The PC(USA)’s clarion call to be a Matthew 25 church united Presbyterians during this unrelenting season of COVID-19 and racial unrest in raising an unprecedented $150,031 toward the PC(USA)’s mission and ministry on #GivingTuesday, Dec. 1.
Three alumni and now staff members of the Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries (RE&WIM) helped individuals understand the critical role of the Conference for Seminarians of Color and the Leadership Development & Recruitment for Leaders of Color in the development of leaders of color for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
The Coordinating Table, established just before General Assembly by the then-Moving Forward Implementation Commission (now a special committee), held its initial meeting Monday to learn what’s expected of its work and how that work can best be accomplished.
While tummies are still full from Thanksgiving and hearts have just begun to glow with the first candlelight of Advent, the secular calendar offers yet another important observance — #GivingTuesday.
Over the next eight months or so, the Presbyterian Mission Agency — with input from its many partners — will embark on a three-phase Vision Implementation Plan to, as the PMA’s president and executive director put it during a staff town hall meeting Thursday, discern “what the Holy Spirit is already doing and join God in doing it.”
The online Matthew 25 series continues with a fourth event scheduled for 2 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, Oct. 28. This online event will address the global issues around eradicating systemic poverty, one of the three focuses of the Matthew 25 vision along with building congregational vitality and dismantling structural racism.
On the recommendation of its Nominating, Governance and Personnel Committee Friday, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation Board approved a succinct statement describing the agency.
Voting “with regret,” the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Personnel and Nominating Committee reported to the entire board Friday that budget restraints and the “current COVID reality” will mean no pay increases during 2021 for PMA staff.
Due to the ongoing financial impact of COVID-19, the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) is further reducing operations at Stony Point Center (SPC), which will serve as a small retreat center moving forward. In order to reduce expenses and allow time for transition, the small-group retreat model will utilize only the Gilmor Sloane and Allison houses. The main campus will be maintained but will not house guests as the PMA begins a period of prayerful discernment on SPC’s future and explores long-term viability, both missionally and financially.
