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Mission Yearbook
In the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), we set aside this week to be reminded of the importance of Christian education and those leaders who teach, plan and above all nurture our faith formation. In years past, we have celebrated with kickoff Sundays and large rally day celebrations across our churches. This year, we are navigating an entirely different fall and beginning to our Christian education year. Christian Educators and church leaders have weathered a difficult spring and summer already, and looking ahead to the upcoming program year seems insurmountable at times. And yet, the energy, imagination, intelligence and love are abundant in these leaders as they have pivoted to the reality of virtual, hybrid and anything but normal settings for Christian education and faith formation. Let us take a moment to express gratitude, lament losses and frustrations and rest in the knowledge of God’s abundant grace.
These are troubling times for higher education. With the COVID-19 pandemic and racial unrest further eroding an already fragile ecosystem, the challenges facing U.S. colleges and universities continue to multiply. In times like these, alliances that help institutions of higher education understand and manage these challenges are more valuable than ever.
Congregations of many denominations extend the peace of Christ with a blessing during their service. “The peace of Christ be with you (and also with you).” It is a blessing offered and a blessing returned in kind. The peace of Christ is part of what our faith offers to us. Extending the peace of Christ is part of an active, engaged faith — a witness to what it means for us to be building the household of God.
The feel-good line “We’re all in this together” has been an oft-repeated refrain during the coronavirus crisis, but for some minorities, feeling the brunt of the pandemic, it doesn’t ring true.
In a recent edition of Everyday God-Talk, So Jung Kim, associate for Theology in the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Office of Theology & Worship, visited with the Rev. Dr. Jaco Hamman, a PC(USA) ordained pastor who’s a professor at the Vanderbilt Divinity School.
The Rev. Elmer Zavala of the Presbyterian Hispanic Latino Ministry of Preston in southern Louisville knows about the unusual and difficult challenges that immigrants face with COVID-19.
Nick Pickrell, organizer of The Open Table KC, has never set foot in a seminary. But after five years co-leading this new worshiping community in Kansas City, Missouri, he’s going through the process of becoming a commissioned ruling elder. “I wanted to be more connected to the PC(USA) denomination,” he says in the new 1001 Worshiping Communities video, “Becoming Presbyterian” at
vimeo.com/416070513.
Bridging the division in Korea through reunification is a dream of many. Another dream has been to compile the history of mission workers of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and partner churches in Korea from 1884 to the present. This connection of past and present mission workers in Korea by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and partner churches in Korea has become reality in the publication of the first “Korean-English Dictionary of Presbyterian Missionaries in Korea 1884–2020,” published March 27 in Korean.
The Rev. Ashley McFaul-Erwin would not likely be a pastor in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) today if she’d stayed in her homeland of Northern Ireland — and never found the Young Adult Volunteers (YAV) program.
In this pandemic era, we have found ourselves walking on unknown paths, searching for something familiar and finding our souls to be weary. Tim Clarkson, a hospice chaplain and supply pastor at Union Hill Presbyterian Church in Denville, New Jersey, shares his story in this article that first appeared in the Presbytery of Newton newsletter. It runs here with permission of the author.
