The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is providing for congregational use an online Ash Wednesday service that features liturgy and music in English, Spanish and Korean. The 40-minute pre-recorded service was filmed at the chapel in the Center’s Louisville, Kentucky, office and is available on the Center’s Vimeo page here.
Dr. John Weaver, a celebrated Presbyterian organist and composer, died Monday at the age of 83. His daughter, the Rev. Kirianne E. Weaver, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Ithaca, New York, described his passing in a Facebook post on Tuesday morning:
“Last night, in the small hours, Dad took his last breaths. It was the winding down of a clock, and we knew this moment was coming when the hands would stop moving; it was all peaceful and then came the dawn.”
Public health officials urge people to wear masks. Workplaces and businesses adjust hours to prevent crowding. Several cities impose quarantines or ban public gatherings. This sounds like something people see and hear as they go online or watch the news every night, but this was December 1918 when the world struggled with the impact of a global flu pandemic.
Plans are under way to begin the ninth round of Roman Catholic-Reformed dialogue in the United States. The group of 14, which includes two elected people from each of the four Reformed denominations — the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Christian Reformed Church in North America, the Reformed Church in America, and the United Church of Christ, along with six Roman Catholic representatives, will review the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ), approved by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church.
Around the time of national elections, the Rev. Dr. David Gambrell gets requests for resources of prayer and services of reconciliation. And Gambrell, the associate for Worship in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Office of Theology & Worship, said it’s especially true this year during a presidential election as divisive as any in recent memory.
Presbyterians paused during their Week of Action Thursday to take a more introspective and personal action: mourning the deaths of 183,000 Americans and more than 832,000 people around the world who have perished from COVID-19.
At 5 p.m. Eastern Time Thursday as part of BLACKOUT Day during the Presbyterian Week of Action, a COVID-19 memorial service will be held via Zoom — and also streamed live on the PC(USA) Facebook and Week of Action pages.
Church and worshiping community leaders, are you looking for ways to support families in faith formation at home during a time of pandemic? Would you like your community to have access to a children’s Bible, hymnal and prayers in their home?
During the Vital Congregations lament worship service Wednesday, nearly 50 participants were asked if they were willing to weep if they saw a sibling in pain — or if they were just content to be a lens.
