Mission Yearbook: Presbyterians for Earth Care webinar presents hope, challenge for young adults

Emma Marshall, the young adult organizer for Presbyterians for Earth Care, recently presented both hope and challenge during an hourlong webinar that can be seen here.

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Emma Marshall

Marshall, a candidate for ordination in National Capital Presbytery, has brought together Presbyterian young adults ages 18–35 in an organization called CANOPY, the Creation Action Network of Presbyterian Young Adults. CANOPY’s mission statement is this: “We are a community of faith-filled justice-seekers, inspired by the Holy Spirit and informed by the Presbyterian tradition. We come together to advocate and act for environmental justice and Creation care, magnifying our voices and power as a new generation of leaders.

“Heeding the call to love God and to love our neighbors, human and non-human, we seek to:

• Connect through diversity, geography and experience to build collective power
• Educate and learn through experience- and knowledge-sharing to inspire action
• Take action with energy, intelligence, imagination and love in solidarity with Creation.”

Forty-two young adults comprise CANOPY, Marshall said — 16 of them ministry professionals, 13 students and 13 young professionals in non-ministry roles. More than 10 states are represented on the membership rolls.

Online monthly meetings kicked off in September. Marshall said CANOPY members were either “very involved” at the denominational level, as Young Adult Advisory Delegates at General Assembly or as Young Adult Volunteers “who know the PC(USA) world but aren’t seeing it in their congregation,” or their local congregation “is super active on environmental justice but they don’t know what resources are available denominationally.” 

The worst consequences of climate change will be felt by young adults and by their offspring, Marshall noted. About 3 in 4 express “serious and disruptive concern or worry over the climate crisis,” she said. Nearly 4 in 10 Gen Zers — young people in their teens or 20s — report delaying having children or choosing not to due to environmental anxiety.

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“For a lot of young adults, the course of their life will look different because of the climate crisis,” Marshall said. “We are hearing this existential anxiety is coming home” among “people interested in joining together to do this work.”

Environmental justice connects several facets of social justice, she said, including racism, economic inequality and gender inequality.

Asked to name justice issues important to them, people on the call responded with immigration and migration, food insecurity, housing costs, microplastics and health, colonialism, and environmental racism. Marshall said two have emerged among CANOPY members: conflict and war, especially in Gaza, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ukraine; and native and indigenous rights. She said CANOPY members appreciated the Presbytery of San Gabriel’s recent action to return ancestral land to the Gabrieleno Tongva Tribal Council.

Marshall said the young adults in CANOPY want to learn best practices, more about taking tangible actions, about leading both passive and activist congregations, and connecting worship to action.

They want to battle hopelessness and helplessness, promote an environmental justice framework (“folks have heard a lot about sustainability and are hungry to connect environmental justice to other social issues,” Marshall said), promote denominational divestment, and develop both policy and advocacy.

They want to feel connected with a faith group, supported by their peers and be inspired and confident as church leaders. They also want to be taken seriously as leaders, Marshall said.

“I believe young people have a stake in the future of the church,” Marshall said. “I want to encourage young people to claim that stake and increase their advocacy as leaders in the church.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Erin Skinner, Ministry Relations Officer, Development Office, The Presbyterian Foundation
Ashley Smalley-Ray, VP Director of Compliance, Trust Services, The Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray:

Gracious and loving God, we are grateful for the witness of those who work together to make dreams a reality. We ask that your healing presence would surround us and that your love and guidance would support us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Join Us for the September 26 Workship: Renew and Lead!

Renew and Lead: A Workship for Ministry Wellness Saturday, September 26, 2025 8:30 AM - 3:00 PM King of Prussia, PA Ministry is a sacred calling—but it also requires intentional care for yourself. American Baptist Churches USA invites you to Renew & Lead: A Workship for Ministry Wellness on September 26, 2025, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Designed for clergy and ministry leaders, this Leadership Wellness event offers a day of worship, reflection, and practical learning centered on spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being. Through presentations, group discussion, and meaningful fellowship, participants will discover new ways to sustain their leadership and deepen their relationship with God. Featured presenters Rev. Dr. Sarah B. Drummond and Rev. Dr. Marilyn Monroe Harris will share wisdom drawn from years of leadership in theological education, ministry, and healthcare. Learn More Here Learn more about the Presenters: Rev. Dr. Sarah B. Drummond serves as Founding Dean of Andover Newton Seminary and Professor in the Practice at Yale Divinity School. She has been part of Andover Newton, a graduate theological school focused on education for spiritual leadership in locally governed faith communities, since 2005. At Andover Newton at YDS, Sarah is lead administrator responsible for curriculum, budget, and fundraising while also serving as Associate Dean of Yale Divinity School. Sarah teaches and writes about leadership and serves as combination advisor/mentor to ministers in-formation. She is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC). Rev. Dr. Marilyn Monroe Harris is the fifth Pastor and the first female Pastor of First Baptist Church of Teaneck in Teaneck, New Jersey. She is the founder and creator of the Christian Women’s Alliance which allows clergy women to come together in a safe environment to grow and bond together as Women in the Clergy. Reverend Harris is the Vice President of Community Relations at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. She is humbled to currently serve as 1st Vice President, United Missionary Baptist Convention State of New Jersey and 2nd Vice Moderator North Jersey District Missionary Baptist Association, Past President of the Black Clergy Council of Englewood, Teaneck and Vicinity and the Past Moderator of the Essex Association of the American Baptist Churches of New Jersey.

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Correction: We apologize for the error in our previous email regarding the event date. The correct date for this event is September 26, 2026. Thank you for your understanding, and we appreciate your grace as we share this corrected information. Renew and Lead: A Workship for Ministry Wellness Saturday, September 26, 2026 8:30 AM - 3:00 PM King of Prussia, PA Ministry is a sacred calling—but it also requires intentional care for yourself. American Baptist Churches USA invites you to Renew & Lead: A Workship for Ministry Wellness on September 26, 2026, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Designed for clergy and ministry leaders, this Leadership Wellness event offers a day of worship, reflection, and practical learning centered on spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being. Through presentations, group discussion, and meaningful fellowship, participants will discover new ways to sustain their leadership and deepen their relationship with God. Featured presenters Rev. Dr. Sarah B. Drummond and Rev. Dr. Marilyn Monroe Harris will share wisdom drawn from years of leadership in theological education, ministry, and healthcare. Learn More Here Learn more about the Presenters: Rev. Dr. Sarah B. Drummond serves as Founding Dean of Andover Newton Seminary and Professor in the Practice at Yale Divinity School. She has been part of Andover Newton, a graduate theological school focused on education for spiritual leadership in locally governed faith communities, since 2005. At Andover Newton at YDS, Sarah is lead administrator responsible for curriculum, budget, and fundraising while also serving as Associate Dean of Yale Divinity School. Sarah teaches and writes about leadership and serves as combination advisor/mentor to ministers in-formation. She is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC). Rev. Dr. Marilyn Monroe Harris is the fifth Pastor and the first female Pastor of First Baptist Church of Teaneck in Teaneck, New Jersey. She is the founder and creator of the Christian Women’s Alliance which allows clergy women to come together in a safe environment to grow and bond together as Women in the Clergy. Reverend Harris is the Vice President of Community Relations at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. She is humbled to currently serve as 1st Vice President, United Missionary Baptist Convention State of New Jersey and 2nd Vice Moderator North Jersey District Missionary Baptist Association, Past President of the Black Clergy Council of Englewood, Teaneck and Vicinity and the Past Moderator of the Essex Association of the American Baptist Churches of New Jersey.

American Baptist Churches USA | P.O. Box 851 | Valley Forge, PA 19482 US

Mission Yearbook: West Virginia church finds joy in Presbyterian Giving Catalog

At Piedmont Presbyterian Church in West Virginia, generosity comes in all sizes — sometimes even cow-sized.

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For Lori Evans, a ruling elder at the church who is currently in the process of becoming a commissioned pastor, nothing brings more joy than seeing the congregation come together to make a big difference through the Presbyterian Giving Catalog. “That Giving Catalog is wonderful,” Evans said. “For us, it’s a wonderful resource, it’s a wonderful tool.”

Evans has been part of Piedmont Presbyterian Church for nearly 40 years — she was married there and raised her daughter there. A lifelong churchgoer and daughter of a minister, she stepped in to serve as pulpit supply after the church’s previous pastor resigned. Now in her fourth year under contract, she’s working toward becoming a commissioned pastor through courses at Union Presbyterian Seminary.

During the week, Evans works in a local pathology lab — a vocation she loves. But her ministry work, she said, “is my joy.”

Each Sunday, about 30 worshipers gather at the church in the small mountain town of Piedmont. Most are older adults, many widowed, though there are a few young children, too. “The more we listen to the Holy Spirit,” Evans said, “the better things work.”

The Presbyterian Giving Catalog — available in print and online — has long been a favorite tool for congregations like Piedmont. The latest edition has been reorganized around four cause areas: Provide Clean Water, End Hunger, Sustain Communities and Support Education. With 44 giving opportunities, it’s designed to fit every mission interest and every budget.

“The Giving Catalog is easy. You can tailor it to what your funds are,” Evans said, noting that she finds it to be a great tool for mission committees to make a difference in the wider world.

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Each year, Piedmont Presbyterian Church in West Virginia puts the Presbyterian Giving Catalog to good use (contributed photo).

Cathy Boyce, Debbie Scheermesser and Evans form Piedmont’s Mission Committee. The women look forward to studying the Giving Catalog each year, searching for projects that will have the “biggest bang for the buck.” Their gifts come out of the church’s general fund, and they especially love to focus on projects that help children and provide clean water.

Over the years, they’ve purchased chickens, rabbits and more through the Giving Catalog. “We bought a cow!” Evans said proudly, adding that she feels it has been their most significant gift so far. “Someone’s gift helped us spend the $450 to buy a whole cow” to provide stable income and nourishment to a community.

Piedmont Presbyterian Church feels connected to the Giving Catalog’s invitation to “give with a purpose.” In addition to using the catalog to give globally, the congregation also continues to give locally — with a purpose. The church supports the Burlington Children’s Home and the Union Rescue Mission, and it participates in a community food pantry run by the local ministerial association.

When a major flood hit nearby Western Maryland, the church gave support to the local fire company to help replace lost equipment. “Because we are small, I think it’s easier for us to give money or send money,” Evans said. “Now that our congregation is aging, it’s how we can help.” And the Giving Catalog is a natural aid, helping their gifts reach around the globe.

Evans encourages church members to see every act of giving — large or small— as a step of faith. “Do what you can joyfully,” she said. “Encourage people to step out in faith and find their own gift. If it’s $25 for rabbits, that’s great. If it’s sending a card to someone who’s sick, that’s great. Step out in faith!”

Evans notes that a share of a cow ($50), school supplies ($30), and a share of a garden well ($50) allows them to help with causes the Spirit has placed on their hearts and participate in ways God is at work in the world.

“I’m a big old sinner who loves Jesus,” she said with a smile. “Little things enable us to spread that love — and that’s what we want to do.”

You too can help give a dairy cow! Would you join Piedmont Presbyterian Church in sharing little gifts to spread Christ’s love? Share the good news and tangible resources through the Presbyterian Giving Catalog. Click here to get started.     

Jana Blazek for Stewardship and Funds Development (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

T. Clark Simmons, Senior Church Consultant, Engagement & Church Relations, The Board of Pensions
Alejandra Sherman, Administrative Assistant, President’s Office, Administrative Services Group

Let us pray:

Loving God, may we seek your face when our eyes are drawn to lesser things. May we seek your kingdom first and hold fast to the vision Jesus proclaimed, even in the face of the kind of outrage Jesus encountered. For we seek always to follow your ways, for the sake of your reign, on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: ‘The Missionary Kids’ author discusses challenges some children face

Dr. Holly Berkley Fletcher grew up as a white American child in Kenya — in her words, “a doubting, struggling fearful Christian with bold, unwavering missionary parents.” 

“I used to feel I was without a culture, without a true home, that I was a zebra without stripes, to use a traditional African metaphor,” she wrote on her website. “These days, I just embrace the ambiguity. It turns out we’re all oddballs when you get down to it.”

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Fletcher has worked as an academic historian of American history and, for 19 years, as an Africa analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency. Her third act is as a writer and essayist, an observer of American religion and of life in general. The author of “The Missionary Kids: Unmasking the Myths of White Evangelicalism” was a recent guest on “A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast,” hosted each week by Simon Doong and the Rev. Lee Catoe. Listen to their 66-minte conversation here.

The research for Fletcher’s book included interviews with more than 80 other missionary kids and a survey of 200 others.

“Their experiences varied,” she told Catoe and Doong. “There were people like me who mostly had a happy childhood. Others had abusive situations or were raised in dangerous and traumatic situations. Some were still true believer white evangelicals; others had left Christianity altogether.”

One thing Fletcher picked up from her interviews with others who’d grown up in evangelical missionary settings is “a myth that white evangelicals tell themselves,” she said. “It’s this idea that American Christians are key to the world’s salvation,” that “they see themselves as the default Christianity. There are ideas about indispensability, about how good they are as people.”

Doong cited this frequently asked question: If we believe in equal partnerships, shouldn’t we be receiving people from other places?

The U.S. immigration system has structural barriers that can make that difficult, Fletcher said. “Other countries do send missionaries to the U.S., but they end up ministering to migrant populations,” she said.

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There’s now “more awareness of the needs of missionary kids and a lot more support for them,” Fletcher said. In the people she interviewed, “I had hoped to see a shift, but I was dismayed to find this wasn’t the case. They still felt de-prioritized. They still felt this pressure to take care of themselves and not create complications because the calling was so important.”

“A universal experience that came through is the intense grief of leaving the mission field at the end of your childhood and returning to the U.S. to live your adult life,” she said. “There is a wholesale loss of self, and that came out clearly.”

She said she never felt the urge to re-enter the mission field after college. “You would think it would be a cosmopolitan upbringing, but it’s actually insular,” she said. “I think that’s why the grief [over leaving] is so intense, because there is no replicating that experience.”

Fletcher grew up in Kenya but didn’t learn much about it. The nation held its first multi-party election during her senior year in high school. “We did have to do drills as part of a contingency plan in case there were evacuations. That was it,” she said. Her own experience as the child of missionaries was part of “a bizarre world that was very self-assured and self-contained and not terribly open intellectually.”

“It’s a weird upbringing to be sure, and people [who have read the book] say they’re fascinated to learn about a world they didn’t know existed,” she said. “The other thing people have responded to is the missionary kid experience of feeling alienated, like you don’t belong where you are.”

“Most of us figure out ways to create deep bonds with people even if we don’t have much in common on the surface, and to find our people and our family in many different places,” she said.

“That’s a lot for a child or a young person to go through,” Doong said.

New episodes of “A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast” drop every Thursday. Listen to previous editions here.

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Julianna Sheridan, Administrator, Investments, The Board of Pensions
Rheannon Sicely, VP, Customer Experience & Change Mgt, Plan Operations, The Board of Pensions

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, help us to go boldly into our local mission field as learners, servants and storytellers. Holy Spirit, show us where you are working and give us courage to share the life-giving message of Jesus Christ’s grace and forgiveness. Amen.