| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Image
Thursday, July 23, 2026
Your August Mission and Service Stories and more!
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Mission Yearbook: New York church hosts talk ‘with malice toward none’
Seated recently in the sanctuary of New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, where Abraham Lincoln used to worship during the most trying time in American history, a conservative and a progressive joined for a conversation on what “with malice toward none,” a soaring phrase in Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, might mean in today’s fraught political setting.
Dr. Tim Shriver, a film producer, the chairman of the board of Special Olympics and the co-creator of The Dignity Index, and Judge Tom Griffith, a retired federal judge who was previously general counsel of Brigham Young University, talked about the spiritual and moral values needed to combat today’s toxic political polarization. Dr. David McAllister-Wilson, president of Wesley Theological Seminary, moderated their 97-minute discussion, which can be viewed here.
Asked to talk about their faith, Shriver said it’s his conviction “we are all children of God, and we have a lot of evidence to that effect.”
“The problem of missing the dignity of other human beings is a fundamental human problem,” Shriver said. “Every time we miss it, we make a huge mistake. That’s where my faith starts — around the equality of every human being.”
Griffith said despite devoting much of his life to jurisprudence, the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law are “not my primary allegiance.”
“I am in awe to be in this space,” he said, adding that before the discussion started, he’d sat in Lincoln’s pew. “This church has been at the forefront of fighting for human dignity, and to be here with these people I love and admire — I’m grateful to be here.”
“I have faith in the Constitution, but primarily I am a Christian and I practice my Christianity as a Latter-Day Saint,” Griffith said. “The biblical story is Christ is going to win. It will look dark at times, but he is going to win. Any effort we make to follow him and copy him is worthwhile and valuable and important.”
Asked about the surge in political violence over the past few years, Shriver assigned part of the blame to what he called the “contempt industrial complex.”
“Partisan journalism is super profitable,” he said. “You’ve probably seen three to five examples of hateful rhetoric today. The toxin normalizes and rewards hatred.”
“Political violence has been with us forever, but there’s something different about this moment. Political scientists call it ‘affective polarization,’ and we’ve never seen it at the levels where it is now,” Griffith said. “Democrats and Republicans should disagree, but they now feel the other side is immoral.” Our political system “can’t work with that level of contempt,” he said.
When he speaks on college campuses and at law schools, Griffith pleads with students to stay off social media. He tells them, “You are being played, and it’s dollar-driven.”
“This is the opioid crisis of our time,” Griffith said. “It puts the level of enmity on steroids.”
McAllister-Wilson pointed out that polling shows that religion is often a driver of polarization and even political violence. He asked: What do people of faith do with their sense of righteous anger?
“Act on it without becoming the evil you oppose,” Shriver said. “Differences of opinion are not the problem; they are the solution to problems. It’s the whole purpose of a vote. That’s how we solve problems.”
A fan of C.S. Lewis, Griffith was at Oxford University recently. “I always go to University Church, where Lewis delivered his ‘The Weight of Glory’ sermon,” Griffith said. Lewis ends his sermon with these words: “Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.”
“I think that’s right,” Griffith said. “The people we disagree with who are so wrong — we need to treat them with dignity and respect.”
Shriver and Griffith were asked: What gives you cause for hope?
“That this is still a country of enormous innovation and compassion,” Shriver said, adding that Special Olympics relies on a half-million volunteers to hold events across the nation.
“I am hopeful because on Easter Sunday, something miraculous happened,” Griffith said. “Christ began a new Creation he calls us to be part of.”
“When we are seeking reconciliation,” Griffith said, “he’s with us.”
Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service (Click here to read original PNS Story)
Let us join in prayer for:
Stephen Smith, Business Analyst, Trust Services, The Presbyterian Foundation
Katie Snyder, Project Manager for Digital Fundraising, Annual Giving, Administrative Services Group
Let us pray:
Creator God, grant us wisdom and strength to understand the power as serving all in justice and love in Jesus’ name. Amen.
World Communion Offering Grant Update - New Information
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Mission Yearbook: Pickleball pays off for Long Island church
When the Rev. Wade Pond accepted a call as pastor at the Presbyterian Church of Sweet Hollow on Long Island, New York, he determined the transition was the perfect time to re-commit to the sport of pickleball. He had no idea, however, that his personal goal would turn out to be the perfect solution for his new congregation’s financial struggles, too.
Now, throughout Long Island, Pond is known as the “pickleball pastor” and his congregation rents out the social hall — transformed into a fully functioning indoor pickleball court— for up to 30 hours a week. The revenue from this creative re-purposing is keeping the church alive.
Pickleball, in which players use paddles to hit a hollow, perforated plastic ball over a net on a small court, was developed in Washington state in 1965.
The sport has been steadily expanding since its invention but has seen a huge surge in popularity in recent years. According to a 2025 report, an estimated 19.8 million people play pickleball in the U.S., a 311% growth in participation since 2021.
Pond first became familiar with pickleball around 2014 while serving a church in Ohio. He enjoyed the game and played about once a month. There is a park in Sweet Hollow just down the street from the Presbyterian church that has several outdoor pickleball courts. Pond played there several times a week and got to know the vibrant local pickleball community. He quickly learned that the available spaces to play were limited.
The outdoor courts aren’t usable during the region’s long cold months or inclement weather. There are private clubs that offer indoor courts, but they require a monthly membership fee alongside steep hourly rental rates. Pond said the desire for an affordable indoor space to play kept coming up in conversation.
Meanwhile, Pond had been hired with the particular goal of revitalizing the church. Like many congregations, Sweet Hollow was a small, older congregation facing decline and an increasingly limited budget.
Pond’s conversations with the pickleball community gave him an idea. He went the church’s session and pitched the idea of transforming the social hall — already designed as a multi-purpose room — into a pickleball court they could rent out to the community at an affordable hourly rate. One member of the session shared Pond’s enthusiasm for pickleball and encouraged the idea.
While the social hall was used occasionally by a nested Hispanic congregation and for the town's senior meetings, the room spent most of each week empty and unused, and its design made it surprisingly ideal for pickleball.
The session agreed to a three-month trial run from October to December 2022, and Pond invited fellow players to rent out the space on occasion. The church raised more than $3,000 from renting out the court during that time. The experiment was deemed a success, and they developed a regular schedule. They charge $30 per hour, which is far less than local clubs. The church also doesn't require a membership fee from pickleball players.
Three years later, the social-hall-turned-pickleball-court has provided $100,000 in steady income to the church. Pond says he advertised the space a couple of times on Facebook, but the schedule has remained full primarily through word of mouth.
Pond says the revenue has provided crucial financial stability to the church. “If it wasn’t for that income stream, the doors of this church would be closed right now," Pond said.
The social hall is still used by the church’s nested congregation and for Huntington Town Community Senior meetings, but it turns into a pickleball court for up to 30 hours per week. The church administrator handles the court’s scheduling and rental payments. Most of the renters are regulars who have a set day and time each week, which provides some stability. Pond says rearranging the space as needed is easy.
The church plans to continue renting out its social hall to pickleball players as long as it provides income and meets a community need. Meanwhile, other congregations have begun to ask Pond for advice on how to do something similar in their space. Pond happily offers them his insights and expertise, free of charge.
Layton Williams Berkes, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Life & Witness (Click here to read original PNS Story)
Let us join in prayer for:
Melaina Smith, Design Content Specialist, The Presbyterian Foundation
Natalie Smith, Product Manager, General Reader Books, Electronic Resources & Strategic Business Development, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation
Let us pray:
Father, open our eyes to people you love who seem beyond our awareness. Give us compassion to include them in our lives. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Your August Mission and Service Stories and more!
Emancipation Day August 1, 2026 marks Emancipation Day, commemorating the legal abolition of slavery on the land that is now Canada. It’s a ...
-
Image The Rev. Scott Lumsden Imagine you’re a member of a local Presbyterian church — a unique Presbyterian church with no pastor and no ses...
-
For their sixth episode, podcast hosts reach out to a sage and seasoned pair of Presbyterian pastors July 1, 2024 Photo by Benarelexander vi...
-
The Rev. Dr. Corey Nelson once talked with a young graduate student who said he had a steady girlfriend — a soul mate. Yet there were other ...
