Guest post by Clara Hare-Grogg, 2019-2020 Young Adult Volunteer The Philippines, where I served as a Young Adult Volunteer until being evacuated due to the global pandemic, is acutely vulnerable to disasters like volcanic eruptions, typhoons, and floods. Even everyday weather is notoriously unpredictable. The ability to deal with the unexpected has therefore embedded itself… Read more »
May 11, 2020
Beauty in the Unknown
Guest post by Clara Hare-Grogg, 2019-2020 Young Adult Volunteer The Philippines, where I served as a Young Adult Volunteer until being evacuated due to the global pandemic, is acutely vulnerable to disasters like volcanic eruptions, typhoons, and floods. Even everyday weather is notoriously unpredictable. The ability to deal with the unexpected has therefore embedded itself… Read more »
Valued in this moment When Rev. Dr. David Gambrell was asked to speak at the Presbyterian Youth Triennium (PYT) last year, he knew it would be both challenging and extremely personal. “Not many preachers have the opportunity to address several thousand teenagers,” he says. “So I did this with a healthy dose of humility, fear… 
Guest post by Karl Graham, Westwood First Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati, OH “Start children off on the way they should go and even when they are old, they will not turn from it.” – Proverbs 22:6 This is one of the scriptures that underpins our relationship with one of Westwood First Presbyterian Church’s longest-standing mission partners:… 
During this time of uncertainty and social distancing, engaging the children of your congregation with the four churchwide Special Offerings has never been more important. There are numerous ways children can connect with the Pentecost Offering, especially considering this Offering celebrates how God’s Spirit works in the lives of young people. We have a number… 
Making connections The second grader that Susan Byrne tutors at Willow Brook Elementary holds her hand the whole time they are together, working on building his reading skills. Can you just imagine how wonderful that connection must feel for both of them? “My little guy is just so delighted to have an adult paying extra… 
Welcomed into God’s household Take a minute to look back on your life. Who all have you lived with? In the earliest parts of our lives, we might live with parents or grandparents or other caring adults. Perhaps siblings. Over the years, we might live with friends and extended family, family of choice or even… 
10 Stewardship Do’s 1. Pray. It’s what we do. I won’t belabor this point. 2. Cut yourself some slack. The last time leaders in the Church had to navigate post-Christendom, during a global pandemic is only right now. There’s no rule book. Trying to lead a community, sustain its ministries financially, all the while experiencing… 
Without power Who could forget the devastation after Hurricane Maria swept across Puerto Rico in 2017? Certainly not Mimita Nieves. Eighteen months later she was still living without electricity. Mimita did the best she could. She got along on canned food and powdered milk, and fresh vegetables when she could get them. She cooked on… 
From Worry-Free to Evicted For more than a decade, Monica lived peacefully in her Jersey City apartment and enjoyed a worry-free relationship with her landlord. However, when a new landlord acquired her building, Monica started getting notices summoning her to court. At different times, the landlord contended that she had been late with a rent… 
This is God’s house It is likely that some of us, when we were growing up, were told that there were certain ways to behave in the church building, because it is God’s house. Maybe it was not to run, or to keep our voices quieted, or maybe we were taught to invite others in….