On Wednesday the Board of Directors of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) A Corporation authorized its President Search Committee to conduct a search for a president and to engage Boardwalk Consulting, a national firm that specializes in recruiting chief executives and senior leaders for nonprofits and foundations.
The 700 or so people set to gather in Galveston, Texas this week for the annual event of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators can dip their toes not only into the Gulf of Mexico, but into the swirling, often competing demands on faith formation in a world where traditional Christian education venues like Sunday school don’t necessarily meet people where they’re at.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spent his last weeks on Earth in 1968 fighting to gain traction for the Poor People’s Campaign, the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II reminded a sellout crowd Monday attending the Hope Breakfast commemorating King’s life and legacy.
Because it’s relatively nearby for tens of thousands of Presbyterians and because it’s the site of the 224th General Assembly next year — and also because it’s an important American city with big-city challenges and innovations — Baltimore is the site for Big Tent Aug. 1-3, one of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s signature events.
Martin Luther King Jr. did not have to go to Birmingham.
He had options, Rev. Dr. Kevin W. Crosby recalled Wednesday morning during the annual Presbyterian Center Service of Commemoration for the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Well on his way to becoming the youngest Nobel Prize winner in history, to that point, King seemed poised for the pulpit at his home church in Atlanta, or maybe the presidency of Morehouse College.
Birmingham was a powder keg, known as “Bombingham” because of the pervasive race-based violence in the Alabama city. But after prayer, King told his father and his mentor that his place was with “the suffering people of Birmingham,” Cosby said. “He went down there and was arrested.”
And that is where he wrote the iconic Letter from Birmingham Jail, which formed the basis for Wednesday’s worship service at the third floor chapel with the Ohio River serving as a backdrop.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) A Corporation (A Corp.) took an important step Wednesday toward achieving its mandate from the 223rd General Assembly (2018).
According to a news release issued following an executive (closed) session, the board voted unanimously to approve structural changes combining seven departments into the newly named Administrative Services Group.
Friend, mentor and predecessor.
That’s how the Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett, president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, remembered the Rev. Dr. Leon Fanniel, who died last month at age 88 and was remembered last week at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles. Both Moffett and the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), attended Fanniel’s service of witness to the resurrection.
Told by the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly that they’re in “for some heavy lifting” helping the 21st century church adapt “to a world that’s changing quickly every day,” members of the Moving Forward Implementation Commission got a clearer picture of what’s expected of them during their first in-person meeting Monday at the Presbyterian Center.
Central American migrants start as early as 4 a.m. on their trek northward. Many begin with prayer, asking God to keep them safe and provide them peace and comfort in this frightening journey. Mothers and fathers carry sleeping children on their backs or in strollers, hoping to cover as much distance as they can in a day. If they are lucky, they may catch a ride in a passing truck or receive something to eat from good Samaritans in a local village.
It’s been a long four months for Marleny and her family. Since Aug. 28, she, her daughter, son-in-law and nine-year-old grandson have been on the road from El Salvador to the U.S. border. They’ve been at the Mexico-U.S. border for two weeks and are still waiting to talk with border officials.
