On Wednesday, March 8 — International Women’s Day — members of the PC(USA) delegation to the 67th Commission on the Status of Women were hosted by Yuri A. Gala López, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Deputy Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations, at the offices of Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations.
It’s back to school time, and for parents that means helping children sharpen their pencils and charge their laptops in preparation for the first day. For children it means adapting to new morning routines and getting back to a studying and test-taking rhythm. And for pastors, it’s that wonderful time of year to bless school backpacks. While blessing backpacks is popular in big and small churches, it is only the start to what congregations can — and should — be doing to engage more deeply with local schools. According to Dr. Irvin Scott, a faculty member of Harvard Graduate School of Education, backpack blessings have grown over the years because they provide a relatively hassle-free, easy-to-execute outreach to families. “It’s a good first step,” said Scott, with emphasis on “first.”
Two-thirds of the way through the second session of CPJ Training, moderator Christian Brooks of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Office of Public Witness turned the conversation to recent headlines.
These days she’s the Rev. Dr. Rebecca L. Davis, who teaches seminarians about education at Union Presbyterian Seminary’s Charlotte, North Carolina, campus. When she was 9 and growing up in West Virginia, that role would have been difficult to fathom.
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the tradition even as I delivered them to you. — 1 Corinthians 11:1–2
The Ekvn-Yefolecv project located in the Birmingham, Alabama, rural area is a recipient of a Self-Development of People grant. This project is creating an ecovillage community that provides the opportunity for individuals and kin to efficaciously revitalize the Maskoke language, traditions and worldview while embodying a collective commitment to environmental sustainability, and to serve as a replicable archetype for other Indigenous communities to manifest similar models. The ecovillage has a trifold focus: language and cultural preservation, ecological living, and sustainable economic development.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) supports Christian witness in the Czech Republic through a long and active partnership with the Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren (ECCB), which strengthened after the fall of communism in 1989. Old friendships were renewed, and new friendships were built.
“I’m a Black Italian, a Black European, a woman who was born in Rome with Somalian roots,” said writer Igiaba Scego. She spoke out about herself after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died in police custody in Minnesota after being pinned to the ground, and whose last words were, “I can’t breathe.”
“We were blessed with a $100,000 gift from a donor who wished to remain anonymous,” said Rachel Yates, executive presbyter of the Presbytery of Milwaukee. “The donor wanted every congregation — no matter its size — to have $2,000 for mission.”
“I’m a Black Italian, a Black European, a woman who was born in Rome with Somalian roots,” said writer Igiaba Scego. She spoke out about herself after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died in police custody in Minnesota after being pinned to the ground, and whose last words were, “I can’t breathe.”
