A shared ministry pilot project involving both the Board of Pensions and Pittsburgh Presbytery was among the cutting-edge items of discussion Wednesday when the Rev. Dr. Frank Clark Spencer, President of the Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), spoke to the Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty of the Presbyterian Foundation during the Leading Theologically podcast. Listen to their wide-ranging half-hour conversation here or here.
The Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has named a longtime servant of the denomination to the position of Vice President, Church Relations. The appointment of the Rev. Dr. Douglas Portz, most recently a Senior Church Consultant at the Board, bolsters the agency’s ongoing efforts to provide strength and stability to support the changing Church.
Too many ministers were missing out on the unique financial protection of the Benefits Plan of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). And not enough were eligible for Board of Pensions education and assistance programs. So, in 2020, the Board introduced a second benefits package for ministers: Minister’s Choice.
In a normal year, Crestfield Camp & Conference Center would be the summer home for more than 600 youth campers and nearly 3,000 conference and retreat attendees. But 2020 was anything but normal. Christian camps throughout the country had to rely on outside-the-box thinking for survival through the summer. For Crestfield’s executive director, Gene Joiner, survival mode came head-on: He joined Crestfield in January 2020, and in mid-March the pandemic hit, effectively shutting down the facility.
It’s nearly time to celebrate “Mr. Rogers’ Day” in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and what better day to do so than March 20, the birthday of one of the most well-known ordained Presbyterian ministers of all-time, everyone’s neighbor — Fred McFeely Rogers (1928–2003).
Following protests that were disrupted by what one pastor called “a few anarchists from outside the march’s planning group,” Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations and organizations in Pittsburgh are taking a quieter, prayerful approach headed into this week.
When Pittsburgh Presbytery’s International Partnership Ministry Team began thinking about a way to create space for young Malawians and young Pittsburghers to meet together for mutual enrichment, encouragement and growth, the idea for a youth pilgrimage to Malawi was born.
Anyone with kids and a television set knows Fred Rogers. Three generations of children have grown up with “Mister Rogers” — the friendly sweater-and-sneakers-clad grownup who talks frankly about feelings and invites them to be part of his TV “neighborhood.” What is less widely known is that Fred Rogers is a Presbyterian minister, ordained in 1962 by Pittsburgh Presbytery.
