Rev. Dr. Stewart M. Pattison has been living with multiple sclerosis for years. As his health has recently forced him to retire, gifts from the Christmas Joy Offering have come to have special meaning for him. A portion of gifts received go toward supporting church leaders in their times of critical financial need. This is… Read more »
December 16, 2020
Christmas Joy: A Life Changed, But Still Fully Lived
Rev. Dr. Stewart M. Pattison has been living with multiple sclerosis for years. As his health has recently forced him to retire, gifts from the Christmas Joy Offering have come to have special meaning for him. A portion of gifts received go toward supporting church leaders in their times of critical financial need. This is… Read more »
Officially, the Presbyterian Pan American School (PPAS) is a Christian international college-preparatory boarding school located in Kingsville, Texas, but to Adelite Hategeka it is a second home filled with family from around the world. “My favorite thing about the school is the people you meet,” she says. “We rely on each other and learn how… 
A legacy of love and faith Rev. Ken Tracy has spent much of his more than 30 years with the PC(USA) helping congregations work through conflict and revitalize their membership — a mission grounded in love. If you have the opportunity to talk with Rev. Tracy for even a few minutes, it’s easy to understand… 
2015 was supposed to be a big year for Rose Bryant, with positive changes for her and her son —and it was! But things did not go exactly as expected. “A new work opportunity was supposed to open up so many doors for me,” Rose says, until it was discovered that she’d never finished college… 
“Many hands make light work.” “Teamwork makes the dream work.” “If we all do a little, it adds up to a lot.” There are lots of ways to say it — but working together really does make bigger and better things possible. And, lots of times, working together makes it more fun, too. In fact,… 
Celebrating the 2020 Christmas Joy Offering with Our Youth (during COVID-19) As we continue through 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 Christmas Joy Offering, sharing the joy of… 
The Gift of Being With What was the most perfect gift you ever received? A bike or doll when you were a kid? A video game, perhaps? Maybe it was the day you met your husband, your wife — or looked into the eyes of the newborn baby that someone laid in your arms. For… 
Not Another Statistic As a high school senior, Devon Kelly had no place to call home and little hope. Beginning at age 14, he slept wherever he could find a place to lay his head. He stayed with cousins, friends, his grandmother, and his aunt. Sometimes he spent the night outdoors on a park bench…. 
Facing Financial Hardship Grocery shopping had become an anxiety-filled experience for the Rev. Gloria Casasus-Urrutia. Ten years after her 2006 retirement as organist at her church, Porta Coeli in San German, Puerto Rico, she found herself thrust into severe financial hardship. “I had to write down the price of each item and add everything up… 
The Struggles of New Immigrants Tony and Lilia Acabal carried deep memories of the struggles they faced as new immigrants years ago. Tony’s family escaped violence-riddled Guatemala in 1987 when he was 15. A decades-long civil war, which claimed the lives of 200,000 people, posed danger at every turn. Lilia’s family came to the United…