Massachusetts State Police, local arson investigators and the FBI are investigating the cause of a Monday morning fire that heavily damaged the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Massachusetts.
As the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for work and life became clear, it was obvious they would fundamentally change the way the Compassion, Peace & Justice (CPJ) ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency operated.
The rainwater from the hurricane was held back by debris that formed a dike at the top of the village. But as the storm continued, hour after hour, the barrier broke in the middle of the night sending water rushing down the main road, taking cars, trees, homes, and people.
At the Presbyterian Church of Latakia, Syria, the Rev. Salam Hanna ministers to people who have endured nine years of civil war and, recently, sanctions that have led to the worst economic crisis the nation has faced in a century.
In September 2019 the Synod of the Southwest and the Native American Ministries Coordinating Committee (NAMCC) held a successful gathering of the 29 Native American churches and chapels that are a part of the Synod. A debriefing followed that gathering.
One major hurricane is a lot for any community to take in a year or even a decade.
This week, the Rev. Edwin González-Castillo, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance’s (PDA) Associate for Disaster Response in Latin America and the Caribbean, is working to respond to nations struck by two major hurricanes in as many weeks.
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.
Miss Mable had taken to her bed.
Her New Orleans home was badly damaged when Hurricane Katrina struck in the late summer of 2005. Then, unscrupulous contractors stole her funds to repair the house.
During the final day of the virtual workshop “Dipping Deeper Into the Well of PC(USA) Ministries,” more than 50 Christian educators, pastors and other Presbyterian leaders heard panel discussions and wrestled with questions on how to form lifelong disciples who are grounded in the Reformed tradition and equipped for peacemaking, witnessing and working for justice and equity for all God’s people.
