Posts Categorized: Giving

Pentecost: Creating Welcoming Spaces for Youth with Disabilities

Like most kids, Josh Davenport-Herbst has a hard time saying no to his parents, especially when it comes to showing up for stuff at church. But unlike most kids, both of Josh’s parents are PC(USA) pastors and unlike many of his peers, he doesn’t like to be around too many people, loud noises or too… Read more »

Pentecost: Helping Immigrant Children Flourish

It’s one thing to watch the heartbreaking plight of new immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers unfold on the evening news. It’s a much greater thing to connect with people, like Lissy, in real life. Lissy, a young Honduran, arrived in the U.S. at the vulnerable age of 14, having dropped out of school to seek… Read more »

Pentecost: Living a Life Through Faith

The branches of their family trees are filled with Presbyterian pastors and elders, so it’s no wonder that Akilah Hyrams and Noah Westfall — both alums of the PC(USA)’s Youth Adult Volunteer or YAV program — have lives rooted in their faith-building experiences. The YAV program is an ecumenical, faith-based year of service for young people ages 19–30 in sites… Read more »

Pentecost: More Than We Can Plan

From the day they are born and even before they are born, we are busy making plans for our children. Some of our planning is about the really big things, like the name they will carry or finding the college that will help them fulfill their dreams. Some of our planning is much smaller, like… Read more »

OGHS: Building Connections to Last… Advocating for Environmental Justice

What does July 16 mean to you? If you are part of the Navajo nation, or have connections near Church Rock, New Mexico, that date might stir a heartbreaking memory of a preventable disaster that continues to have disastrous impacts. Over 40 years ago, the earthen dam of a nuclear waste disposal pond broke near… Read more »

OGHS: ‘Unstable Connection …’

Those two words have taken on a deeper meaning in the past couple of years, haven’t they? For many, the words “unstable connection,” “weak connection” or worse, “lost connection,” are synonymous for an online meeting that has become frozen or dropped off. These dreaded words, popping up on a phone or computer, mean whatever is… Read more »

Celebrating the 2022 One Great Hour of Sharing with Our Youth

Engaging the children of your congregation with the four churchwide Special Offerings has never been easier or more important, whether you are engaging them in-person or virtually. There are numerous ways children can connect with One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) during the season of Lent, including the ever-popular fish coin banks that often arrive… Read more »

Per Capita: What’s in It for Me?

By William McConnell It’s that time of year again: time to take a quick breath to recall Advent and Christmas celebrations; time to look ahead to what the new year will bring. It’s also time to consider your local congregation’s missional priorities and the financial pledges you have received so that a budget can be… Read more »

Becoming Flesh

By Rachel Yates We marked each Sunday in our Advent season with God’s promises for hope, peace, joy, and love.  We lit candles at church or in our homes as tangible signs of these promises fulfilled in Jesus Christ. For many of us in Southeast Wisconsin, however, these promises have felt hollow or distant.  Our… Read more »

Reaching for the Stars

For Sarah Valentina Hernandez Solache (SO-LA-CHAY), the colorful city of Zitácuaro (ZEE-TA-QUARO) in the highlands of Mexico — where millions of Monarch butterflies bathe the fields and forests in a sea of orange during their annual migration — was, and always will be, home. But, despite its beauty, Valentina readily admits that it simply wasn’t… Read more »