To celebrate the gifts of women, worshipers gathered online Wednesday to hear a Sprit-filled sermon from the Rev. Dr. Terrlyn L. Curry Avery, pastor of the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Massachusetts. Watch the entire service here.
Nyapan Gai no longer goes to sleep hungry.
The widowed mother of six children, whom prevailing customs and societal traditions prevented from inheriting her late husband’s cattle, had no choice but to work whatever jobs she could find to feed her family.
Multiple pandemics over the last two years, including COVID-19 and efforts to bring about racial justice in U.S. communities — even among communities of faith — have benefitted from a blacklight that highlights and helps clean up the messes that justice-seeking activists are asking the church to work on.
The theme for the 2022 Celebrate the Gifts of Women Sunday is “And a Sword Will Pierce Your Own Soul.” The theme reflects on the circumstances of Jesus’ birth and childhood, focusing especially on young Mary, who heard Simeon’s prophetic words about the opposition Jesus would endure and that Mary would also feel.
New Hope Presbyterian Church in Anaheim, California, can be seen as a stream of flowing water for many African Americans in Orange County, California, where according to the most recent information provided by the U.S. Census, the population of African Americans is 2.1%.
There has been a lot of talk in the past year about twin pandemics and multiple pandemics, including the COVID-19 virus, extrajudicial killings of people who are Black, poverty, and other societal ills exacerbated by the circumstances of the 2020s, thus far.
But one of the quietest pandemics has been gender-based violence, particularly violence against women.
In the final episode of Lydia’s Listening Session, hosted Tuesday by the offices of Women’s Leadership Development and Leadership Development for Leaders of Color of the Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries, women of color who are in faith leadership roles gathered to share their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has impacted their lives and ministries.
