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mission yearbook
Minute for Mission: Public Education
In the summer of 2013, Nikkitta Jacobs of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, received news that her son, Jaden, who had just turned three, would not have a spot at the Clara Hearne Head Start Center that fall. Facing a $267,000 budget reduction, the center had to cut 37 children from its incoming class.
Creative approach leads retired pastors to serve 10-member congregation
Two years ago Glacier Presbytery faced a challenge that may not be unique to that presbytery—how to find effective pastoral leadership for a very small, very rural congregation. The congregation of Community Presbyterian Church in Whitlash, Montana, with its 10 members, provides a vital ministry to that area, being the only church in that ranching community. Their remoteness presented an additional difficulty, as they are located more than 20 miles from the nearest paved road. Over the years they had tried many methods of securing pastoral leadership, sharing with nearby churches from other denominations, making weekly calls seeking a pastor to fill the pulpit, and helping a local person become trained as a commissioned ruling elder. When their pulpit once again became vacant, they reached out to the presbytery, wondering if there was a way to have a teaching elder serve them, even though their funds were very limited.
Congregation embraces organic gardening to combat hunger
The rolling, beautiful valleys of Marin County, California, provide the perfect backdrop for Sleepy Hollow Presbyterian Church. One look at this majestic landscape and it doesn’t take much to inspire people to protect and nurture it.
Fair trade artisan group credits Presbyterians with helping it reach milestone
Artisans from Peru, Cambodia, and other countries who have struggled with poverty most of their lives are celebrating a milestone. Partners for Just Trade (PJT), a nonprofit that connects artisans from impoverished areas with North American consumers, is commemorating its 10th anniversary this year.
Humble beginnings yield impressive results for Earth Care Congregation
Nearly three years ago, Fellowship Presbyterian Church (FPC) in Huntsville, Alabama, launched its witness for environmental conservation by simply changing its lightbulbs. Since then, FPC has greatly expanded its environmental ministries, becoming a PC(USA) Earth Care Congregation and organizing a food distribution community program to complement its environmental commitment. As PC(USA) Associate for Environmental Ministries Rebecca Barnes says, “We recognize that earth care ministries do well to encompass issues of poverty and hunger alleviation, peacemaking, and more. Caring for all in God’s creation includes social justice.”
Congregation hosts interfaith conversation
“There is something about being a junior at a Catholic college that makes you more Muslim,” Ali Ahmed recently quipped to a packed fellowship hall at Northminster Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Building a church without owning a building
Congregation from historic church transforms to new worshiping community
What could your congregation do if it didn’t have to worry about keeping up a building?
Minute for Mission: Youth in the Church and World
Vikita Sihali was a “young” young adult at the 2013 Presbyterian Youth Triennium. She serves her home presbytery, Amatola, in the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa and her home congregation as a youth leader. She shared the following words with the presbyteries of Northern New England and Boston after the Triennium:
Education changes a boy’s world
Nelson Mandela famously said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” John Matlosa, and all those who know him, would be among the first to agree.
Fostering community in an urban setting
Seven years ago, I started using the local Starbucks as a workspace to foster community through the café and arts culture in northeastern Los Angeles. This ministry, called the Coop, recently received a seed grant for 1001 New Worshiping Communities. I’m grateful for that and for what God has done to connect people to each other and to God. Over time, purposely making myself interruptible, I’ve built friendships with regulars of every age, wage and life stage. One of these people was “Selma.” Selma and her two young children had just moved into a studio apartment around the corner to escape domestic violence. Originally from Mexico and raised in the Catholic Church, Selma was now in a new neighborhood without support from family, friends or a local church. While believing in God, she was not interested in participating in any kind of religious institution. But she trusted me. And the coffee chats and neighborhood walks helped her connect to God, to a local friend and to a larger network of support.
