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minute for mission
Mark Hinds remembers the effect that confirmation had on both himself and his brothers.
“In our family, it had a 30 percent success rate,” Hinds told a room full of Christian educators at the 2016 Association of Presbyterian Church Educators gathering in Chicago. “I’m still in the church; my brothers aren’t.”
As heads nodded in response to Hinds’s admission, the room hummed with questions about the efficacy and future direction of the confirmation process in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Do churches care about working people? The Social Creed for the 21st Century says yes. Right after its adoption in 2008, for example, it was invoked to support ballot initiatives to raise the minimum wage. So how did the 33 churches in the National Council of Churches reach agreement to update the original Social Creed of 1908? The answer is threefold and gives us hope for ecumenical cooperation to advocate for working people.
Philadelphia Presbytery has hosted International Peacemakers for two consecutive years, and the impact of these visits has been profound. In 2014 the peacemaker was James Ninrew from the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan. Last year the peacemaker was Rami Al Maqdasi from Iraq. These two countries, though continents apart, have both suffered the burdens of war.
Minute for Mission: Public Education
In the summer of 2013, Nikkitta Jacobs of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, received news that her son, Jaden, who had just turned three, would not have a spot at the Clara Hearne Head Start Center that fall. Facing a $267,000 budget reduction, the center had to cut 37 children from its incoming class.
Minute for Mission: Youth in the Church and World
Vikita Sihali was a “young” young adult at the 2013 Presbyterian Youth Triennium. She serves her home presbytery, Amatola, in the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa and her home congregation as a youth leader. She shared the following words with the presbyteries of Northern New England and Boston after the Triennium:
The Lord’s Day
“So, what exactly does a chaplain do?”
It’s a question I’m often asked when I tell people that I’m a college chaplain. I don’t really have “typical” days. Like most pastors, chaplains do a little of everything. We put together programs, organize and lead worship (weddings and memorials included) and counsel students.
Minute for Mission: Presbyterian Association of Musicians
The Presbyterian Association of Musicians (PAM) shaped and enabled my current vocation as a church musician. I have enjoyed multiple careers. My first career was as a school music teacher. My second career was as an actuary. While that career was intellectually and monetarily rewarding, it was not my true vocational calling.
Minute for Mission: Presbyterian Association of Musicians
My first experience with the Presbyterian Association of Musicians (PAM) came in the summer of 2000, when I traveled to the Montreat Conference Center to see my brother sing in a Friday evening concert at a PAM Worship and Music Conference. I haven’t missed a worship and music conference at Montreat since then. As I have grown as a musician and a person, the mission of PAM has supported me. My first position as a church musician came as a result of hanging out at Montreat while I was in high school with a group from another church.
Minute for Mission: Metropolitan/Urban Ministry
“Hey, Mister, can I have one of those hot dogs? Are they free? Can I have more than one? Why are you giving all this food away? What’s your name? Can I help you cook?”
Minute for Mission: Small-Membership Churches
As we lift up small-membership churches today, let us remember God’s promise to David: “I will provide a place for my people . . . and will plant them . . . .” (2 Samuel 7:10 NIV).
