synod of lakes and prairies Archives

An unexpected blessing

Posted July 27th, 2021

Blessings can come from unanticipated sources in places we might not expect. For the Rev. Dr. Jill Duffield and her family, the place was outside a Goodwill dressing room, and the sources were two older women unknown to the Duffield family.

‘An amazing love story’

Posted July 27th, 2021

Growing up in the City of New York, the Rev. Samuel Son said he remembers pretending that he didn’t care how early in the process he was selected to play in a pickup baseball game. “We would stand there, trying to look like we didn’t care,” Son recalled during evening worship Monday at the Synod of Lakes and Prairies Synod School. “But at the same time, we tried to stand out. We definitely didn’t want to be the last kid [selected].”

‘It is very good’

Posted July 26th, 2021

After telling the 450 or so people attending the Synod of Lakes and Prairies’ Synod School on Monday that they’re co-creators with God and, as John Calvin once said, “little manifestations of God’s glory,” the Rev. Dr. Jill Duffield proved her point by asking participants to use their cellphones to take first a selfie and then a photo of the people seated around them.

‘Keep our eyes fixed firmly on the prize, not on the politics’

Posted July 19th, 2021

Friday’s online appearance by Co-Moderator Elona Street-Stewart gave the Presbytery of East Iowa the chance to hear from one of the PC(USA)’s top leaders and to share some of the antiracism work going on in churches around the presbytery.

New investment strategy focuses on diversity, equity and inclusion

Posted March 26th, 2021

New Covenant Trust Company will start utilizing new positive and negative screening tools to assist investors who want their investments to align with their values beginning April 1. These tools will allow New Covenant Trust Company to target investment in companies with a strong record of diversity, equity and inclusion.

The Rev. John Sinclair dies in Tampa, Florida, at 96

Posted January 7th, 2021

The Rev. John Henderson Sinclair, 96, a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) pastor for more than 70 years and an ardent advocate for peace and social justice, died in Tampa, Florida, on Jan. 2.

Co-Moderator will preach during theological symposium

Posted November 13th, 2020

Ruling Elder Elona Street-Stewart, Co-Moderator of the 224th General Assembly (2020) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the synod executive of the Synod of Lakes and Prairies, will preach online at 12:15 p.m. Eastern Time Wednesday as part of the Vine Deloria Jr. Theological Symposium.

Divine permission

Posted July 31st, 2020

Following the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II’s address to Synod School Thursday evening, he and Ruling Elder Elona Street-Stewart, co-moderator of the 224th General Assembly (2020), held an engaging chat in front of more than 80 of the 330 or so people who attended this year’s Synod School via Zoom and Facebook.

The Stated Clerk, a traffic stop, a young teacher and her elderly students

Posted July 31st, 2020

The return of the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II to Synod School Thursday was powerful and poignant.

‘You will never see a Sikh throw a Muslim under the bus’

Posted July 30th, 2020

Synod School students taking part in the Rev. Sarah Trone Garriott’s class, A Theology of Interfaith Engagement, heard firsthand experiences Wednesday from six youth and young adults who participated earlier this month or in previous years in an interfaith youth leadership camp in Des Moines, Iowa.