Deadlines being what they are, I’m writing this Thanksgiving piece on gratitude long before the bird’s in the oven, the potatoes have been mashed and the pumpkin pies are cooling on the wire racks. The hardest part is putting fingers to keyboard without those olfactory cues. Nonetheless, it’s not difficult to reach inside a grateful heart, as we do every year at this time, and thank God for being alongside us on the journey.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the U.N. General Assembly’s designation of Nov. 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The day serves as an annual reminder of the power of collective solidarity, which is needed from one year onto another to change the structural inequities posed by violence against women. The day also launches 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence organized by civil society around the world, including the Church, to join forces to address violence against women as the most pervasive breach of human rights worldwide. The annual campaign concludes on International Human Rights Day, Dec. 10.
It’s almost time for seasonal gatherings with those we love. Many people will choose which recipes to prepare, who will host and who will travel, and how many pieces of pie to put on their plates. Some will have the privilege of deciding on guest lists, gift lists and which days to take off work.
“I voted.” Who doesn’t love slapping one of those stickers on their shirt, reusable water bottle or notebook? It’s a seemingly simple action and declaration.
And yet as the United States approaches another presidential election day — one in which vitriol, rhetoric and “fake news” continue to dominate airwaves and social platforms — those “I voted” stickers carry a greater weight. For to vote — in free and democratic elections — is to keep at bay the threats of authoritarian power grabs and nationalistic fervor. Voting is both a right and a responsibility to participate in the shaping of our common life. In recent election cycles, however, the guarantee of “free” and “democratic” processes has endured profound challenges
During its fall meeting, the Synod of Lakes and Prairies approved a new policy of restorative actions.
Synod Moderator Jeff Dickinson noted that the synod — comprised of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and eastern and central Nebraska — pledges to allocate, according to its new policy, “a proportional amount of wealth it receives from future undesignated bequests and property transfers for surrender to Restorative Actions trusts or Afro American and Indigenous organizations benefiting their communities.”
The Rev. Dr. John McClure, an ordained minister in the PC(USA) who taught homiletics at both Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and at Vanderbilt Divinity School, delivered three talks as part of the recent Beecher Lectures at Yale Divinity School. Under the theme of “Renewing Preaching Through a Critical Homiletics of Genre,” McClure spoke in Marquand Chapel on “Critical Homiletics and Analysis of the Congregational Sermon as Genre.”
Grace Pomroy took her position as director of the Stewardship Leaders Program at Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with joy. When she entered the building, it was empty except for two people — one wearing a makeshift mask and rubber gloves. Papers to be signed were shoved back and forth down a long table.
In the midst of the devastation from Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina, Black Mountain Presbyterian Church (BMPC) has become a refuge for those seeking food and comfort in a time of crisis.
How do hymns do theology? How much interpretive work is possible within the limits of poetic expression? How does any of this make for more compelling and memorable sermons?
The Rev. Dr. Catherine E. Williams, associate professor of Preaching and Worship and the director of Chapel Worship at Lancaster Theological Seminary, handled all those questions and more during a fascinating and engaging talk recently as part of the “Equipping Preachers” series offered most months by the Synod of the Covenant.
Pastors receiving training from the PC(USA)’s Transitional Ministry Education Consortium learn one thing from the get-go: All ministry is transitional ministry.
