Members of Third Presbyterian Church of Rochester, New York believe more needs to be done to improve education in their city and they’ve launched an initiative to do just that. According to a report by the Rochester Area Community Foundation, Rochester is the fifth poorest city in the country with the highest concentration of extremely poor neighborhoods.
Rwandan Bonita Murara is thrilled to be going to school at Menaul School, a Presbyterian Church, (U.S.A.) related college preparatory and boarding school for students in grades 6-12. “The knowledge gained here is good,” she says. “One day we can return home to teach other people how to improve their lives.”
The Ecumenical Institute at Château de Bossey is observing its 70th anniversary with notable speakers, creative worship, prayer services and a book launch, over the weekend of September 30 – October 2.
A group of seniors who call themselves the Knit Wits thought it would be fun to teach children the lost art of knitting, a skill they all were all expected to learn in their youth. The seniors are residents of Presbyterian Village North, a retirement community in northern Dallas. When Presbyterian Village North held Camp PVN, a camp held in partnership with Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church and NorthPark Presbyterian Church, children and seniors spent time together during “gift hours,” where residents imparted their knowledge of hobbies, interests, and activities with participating children.
While there may no longer be a standard path for those who enter seminary, Lucy Crain’s journey has taken her to places few will ever see. The second year student at Union Presbyterian Seminary’s satellite campus in Charlotte, North Carolina, says until recently she never anticipated she’d be studying for ministry.
If all God’s children have a place in the choir, First Presbyterian Church of Dallas is well on its way to filling the risers.
By combining its Sunday school and children’s choir programming into a new Sunday Club—an expanded, holistic 90-minute session on Sunday mornings for elementary-age children—the church hopes to involve many more children and families in its ministries of faith formation.
A compilation of news from Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) seminaries including Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Columbia Theological Seminary, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, McCormick Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary, San Francisco Theological Seminary and Union Presbyterian Seminary; and other pertinent seminary news.
By intentionally combining its Sunday school and children’s choir programming into a new Sunday Club—an expanded, holistic 90-minute session on Sunday mornings for elementary-age children—First Presbyterian Church of Dallas hopes to involve many more children and families in its ministries of faith formation.
What has become an annual ritual for many churches – the “Blessing of the Backpacks” – has taken on special importance at First Presbyterian Church in Findlay, Ohio. This year, the event was integrated into the larger concept of commemorating milestones within the life of the church and its members, with back to school being just one of them.
Mark Hinds remembers the effect that confirmation had on both himself and his brothers.
“In our family, it had a 30 percent success rate,” Hinds told a room full of Christian educators at the 2016 Association of Presbyterian Church Educators gathering in Chicago. “I’m still in the church; my brothers aren’t.”
As heads nodded in response to Hinds’s admission, the room hummed with questions about the efficacy and future direction of the confirmation process in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
