Presbyterian Mission Agency back to school Archives

Back to school means back to missions

Posted August 19th, 2022

It’s back to school time, and for parents that means helping children sharpen their pencils and charge their laptops in preparation for the first day. For children it means adapting to new morning routines and getting back to a studying and test-taking rhythm. And for pastors, it’s that wonderful time of year to bless school backpacks. While blessing backpacks is popular in big and small churches, it is only the start to what congregations can — and should — be doing to engage more deeply with local schools. According to Dr. Irvin Scott, a faculty member of Harvard Graduate School of Education, backpack blessings have grown over the years because they provide a relatively hassle-free, easy-to-execute outreach to families. “It’s a good first step,” said Scott, with emphasis on “first.”

COVID-19 and kids: What’s a parent to do?

Posted September 21st, 2021

Continuing its series of outreach during the pandemic, the Cory Johnson Program for Post-Traumatic Healing at Roxbury Presbyterian Church in Boston on Monday hosted the webinar “COVID-19 and Kids: What’s a Parent to Do?”

In a pandemic, back-to-school excitement is tempered

Posted August 6th, 2020

An event millions of Americans are about to face — the return to in-person education, and the impact that race, faith and COVID-19 are having to shape the education experience for students, parents, educators and other school staff — were the subjects of an hour-long panel discussion last week sponsored by Union Presbyterian Seminary.

Back-to-school devotional series returns to d365.org

Posted August 10th, 2018

Back2School, the daily devotional series geared to youth and young adults and those who walk alongside them in ministry, returns to d365.org on Monday, August 13.