Presbyterian Mission Agency Church Transformation Archives

Short films designed to elicit discussion and strengthen preaching and teaching

Posted August 13th, 2019

Scott Galloway’s father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all Presbyterian pastors. Galloway has followed all three of his preacher forebears — not into the pulpit, but as a storyteller and filmmaker who’s created a product that pastors, church educators and others can use to stimulate discussion and make the weekly readings from the Revised Common Lectionary more relatable to Sunday worshipers.

Just Worship event coming to Austin seminary Sept. 30-Oct. 2

Posted August 9th, 2019

The second annual Just Worship event will be held Sept. 30-Oct. 2 at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Like the first one at Columbia Theological Seminary this promises to an extraordinary time led by stirring preachers, exceptional musicians and talented workshop leaders.

Homeless outreach creates ‘a lot of renewed passion’ in Southern California church

Posted July 26th, 2019

St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church in Lomita, Calif., is located near a substantial encampment of people experiencing homelessness.

Love heals at Thistle Farms

Posted July 25th, 2019

Becca Stevens, one of the keynote speakers for the 1001 New Worshiping Communities and Vital Congregations national gathering coming up October 14-16 in Kansas City, Mo., remembers how she felt when she started a residential community for women who have survived tracking, prostitution and addiction.

Vital Congregations East Coast gathering opens with news of ‘God doing a new thing’

Posted May 14th, 2019

During opening worship at the East Coast Vital Congregations gathering at Atlanta’s First Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Amantha Barbee told nearly 100 mid council and other church leaders that if they want a vital congregation, they should “tell the truth, listen, take risks and above all preach the gospel.”

Strengthening an already solid relationship

Posted May 10th, 2019

Two congregations that worship in the same Louisville, Ky., church are comfortable enough with one another that host church members didn’t even bat an eye recently when the smaller congregation told the larger one that the church has termites.

Healthy congregations: A body of Christ checkup

Posted January 31st, 2019

Parking lot meetings. Wealthy members with outsized influence. Inconsistent practices. Confusion about purpose and vision. There are lots of ways for a congregation’s systems to be unhealthy, and I suspect you could add to this list. Whatever the problem or situation, all do one thing: They undermine a church’s vitality.

The blossoming seeds of resurrection in a vital congregation

Posted August 8th, 2018

Despite being part of the same church family, Hazel Pflugmacher and Jaquette Easterlin never met.

Valley United Presbyterian Church asks, ‘What’s in a name?’

Posted March 26th, 2018

If you overlook the name of a church, sometimes you miss a vital story in the life of their congregation. Such is the case for Valley United Presbyterian Church.

Celebrating the Reformation

Posted September 18th, 2017

In late October 1517, an obscure Augustinian monk teaching at a minor German university offered a set of propositions, inviting an academic debate. Many Presbyterians can picture Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, but we are hard-pressed to say what the theses were about, and why they sparked a movement that both reformed and divided the church.