As was first reported by Presbyterian News Service on Nov. 5, several ministries in the new interim unified agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be reconfigured, including the Theology, Formation and Evangelism ministry area, which serves presbyteries and synods as they support congregations and develop spiritual leadership across the church.
At Wednesday’s PC(USA) chapel service, the Rev. Dr. Diane Givens Moffett offered her final sermon as president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. She offered an honest, invigorating, and hopeful message calling on listeners to receive and bear witness to the light of Jesus, even and especially in the face of an uncertain future.
This powerful understanding of God’s propensity toward helping and healing the least of these comes from the story of the beguine Mechthild of Magdeburg. A movement of laywomen that arose in the 13th century, the beguines were contemplatives, mystics and healers. Mechthild posited that, “God is never closer than in the longing emptiness of the night.” From that emptiness, she received and shared “prophetic critiques of the religious leaders of her day for their lack of holiness and their hostility toward passionate spirituality.”
This year’s Evangelism Conference, planned by Theology, Formation & Evangelism, repents of “expressions of evangelism” that have “hurt people and promoted injustice” and encourages ways of embodying the good news that promote healing and compassion.
During a recent online Chapel Service, the Rev. Carlton Johnson helped the PC(USA)’s national staff to celebrate Juneteenth a few days early with a thoughtful and provocative take on Matthew 20:1–16, the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard.
In a conversation recorded earlier and aired on Monday during the Juneteenth celebration, the Rev. Michael Lynn Moore, intercultural associate for Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries, welcomed four panelists for an online discussion on “Forty Acres, No Mule: A Conversation of Black Presbyterian Leaders on Congregational Stability and Church Financial Reimagination.” Watch their hour-long discussion here.
During Wednesday’s online Chapel Service, the Rev. Carlton Johnson helped the PC(USA)’s national staff to celebrate Juneteenth a few days early with a thoughtful and provocative take on Matthew 20:1-16, the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard.
Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries has organized a Juneteenth conversation between pastors and denominational leaders about the status and stability of Black Presbyterian churches in the wake of Covid. The conversation will be pre-recorded and then shown online beginning at noon Eastern Time on June 19, Juneteenth, on the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Facebook page.
A new virtual Bible study, launched on Feb. 1 by Racial Equity and Women’s Intercultural Ministries to celebrate Black History Month, continues through mid-March with an outstanding roster of presenters. The series, called “Models of Black Resistance Past and Present,” will be hosted on Zoom with advance registration required.
