After seeing the Gallup Poll study, which came out during Holy Week, that for the first time church membership in the U.S. has declined to less than half the population, Presbyterian News Service reached out to the Rev. Brian Heron for some insight. As Presbyter for Vision and Mission in the Presbytery of the Cascades, located in Portland, Oregon, Heron lives and works in one of the least religious cities in the nation.
In the Presbytery of Sacramento, ἴama Yoga, a 1001 new worshiping community in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will soon rise up to connect people to God and one another through the Christian spiritual practice of yoga.
On April 2, Good Friday, musicians and pastors will offer a gift to the church: an experience of the practice that has sustained them through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Attaining Resurrection — a virtual Refresh Retreat — provides an opportunity for 1001 New Worshiping Community leaders to replenish and reclaim their spiritual grounding in a time of pandemic. There will be three of these retreat opportunities this year, with the next scheduled for April 12–13. Leaders will have a chance to choose their start time, based on Eastern or Pacific time zones.
The Office of Presbyterian Youth and Triennium, in coordination with its ecumenical partners, is announcing a 2021 Lent and Easter daily devotion series titled “Journey to the Cross.” Available through a phone app (d365 daily devotionals) and website, d365.org, it was created for youth, young adults, and anyone interested in practicing prayer and daily biblical reading and reflection.
Some of the best worship and most meaningful preaching the Rev. Landon Whitsitt has seen and heard during the pandemic has come from preachers and other worship leaders willing to share themselves in an authentic way with those attending the online services they’re creating each week.
For the first time in the 30-year history of the Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program, the COVID-19 global pandemic forced the program to be a virtual one during 2020-2021. Adapting quickly to the contextual realities was difficult, but according to participants, the virtual format has challenged them and help them grow.
Applications from interested presbyteries are now being accepted for the third wave of the Vital Congregations Initiative. And for the first time since the initiative began with a pilot program in 2017, individual churches may also apply — if they have the blessing of their presbytery.
A minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbytery of Philadelphia, the Rev. Margaret Grun Kibben, a retired Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy’s Chaplain Corps, has been named Chaplain of the 117th U.S. House of Representatives.
