The Interim Unified Agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) released its annual report on church statistics this month with no particular surprises. The numbers in the report reflect statistics from 2023, which saw a decrease in the number of members, ministers and churches across the denomination, in keeping with trends from recent years. Meanwhile, new worshiping communities saw an impressive rate of growth.
Plans are already underway for the 227th General Assembly, set for June 23 through July 2, 2026, in online format for committees and in person for plenaries, worship and more at the Baird Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
If there’s one thing that convinces the Rev. Jihyun Oh that she ought to say yes to a call, it’s “when a call scares me a little, a call I cannot do without God’s help.”
Presbytery and synod moderators and moderators-elect from around the country are at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville, Kentucky and online Friday and Saturday for the annual Moderators’ Conference, which commenced with thoughtful and winsome worship led by the co-moderators of the 226th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Rev. Tony Larson and the Rev. CeCe Armstrong.
Nearly 90 national staff members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) gathered online Wednesday for a Chapel service to honor the 12 colleagues whose positions were eliminated last week amid ministry reconfiguration announced by Executive Director and Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, the Rev. Jihyun Oh.
Just ahead of the final gift she’ll give to Presbyterians from around the country — training and encouragement during the annual Moderators’ Conference Nov. 14-16 — the Rev. Tricia Dykers Koenig was on the receiving end of expressions of thanks for her work and well wishes as she retires from her role as Associate Director for Mid Council Relations in the Office of the General Assembly and, more visibly, as parliamentarian at recent General Assemblies.
As a Synod executive based in Texas and now Florida, Valerie Young is exceedingly familiar with Hurricanes. The striking thing about the one-two punch of Hurricanes Helene and Milton is the breadth of the area severely impacted by the storms.
In a nonpartisan vigil that provided a brief respite on what was an anxious night for many voters, the Rev. Jihyun Oh cried out to “the God of peace and justice” for the fortitude to keep doing the work that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has long pursued.
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.
