The Rev. Wilson Kennedy began serving in Ministry Engagement and Support as the Associate Director for Special Offerings and Appeals on Sept. 25. In this role, he will lead the team that promotes and interprets the four churchwide Special Offerings, the Presbyterian Giving Catalog, Direct Mail, and Digital Fundraising.
Of the many tools a farmer can usually rely on to help ensure a successful crop yield — resources to control weeds, fight pests or build healthy soil — Kotema Lanto found nothing in his toolkit to counteract the devastating impact of climate change on the family farm.
When God promised to be present through life’s floods and fires, the assurance was of little comfort to Trell, whose house burned to the ground in March.
While the Rev. Dr. John Wilkinson appreciates that all large organizations have “many moving parts that all work together” — just as the Apostle Paul’s scriptural metaphor of the “one body” would have it — he did not expect that his family would be among those parts that kept moving.
Being a resource for churches in the Presbytery of the Redwoods that are tackling food insecurity in their communities or have an interest in doing so is one of Corinne Quinn’s passions.
Although 15-year-old Grace Reck usually can’t wait to try new things, when given the chance last year to attend her first churchwide youth conference at Montreat, she dragged her feet.
For a minute.
Ever since then, the first-year high school student has jumped at every opportunity to lean in — including “Belonging Together,” a fall youth retreat held in November 2022 at Camp Loucon in Leitchfield, Kentucky, by the state’s three presbyteries.
When Elizabeth Odom was just a baby, so was the Pentecost Offering.
Twenty-five years later, both are thriving.
Today, Elizabeth is a social worker and American Sign Language interpreter serving the Deaf community in Greensboro, North Carolina, and the Pentecost Offering helped her get there.
