Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church in Severna Park, Maryland, is also known as “The Church on the Hill.” Hilltop views can be lovely when the sun is out, but when it rains a large volume of runoff runs down the hill and into the storm drains. The stormwater runoff then flows into Cypress Creek and eventually into the Chesapeake Bay. While there are underground cisterns collecting water from the church’s roof, the congregation felt they could do more to lessen the environmental impact the runoff was having on the bay.
Leaders at First Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennesee, had a difficult decision to make. The congregation had existed on a downtown block for more than 200 years. It has had three sanctuaries on the site and the graveyard has tombs for signers of the United States Constitution. Numerically, the historic congregation was holding steady, but its most recent building was old and in decline. Should members invest in costly renovations so that the building could be used for 21st-century ministry? Or should the congregation move to a more modern space closer to where the members live?
Webster Presbyterian Church, just a few miles southeast of Houston on NASA Parkway, has been called the “Astronauts’ Church.” Just a stone’s throw from the Johnson Space Center, the church has become the preferred house of worship for astronauts, engineers and other employees at the center. But the church has also become known for its strong commitment to earth care. Recently, Webster was recertified as an Earth Care Congregation.
Layne and Crawford Brubaker have taken church planting to the next level. Quite literally. With Okra Abbey, a new worshiping community (NWC) in the Pigeon Town neighborhood of New Orleans, the Brubakers and ministry colleague Vincent Grossi are doing more than just blooming where they’re planted— they’re cultivating community by growing vegetables and by nurturing faith and trust among their diverse neighbors.
