Search Results for: congregations

Twenty-one new worshiping communities, two presbyteries receive Mission Program Grants

On behalf of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, the Mission Development Resources Committee (MDRC) has approved Mission Program Grants to 21 new worshiping communities. The “1001” communities receiving grants are listed below, followed by the presbytery and synod they belong to and a brief description of their mission and ministry:

Living out the Matthew 25 vision to eradicate systemic poverty in Presbytery of St. Augustine

Middleburg Presbyterian Church, a small community church southwest of Jacksonville in Clay County, Florida, participates in a feeding program called Operation Backpack. The outreach program works with the guidance counselor at a nearby elementary school. The counselor identifies the children and families who will receive a backpack filled with healthy child-friendly food.

Louisiana: three hurricanes, a tropical storm and a pandemic

Hurricane Delta clobbered southwest Louisiana on Oct. 9, making landfall just 13 miles east of where Hurricane Laura came ashore as a strong Category 4 storm just six weeks earlier. And, between these two direct hits, Hurricane Sally, a Category 2 storm with 105 mile-per-hour winds, dumped double-digit rainfall totals from Gulf Shores, Alabama, to Pensacola, Florida. Small, slow-moving Tropical Storm Beta caused severe flooding along the Texas and Louisiana coastlines.

Going back to the future church

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rev. Dave Rohrer of Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Bothell, Washington, hosted a Zoom conversation along with several other pastors of the Presbytery of the Northwest Coast.

‘Empower Servant Leaders’

Each Wednesday at 3 p.m. Eastern Time, the office of Vital Congregations of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) hosts an online “vital conversation” via Zoom and Facebook Live. The current series is focusing on the Seven Marks of Vital Congregations, such as Wednesday’s conversation “All Voices on Deck,” which examined the role of the church’s translation services ministry in empowering servant leaders for the church.

At many churches, homeless ministries continue during pandemic

It was early March, and the daily routine at Atlanta’s Mercy Community Church had been thrown for a loop. Every Monday through Thursday, the church is a gathering place for around 50 people who are experiencing homelessness or are marginally housed to do everything from talking and sharing a couple of meals to working on getting help with legal and medical issues, as well as other needs. But suddenly, with the rapid spread of the coronavirus, gathering wasn’t a great idea.