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minute for mission
Did you know that UKirk stands for University-Church (or kirk, a reference to our Scottish roots)? It is the name adopted in 2012 for the 200-plus PC(USA) and Cumberland Presbyterian-related collegiate ministries across the nation. The names of each ministry are as varied as the colleges that are their mission fields — UKirk or Presbyterian Campus Ministry or Presby Student Ministry or United Campus Ministry — yet what unites all of our network ministries is their passion for welcoming young adults into Christian communities of faith and practice where they can explore their faith and discern God’s call upon their lives.
Ministering faithfully in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic has called for creativity and solidarity. Who would have predicted that producing masks would be a part of fighting HIV and AIDS? The Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM), the PC(USA)’s partner church, has been committed to fighting HIV and AIDS since 2001.
Beautiful wildflowers are blooming all over the place with warning signs of land mines. It speaks the reality of the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) and the Korean Peninsula. Since my wife, Jieun, and I came to Seoul, Korea, as Regional Liaisons for East Asia in 2020, we have visited the DMZ area twice: inside the Civilian Control Line and inside the DMZ.
For two decades, June 20th’s designation as “World Refugee Day” has drawn global attention to both the plight of refugees living on the edge of survival and their strength and courage. It is also a day to remember the promise made by 146 countries, including the U.S., to provide safe haven and long-term recovery to those forced to flee their homelands.
Every year since 1865, there has been one day that most Black people have held as a celebratory occurrence. On June 19, 1865, the last of the Black Americans who were in the condition of chattel servitude were freed. Texas, the last state to hold out on the edict of the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln more than two years prior, had finally been forced into compliance. And so, it is this date in June that many Black Americans consider to be Independence Day and thus a cause for annual jubilation that we have titled Juneteenth.
Who have been your most influential teachers? All types of teachers — at school, at church, at work and in families — help shape who we become. We are grateful for all our teachers.
In 2012, the General Assembly made a bold commitment — to create an environment within the denomination that would lead to the flourishing of the existing church and the birth of at least 1001 new communities of worship and witness. The Presbyterian Mission Agency went to work creating a system of resources to support this call to equip presbyteries, help potential leaders discern God’s call, develop a system of grants, build leadership capacity and create a network of coaches prepared to accompany a new worshiping community through all the stages of development. Establishing partnerships and collaboration with other North American denominations, the reach of these resources extends far beyond the PC(USA).
The Presbyterian Hunger Program accompanies Presbyterians doing the important work of questioning our economic lives as we move beyond what our dollars do in the offering plate, to considering what our dollars do in the marketplace. Over the years, educational resources, travel experiences and direct outreach to congregations via projects has helped Presbyterians ask themselves important questions like: Does my coffee provide good wages to small farmers or does it enrich CEOs at the expense of the producers? Are our Palm Sunday palms damaging God’s Creation? Is my savings account supporting development and women’s rights or fueling human rights abuses? Were our youth group T-shirts printed in a sweatshop?
Caroline Davis Rourk has been a member of her church for her entire life. It’s a place of hope, friendship and a place that challenges her spiritually. And it’s a place that she wants to be around for generations to come.
The men were taken first, and then the women and children were brutalized. Witnesses saw the Euphrates run with blood, and women plunged into the river to escape the terrors of the desert march.
