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At age 16, Kalief Browder found himself on New York’s Rikers Island, awaiting trial for a crime he says he didn’t commit. Returning from a party in the Bronx, Browder was accused of stealing a backpack holding a credit card, an iPod Touch, a camera and $700. At his arraignment, he was charged with second-degree robbery. Bail was set at $3,000. Browder didn’t have the ability to “bond out” — pay the fee. He would spend the next three years in jail before being released, with his charges dropped.
Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church sits on a sprawling 41-acre lakeside campus in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., northwest of Detroit. Passersby often slow down to take in breathtaking views of the church’s majestic gothic-style architecture. Visitors from near and far come in to appreciate its beautiful sanctuary.
The 114th New Wilmington Mission Conference (NWMC), regarded as the oldest annual mission conference in the U.S., will be held July 19-26 on the campus of Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa.
A wondrous change is taking place — a movement of the Spirit. Presbyterian congregations are reprioritizing the work of the Church, taking it from an institution of survival to a way of getting actively engaged in the community and making the world a better place.
The closest the Rev. Bethany Peerbolte has come to heartache associated with Mother’s Day was a couple years ago, when her parents moved from Michigan to North Carolina. “I’m like, ‘If that was hard for me, I can’t imagine what the people in my church are going through when they’ve lost a mother or haven’t had a mother figure who’s really been kind and loving to them, like a mother should be.’”
When leader Nick Pickrell heard that The Open Table KC, a worshiping community in Kansas City, Missouri, that gathers for dinner and fellowship, would receive a $25,000 1001 New Worshiping Community growth grant from the Presbyterian Mission Agency, he thought, “What? What!”
Now that churches in South Carolina’s Trinity Presbytery have gone through the seven marks of congregational vitality, as part of their participation in the two-year Vital Congregations initiative pilot program, pastors are beginning to notice a difference in their congregations.
More than 30 people representing congregations, new worshiping communities, mid councils, racial-ethnic caucuses, Young Adult Volunteer alums, mission networks and others gathered by invitation of Presbyterian World Mission in early April. The gathering, held at Stony Point Center, was the second of three U.S. consultations to discuss and discern God’s mission in partnership. The first day of the three-day consultation coincided with the 51st anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who is remembered for his legacy of courage, not fear.
It has been three weeks since the Southern African countries of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe were slammed by Cyclone Idai, packing winds of more than 120 miles per hour and torrential rains that produced catastrophic flooding.
The spirit of the Lord is upon me, Isaiah confidently tells readers in the 61st chapter of the book that bears his name, because God has anointed the prophet to bring good news to the oppressed, release of prisoners and comfort to all who mourn.
