pda

One Great Hour of Sharing

Gifts to this annual PC(USA) special offering support programs and ministries that provide people with safety, sustenance and support.

Louisiana: three hurricanes, a tropical storm and a pandemic

Hurricane Delta clobbered southwest Louisiana on Oct. 9, making landfall just 13 miles east of where Hurricane Laura came ashore as a strong Category 4 storm just six weeks earlier. And, between these two direct hits, Hurricane Sally, a Category 2 storm with 105 mile-per-hour winds, dumped double-digit rainfall totals from Gulf Shores, Alabama, to Pensacola, Florida. Small, slow-moving Tropical Storm Beta caused severe flooding along the Texas and Louisiana coastlines.

Hurricane hospitality and the connectional church

A few days before Hurricane Laura made landfall as a category 4 storm in the early hours of Aug. 27, Marie Nelson, associate director of Gilmont Camp and Conference Center in Gilmer, Texas, reached out via email to the administrators of the nonprofit Evergreen Life Services, a community for adults of differing intellectual and developmental abilities in Lake Charles, Louisiana. She wanted to make sure they knew residents and staff from Evergreen would be welcome to shelter at the camp if needed, just as they had done briefly after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Going back to school during crisis

It’s almost time to go back to school, to campus, to a new normal. What can leaders of youth and collegiate ministries do to prepare for success in the midst of COVID-19?

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance reaching out after destructive storms in Tennessee

A tornado tore through parts of Nashville and nearby counties, resulting in extensive damage and loss of life, numerous collapsed buildings and broken trees. In addition to reaching out to the Presbytery of Middle Tennessee to offer help doing a damage assessment, PDA sent out a donation appeal on social media as well as a request for prayer for the affected communities.