Posts Categorized: culture

Gospel and Inclusivity

Praying in Mother’s Language Why It’s Important to Worship God in Multiple Languages by Samuel Son The gospel song, 나의 반석이신 하나님 (naui banseogisin hananim/Ascribe Greatness to Our God), sung in the closing worship service of the National Caucus of Korean Presbyterian Churches (NCKPC) annual meeting excavated my soul, loosening memory and longing of a… Read more »

Barn Boots and Blessings

Ashes and violence and teen’s question: Why?   by Donna Frischknecht Jackson   The sanctuary was mostly quiet. Every now and then a hum, rattle and swoosh from the ancient heating system would interrupt the stillness. It was a welcomed noise as I was trying hard to keep the cavernous room at a toasty 60… Read more »

The Church for Today

Going backwards How church entryways have changed   by Richard Hong    In March 2016, our historic sanctuary was destroyed in a three-alarm fire. After five months of worshiping in “portable” locations, we returned to our gym, which we outfitted for use as a worship space until our sanctuary can be rebuilt. Last month we took… Read more »

Writing in the Margins

Forced Ecclesiastical Assimilation? by Antonio ‘Tony’ Aja   I am an immigrant and a former refugee. I came from Cuba to the U.S. via Spain in the late ’60s. I belong to that group of people from the “Global South’’ who began to migrate to this country by the millions after the liberalization of the… Read more »

Barn Boots and Blessings

The Great Epiphany Challenge Joining the Magi in seeing Christ among us by Donna Frischknecht Jackson    It’s January 5, and I know I should take my Christmas tree down. The needles are falling at an alarming rate and each morning as I sip my coffee in the kitchen I can hear the clunk of… Read more »

The Unglued Church

Can We Talk About Sexism? In #metoo conversations, the church can do better by Susan Rothenberg   Here’s a statistic that you may or may not find startling. A study by PC(USA) Research Services in 2016 revealed 84% of female teaching elders have experienced discrimination, prejudice or harassment based upon their gender. Yet, 48% of male… Read more »

The Unglued Church

The Whole World is Watching Where should Christians stand in the face of evil? by Susan Rothenberg Lately, I’ve been thinking about a quote from the Woody Allen movie, “Manhattan.” “Has anybody read that Nazis are gonna march in New Jersey? Y’know, I read this in the newspaper. We should go down there, get some… Read more »

My Faith at Work

Kiss of death or saving grace? Cell biology teaches lessons of community by Elizabeth Jeffries Dinnertime every night was more than a meal; it was a family meeting. My parents, brothers and sister and I each shared a story about the day around the dinner table, and Dad always took his turn last. He was… Read more »

Speak Out

We all stand together Lessons in unity from a military base By Glenn Hink The white trucks and buses stopped on the road. The platoon of Marines stopped their jogging. The man on the lawn mower stopped mowing. The people coming out of the Commissary stopped in the parking lot, and set down their bags… Read more »