Communication Archives

Presbyterian Mission Agency diversity manager urges storytellers to go way back

Posted May 17th, 2023

When a Korean-American church celebrates its 70th year anniversary by opening with a Native American (Elona Street-Stewart, the Co-Moderator of the 224th General Assembly) telling the story of her people in Turtle Island thousands of year before it became United States, the destruction that came with Christian mission in Turtle Island, and the impossible gospel-bloom from the dust (the storyteller is a Christian Native American!), at first it’s difficult for your brain to adjust. It all seems darker, but it’s not.

Trying on a new pair of glasses

Posted May 9th, 2023

I’ve been thinking lately about glasses. Not the drinking kind, more like the seeing kind. Yet not the ones we use to improve our vision, but those we wear that color our perception. What I’ve come to learn after taking 60 trips around the sun is that we all wear these kinds of glasses, no exceptions — well, maybe other than God — I imagine that God sees purely, no glasses required; we humans, not so much.

Linda Jacobsen announces retirement from the Board of Pensions

Posted May 8th, 2023

Linda Jacobsen, Executive Vice President, Engagement and Community Relations, has announced that she will retire from the Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), effective July 1. Her retirement from the Board marks more than 15 years of service to the Church both as an employee of the Board of Pensions and as a member of the agency’s Board of Directors during a time of transformational change.

The Rev. Dr. John Wilkinson is called to lead Ministry Engagement and Support

Posted March 24th, 2023

In what he describes as “a welcome convergence of my vocational journey as well as my personal and family journey,” the Rev. Dr. John Wilkinson will begin work as the director of the Ministry Engagement and Support team on May 8.

Vision Convocation during the week of March 20-24 means the news flow from Presbyterian News Service will be slow next week

Posted March 17th, 2023

Because Presbyterian Mission Agency staff will participate in an all-staff Vision Convocation during the week of March 20-24 at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville, Kentucky, Presbyterian News Service will, for the most part, refrain from publishing reports of news and events occurring during that week.

Tasked with a gargantuan mandate, the PC(USA)’s Unification Commission chooses teamwork

Posted March 10th, 2023

It took commissioners all day Friday, but by the end of the second day of Unification Commission meetings, the 12-member group had spread the considerable work it must complete over four teams: Governance, Financials, Common Mission and Consultations. Two or three commissioners volunteered themselves for each of the four teams.

Presbyterian Barbara Everitt Bryant, the first woman to lead the US Bureau of the Census, dies at age 96

Posted March 8th, 2023

Barbara Everitt Bryant, a Presbyterian and the first woman to lead the U.S. Bureau of the Census, died March 2 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, at the age of 96. Among her three children is Linda Bryant Valentine, the former executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.

The PC(USA)’s Board of Pensions releases its Board Bulletin for spring 2023

Posted March 7th, 2023

As the Board of Directors gathered for its spring meeting, the agency prepared to enter a season of rebuilding — a transformative effort, in collaboration with the Church, to assess and redesign the Benefits Plan of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) so congregations might be better served.

Korean episodes of ‘A Matter of Faith’ now available

Posted March 6th, 2023

A husband and wife who serve as mission co-workers in South Korea have paired up with a seasoned online personality to co-host a Korean-language version of “A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast.”

Ethical values abound in this year’s Oscar-nominated films

Posted February 23rd, 2023

The annual announcement of nominations for the Oscars for the previous year is one that film lovers look forward to with eager anticipation. “Will my favorite films make the lists?” we ask. I was happy to see that most of my favorites (see my Presbyterian News Service article on Top Ten Films by clicking here) did receive one or more nominations.