebook Live event as he interviews Susan Smith, a Muslim resident in the Community of Living Traditions at Stony Point Center, about her recent trip to Iraqi Kurdistan with Christian Peacemaker Teams.

PC(USA) celebrates 25 years of partnership with the Church of Bangladesh

The Most Rev. Paul S. Sarker, moderator of the Church of Bangladesh and Bishop of the Dhaka Diocese, visited the Presbyterian Center recently to celebrate the first 25 years of formal partnership between the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Church of Bangladesh (CoB). The visit also provided an opportunity to discern God’s direction for the future of the partnership.

Finding spiritual values in Oscar’s ‘Best Pictures’

Each year the Academy for Motion Pictures and Sciences nominates five to ten films for the “Best Picture” category. I wish that it were a full ten this year, with the addition of Martin Scorcese’s haunting Silence rounding out the number.