SAINT PETER, Minnesota — When I think of multicultural churches, I do not necessarily think of my own — I picture congregations that reflect many different races and ethnicities. Like most Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) churches, Union Presbyterian Church of Saint Peter is a predominantly white congregation. What does multicultural ministry mean for my rural Midwestern church community?
Beginning at age 14, he slept wherever he could find a place to lay his head. He stayed with cousins, friends, his grandmother and his aunt. Sometimes he spent the night on a park bench. His mother’s struggles with mental illness and other medical issues had diminished her ability to care for Kelly and his brother.
LILONGWE, Malawi — If you were to visit Maula Prison, built on a hill in the capital city of Lilongwe, Malawi, you might notice that it feels outdoorsy and open. There are multiple layers of fences, but in between them is open, undeveloped space. The lack of shrubs and low trees allows clear sight for a long distance.
“Did you write this?”
I glanced at the page. Squarish letters in black ink with variable-width strokes. Just the kind I used to make with a chisel-end pen. Just the kind I inscribed on numerous baptismal certificates and wedding records over the years. Definitely my work.
With support provided by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP)’s Synod of Zambia created a Health Department in 2016. During its first few years, the CCAP’s Health Department has been focusing on building and improving infrastructure, strengthening the health of women and girls and ensuring availability of preventive medicine and personnel.
Do you ever get irritated when reading genealogies in the Bible? All that “so-and-so begat so-and-so…”. Yet, genealogies hold deep meaning for us if we consider them closely. This is especially true for the genealogy in the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.
I got off the train after a four-hour ride along the Pacific Ocean and headed to the exit to be met by a pastor from Bunun Presbytery, an aboriginal presbytery on Taiwan’s east coast. I was on my way to lead the fourth pastors’ retreat in three weeks.
Jonesville First Presbyterian Church in Jonesville, Michigan, has always prided itself (and still does) as being a congregation of warm and welcoming Christian worshipers. The church, which has 120 members and an annual budget of slightly over $150,000, has always welcomed strangers with enthusiasm.
New Castle Presbytery’s mission statement condenses the Matthew 25 invitation into 13 words: “Sparked by grace to transform the church for the good of the world.”
Over the past two years, I’ve been collecting a list of small things I’ve noticed that struggling pastors and declining churches perhaps don’t pay enough attention to.
