There is still time to register for the 2017 Disciple-Making Church Conference, “Abide in Me… A Spiritual Purging,” to be held January 16–19, 2017, at the TradeWinds Island Grand Resort in St. Pete Beach, Florida.
The day following an unprecedented election of this nation’s 45th president, many were left wondering about the state of cultural diversity and immigrants in the U.S. To help the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) move past cultural differences, 22 coaches from across the country met in Louisville, November 9-11, 2016, for Racial Ethnic & New Immigrant coaches training.
If it’s true that the U.S. is a mission field, then the Rev. Gisonga “Aaron” Ruvugwa is a man on a mission. Ruvugwa immigrated to the U.S. with his family as refugees in 2003.
The Presbyterian Mission Agency’s 1001 New Worshiping Communities is offering a series of webinars to prepare and equip members of the church for ministry. All webinars are available at no cost, and up to 100 registrants can listen and learn to each live presentation.
In the words and experience of the Rev. Jim Moseley, executive presbyter of New Castle Presbytery, “Every great effort in ministry requires both strategic thinking and ‘daring’ in equal amounts.” And maybe just a few peaches.
In an open letter to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the church’s National Urban Ministry Network honored the memory of the recently passed Rev. Eugene “Freedom” Blackwell and encouraged readers to join them in continuing his fight for social and racial justice “for all of those who suffer in our cities.”
In the northeast corner of the country, the Presbytery of Cayuga-Syracuse made a dramatic decision. It reduced presbytery staff to just one person and got rid of its office space. Today, Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery has no building. The office is a laptop, and its number rings to a cell phone in Steve Plank’s pocket.
From “Navigating Change” to “Sustaining Spiritual Vitality,” attendees at the Go Disciple Live “Be the Light” Conference chose from a wealth of nearly 30 workshop topics toward building their skills in authentic evangelism, storytelling, social media, effective church transformation, justice, church planting, and more.
The intersection of faith and art. That is what Rev. Shawna Bowman, cofounder of the Creation Lab calls this intentional space. “It grew out of a selfish desire of its creators to have and share a space that can serve as a creative outlet and safe space for experimentation,” says Bowman. “It’s about making, collaborating, and failing together.”
Using the same text—Mark 1:16-20—on which he preached the evangelism conference’s opening sermon, the Rev. Dr. Ralph Basui Watkins returned to Jesus’ call to his disciples to “come and follow me,” as the foundation for his plenary presentation on “Evangelism in the 21st Century.”
