A few years ago a desperate mother loaded her seven children in the car and drove across several states to escape an abusive husband. Her journey ended at Presbyterian Home for Children (PHFC) in Talladega, Alabama.
In just a little more than a decade, the Presbyterian Church of Okemos, a suburb of Lansing, Michigan, has gone from being a congregation that rarely talked about money to a church where even younger members understand the power of pledges, bequests and endowments to multiply mission and as a means to commit their life a part of a faith community.
“Stewardship is about the joyous discipline of giving thanks,” says Robert Hay Jr. of the Presbyterian Foundation. Comparing joyous discipline with a “runner’s high” where the mind body and spirit start clicking after months or even years of disciplined training, Hay says the discipline of stewardship can bring true joy in giving.
The Rev. Dr. James Reese, now approaching the 70th anniversary of his ordination in the Presbyterian Church, believes learning about stewardship is a cross-cultural exercise. He asserts approaches to charitable giving, especially in the context of the church, are formed by a community ethos — and he has the data to back it up.
Gratitude is a deep and profound part of the story of Jesus. It is complex and beautiful — and also the subject of author Diana Butler Bass’ recent book “Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks.”
At 7:30 a.m. on November 29, 2017, the church phones at First United Presbyterian Church in Tarentum, Pa., were ringing. Callers wanted to know if the church had met the match for Giving Tuesday — and indeed, they had, and then some, says Rev. Philip Beck, pastor of First United PC.
A Florida woman who was a lifelong Presbyterian, a savvy investor, and a pioneer for women in the Chicago banking industry, has left a bequest of more than $1 million to the Presbyterian Foundation. The money is being used to establish a fund for scholarships for students attending colleges and universities affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Today, Debra Hepler announced her retirement as the Executive Director of the Ghost Ranch Education and Retreat Center of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), effective February 1, 2019. Hepler has served as Ghost Ranch’s chief executive since April 2008.
Charitable giving is not a one-time act but a work in progress for Steve and Sarah Mato, members of Providence Presbyterian Church in Parker, Colorado, southeast of Denver.
In 1996, the year after I graduated from seminary, presbyteries in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ordained 408 new ministers of Word and sacrament. Many of them continue to serve and lead in the PC(USA) two decades later in critical ways. In 2016, the PC(USA) ordained about half (47 percent) of the number we did in 1996, with only 214 ordained. While we have fewer congregations in 2016 than 1996, it is only 17 percent less, not 47 percent! The need for qualified ministers of Word and sacrament will increase as Baby Boomer generation pastors continue to retire over the next decade or so. The median age of a Presbyterian minister in 2017 was over 60 years old. The PC(USA) pastorate mirrors the demographics of about 20 mainline denominations in the U.S.
