This Sunday morning, members and friends at Second Presbyterian Church in Roanoke, Virginia, will celebrate an astonishing accomplishment during worship: the 1,200-member church has raised more than $1.7 million to support the capital campaigns of four of its long-term mission partners, an amount that exceeds the church’s annual budget by about $200,000.
The 700 or so people set to gather in Galveston, Texas this week for the annual event of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators can dip their toes not only into the Gulf of Mexico, but into the swirling, often competing demands on faith formation in a world where traditional Christian education venues like Sunday school don’t necessarily meet people where they’re at.