Presbyterian Mission Agency Authority Archives

‘We don’t always have to get it right. We just need to wrestle with it’

Posted November 4th, 2021

About 20 minutes into a recent webinar on prophetic preaching, the Rev. Dr. Kenyatta Gilbert paused to answer questions. After one about preaching in “purple” churches (a mix of political conservatives and progressives in the pews), Gilbert got this question from one of the 30 participants, a pastor also serving a purple congregation: Have I spent enough time understanding the complexity of the lamentation of these people?

It’s time to name the demon

Posted July 27th, 2021

The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III remembers the heartbroken grandmother of a man in denial of his drug addiction. “Son,” she told him one day, “until you name the demon, you ain’t never gonna be free.”

Who’s in charge in the congregation?

Posted December 2nd, 2020

These are the strangest of times. As of this reading, things will likely be different than they were a month ago. How much so? I cannot guess. But as a retired minister now serving as a spiritual director, I can say the anxiousness felt by the pastors I see will continue.

Who’s in charge in the congregation?

Posted July 21st, 2020

Pastors, sessions, ruling and teaching elders… who is supposed to run the congregation? How do churches handle and resolve conflicts?