Jim Ferguson of Calvary Presbyterian Church in Newburgh, New York was recently checking out a do-it-yourself project on YouTube. Nothing unusual for him, since he is a long-time volunteer with the Habitat for Humanity PresbyBuild group in Hudson River Presbytery. The group is currently working on its 10th house and has raised almost enough funds for house 11.
The eventual idea to provide Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations with a video worship service for use after Easter this year came to the Rev. Katie Barrett Todd in the playroom of her house, which is just above the garage.
In the fall of 2018, youth at Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center (BAJCC) in Chesterfield County, Virginia, asked to start a gospel choir. The request reached the Rev. Lauren Ramseur and the Rev. Ashley Diaz Mejias who, along with friends, collaborated to support the initiative. Ramseur and Mejias soon discovered that they were “doing church” — gathering twice a month at the correctional center for a community of worship. The group named themselves the Voices of Jubilee.
In the early days of the pandemic, Joel Gill, the executive director of Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, gathered staff together for a brainstorming session.