As the world enters its second Advent season with the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic still looming over our shoulders, Christians are searching for devotional resources that offer space to connect with God through prayer and reflection. Westminster John Knox Press is publishing two offerings ahead of Advent season to guide Christians in group and individual study as they draw closer to God.
Dr. Anna Carter Florence, the celebrated preaching professor at Columbia Theological Seminary, said Wednesday that talking to pastors about preaching — especially during such a challenging time as the last 18 months have been — “is like sitting in an armchair talking to the people playing on the field. The ground you are breaking and the space you are holding is incredibly important. I am in awe of all of you.”
This summer’s Presbyterian Association of Musicians annual conference at Montreat Conference Center in Montreat, North Carolina, was held in person and online.
But if you missed it — or simply want to share your experience with others — another option is available.
The Rev. Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, a Presbyterian hymn-writer and the parish associate at First Presbyterian Union Church in Owego, New York, has written new lyrics to an old hymn for the people of Afghanistan.
Editor’s note: Recently, the Presbyterian Association of Musicians connected with 2021 Worship & Music Conference Adult Choral Director
G. Phillip Shoultz, III for an exclusive interview. PAM discussed his reflections on the June conference, the impact of singing spirituals, our shared heritage in Christ and the future of music in worship.
As modest as they are talented, three Presbyterian hymn-writers shared their sources of inspiration and some of their favorite hymns Sunday during a webinar called “When in Our Music God is Glorified,” put on by the Presbyterian Writers Guild. About three dozen people attended. Dr. Anita Coleman, a writer and former professor who’s vice president of the guild, moderated the hour-long webinar.
Their place at the pulpit offers Presbyterian preachers a weekly opportunity to persuade parishioners of the power and reach of God’s love for them — as well as hundreds of other messages found in Scripture.
In episode two of the first official season of Everyday God-talk, host So Jung Kim uses the lens of Reformed theology to face what she calls “an inconvenient truth.”
For Friday’s final convocation during this week’s Synod of Lakes and Prairies’ Synod School being held at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, the Rev. Dr. Jill Duffield selected the biblical account of the woman pouring an alabaster jar of ointment on the feet of Jesus, which she washed with her tears and dried with her hair.
