Inside St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church in Millvale, Pennsylvania, are more than 20 murals painted by Croatian immigrant Maxo Vanka in the late 1930s and early ’40s. Many of the paintings depict the immigrant experience in America. There is one of St. Francis, though, that shows Vanka’s love of animals, especially his fondness of birds. In the painting, exotic birds can be seen encircling the patron saint of animals.
Fresh from preaching their way through Advent, preachers in the Synod of the Covenant turned their attention Wednesday to the next great season on the Christian calendar: Lent, which begins with Ash Wednesday on Feb. 22.
It was the dreaded church “calendaring meeting” — juggling special Sundays, worship themes, vacation dates and competing programming for the months ahead. We were finally past Advent to languidly plan January.
At the beginning of the recent Theology, Formation & Evangelism ministry cohort on spiritual practices, the Rev. Dr. David Gambrell began a presentation on daily prayer in a curious way.
Presbyterians who agree to serve God and their congregations as ruling elders or deacons sometimes find they had little idea what they’ve gotten themselves into.
At the beginning of the recent Theology, Formation & Evangelism ministry cohort on Spiritual Practices, the Rev. Dr. David Gambrell began a presentation on daily prayer in a curious way.
Contrary to the prayer for the “Reaffirmation of Baptismal Covenant for a Congregation” in the 1993 Book of Common Worship, which begins with “Eternal and gracious God, we remember before you the promises made to your people from the foundation of the world and sealed in the living waters of your grace,” when I think about the meaning of baptism, I scan the biblical narrative not for stories about water, but for stories about God’s promise.
At the recent Presbyterians Association of Musicians’ Town Hall Forum, the Rev. Dr. Ronald P. Byars spoke passionately about the faith of the church as he addressed the question, “Why bother with the Book of Common Worship?”
There is a fountain in Louisville’s Waterfront Park beside the Ohio River. It is an oasis for office workers and a treat for tourists in the heat of summer. Children splash with delight in the jets of water that spring up from the ground. And for members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Sacrament Study Group (2003–2006) it is a sacred place.
At the Presbyterians Association of Musicians’ Town Hall Forum on Thursday, the Rev. Dr. Ronald P. Byars spoke passionately about the faith of the church as he addressed the question, “Why bother with the Book of Common Worship?”
