Those attending closing worship Saturday at the national gathering of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators shared communion around round tables, rocked along with musicians David LaMotte and Zach Light-Wells, enjoyed music provided by the University of the Ozarks Chamber Singers and heard one last time from the Rev. Dr. Theresa Cho, pastor of St. John’s Presbyterian Church in San Francisco.
Now retired after serving the First Presbyterian Church of Libertyville, Ill., the Rev. Roberta Dodds Ingersoll described during a workshop this week how congregants at First Church became more comfortable talking about their death, or that of a loved one.
One of Lisa Sharon Harper’s favorite talks is her take on Matthew 25, which she shared Friday morning with the approximately 650 people attending the national gathering of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators.
Mission statements are common among Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) churches and mid councils. The problem, according to the Rev. Dr. Theresa Cho, is that they usually don’t “tell us how to go about” the mission.
Justice is at the very heart of who God is, Professor Rebecca Davis of Union Presbyterian Seminary said during a Thursday workshop at the annual gathering of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators. And justice is not a political issue — it’s a biblical issue. “We must come to grips with that,” she said to an overflow workshop crowd, “if we are going to be faithful to the witness of the church.”
With artist Hannah Garrity of A Sanctified Art painting on a large canvas as they worshiped, the 650 or so people attending the annual gathering of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators opened their four days together Wednesday with a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Theresa Cho.
With the authority of someone who’s been important to the civil rights movement since she was a 15-year-old high school junior, Elizabeth Ann Eckford offered the annual gathering of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators Wednesday a firsthand account of her year as a member of the Little Rock Nine, the African American students chosen in 1957 to begin the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock three years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools are unconstitutional.
Nearly all (90%) of Presbyterians pray at least several times a week and nearly half (42%) read the Bible on their own at least several times a week. Middle-aged and older Presbyterians engage in these spiritual disciplines more frequently than younger Presbyterians do.
It’s that time of year again, when church starts ramping up after summer’s relaxed schedule. Youth rooms are filled with laughter, Sunday school finds everyone from toddlers to adults reunited with their favorite teachers, and the return of small groups elicits joy all around. These activities represent different aspects of lifelong Christian formation, one of the seven marks of church vitality that we’re exploring together this month. Our passage, Deuteronomy 30:15–20, sheds light on this mark as a lectionary selection for Sept. 8 — take time to read it now.
