“Presbyterians love elections,” the Rev. Betsy Lyles Swetenburg said in a sermon at Northridge Presbyterian Church in Dallas on Sunday before clarifying that she wasn’t talking about presidential elections. “Our life together as a community of faith is marked by elections,” added Swetenburg, who described how elections, committees and leadership bodies that vote on items of business guide Presbyterian polity and rule “our day-to-day business.”
For the fifth of six installments of their “Around the Table” podcast, which can be heard here, hosts the Rev. Michelle Thomas-Bush and the Rev. Cliff Haddox each invited a friend to talk about conversations around the table where not everyone is a person of faith.
Since the Covid pandemic began in early 2020, we’ve gone from lockdown to shutdown, Mark Yaconelli told those attending the APCE Annual Event Wednesday during the first of three keynotes he’s scheduled to deliver. He saw plenty of examples of shutdown during a 91-stop book tour he completed last year following publication of his “Between the Listening and the Telling: How Stories Can Save Us.”
Christian education enthusiasts from all over North America have convened in Birmingham for the Association of Partners in Christian Education with an invitation to rest inspired by Matthew 11:28-30 as found in The Message, where Jesus asks his followers if they are “tired, worn out, and burned out on religion?”
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.
On Thursday the Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis recalled for the recently-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.
The Office of the General Assembly (OGA) wants to hear from all who are currently serving, have served, or have retired from service in the field of Christian education or Christian formation. The OGA has partnered with Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Research Services to create a brief questionnaire to gather this information. The questionnaire should take about five minutes to complete.
“Thanks so much.”
“I am so overwhelmed with gratitude.”
“We are excited.”
“This is wonderful news for our congregation.”
These comments are from some of the leaders in more than 200 Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) churches and worshiping communities — each of them with 150 members or fewer — who recently received free book bundles (listed below) from the denomination.
Two new resources focused on the mental health and wellness of youth are now available for free download from the Office of Presbyterian Youth and Triennium.
To help equip congregations for Older Adult Week in the PC(USA), which begins on Sunday, May 2, the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network is offering a series of free webinars. In partnership with the PC(USA)’s Office of Christian Formation in the Presbyterian Mission Agency, the first of three webinars, “The Circle of Life,” is being offered from 7 p.m. through 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, April. 22.
