The Interim Unified Agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) released its annual report on church statistics this month with no particular surprises. The numbers in the report reflect statistics from 2023, which saw a decrease in the number of members, ministers and churches across the denomination, in keeping with trends from recent years. Meanwhile, new worshiping communities saw an impressive rate of growth.
“God is not yet finished with the Presbyterians!” said Nick Warnes, director of Cyclical LA, a ministry of the Presbytery of San Fernando in California, and executive director of Cyclical INC. Warnes was describing what it meant for him to meet the milestone of 55 new worshiping communities in the 55-year history of the Presbytery of San Fernando.
On Monday, pastors from a new worshiping community joined a pair of scholars in the studios of KDKA, the CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh, to discuss a recent study of why people are leaving faith communities and what those communities might try to reverse the trend.
People sensing God’s call to be a catalyst for change in their community can consider enrolling in “Lead Change: A Certificate in Community Faith Formation,” a new certificate in community faith formation being offered by Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary. The inaugural cohort of 15 learning partners, as the seminary calls its students, will begin in March and finish in late November.
In locations across the country, PC(USA) churches and mid councils are finding ways to transform otherwise humble church kitchens into spaces of ministry, mission and community engagement.
The Rev. Zoë Garry and the Rev. Ezequiel Herrera operate in different ministry settings. But as they found out during an hour-long conversation last week, which can be heard here, they share at least two traits: both are church planters, and both serve God and new worshiping communities in the Synod of the Sun.
As a child, the Rev. Dr. Lindsay Armstrong loved Mister Rogers and his neighborhood of make-believe — especially the puppets King Friday XIII and Henrietta Pussycat.
At First Presbyterian Church of Baraboo, Wisconsin, a small town near Madison, longtime church members wanted to know what it means to be Presbyterian.
“If you reach out to people and provide a way for them to use their gifts, God will use that to build community.” That is what the Rev. Debbie Bronkema has learned the past two years.
In the Presbytery of Sacramento, ἴama Yoga, a 1001 new worshiping community in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will soon rise up to connect people to God and one another through the Christian spiritual practice of yoga.
