san fernando presbytery

Presbytery of San Fernando celebrates 55 new worshiping communities in 55 years

“God is not yet finished with the Presbyterians!” said Nick Warnes, director of Cyclical LA, a ministry of the Presbytery of San Fernando in California, and executive director of Cyclical INC. Warnes was describing what it meant for him to meet the milestone of 55 new worshiping communities in the 55-year history of the Presbytery of San Fernando.

PDA responds to needs following both natural, human-caused disasters

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance uses terms like “unprecedented” and “all-encompassing” when referring to the destructive fires still burning both in Northern and Southern California – especially the Camp Fire that destroyed much of Paradise, Calif., a fire that had claimed at least 79 lives as of Tuesday and destroyed more than 10,000 homes.

Fostering Community in an Urban Setting

Fostering community in an urban setting Seven years ago, I started using the local Starbucks as a workspace to foster community through the café and arts culture in northeastern Los Angeles. This ministry, called the Coop, recently received a seed grant for 1001 New Worshiping Communities. I’m grateful for that and for what God has done to connect people to each other and to God. Over time, purposely making myself interruptible, I’ve built friendships with regulars of every age, wage and life stage. One of these people was “Selma.” Selma and her two young children had just moved into a studio apartment around the corner to escape domestic violence. Originally from Mexico and raised in the Catholic Church, Selma was now in a new neighborhood without support from family, friends or a local church. While believing in God, she was not interested in participating in any kind of religious institution. But she trusted me. And the coffee chats and neighborhood walks helped her connect to God, to a local friend and to a larger network of support.