Posts Tagged: children

Navigating the Road to Retirement

When the Apostle Paul wrote about the varieties of God-given abilities conferred by the Spirit, the Rev. Peggy Krong would be the first to admit that she likely missed out on the gift of financial expertise. Peggy, an active Presbyterian for more than 50 years, had always sensed a call to ministry. She was advised… Read more »

Christmas Joy Offering

What Child Is This?   Why is the Christmas carol “What Child Is This” so meaningful to us? Yes, it links a beautiful tune with inspiring words. But it is more than that. It is in the vision behind and beyond the tune and text where we find the deeper truths. When we sing “What… Read more »

Stop trafficking and exploitation

Helping to Stop Human Trafficking and the Exploitation of Children A mere child herself, living in Madagascar, Rose had already married, given birth to and lost a child by the time she was 15. Upon discovering that she was pregnant just four months after her traditional wedding, Rose’s joy at the birth of her son… Read more »

Pentecost Offering: We Are All Builders

You may never have thought of yourself as a builder, but you are — we all are. Some people you know actually do build solid things like houses and bridges or maybe roads and highways. But we all build things that support our future. Perhaps you build a garden each spring or a menu plan… Read more »

Pentecost Offering connects youth in the body of Christ

Fifteen-year-old Grace Reck usually can’t wait to try new things, but when given the chance last year to attend her first churchwide youth conference at Montreat, she dragged her feet — for a minute. “For both Grace and her twin sister, Emma, the Montreat Youth Conference was a pivotal experience in their faith journey,” said the Rev…. Read more »

Pentecost Offering Helps Young People Challenge the World’s Injustices

Yuriko Beltran wants to change the world — which is exactly why the 23-year-old entered the PC(USA)’s Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program. “I like the fact that I actively contribute to change, which is what the YAV program mainly seeks to accomplish,” she said. The YAV program is an ecumenical, faith-based year of service in sites across the U.S…. Read more »

Pentecost Offering Sets At-Risk Youth on the Road to Success

Everywhere he looked, the Rev. Allen Shelton saw tremendous gaps — gaps keeping high school-aged young people of color from succeeding in life. Rev. Shelton, a veteran educator, community advocate and pastor in New Jersey, was determined not to watch promising youth fall through the cracks of an increasingly broken educational system. He wanted to… Read more »

Pentecost Offering: How did they do that?

“… building up the Body of Christ.” Ephesians 4:12 How many times have we seen a modern building, an historic landmark, a great cathedral or a monument and thought, “How did they do that?” Regardless of when it was built, the skill and craftsmanship needed to not only imagine it, but to make it sturdy… Read more »

Pentecost: Building a Life of Faith

“We plan and God laughs” is identified as a Yiddish proverb, the title of a book or two and the headline of multiple online articles meant to help people navigate periods in life when personal plans seem to disintegrate in front of our eyes. When we hear or read the proverb, it can be difficult… 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 »