It was upon the communion table where, through God’s Spirit, ordinary means are transformed for extraordinary ends, that on November 20, Hudson River Presbytery transferred the title of the former Stony Point Church and all its property to the newly-created Sweetwater Cultural Center “to promote the education, health and welfare of indigenous or native peoples and to preserve their cultures and ceremonial practices locally, regionally, and around the Western Hemisphere.”
Traditionally, on the second Monday of October the United States celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492.
However, on Monday many communities across the nation celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day rather than Columbus Day. Indigenous Peoples Day is part of a growing movement to end the celebration of the Italian explorer and rather honor and recognize Indigenous people, the original occupants of the Americas.
The Presbyterian Mission Agency board meeting started Friday morning with a short worship service that took participants back to 1619. But for her talk, “A Conversation on Racism and Matthew 25,” the Rev. Denise Anderson brought up some slightly more recent history — 2016.
After two days of plenary sessions, workshops, and worship, Nancy Pienta of Valatie, New York found herself painting in the spacious, sunlight-drenched main hall of Stony Point Center’s Art Space.
Second Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque, N.M., the 100th church to accept the Matthew 25 invitation, is a bilingual and multicultural church that, among many other outreach services, provides transitional housing to transgender women seeking asylum in the U.S.
One day, the Rev. Irvin Porter invited about four dozen staff working at the Presbyterian Center to stand on the blanket of their choosing among about 20 covering a conference room floor.
One day last week the Rev. Irvin Porter invited about four dozen staff working at the Presbyterian Center to stand on the blanket of their choosing among about 20 covering a conference room floor.
“You cannot understand our history as a country until you understand the history of the church.”
That’s how Mark Charles — a Navajo pastor, speaker and author — began his presentation to a room full of missionaries in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which gathered this past summer for their annual meeting.
“Let us worship our Creator with minds open to the wisdom of all God’s people, remembering that once listening and respect once had no place in our society.” These were the opening words to the Call to Worship led by Elona Street-Stewart, executive of the Synod of Lakes and Prairies, as staff and guests celebrated Native American Day at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Center in Louisville on September 12.
