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When one usually thinks of the state of Utah, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints often comes to mind. But Presbyterians and other faith groups have been in the state for decades and have found ways to collaborate on important challenges such as hunger and poverty. In the fifth and final part of our series on Utah’s Presbyterian ministry, church leaders share their experiences of partnership with the LDS church.
If anything can succeed in generating a solid crowd at 6:45 a.m. during the already rigorous demands of a General Assembly, it’s the promise that God is doing a new thing.
And, just maybe, a speaker like the Rev. Mark Elsdon.
The Women of Faith Awards were established in 1986 to honor women members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) whose lives exemplify their Christian commitments. Nominations are received from throughout the church, and honorees are selected by a committee of representatives from groups related to Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries and Presbyterian Women. Awards are presented at the Women of Faith Breakfast during the General Assembly.
“Kairos is an ancient Greek word, describing a time of great change when the old ways of the world are dying and new ones are struggling to be born,” said Pauline Pisano, organizer for the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice. “It’s clear we are living through exactly such a time today.” Pisano called this time “full of grave danger and rare opportunity” and described the work of the center in lifting up leaders and activists to take bold, prophetic and imaginative action to break free from the “intolerable conditions of poverty, systemic racism, militarism, ecological devastation and more.”
One of this year’s Synod School preachers, the Rev. Katie Styrt, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Milan, Illinois, called John’s account of the wedding at Cana “the kind of miracle that doesn’t line up with good stewardship policies. I don’t know of any church recently that has given away 180 gallons of wine. That’s about 908 bottles. That’s not in anybody’s budget.”
The common good is rarely a “trending” topic. Across various platforms, the latest guffaw by a politician or celebrity inevitably outperforms reflections on this concept, as do spectacles of spending and images photoshopped to perfection. Perhaps the challenge to locate threads dedicated to, let alone acting from, the common good has to do with the complexity of its component parts. In a society marked by polarities, how do we even begin to determine what is “common” or what is “good”?
Each year from Sept. 1 to Oct. 4, the Christian family unites for the Season of Creation, a worldwide celebration of prayer and action to protect our common home. It is a special season where we celebrate God as Creator and acknowledge Creation as the divine continuing act that summons us as collaborators to love and care for the gift of all that is created. As followers of Christ from around the globe, we share a common call to care for Creation. We are co-creatures and part of all that God has made.
There are 20 churches connected with the Presbytery of Utah across the state. In an effort to build connections with youth from the various churches, the presbytery created a ministry role to make that happen.
On the last day of Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) orientation, we are sent off to be commissioned at churches in the area. Several churches in the area agree to host small groups of YAVs for worship where we are commissioned for our year of service, followed by a meal and conversations. We as YAVs come as we are, bringing our whole selves, exhausted from the past week of orientation to a table of strangers, to share our intentions for our year of service and what we have already begun learning during the first week.
In recent years, news from the Korean peninsula has tended to focus on the North. Nuclear capabilities and missile tests, famine and poverty, and the political turmoil that marked Kim Jong Un’s ascendance following the death of his father, Kim Jong-Il, have all captured headlines. Added together, these headlines can give the misimpression that the barriers to peace and reunification on the Korean peninsula are largely parochial affairs to which those of us in far flung places can only look in on. But because today is set aside as a chance for us to reflect on and hope for peace, reconciliation and reunification on the Korean peninsula, it’s also worth remembering that the current situation is deeply indebted to U.S. interference and a longstanding U.S. foreign policy that puts militarism first.
