It’s been more than three weeks since most of the employees of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) packed up their offices and left the building because of COVID-19. While the building may be closed, employees who work at the Presbyterian Center are actively engaged and continue to be available to assist Presbyterians across the country.
Dressed in the white robes of Easter, the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II and the Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett — together with remote appearances by the Rev. Cindy Kohlmann and Ruling Elder Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri, Co-Moderators of the 223rd General Assembly — leave little doubt in a worship video set for release April 9 that the good news of Christ’s resurrection transcends the despair, economic deprivation and isolation brought on by the coronavirus.
Each day the number of people infected with the coronavirus continues to rise across Kentucky, the U.S. and the world. To help ensure the well-being of staff in the Louisville offices and the surrounding community, leaders are closing the Presbyterian Center at 100 Witherspoon St., in Louisville, effective Friday, March 27.
After a simple and beautiful Ash Wednesday service, worshipers left the Chapel at the Presbyterian Center nourished by the Lord’s Supper and marked with ashes imposed on their foreheads.
Carlton Johnson, an associate for Vital Congregations and a worship leader for the Black History Month service at the Presbyterian Center Wednesday, opened the service with a soulful rendition of the hymn “A Charge to Keep I Have.” The hymn served to remind worshipers that during the time of slavery, those enslaved were killed for knowing how to read — and therefore much of the communication had to be done through song.
Racism, the Rev. Dr. Mark Lomax told staff and guests at the Presbyterian Center on Wednesday, the actual birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is a spirit fueled by hatred and fear, a spirit born of a lie “that you and I, fellow Christians, refuse to address. You and I live into the lie to this very day.”
Visitors and staff at the Presbyterian Center have the Rev. Donna Frischknecht Jackson to thank for the velvet ropes surrounding the Nativity scene in the lobby of denominational headquarters.
It’s only fitting that Jason H. Raff would make his public debut in the Chapel at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville helping to interpret music alongside two other gifted musicians.
The Rev. Dr. Paul Huh, the PC(USA)’s associate for Korean translation, used the Études of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin during Wednesday worship at the Presbyterian Center Chapel to help worshipers pray and meditate.
