“What does it mean to actively follow Christ?” the Rev. Carlton Johnson asked three PC(USA) church leaders during a Vital Conversation panel discussion on Lifelong Discipleship Formation, which is one of the Seven Marks of Vital Congregations.
Throughout the centuries, houses of worship have proclaimed the Creator’s power and beauty through the arts — everything from architecture to sculpture. Today, that same artistic Spirit is moving through Newton Presbyterian Church in Boston. While the pandemic has required church walls to become more porous, Newton Presbyterian has been reaching out and inviting artists, writers and musicians to showcase their works in its worship space and through the church’s social media platforms as a way to glorify God and reflect on the gift of grace, as Anita Ulloa, a ruling elder, and Jack Holder, a deacon, say of the “God [who] is speaking in ancient and new ways.”
Between Two Pulpits, the weekly broadcast hosted by Special Offerings’ Bryce Wiebe and Lauren Rogers, could just about call itself Between Two Coastlines Monday as Wiebe and Rogers hosted respectively from Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles and Westminster Presbyterian Church, which is just a bit west of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.
Many cultures around the world celebrate a harvest festival. Here in the United States, Thanksgiving represents that feast to celebrate the fruitful harvest. Steeped in the piety of early Americans, the hallmark of the holiday was an outpouring of praise to God for the abundant harvest — for life itself.
The Rev. Irvin Porter, associate for Native American Intercultural Congregational Support in the office of Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries, has offered up many presentations on the Doctrine of Discovery and the more than 500 years of history between Native American and white people in this country. Porter told Between Two Pulpits hosts Bryce Wiebe and Lauren Rogers Monday that only once has someone responded, “I didn’t do any of that, so why should I feel guilty?”
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.
When I was a child, my family took frequent weekend trips from Charlotte to visit longtime friends in Lemon Springs, North Carolina. Lemon Springs was (and is) barely more than a dot on a map and a wide spot on the road, but my sister and I knew every traffic light, turn, ice cream shop and landmark along the way.
Also known as Pastoral Care Week, Spiritual Care Week began Monday and continues through Sunday. Learn more about Spiritual Care Week, along with this year’s theme of Advancing Spiritual Care Through Research, by clicking here.
