Mission Yearbook: North Carolina pastor looks back at impact of Hurricane Helene

It’s been over a year since Hurricane Helene hit Western North Carolina. Different metrics are used after a natural disaster to measure its impact: the number of lives lost (248 recorded), the number of homes destroyed or damaged (some estimates as high as 200,000), the dollar amount of economic losses (in North Carolina alone estimates exceed $54 billion), and how much it will cost to rebuild (some estimates exceed $200 billion). Hurricane Helene’s numbers are staggering, and they tell only a fraction of the story of how life changed that day in September 2024.

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A few weeks after Hurricane Helene's destruction, the Rev. Dr. Marcia Mount Shoop was pictured in the sanctuary of the Asheville, North Carolina church she serves, Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church. (Photo by Rich Copley)

Hurricane Helene was not just a hurricane; it was also a devastating geologic event. The storm triggered more than 2,000 landslides in our region. In the area I live in, 16 people died in mudslides, some of which were several miles long. The storm spawned multiple tornadoes. All told, Hurricane Helene took out at least 40% of the trees in Buncombe County.

Like many other churches, the church that I pastor, Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, sprang into action right after the storm hit. We opened our doors and figured things out together. At the six-month mark after Hurricane Helene, we had done more than $5.5 million in rent support for storm survivors. We had done over $500,000 in utility bill support, and we have no way to count all the free supplies we have handed out. Over a year later, we, alongside some of our community partners, are still doing rent support, providing free supplies, and assisting those facing utility bill shut offs. Many of our service economy workers are not back to full-time hours. Some of them worked for businesses that no longer exist. Some of them work for businesses that are not sure they are going to make it.

Rent support means that when you hit a hard stretch because of a job loss, a health emergency, or a natural disaster, you have a way to get your rent paid to avoid eviction. At Grace Covenant, we created a low-barrier application system because of the sheer magnitude of the disaster. Hundreds of people were lined up at our door every day, even months after the storm. In July 2025, we opened one day of the month for rent support and had 110 apply. We were able to stop 23 evictions that were already in the courts for a total cost of $67,000. And we assisted many others who were in immediate danger of eviction. In one day, we spent $110,000 to help keep people housed. 

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Like many other PC(USA) congregations, Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church sprang into action following Hurricane Helene's devastating impact. (Photo by Rich Copley)

Even in the best of times, rent support has the capacity to be a thread that strengthens the whole economic ecosystem. It supports renters by helping them stay housed and avoid having an eviction on their record. Having an eviction on your rental history makes future renting very difficult, if not impossible. Rent support helps property owners because evictions often end up costing those who own rental properties. Rent support supports business owners by keeping a trained workforce in place. And rent support helps the whole community stabilize after a natural disaster.

The rent support we did at GCPC did not come from any state or federal funds.  Over 60% of our donations were from private donors all over the world. The rest of the funds came from grants disbursed by local philanthropic organizations like the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County and Dogwood Health Trust, as well as grants from the City of Asheville and Buncombe County. 

As our country settles into this next phase of climate change, epochal weather events will be more frequent and more devastating. Our collective resolve to take good care of each other in this historical moment can be about something other than political polarization and competing claims about truth and consequences. Human beings can adapt, and we can learn from difficult experiences about how to strengthen what makes us a nation in the first place: we, the people. The better we are at disaster responsiveness and sharing resources with those most impacted, the safer and stronger local communities will be. The safer and stronger our local communities are, the safer and stronger our nation will be.

The Rev. Dr. Marcia Mount Shoop is pastor and head of staff at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Asheville, North Carolina.(Click here to read original PNS story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Jenny Barr, Reference and Outreach Archivist, Presbyterian Historical Society, Interim Unified Agency
 Andrew Kang Bartlett, Associate, Presbyterian Hunger Program, Interim Unified Agency

Let us pray:

God of mercy and refuge, we remember all who were harmed by Hurricane Helene and who lost loved ones, homes, work and stability. Hold communities in Western North Carolina in your healing care and strengthen all who continue the long work of rebuilding. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Creation care and global debt justice are topics featured on Presbyterian Advocacy Hour

The Presbyterian Advocacy Hour recently focused on the Season of Creation and a Jubilee year push for financial reforms to free developing countries from crushing debts that make it challenging to pay for essential services.

The online program featured the Rev. Cindy Cushman, pastor of Corydon Presbyterian Church in Corydon, Indiana, and Eric LeCompte, executive director of the Jubilee USA Network, an interfaith alliance of religious, development and advocacy organizations addressing the structural causes of poverty and inequality.

The hour, presented by the Presbyterian Office of Public Witness in collaboration other ministries such as the Presbyterian Hunger Program, takes place on fourth Wednesdays of the month.

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Catherine Gordon

“It’s a product of a variety of different Presbyterian programs, and we're hoping that these monthly gatherings will help to provide the knowledge” for “effective and focused action on some of the pressing advocacy issues of our time, as well as nourishment for your spirit and community building,” said host Catherine Gordon, OPW’s representative for international issues. 

The first hour and a brief prayer vigil that followed provided time to focus on the Season of Creation and its theme Peace with Creation. The season began Sept. 1 and continued through Oct. 4.

“It is a special season where we celebrate God as Creator and acknowledge Creation as the divine continuing act that summons us as collaborators to love and care for the gift of all that is created,” Gordon said.

The denomination and partners, such as Creation Justice Ministries, already have held multiple activities to observe the season, but for those who would like to begin incorporating the season into their churches, the Advocacy Hour provided some examples.

Cushman explained how her church has celebrated the Season of Creation with various activities such a multi-week sermon series and blessing of the animals. Reading the Rev. Dr. Patricia K. Tull’s book “Inhabiting Eden: Christians, the Bible and the Ecological Crisis” also has been part of the seasonal observance, as has an outdoor prayer walk that has included scripture, poetry and meditation.

The walk “is a really nice intergenerational thing,” Cushman said. “I think that engages the youth and children more than a sermon does, and when we did the prayer walk this year, our youth really loved it,” especially “walking the labyrinth outside.”

The second speaker was LeCompte, who highlighted Jubilee 2025 campaigns calling for debt justice and financial reforms for communities burdened by unsustainable debt.

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Eric LeCompte is the executive director of the Jubilee USA Network (Photo courtesy of the network)

LeCompte stressed the importance of faith-based support and urged Presbyterians to go to the network’s website to find the Jubilee 2025 petition, which individuals and organizations can sign to join the call for debt forgiveness for struggling communities.

“It's a vital time right now to be contacting members of Congress to say support global debt relief accountability legislation and accountability mechanisms for the IMF,” said LeCompte, referring to the International Monetary Fund. “We'd encourage people to go to our website, Jubilee usa.org, and there you'll find a petition that over 200 faith-based organizations are moving around the world.”

LeCompte explained that the debt crisis is intertwined with issues related to climate change and to countries’ ability to provide for social services.

He noted that “when a country is in crisis, they're going to exploit whatever resources they have,” and “when we take gas, oil and coal out of the ground" and massive deforestation occurs, “it has a cyclical impact, so not only are those countries being exploited for these resources, it’s also driving up the challenges of climate change as well as taking away one of our most precious resources, which are older trees and older plants, which can absorb CO2 emissions.”

He also provided historical perspective, noting that “the vast amount of industrialization and growth in the north that took place, starting in the 1800s by stealing resources from developing countries in the south, consuming them for the past several 100 years in the north, not only spurred climate change, but also created a greater debt for the south,” and “countries were unprepared to deal with climate mitigation and adaptation.”

Find more information about the Presbyterian Advocacy Hour here. 

Darla Carter, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Cheryl Barnes,  Manager, US Global Ecumenical Liaisons, Interim Unified Agency
David Barnhart, Associate, Story Ministry, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Interim United Agency

Let us pray:

Creator God, you call for us to care for the earth and to seek justice for our neighbors near and far. Open our eyes to the burdens carried by communities in poverty and to the wounds of your creation itself. Give us courage to advocate, wisdom to act and compassion that moves beyond words into faithful witness. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: New center at Columbia Theological Seminary aims to equip faith leaders for divided public square

In the midst of fractured and polarized debates in the United States, a timely new initiative, the Center for Theology and Contested Publics at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia, has been created to help church leaders understand changing public spaces and then enter them and speak with clarity and confidence.

Photo courtesy of Columbia Theological Seminary

The Center for Theology and Contested Publics at Columbia Theological Seminary will be an innovative hub for research and conversation to help equip communities of faith to speak wisely and faithfully in contested spaces, empower individuals with deeper theological insight and foster dialogue where division reigns.

“Surely one of the most unsurprising trends in the U.S. over the past few decades has been the increased presence of religious voices in public spaces,” said center director Dr. Mark Douglas, Columbia’s J. Erskine Love Professor of Christian Ethics and lead professor for the seminary’s ThM degree. “Whether for good (the Moral Mondays movement) or ill (White Christian Nationalism), religious language simply shows up more often and in more different ways than it once did.”

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Dr. Mark Douglas

“But what has driven this trend? And how have a range of significant forces — demographic shifts, the advent of social media, the rise of the ‘nones,’ etc. — shaped such language? The Center for Theology and Contested Publics dives headlong into those questions, hoping that addressing such questions not only can give insight into this trend but can shape better religious voices for public spaces,” Douglas said.

The center will utilize a national board to chart its direction in these conversations. That board includes Columbia professors and administrators Dr. Jackson Adamah, assistant professor of World Christianities; the Rev. Dr. Rafael Reyes, senior advisor for Flourishing and Belonging; Dr. Nicole Symmonds, assistant professor of Christian Ethics; the Rev. Dr. Charles Wiley, senior director for Leadership Support; and the Rev. Dr. Christine Roy Yoder, senior vice president and dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs; along with the Rev. Jennifer Butler (Faith in Democracy), Dr. Grace Kao (Claremont School of Theology), Dr. Vincent Lloyd (Villanova University), the Rev. Dr. Mary Nickel (University of South Carolina) and the Rev. Dr. Wonchul Shin (Villanova University).

“The launch of the Center for Theology and Contested Publics at Columbia Theological Seminary is a bold and unique step toward understanding and shaping the religious voices that increasingly define our public life,” said the Rev. Dr. Victor Aloyo Jr., Columbia’s president. “By engaging the complex forces of social change, technology, and shifting identities, the center offers a deeply relevant platform for fostering thoughtful and constructive dialogue, research, and contributions to today’s contested publics.”

For more about the Center for Theology and Contested Publics at Columbia Theological Seminary, go here.

Columbia Theological Seminary exists to educate and nurture faithful, imaginative, and effective leaders for the sake of the Church and the world. As a diverse, graduate educational institution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Columbia Theological Seminary is a community of theological inquiry, leadership development and formation for ministry in the service of the Church of Jesus Christ.

Columbia offers six graduate degree programs and dozens of courses and events along with resources for church professionals and lay people. For more information, go here.

Columbia Theological Seminary, Special to Presbyterian News Service (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Amantha Barbee, Major Gift Officer, Stewardship and Major Gifts, Administrative Services Group (A Corporation)
Rebecca Barnes, Manager, Presbyterian Hunger Program, Interim Unified Agency  

Let us pray:

God of wisdom and truth, may leaders be guided by love rather than fear, by truth rather than distortion and by hope rather than despair. Form us into people who speak with grace, listen with compassion and work for the flourishing of all. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Over $1 million in grants are approved by Presbyterian Hunger Program

The Advisory Committee of the Presbyterian Hunger Program has approved more than $1 million in grants to further the work of organizations across the United States and nearly 30 other countries.

The funds will be used to address hunger and poverty and their root causes, while also supporting advocacy efforts, including community organizing.

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The Rev. Rebecca Barnes manages the Presbyterian Hunger Program (Photo by Rich Copley)

“We remain grateful for the generosity of Presbyterians in giving to One Great Hour of Sharing, hunger appeals and other accounts so that we can support these grants that are making a difference in places like Palestine, Haiti, Sudan and multiple states all across the United States,” said the Rev. Rebecca Barnes, who manages PHP.

The grants also include funds from the Presbyterian Tree Fund, which comes from contributions that Interim Unified Agency offices make to compensate for Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) work-related travel, Barnes said. The fund is used for tree planting and carbon-sequestration projects.

“PHP grants support grassroots communities, nonprofit organizations, coalitions building people power, community organizing groups, and presbytery-based Hunger Action Advocates,” Barnes said. “Recipients range from long-term partners such as the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to Joining Hands networks in Peru and Cameroon to new groups like the Detroit Black Community Food Sovereignty Network or Juneli Nepal — all of whom are working persistently and creatively to address hunger in their own ways and in their own contexts.”

Additional recipients will include Alaska Community Action on Toxics, an Indigenous-led group concerned about contaminants in their region. Among other things, the group will be teaching residents how to grow food organically and providing health-related advocacy and leadership training.

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Yarducopia is a program of Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT), a non-profit group based in Anchorage, Alaska. It helps residents reconnect with nature. (Photo by Jennifer Evans, Presbyterian Hunger Program)

“I just love what they do,” committee member Eileen Best said. “They have an emphasis on gardening and local sustainability for their food, rather than importing everything.”

Best also highlighted the group’s “emphasis on transitioning away from fossil fuels and eliminating plastics,” adding, “They do really, really good work.”

International grant recipients will include the Good Shepherd Collective, which is planning to produce a podcast series tying current events in Palestine to broader systems of economic exploitation, imperialism, settler-colonialism and Indigenous resistance globally, according to PHP.

“This is an excellent way to tell truth when more and more mainstream media is blocking facts,” said the Rev. Ann Elyse Hicks, another committee member. “This podcast and the stories that they are trying to lift up are so crucial to hear right now.”

National Hunger Associate Andrew Kang Bartlett noted that groups are operating during a time when poverty and income inequality are deepening, and “we see all around us the dismantling of government and public funding for the public good.” 

Valery Nodem, PHP associate for International Hunger Concerns, was part of a staff overview of challenges on the international scene.

“There is a huge wave of authoritarianism coming back,” Nodem said. “Before Covid, it had started ... going down, but it’s coming back — very, very strongly — and I feel like a lot of us in this country are probably feeling that as well.”

Other challenges abroad include stagnant development and lack of opportunity, rampant inflation, and “lots of civil conflicts and wars are shaking the world right now," he said.

Because of those issues and more, it is important for Presbyterians to be a part of finding solutions, according to PHP.

“With recent drastic cuts to international food aid and to federal support that undergirds state SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits, it is more critical than ever that Presbyterians demonstrate our commitment, our values, and our financial support for addressing hunger in our communities and around the world,” Barnes said. “While the grants that the Presbyterian Hunger Program makes are vital, churches and charities will not be able to fully make up for the lack of structured, funded, governmental support for those who are hungry.”

Barnes is thankful for the Advisory Committee, which receives nearly 100 grant applications each fall, and for the PHP staff, which invests in grant partner relationships and solidarity throughout the year, bringing expertise and vigor to visioning and planning.

Darla Carter, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Adriana Ballard, AVP, Director of Investment Management, Investments, Presbyterian Foundation
Clare Balsan, Associate, United Nations Advocacy, Office of Public Witness and Presbyterian Ministry at the UN         

Let us pray:

Compassionate God, we lift up the organizations that are doing important work for people in this country and around the world. Where there is scarcity, bring provision; where there is injustice, bring courage; and where there is weariness, bring hope. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Tennessee church group seeks Christ-centered dialogue across divides

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Though there are nearly three dozen places in the United States named Greenville, there is only one spelled “Greeneville.” With a population of just over 15,000, the East Tennessee town is far smaller and less well-known than its counterparts in North Carolina and South Carolina. But locals will quickly tell you about its notable history as a nexus for education, political leadership and human rights. Today, a small group of faithful Presbyterians — and a few others — are continuing this spirited legacy in their own unique way, with something they call “The Zacchaeus Group.”

The Rev. Todd Jenkins and the Rev. Robert Moore of First Presbyterian Church
in Greeneville, Tennessee appear together on a Zoom call with Presbyterian News Service.

Greeneville served as the starting place for President Andrew Johnson’s political career and was also part of East Tennessee’s strong abolitionist movement in the early 19th century. Perhaps most curiously, it was also briefly the capital of Franklin, a proposed-but-never-approved U.S. state in the later 1700s made up of territory ceded to Congress by North Carolina to pay off Revolutionary War debt. Nearby Tusculum University — originally founded as a Presbyterian institution — was also Tennessee’s first university.

First Presbyterian Church of Greeneville was the first church established in Greene County hundreds of years ago, and it continues to be a central part of town life today. It has born witness to Greeneville’s history and provided a spiritual home for many of its residents. The church’s pastor, the Rev. Todd Jenkins, said that these days, the church has a membership that spans the political spectrum. Congregants come together for worship but separate into Sunday school classes that tend to favor their own ideological bents.

As political tensions have continued to escalate in the United States and polarization has become more and more entrenched, a small group of church members began to question how their Christian faith was calling them to respond to such a world. The conversation felt crucial, and they became increasingly uncomfortable with how the siloes and divisions in the world around them were reflected in their own church, as well as how removed the church at large felt from the hard realities happening in the U.S. and globally.

“It was clear to most of us in the group that unless somebody started doing something a little bit different, we were we were not going to have any voice in the outcome of what was happening —what was ahead,” said the Rev. Robert Moore, a retired Presbyterian minister and one of the group’s organizing members.

Six months ago, the group left behind the Sunday school classes they’d been attending and began to meet together instead. They read a chapter per week from “On Tyranny” by historian Timothy Snyder. Each chapter lifts up a lesson to be learned from the U.S. in the 20th century. Resisting the urge to devolve into party-line arguments, the group has examined each lesson from the book through the lens of the Gospel, seeking to understand and learn from the spiritual teachings and political wisdom of Jesus.

They call their initiative the Zacchaeus Project because Zacchaeus “spoke up when nobody else did and was a committed voice,” according to Moore. They see their own efforts in a similar light. The group has the passionate endorsement of Jenkins which, Moore says, gives them “tremendous encouragement.”

Most of the group’s 15 members came from the more progressive-leaning Sunday school class, and their goals place a clear emphasis on social justice, equity and human rights. However, they have intentionally sought to engage more conservative voices. They also count several Methodists among their number, including two retired Methodist ministers. They maintain parity between men and women, and rotate leadership each week to eschew a hierarchical structure. Everyone who was a part of the group at its beginning is still involved.

Some of them engage in protests and demonstrations according to their own values, but the group itself is focused on discussion and learning. Again and again, they call themselves back to the central question of what Christ truly calls the church to be in the world as it is. They are hoping the fruit of their conversations will be outreach to and care for others in need.

“The voice coming out of the group is very centrist,” Moore said. “It’s also very strongly a voice that is not looking for breaking things but is looking for building things and bringing new life.”

Layton Williams Berkes, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Amber Baker, Donor Advised Fund Specialist, Operations, Presbyterian Foundation
Charles Baker, Production Clerk, Presbyterian Distribution Service, Administrative Services Group, (A Corporation)                                   

Let us pray:

Gracious God, you call your people not to comfort alone but to climb above fear, to see one another clearly and to respond with love. We give thanks for communities willing to wrestle with hard questions, to listen across differences and to seek your justice with humble hearts. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Special Offerings - Rebuilding Lives and Restoring Hope in South Sudan

Rebuilding Lives and Restoring Hope in South Sudan As a girl in South Sudan, Mama Nyaiar had a good life until civil war broke out in 2013, exposing her to unimaginable horrors. All around her, countless lives were lost to the armed conflict. Among them were her father and nearly all of her nine siblings. As Mama and her family fell deeper into desperation and hopelessness, “hope” reentered their lives in the form of Hope Restoration South Sudan, a nationally registered, women-founded and women-led non-governmental organization that is a partner of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) To learn more about Hope Restoration South Sudan, and how our gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing not only bring hope, but saves lives, please read this story. Read the full story about Hope Restoration South Sudan. The needs of our world are great. Please give what you can to One Great Hour of Sharing; for when we all do a little, it adds up to a lot. Thank you for generously supporting One Great Hour of Sharing, the single largest way Presbyterians come together to make a difference in the world. If you have any questions, reply to this email or call us at (800) 728-7228, Ext. 5047.

Children's Resources for One Great Hour of Sharing 2026

One Great Hour of Sharing serves individuals and communities in their most challenging times of need. This work responds to Christ’s call to ministries of compassion for the world’s most vulnerable. It is so important to share the message of our work with young people so they grow in understanding of how by working together we, the Church, can make a difference for a lifetime. Many resources for young people are free and downloadable. We invite you to make this season of Lent one that makes a lasting impact not only on those we serve, but our youth as well.

Download Gracie and the Power of Friendship

Download a Curriculum for Younger Children

Download a Curriculum for Older Children

Download an Intergenerational Curriculum

Download the One Great Hour of Sharing Coloring page Our coloring page is also available in Spanish and Korean. Download Spanish language version. Download Korean language version.

NEW THIS YEAR! Fish Box Stickers For many years, youth have used Fish Boxes to collect coins for One Great Hour of Sharing. Print these stickers to use wherever you like. Get creative! Use these stickers or the Can Wrapper below to make your own way to collect coins. Download Fish Stickers

Can Wrapper Create coin cans and display in the church sanctuary to remind folks to use their own coin boxes or to drop in extra change. Download Can Wrapper

Thank you for responding to Christ’s call. We are the Church, Together.

Thank you for generously supporting the Churchwide Special Offerings. If you have any questions, reply to this email or call us at (800) 728-7228, Ext. 5047.