Who have been your most influential teachers? All types of teachers — at school, at church, at work and in families — help shape who we become. We are grateful for all our teachers.
Since conflict and violence began in Syria in 2011, at least two-thirds of Christians and two-thirds of health professionals have left the country, according to the Jinishian Memorial Program (JMP), a long-time partner of World Mission and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA).
The Office of Presbyterian Youth and Triennium, in coordination with its ecumenical partners, is announcing a 2021 Lent and Easter daily devotion series titled “Journey to the Cross.” Available through a phone app (d365 daily devotionals) and website, d365.org, it was created for youth, young adults, and anyone interested in practicing prayer and daily biblical reading and reflection.
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.
Inspired by their grandchildren, three friends and members of Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church in Sunnyvale, California, have created a new children’s book, “God is With Us Always Even in a Pandemic.”
Having as much fun as they could via Zoom, more than 330 Presbyterians gathered from across the country and across borders for the opening night of Synod School recently. They were treated to a childhood faith story from the Rev. Dr. Rodger Nishioka and laughed with — not at — a Synod School mainstay, the Rev. Burns Stanfield and his online band of tie dye-clad musicians.
Like most organizations, PC(USA)- affiliated camp and retreat centers were blindsided by the COVID-19 pandemic. Stay-at-home and social distancing orders struck the very heart and infrastructure of summer camp and retreat resident ministries. But amid it all, associate for Christian Formation Brian Frick has continued to have hope.
This past spring, Joel Winchip, executive director of Presbyterian Church Camp & Conference Association (PCCCA), wasn’t sure what camps would be able to do about offering summer programming.
The Rev. Dr. Trace Haythorn, now the CEO and executive director of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, learned his first pastoral care skills at the tender age of 13 after his friend died of leukemia.
