The branches of their family trees are filled with Presbyterian pastors and elders, so it’s no wonder that Akilah Hyrams and Noah Westfall — both alums of the PC(USA)’s Youth Adult Volunteer or YAV program — have lives rooted in their faith-building experiences. The YAV program is an ecumenical, faith-based year of service for young people ages 19–30 in sites… Read more »
May 23, 2022
Pentecost: Living a Life Through Faith
The branches of their family trees are filled with Presbyterian pastors and elders, so it’s no wonder that Akilah Hyrams and Noah Westfall — both alums of the PC(USA)’s Youth Adult Volunteer or YAV program — have lives rooted in their faith-building experiences. The YAV program is an ecumenical, faith-based year of service for young people ages 19–30 in sites… Read more »
From the day they are born and even before they are born, we are busy making plans for our children. Some of our planning is about the really big things, like the name they will carry or finding the college that will help them fulfill their dreams. Some of our planning is much smaller, like… 
The Psalmist says, “God from my youth, you have taught me…” Psalm 71:17, and that is true. But it could have also said, “God from the youth, you have taught me” and stated something almost as true. With a foundation in faith built in the early years, our youth can teach us something about leading… 
By Lynne Foreman In the late 1980s, when I was serving as a youth group leader in my local congregation, my pastor invited me to attend a gathering that I recognize now as the early stages of a new movement for youth in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Even as I was being drawn headlong into… 
As a student at Presbyterian-related Davidson College, Langley Hoyt knew her own mind. The lifelong Presbyterian ventured beyond the college’s bucolic campus into the streets of West Charlotte, N.C., where the world’s injustices were all too apparent. “For two summers during college, I worked and lived in a neighborhood in Charlotte where my neighbors were… 
Just when most young people were beginning to imagine what nontraditional instruction might look like during COVID-19, Sami Han took things a step farther — a big step farther. She moved to South Korea with her parents. When the 16-year-old’s parents, the Revs. Myung Sung “Martin” Han and Jieun Kim Han, accepted the call to… 
Right Here, Right Now Rev. Dr. David Gambrell spends of plenty of time with young people. He is a father of two daughters, he volunteers to teach confirmation classes at Highland Presbyterian Church in Louisville, Kentucky and he was one of the youth leaders who preached at the 2019 Presbyterian Youth Triennium. He says Triennium… 
From Northern Ireland to Nashville Rev. Ashley McFaul-Erwin would not likely be a pastor for the Presbyterian Church today if she’d stayed in her homeland of Northern Ireland, and especially if she had never found the Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program. From Northern Ireland to the U.S. seems like quite a big leap, but it’s… 
Guest post by Clara Hare-Grogg, 2019-2020 Young Adult Volunteer The Philippines, where I served as a Young Adult Volunteer until being evacuated due to the global pandemic, is acutely vulnerable to disasters like volcanic eruptions, typhoons, and floods. Even everyday weather is notoriously unpredictable. The ability to deal with the unexpected has therefore embedded itself…