Female empowerment is taking place in Panama thanks to the Chilibre Women’s Training Centers, Gonzalillo Community Organization and Women’s Meeting Space.
In opening remarks of the virtual 46th Biennial Convention of the National Black Presbyterian Caucus, the organization’s president, the Rev. Dr. Thomas H. Priest Jr., said, “In the preface of the Revised Edition of ‘Black and Presbyterian: The Heritage and the Hope’ by Gayraud S. Wilmore, former president of the National Black Presbyterian Caucus, Jesse C. Swanigan, wrote, ‘Black Presbyterians, North and South, are still asking the questions about cultural differences, identity and ethnic-specific mission that they asked before the reunion — asking these questions with even more urgency in a church and nation where racism seems unabated. Is it possible or more difficult than in 1980 to experience what Black Presbyterians United (BPU) President Claude C. Kilgore called ‘unity within diversity’?”
In 2012, the General Assembly made a bold commitment — to create an environment within the denomination that would lead to the flourishing of the existing church and the birth of at least 1001 new communities of worship and witness. The Presbyterian Mission Agency went to work creating a system of resources to support this call to equip presbyteries, help potential leaders discern God’s call, develop a system of grants, build leadership capacity and create a network of coaches prepared to accompany a new worshiping community through all the stages of development. Establishing partnerships and collaboration with other North American denominations, the reach of these resources extends far beyond the PC(USA).
How would you celebrate your 50th anniversary? Last year, the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM), a PC(USA) partner church, promoted free HIV testing at all of the events celebrating its 50th anniversary. FJKM President Irako Andriamahazosoa Ammi was tested publicly last August. Over 40,000 people were educated about HIV and AIDS, and 2,000 were tested during six events.
The Presbyterian Church in Rwanda opened its Center for Training and Documentation in 1996, two years after the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi.
Jackie Muchiri and her son Jordan, members of Lake Burien Presbyterian Church in Burien, Washington, were facing an uncertain future after receiving an eviction notice due to the sale of her apartment building. For the church’s leadership, Muchiri’s situation was one more reminder that the congregation needed to be at the forefront for a change in policies in its community.
How would you celebrate your 50th anniversary? Last year, the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM), a PC(USA) partner church, promoted free HIV testing at all of the events celebrating its 50th anniversary. FJKM President Irako Andriamahazosoa Ammi was tested publicly last August. Over 40,000 people were educated about HIV and AIDS, and 2,000 were tested during six events.
I took Elias and Gilbert, Kenyan doctors, to the medical library of Yonsei University Health System in Seoul, South Korea. They came to Korea to be trained in the hospital’s urology department. They walked around in the library and stopped at the urology section, picking up a few books and flipping through the pages. They took out Campbell-Walsh Urology, a textbook regarded as the bible in the field. I could see their sparkling eyes, which seemed like the eyes of children who wanted a toy so much but could not possess it. I told them that they could borrow books from the library, but they politely declined. I felt sorry to see them turn back from the bookshelves.
Education and training of church leaders is key to the transformation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), General Assembly Stated Clerk J. Herbert Nelson, II, told the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) at its winter meeting.
What is a small, isolated Presbyterian church to do if it can’t afford to hire an ordained pastor? As that dilemma becomes more common, several Midwestern presbyteries and the Synod of Lakes and Prairies are collaborating on coursework to train elders for greater responsibilities.
