Though she’s the reentry pastor of Hagar’s Community Church, the Rev. Riley Pickett has never been inside the Washington Corrections Center for Women. That’s because Pickett’s ministry begins when residents of the largest women’s prison in the state of Washington are released.
Destini Hodges, associate for recruitment and relationships with the Presbyterian Church U.S.A.’s Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) Program, can see how, early on, her congregation provided opportunities for her to grow as a leader.
I spent the last year as a Presbyterian Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) in Austin, Texas.
In my role as a YAV, I served with Texas Impact, an interfaith advocacy organization representing the mainstream faith traditions of Texas. I worked on a research project related to Hurricane Harvey recovery and began to draw connections between climate change and this local disaster. After a few months into the project, I had the opportunity to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland.
In January, we met with a representative from Faith in Community Scotland (FiCS), an organization giving refugees and asylum seekers a platform to speak about their challenges and the treatment they’ve received from the United Kingdom’s Home Office. As newcomers representing the Young Adult Volunteer program in Scotland, we were excited to learn more about migration in Glasgow and the UK. The representative began our meeting with this sobering truth: All of the invited migrants refused the invitation because of their vulnerable status. In the parishes where we accompany the Church of Scotland, we are privileged to work with organizations attempting to bridge race, class and citizenship status.
For three days, I joined other Young Adult Volunteers and a diverse group of Christians as we walked from Ghost Ranch to the Sanctuario de Chimayo, a historic church in northern New Mexico. The tiring, trying and transformative 50-mile journey through the beautiful countryside continues to color my spiritual growth. Reflecting now, more than a year later, I smile, remembering a poignant moment of the trek: when we held others in intercessional prayer.
Today, several congregations close to Stony Point Center, many from the Hudson River Presbytery, will host the
2019–20 YAV class for Commissioning Sunday. This day acts as a reminder to both the Young Adult Volunteers (YAVs) and our Church that we do not go alone in God’s mission.
Nearly 30 years ago, 25 residents of North Scottsdale, Ariz., attended a worship service at what would grow to become Pinnacle Presbyterian Church, a congregation of more than 1,400 in the Presbytery of Grand Canyon.
