Search Results for: congregations

Update: 1001 New Worshiping Communities

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In 2012, by action of the 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the movement to establish 1001 new communities of faith all over the country was made official.

UKirk calls a new executive director

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The UKirk board of directors has called Rev. Virginia “Gini” Norris-Lane as the executive director and campus ministry advocate for UKirk.

The Pace of Time

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A letter from Ryan and Alethia White, serving with the Iranian Presbyterian Church in Berlin | July 2019

Caring for the Caregivers

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The Rev. Sharyl Dixon is now in her sixth year serving Kingston Presbyterian Church in Kingston, New Jersey. When she started serving the church — be it visiting the women’s Bible studies or shaking hands at the door after a service — Dixon realized that what she was witnessing, in different forms, was caregiving. For some in her congregation, it was caring for a spouse with dementia. For others, it was caring for ailing parents. For still others, it was caring for children with special needs. Dixon realized there was a need to care for those offering care to others. She began to wonder what might be done.

Summertime ministry

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“Summertime, and the livin’ is easy.” American composer George Gershwin clearly wasn’t thinking about life in the church when he wrote his 1930s song “Summertime.” For many congregations, summertime isn’t easy. Blue skies beckon people to mow, garden or hike rather than sit in a pew on a Sunday morning. Weekend getaways and family vacations also mean fewer volunteers available to provide child care, sing in choirs and host coffee hours.

Surrounded by hopelessness, her message is one of hope

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As a young Palestinian Christian woman living in the occupied West Bank, Muna Nassar sees those around her losing hope each day. But hope is just what she wants to talk about when she joins 13 other international peacemakers traveling the U.S. this fall speaking to congregations, mid-councils and educational institutions as part of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program.

Tread the ancient stones, be transformed by the ‘living stones’ of the land called holy

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Many people say a trip to the Holy Land is definitely on their “bucket list.” It’s something they want to do, plan to do, hope to do — one of these days. The Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and World Mission have collaborated to lead a spiritual pilgrimage to the Holy Land every other year since 2014. The 2020 Mosaic of Peace Conference: Witnessing for Peace and Wholeness in a Land Called Holy is scheduled for March 15–28. Applications are being accepted online through Oct. 15, or after that should space allow.

What pastors ought to know beyond seminary

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I graduated from seminary over 46 years ago and I have served in very large urban congregations, suburban large churches, campus ministry, hospital chaplaincy, congregations with schools and nursing homes — and in Miami, where about 70 percent of the folks are Latino. So I have learned a great deal over my career that was never brought up in seminary. My thesis therefore is that all effective pastors need to be prepared to know and be aware of resources that the folks we minister to need to survive.