Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People Archives

The crisis in Ukraine is front and center, but others also deserve our attention and compassion

Posted March 29th, 2022

The Presbyterian Hunger Program’s Valéry Nodem, a former human rights lawyer in his native Cameroon, is sounding the alarm over possible outbreaks of famine in places like northern Nigeria and elsewhere.

Advocating for environmental justice

Posted March 15th, 2022

They gather to remember. Every year on or close to July 16 — a day that will never be forgotten by the Navajo people — hundreds of Diné families and numerous allies from the Red Water Pond Road Community Association come together on Navajo Nation near Church Rock, New Mexico, to mourn, to pray, to heal and to act.

‘What are you here to take?’

Posted March 11th, 2022

The Rev. Wayne Gnatuk ministered for 15 years in a West Virginia coal mining valley and saw the same thing happen over and over.

Detroit arts organization among those to be highlighted during SDOP Sunday on March 13

Posted March 8th, 2022

Creative Arts Spirit of Excellence (CASOE), one of the organizations to be featured March 13 as part of SDOP Sunday, provides arts programming (theatre, dance, music, and media arts) that helps youth and young adults from ages 2-21 connect and succeed artistically.

SDOP-backed project aids entrepreneurial ministry in Nicaragua

Posted March 7th, 2022

For nearly 37 years, the Interchurch Center for Theological and Social Studies (El Centro Intereclesial de Estudios Teológicos y Sociales or CIEETS) has worked to provide transformative theological education and implement community development programs in rural areas of Nicaragua. This work is serving some of the poorest communities in the second-poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

Detroit’s Warriors on Wheels has the drive to thrive

Posted March 2nd, 2022

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Warriors on Wheels of Metropolitan Detroit decided to start a grocery delivery service to help vulnerable people stay safe. The delivery service for people who are disabled or who are older adults is just one of the ways that Warriors on Wheels (WOW) has assisted people in Michigan with the help of the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People and other supporters.

‘Reparations are profoundly biblically correct’

Posted March 1st, 2022

In the final of three forums celebrating Black History Month last week, the Rev. Dr. Alonzo Johnson, coordinator of the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP); the Rev. Carlton Johnson, coordinator of Vital Congregations; and Christian Brooks, the representative for domestic issues at the PC(USA)’s Office of Public Witness, addressed the 2022 theme “Resiliency to Recovery.”

SDOP grant will help Brooklyn-based senior organization keep its members informed

Posted February 25th, 2022

LOUISVILLE — The Age Friendly Central Brooklyn Inc. project (AFCBI) in Brooklyn, New York, has been awarded a grant by the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People. It’s one of several projects SDOP will celebrate on March 13 as part of SDOP Sunday.

Rural poverty webinar coming in March

Posted February 22nd, 2022

Rural poverty will be the focus of the March 10 installment of “The Struggle is Real,” a virtual discussion series by the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP).

With a boost from SDOP, Afghan ranchers in Virginia are raising cattle that meets Halal requirements

Posted February 22nd, 2022

Afghan refugees in Prince William County, Virginia, had two major needs: job opportunities and Halal food. There was experience in the community with farming and cattle-raising in the northern Virginia county’s Afghan community. Some refugees had pooled their resources to purchase cattle and secure land.