Churches in the Presbytery of Denver are reaching out to their neighbors without homes in traditional and even system-altering ways, including a successful effort to get the Aurora City Council to alter zoning on a tract of land to permit development of much-needed affordable housing in what’s become the seventh most expensive place in the nation to own or rent a home.
The Christian Women Fellowship Movement of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) held its annual Rally in late October at Hope Presbyterian Church in Mitchellville, Maryland, its first in-person gathering since the Covid pandemic began in March 2020.
#GivingTuesday, which this year falls on Tuesday, Nov. 29, is a global day of giving designed to harness the potential of social media and the collective power of individuals, communities, and organizations to encourage philanthropy and to celebrate generosity worldwide.
Broad Street Food Pantry in Columbus, Ohio, got its start in 1971 when women from Broad Street Presbyterian Church (BSPC) noticed that more and more people were requesting food from the pastoral staff and wanted to help.
Using “people power” to create systemic change was the focus of a recent Presbyterian Hunger Program webinar on congregation-based community organizing, or CBCO.
Most people pass by First Presbyterian Church in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, noting its beautiful historic sanctuary.
It sat on a one-way street, and the 1950s addition to the much larger sanctuary barely merited a backwards glance.
But when the city of Manitowoc changed the street to a two-way, Rev. Matt Sauer, the church’s pastor, began to see that 1950s addition as a blank canvas — and an opportunity.
The Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP) will host a webinar on Congregation-Based Community Organizing (CBCO) at noon Eastern Time on Wednesday, Nov. 16, to help energize congregations interested in championing issues within their communities, such as affordable housing.
Voters heading to the polls Tuesday have any number of issues on their minds, including their pocketbooks, their personal safety and access to health care.
“We’re not going to have change or create change unless we vote,” says Lolita Watkins, a member of Saint James Presbyterian Church of Greensboro, North Carolina, in her opening statement for a Matthew 25 video posted to the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Facebook page on Nov. 3. Watkins, who is the co-coordinator of the social justice advocacy committee at Saint James Church, goes on to explain how voter engagement is key to her congregation’s embodiment of Matthew 25.
