The church in Davydovo, Russia, was a thriving community of 1,000 members from five surrounding villages before the revolution. It was abruptly closed by the Communist authorities in 1936. The building was used for storage and then as a club but was neglected for 70 years. The roof collapsed around 1960, and there was nothing left but the shell of a building — only walls.
The Rev. Duke Dixon, pastor of Presbyterian Church of Easton in Easton, Md., part of New Castle Presbytery, returned from a sabbatical last summer feeling his congregation needed to pray — really pray — for its community.
Building bridges between Central Presbyterian Church in Des Moines, Iowa, and others in the faith community is the thinking behind a series of get-to-know-you meals the congregation is calling “souper suppers.”
Melva Lowry has found joy in service where she least expected it. Lowry is one of two young women selected for the first yearlong fellowships with Hands and Feet, an initiative launched by the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Nelson’s idea is to strengthen the church’s mission efforts through partnerships and mission involvement in cities hosting the General Assembly.
“What do you think?” Rob Fohr, director of Faith-Based Investing & Corporate Engagement for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), asked after surveying the multi-room warehouse packed with household supplies.
Despite being part of the same church family, Hazel Pflugmacher and Jaquette Easterlin never met.
“I’ve heard a lot about her,” Easterlin said. “She was a big part of creating a place where I could go and be loved on.”
For members of Pleasantville Presbyterian Church in New York state, helping people in need is what they do. It has become a part of their DNA. Certified as a Hunger Action Congregation by the Presbyterian Hunger Program in 2017, the church has taken numerous steps over the years to reach out to a community that struggles to find enough food.
Evangelism is good news. The ministry of evangelism was never meant to be a tool by which we reach people to simply fill our churches. Evangelism is a ministry which blesses others. In A Light to the Nations, Michael Goheen writes, “Blessing is a biblical term with rich resonances, implying the reversal of sin’s curse and the restoration of creation’s fullness.” As God in Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, is changing our lives, we are invited into God’s mission of changing and transforming our communities and world.
Montreat Conference Center will host an event in October titled “Better Angels: Using the Power of Community to Change the World.” The conference will focus on understanding power and privilege and their relationship to the Gospel, society and daily living.
A dozen tornados slashed through Iowa recently, leaving behind extensive property damage in their wake. Marshalltown, a community of about 25,000 residents, suffered catastrophic damage to its downtown area.
