In the midst of the pandemic last fall, Sheri Dittman, the commissioned pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Brownsville, Texas, gained some fame in Presbyterian circles as the mastermind of a photo scavenger hunt with a purpose — getting parishioners at the church she serves and at First Presbyterian Church in Mission, Texas, where she’s part-time coordinator for Congregational Development, more familiar with multiple options available through the Presbyterian Giving Catalog.
Catherine McAuley, who founded the Sisters of Mercy in 1831, once said, “We are like the compass that goes round its circle without stirring from its center. We have one solid comfort in all our tripping about. Our center is in God, from whom all our actions spring from their source.”
When the Rev. Dr. Christina Berry enrolled her congregation to become a Matthew 25 church, little did she know just how the Spirit would move among them. After reviewing the areas of focus that her flock could engage in — building congregational vitality, dismantling structural racism and eradicating systemic poverty — focusing on vitality made the most sense for an all-white congregation living in the shadow of glory days gone by.
When Pennfield Presbyterian Church in Battle Creek, Michigan, wanted to re-landscape its flowerbeds and memorial garden in 2019, the Rev. Annemarie S. Kidder knew it would “take money.” The church sits on 5 acres of hillside and has expansive 20-foot-wide flowerbeds. A garden show was created as a fundraiser, and with several garden lovers in the congregation, the show expanded to include walks through those members’ beautiful gardens, Kidder said.
Danica McCardle’s grandmother’s favorite proverb is “Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray.” It seems 13-year-old Danica is being trained in the faith well. Presbyterians Today talked with the Girl Scout, who wants to someday be a paleontologist, about God, servanthood and the Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies that were part of the “Cookies and Milk” coffee hour she hosted at West Nottingham Presbyterian Church in Colora, Maryland.
Recently, I coached soap carving. Our church, Ankeny Presbyterian Church in Ankeny, Iowa, was throwing an outdoor block party for our neighborhood — hot dogs, a bounce castle, doughnuts made to order, even a fire truck. One of our neighbors offered to play guitar and sing, so we had live music, too.
As one who is always hoping to have the right words at the right time, and the right feel in music at the right moment, the Rev. Chris Shelton says he is “almost neurotic” as a worship leader.
Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church in Severna Park, Maryland, is also known as “The Church on the Hill.” Hilltop views can be lovely when the sun is out, but when it rains a large volume of runoff runs down the hill and into the storm drains. The stormwater runoff then flows into Cypress Creek and eventually into the Chesapeake Bay. While there are underground cisterns collecting water from the church’s roof, the congregation felt they could do more to lessen the environmental impact the runoff was having on the bay.
Last September, the Youth Advocates Through Theater Arts, a group of thespians I work with, organized a webinar titled HIV HIV Haway (Haway is a local term that means “leave”). YATTA had partnered with the U.N. Population Fund, the Center for Health Solutions and Innovations Philippines and Y-PEER Pilipinas to promote HIV Combination Prevention. The initiative came with the assessment that the Philippines had one of the fastest-growing HIV epidemics in the world, mostly affecting young, marginalized people not easily reached by mainstream health services and programs.
