giving Archives

One Great Hour of Sharing gifts save lives and livelihoods in famine-stricken countries

Posted May 27th, 2020

Before a hunger emergency struck Somalia, Hawo Abdi and her husband were successful herders near their country’s border with Kenya. However, two years of intensive drought parched the land to the point that they could no longer raise the camels, cattle, sheep and goats that supported their pastoralist lifestyle. The country’s civil war added further complications to the situation. As her family faced economic ruin, Abdi’s husband died, and at the time of his death, she was two months pregnant with the couple’s fifth child.

Soup suppers, flowering crosses and feeding fish

Posted May 27th, 2020

On Easter Sunday 1949, four years after the end of World War II, the One Great Hour of Sharing offering brought relief to neighbors in need within the United States for the first time. In the 1960s, it expanded to include international needs.

Three entities approve diminished revenue estimates

Posted May 18th, 2020

Using technology that performed flawlessly Monday, three entities approved eight recommendations to send to next month’s online General Assembly concerning the impacts of lower than anticipated giving brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

Creative giving catches on during coronavirus pandemic

Posted May 4th, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic is encouraging new ways of giving among Presbyterians. Teachers, nurses, physical therapists, small business owners, professors, technology workers, lawyers and older people on fixed incomes are giving faithfully to their churches and worshiping communities during this challenging time of virtual church.

Justice through a child’s eyes

Posted April 27th, 2020

We were walking back to the car after dropping off Christmas cards at the post office. My 7-year-old son skipped as he held my hand. Without changing his movement, he asked how much money I had in my purse. I told him I didn’t know and asked why. Down the street, a handful of children experiencing homelessness had set up a camp on the sidewalk. Mattresses, cardboard, shopping carts and belongings were pushed around chaotically 10 yards from our car.

Stewardship in a pandemic

Posted April 20th, 2020

Churches have an opportunity to be creative and proactive in their financial stewardship during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mission co-worker Louise Maxwell ‘Coffee’ Worth led a wonder-filled life for 100 years

Posted April 10th, 2020

Louise Maxwell “Coffee” Worth, a retired Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission worker, alongside her late husband, George, in Korea for more than 20 years, died on March 25 in Lakeland, Florida after a short illness. She was 100 years old.

Understanding why you give changes how you give

Posted March 18th, 2020

A simple journaling exercise can help people become more joyous and generous when it comes to their giving.

#GivingTuesday mission is to build a just and generous world

Posted November 26th, 2019

The Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) will again participate in #GivingTuesday, the global generosity movement. Always observed on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, #GivingTuesday falls on Dec. 3 this year.

‘Four for Four’ churches feel connected

Posted October 16th, 2019

For nearly 15 years, a certificate has hung on a sparsely occupied bulletin board on the back wall in the sanctuary of Laguna United Presbyterian Church in Casa Blanca, New Mexico. For the only Native American congregation in Santa Fe Presbytery, this now-faded certificate represented much more than a tradition or achievement. Every time they walked by it, it was a reminder of their congregation’s commitment to participate in the life of the church — a church that spans beyond their Casa Blanca community.