A Weekly Offerings Stewardship Blog

During one of the interviews for this position, I sat at dinner next to Rev. Sarah Lisherness  as she was telling me about the type of work done by the programs under the Compassion, Peace and Justice Ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA). And suddenly, I had this existential, out of body experience. I felt this overwhelming sense of deep awe and gratitude. “I get to be a part of the hands on work God is doing in the world,” I thought, “Wow!” (My deep psyche is not very articulate.)  

“This is like the Oscars of the Presbyterian Church,” I found myself saying one day at General Assembly.

Being at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church is none other than electrifying, energizing and all around Presby-nerdy. I met people who were “church-famous” and others who were “book-famous.” There were some that were so famous that I just watched them from afar (um, Jack Rogers).  I saw friends from a long ago and friends from yesterday. I met so many amazing people, I could hardly keep track.  Although, you can checkout #selfieswithsally on Facebook or Twitter to see some of the amazing folks I met (i included a couple of great examples after the break.)

It’s an exciting day in the Special Offerings office, as we are finally ready to bring you something we’ve been working on for a little while (okay, a long while) now. So, we’re going to take a quick break from promoting the Pentecost Offering to announce the brand-new Special Offerings website! Well, technically it’s just five new landing pages (one general page and one for each of the individual offerings), that are still located under the PC(USA) web umbrella, but we really don’t like speaking in technicalities 🙂

Remember, by choosing one (or more) of the three following gifts from the Presbyterian Giving Catalog you’ll be:

1. Helping to make a difference in lives around the globe, while …
2. Remembering a special dad who made a difference in yours … by…
3. Sending these special people a sweet treat from Cheryl’s

Earlier this year, I had a unique opportunity to spend a couple of days in Atlanta, Georgia visiting with some incredible individuals that have dedicated themselves to sharing Christ’s love with others. 

The first stop on my trip was at Columbia Theological Seminary, the hosting site of the 2014 Big Ideas Conference, an annual event for youth workers from all over the PC(USA). As part of that experience, I was able to sit down with some Presbyterian Youth Workers’ Association (PYWA) members to get a better understanding of how their organization helps to encourage and support those who, like themselves, are called into youth ministry, and how it will benefit from gifts made to this year’s Pentecost Offering. 

Louisville — Over the next couple of weeks the Presbyterian Mission Agency will begin reverse-remitting gifts made from individuals directly to the Agency from last year’s Pentecost and Peacemaking Offerings. Fifty percent of Peacemaking gifts will be split evenly between presbyteries and receiving congregations, while forty percent of Pentecost Offering gifts will be remitted back to congregations.

Mother’s Day is right around the bend and we wanted to offer you all an opportunity to show appreciation to all of the amazing moms in your life by giving a gift in their honor.

Even though most churches received One Great Hour of Sharing this past Sunday, we wanted to share one more video with you about how your gifts to this offering are making a difference, as well communicate an important point that we sometimes forget to make: although One Great Hour of Sharing comes around just once each year, the needs that are being met through your gifts are on-going. Nowhere is this more true than in the city of New Orleans whose citizens are still struggling to recover from a storm that took place nearly nine years ago.

Our group of adults and youth were ready and flexible to help anywhere during our week at Point Pleasant. We helped paint, build showers for future service teams to use, sheetrocked a garage, and helped with whatever tasks that homeowners needed. One of the most meaningful experiences for us that week was helping a couple move into their home. It was the first time they had spent the night in their home in over 9 months. Through our day spent with them cleaning and moving, we were able to hear their story and be the hands and feet of Jesus. They were just one of the families we were able to interact with. In many ways that week we got more than we gave.