When the Rev. Dr. David Gambrell was asked to speak at the Presbyterian Youth Triennium last year, he knew it would be both challenging and extremely personal.
“If you’re a leader expect sabotage, because sabotage is the experience of every leader trying to bring change. If you’re trying to lead a vital congregation and you haven’t experienced the sabotage of your own people — you will.”
On Saturday, March 7, the eve of International Women’s Day, the Presbytery of New York City celebrated this year’s theme, “An equal world is an enabled world,” in a unique way: the installation of Ruling Elder Frances Thom and Ruling Elder Terri Youn to their one-year terms as, respectively, moderator and moderator-elect. Present for this historic occasion in the sanctuary of Riverdale Presbyterian Church in the Bronx was the Rev. Cindy Kohlmann, Co-Moderator of the 223rd General Assembly.
While there are many Presbyterian women who have made history throughout the years and deserve to be celebrated, the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Women’s Leadership Development and Young Women’s Ministries is helping to generate a new crop of young dynamic women to lead the Church.
Yesterday, a wise worshiper at the church I serve requested prayers “for all leaders as they work through difficult times ahead.” That request rings in my head as I think about “empowering servant leadership,” which is one of the seven marks of congregational vitality identified in the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Vital Congregations program.
A nationally renowned theological college with roots in both Christian and Native American spiritual beliefs and culture has trained hundreds of Native people to take the gospel — and the good works it inspires — to their own tribal communities for more than 100 years.
The next U.S. presidential primary election will feature at least three viable women candidates — a development that would have no doubt thrilled Presbyterian minister and leader Eunice Poethig. The Presbyterian Historical Society recently completed the processing of Poethig’s papers, and they illuminate her advocacy work in expanding the numbers of women and people from other marginalized communities serving as leaders in ministry and civic life.
