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Mission Yearbook

‘It is very good’

After telling the 450 or so people attending the Synod of Lakes and Prairies’ Synod School that they’re co-creators with God and, as John Calvin once said, “little manifestations of God’s glory,” the Rev. Dr. Jill Duffield proved her point by asking participants to use their cellphones to take first a selfie and then a photo of the people seated around them.

Pandemic forces more Philippine families into poverty

As in many other places in the world, the global pandemic has pushed millions of Filipinos and their children further into poverty. But a global partner of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), has responded in creative ways not only to feed the children’s bodies but to deal with their psychosocial needs as well.

‘Take Me to the Alley’

Ruling Elder James Parks of Baltimore, a member of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board who cut his teeth on community organizing, opened his devotional time with the board recently by playing the clip of Gregory Porter’s “Take Me to the Alley.”

Planting seeds of greatness and health

Samantha “Foxx” Winship of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, wants to reshape the image of what it is to be a farmer and reclaim the practice of growing food as a source of empowerment for African Americans.

Even a pandemic can’t squelch one church’s creative impulse

In the midst of the pandemic last fall, Sheri Dittman, the commissioned pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Brownsville, Texas, gained some fame in Presbyterian circles as the mastermind of a photo scavenger hunt with a purpose — getting parishioners at the church she serves and at First Presbyterian Church in Mission, Texas, where she’s part-time coordinator for Congregational Development, more familiar with multiple options available through the Presbyterian Giving Catalog.

Spiritual direction is not therapy

Catherine McAuley, who founded the Sisters of Mercy in 1831, once said, “We are like the compass that goes round its circle without stirring from its center. We have one solid comfort in all our tripping about. Our center is in God, from whom all our actions spring from their source.”

Aligning words and deeds

When the Rev. Dr. Christina Berry enrolled her congregation to become a Matthew 25 church, little did she know just how the Spirit would move among them. After reviewing the areas of focus that her flock could engage in — building congregational vitality, dismantling structural racism and eradicating systemic poverty — focusing on vitality made the most sense for an all-white congregation living in the shadow of glory days gone by.

Landscaping fundraiser success

When Pennfield Presbyterian Church in Battle Creek, Michigan, wanted to re-landscape its flowerbeds and memorial garden in 2019, the Rev. Annemarie S. Kidder knew it would “take money.” The church sits on 5 acres of hillside and has expansive 20-foot-wide flowerbeds. A garden show was created as a fundraiser, and with several garden lovers in the congregation, the show expanded to include walks through those members’ beautiful gardens, Kidder said.

Teen serves church ‘Cookies and Milk’

Danica McCardle’s grandmother’s favorite proverb is “Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray.” It seems 13-year-old Danica is being trained in the faith well. Presbyterians Today talked with the Girl Scout, who wants to someday be a paleontologist, about God, servanthood and the Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies that were part of the “Cookies and Milk” coffee hour she hosted at West Nottingham Presbyterian Church in Colora, Maryland.

Carving soap and meeting neighbors

Recently, I coached soap carving. Our church, Ankeny Presbyterian Church in Ankeny, Iowa, was throwing an outdoor block party for our neighborhood — hot dogs, a bounce castle, doughnuts made to order, even a fire truck. One of our neighbors offered to play guitar and sing, so we had live music, too.