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Mission Yearbook
Presbyterians Deliver Comfort in Response to a Night of Terror
The piercing sound of sirens filled the night sky that was bright with an eerie orange glow. Hot embers cooled and turned to ash as they floated through the air, covering the ground like snowflakes—a strange sight for mid-August 2015 in the town of Kamiah, Idaho, where a wildfire was encroaching on area homes. Responding to a frantic knock at the door, a pastor greeted a young couple with their two small boys and two large dogs in tow, a look of terror and worry etched on their faces. They had been ordered to evacuate their home. Wind gusts were spreading the fire, which had resulted from lightning strikes several days earlier. The couple did not know where to go or what to do, so they went to their church. Within minutes other church members began arriving with similar stories.
A few years ago, the Jarjours, a family who had recently relocated to Orange County from the Syrian city of Homs, visited our church. Soon our congregation began hearing about the crisis in Syria and looked for ways to become involved.
Kamiah was surrounded by fire. All roads in and out were closed except one. Luann Howard, longtime pastor of the Kamiah and Kooskia Presbyterian Churches, decided to get the dozen refugees to the church in the nearby town, setting it up as an emergency evacuation center.
In order to strengthen congregational vitality and to enhance mission, the Presbytery of Chicago has partnered with Faith in Place to provide environmental justice resources. Faith in Place inspires people of diverse faiths throughout Illinois to care for the earth through education, connection and advocacy, and has joined national efforts as the Illinois affiliate of Interfaith Power and Light.
Four years after Larry Coleman started working at Briarwood, he became a bus driver for the Jackson Public Schools. It was then that the damp chill of a Southern winter gave rise to an informal ministry that unfolded in a special way. Coleman noticed some hats and gloves that had been left at church from a project to provide schoolchildren with warm clothing and asked if he could take the hats and gloves along on his bus route. Women in the church began supplying him with more, as well as with knitted scarves, to keep on the bus all winter to distribute as needed.
In 2016 the Presbytery of Plains and Peaks will celebrate 70 years of outdoor recreational ministry at Highlands Presbyterian Camp and Retreat Center.
The Old Sew n Sews, our quilting group at Hopewell Presbyterian Church, had been in existence just long enough to complete our first baby quilt when a question arose: Did we want to take a hiatus for the summer since vacations would make consistent attendance difficult, or was there another option? We realized that there was indeed another option: we found patterns and pictures online for pillowcase dresses—cute little dresses, easy to sew, with no buttonholes or zippers required.
The Presbytery of Boston’s Young Adult Volunteer program, now in its third year, places its volunteers with one of its churches and a food justice partner in their community. Volunteers work with community gardens, food pantries, meal programs, nutritional programs, community supported agriculture sites and food advocacy agencies. They participate in retreats where the focus may be simple living, supporting local farmers or studying how faith and work intersect.
Maryville College, one of 63 PC(USA)-related colleges, in partnership with the Equip Mission Team, Youth Committee and John Knox Center of the Presbytery of East Tennessee, has been awarded a grant that will strengthen the youth ministries in the presbytery.
In the beginnings of the multicultural church movement, people of different cultures came together and, with excitement and courage, began creating multicultural community.
