Asked by a journalist about young adults being underrepresented at the World Council of Churches’ 11th Assembly, Ruth Mathen, delegate of the Melankara Orthodox Syrian Church, said a quick look at the dais would speak against that argument.
The educator and author who for 15 years has brought Presbyterians the adventures of Gracie the fish recently revealed to a Between Two Pulpits audience the secret to keeping her underwater tales current: Take an annual trip to the local aquarium.
In the story of God, as we tell it, there is a barrier that exists between the Created world and its Creator. A wall. Sin, we say, separates us from God, and separation from God is unbearable.
During a virtual discussion on helping white people talk about racism, a compelling question popped up in the chat box. The gist: How can a person bring up antiracism in a church where most members don’t want any more change and would prefer to go back to “better times”?
In a recent edition of Everyday God-Talk, So Jung Kim, associate for Theology in the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Office of Theology & Worship, visited with the Rev. Dr. Jaco Hamman, a PC(USA) ordained pastor who’s a professor at the Vanderbilt Divinity School.
“It was a very painful but meaningful time to think again about what it means to live as a Christian and as an American in this world.” This was a comment from Dia, one of the Young Adult Volunteers (YAVs) from 2016–17, after we visited No Gun Ri, the site of a massacre of Korean civilians committed by U.S. soldiers at the beginning of the Korean War. Believing the civilians to be communists, the U.S. military killed 250–300 people, mostly women and children, from July 26 to 29 in 1950, attacking them as they sought shelter under a railroad bridge. Visiting this site is always painful for me. As a site coordinator who is also a Korean, learning about my own history that is related to the U.S. along with YAVs is a powerful and meaningful experience. Stories like these are often ignored or well-hidden, even though there are people who are still suffering from the wounds of these incidents to this day. Learning stories like this may lead to discomfort as we come to face a distorted tragedy. Nevertheless, I believe that we must uncover and retell the stories like this. History can teach us not to repeat gruesome mistakes and it can also teach us how we can live our lives more responsibly in our present day.
As we look ahead to the final weeks of summer, we’re reminded that a seasonal shift is upon us. Our Sunday newspapers are littered with ads that boast the best “back-to-school” sales, as our grocery stores beckon us to stock up for “one last summer BBQ.” With cooler, less humid days on the horizon, we prepare to say goodbye to summer and to welcome autumn and all that it brings.
With Native American women installed as executives in such places as the Synod of Lakes and Prairies, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is becoming a more diverse denomination — but there’s still work to be done, said the Rev. Danelle Crawford McKinney, a Presbyterian Women board member.
A Florida woman who was a lifelong Presbyterian, a savvy investor and a pioneer for women in the Chicago banking industry has left a bequest of more than $1 million to the Presbyterian Foundation. The money is being used to establish a fund for scholarships for students attending colleges and universities affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
