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One Great Hour of Sharing
As news comes in of the devastating effects of Hurricane Ida in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is organizing a response that will help sustain life and restore hope in the coming days.
Ian Hall, who began work in June as the chief financial officer and chief operating officer of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation, had a rosy financial report Friday to share with the A Corp Board in a report covering the first seven months of 2021.
On Tuesday, The New York Times ran the headline “Two Americas: One Parched, One Soaked” over a map that showed a marked increase in rainfall over the eastern United States in the last 30 years, and decreasing precipitation over the West during the same period.
Sharing food is one of my great joys. I know, I know … that isn’t altogether unique, and definitely not unique for Presbyterians I know. We gather around tables for myriad reasons, and in lots of different ways. But the act of sharing food can remind us of other things we share: namely a need for food — hunger — and the interdependence it takes to make a meal possible. I think it is true that we never eat alone. Not really. Even if we sit at the table by ourselves, we are eating with each and every person who finds a part to play in this interconnected food system that helps bring food to table.
Next month, Hopewell Presbyterian Church in Dandridge, Tennessee, will celebrate its 236th year in ministry. While that’s a history to be proud of — Hopewell is one of the oldest churches in the Volunteer State — the church’s pastor, the Rev. Brad Napier, told Between Two Pulpits hosts Bryce Wiebe and Lauren Rogers on Monday that the congregation of 88 members also takes pride in its consistent history of giving, especially through the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Special Offerings and even during the long pandemic, when the church actually saw increased giving and membership growth.
David Guervil, who’s been consulting for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance in Haiti throughout political unrest, Hurricane Matthew in 2016, Saturday’s 7.2-magnitude earthquake and the tropical storm that followed, told an online gathering Thursday that most Haitians survive “on a daily basis. Every day they have to fight. Every day they struggle for the next day.”
A partnership between Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church in Detroit and an organization that works to reduce food waste is helping to feed the hungry while also helping to protect the planet.
The Rev. Edwin González-Castillo said Monday he knows the Haitian people will overcome the most recent calamity to befall them, Saturday’s 7.2-magnitude earthquake that has killed at least 1,300 people to date, injured thousands and left many tens of thousands without adequate shelter, food, water and access to health care.
A nongovernment organization that has been instrumental in helping people in India to overcome natural and human-caused disasters was featured this week in a webinar by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was represented at a vigil and action in front of the White House Wednesday to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the United Nations Refugee Convention of 1951 and call on President Joe Biden to do more to reform the United States’ immigration and refugee policies.
