Mission Yearbook: Chicago pastor warns against ‘bland’ faith and issues a call for unity

The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III, pastor of Trinity United Church of
Christ in Chicago, addresses the 27th Council of the World
Communion of Reformed Churches, meeting in Chiang Mai,
Thailand. (Photo by Rick Jones) 

“Are we losing our flavor? Are we dimming our light?”

The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III, pastor of Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ, recently posed these challenging questions to the World Communion of Reformed Churches' 27th General Council.

Speaking on the third day of the global gathering in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Moss urged delegates to persevere in fostering a just communion, resist diluting the Gospel and dare to join their lights together. Watch Moss' address here.

Salt, he said, has two functions: to preserve and to add flavor.

“We the people of God are called to be the salt and the light of this world,” Moss said. “The beauty of this World Communion of Reformed Churches is the diverse flavors of this gathering. We all bring flavor to the table!”

Moss warned against the “bland and bitter” spiritual diet spreading across churches and nations.

“Has the bland and bitter non-seasoned flavor of hatred become the new civic recipe for the church and nations across the globe?” he asked. “There is a growing addiction to theologically unhealthy processed spiritual food lacking any nutritional value.”

He spoke amid U.S. debates over educational curricula, where some lawmakers are moving to restrict teaching about the civil rights movement, slavery, lynching, segregation, and LGBTQ, Asian, Black, Indigenous, and Latino histories.

“Much of the spiritual food we are consuming in the space called America and across the globe is recycled colonial compost killing us from the inside out,” Moss said. “If we do not have the courage to change our theological diet, we will become emaciated, unethical souls unable to walk due to our self-righteous consumption of greed and self-absorbed power.”

Moss also cautioned against the Gospel being co-opted by prosperity theology. “When the church centers itself on personal prosperity or being a government auxiliary, it has gone down the road of contamination,” he said.

The pastor called on WCRC delegates from its 230 member churches to consider how they might let their collective light shine brighter.

“The challenges in the world today may be daunting, and we may be tempted to lose our salt quality or cover our light,” Moss said. “Our individual light may not look like much, but if we dare take our light and join together, we can create a blaze to illuminate the world.”

Amid applause, he urged unity across church traditions, nations and regions.

“We will no longer have a little light, but a blaze to illuminate the Gospel, empower the poor, liberate the oppressed, set the captives free, declare the year of the Lord’s favor, and bless our planet!” he said.

Responding to Moss, Prof. Heleen Zorgdrager of the Protestant Theological University in Amsterdam reflected on the question, “Who owns the salt?”

“My country, the Netherlands, has a troubled history with salt,” Zorgdrager said. “Battles were fought between imperial powers over access to salt. In our time, the spirit of owning and exploiting is alive more than ever.”

The Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante, moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, recalled the complicated history of Christianity in Africa.

“When the Christian Gospel first arrived in my part of Africa, it never came as a pure light or tasty salt,” he said. “It came with worship services on the top floors and slave dungeons on the ground floors of the slave castles. In the same building, when people were painfully screaming downstairs, slave masters and slave mistresses were praying and doing Bible studies upstairs.”

Susan Kim for the World Communion of Reformed Churches (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Lemuel Garcia, Stewardship Officer, Stewardship and Major Gift Officers, Administrative Services Group
Ruth Gardner, Director, Human Resources, Administrative Services Group  

Let us pray:

Triune God, you call us daily to participate in your mission. Remind us that we may serve in our communities, across our nation or on lands abroad. Open our hearts to your transforming power so that our fruit will be acceptable in your sight. In Christ we pray. Amen.

Minute for Mission: Legacy Giving Sunday highlights enduring impact of planned gifts

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Westminster PC in Minneapolis (Photo by Gregg Brekke)

On Legacy Giving Sunday, congregations across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are invited to reflect on a simple but powerful question: How will today’s faith sustain tomorrow’s ministry?

At Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis, the answer has taken shape over more than a century. The downtown congregation, known for its wide-ranging ministries in education, music, social justice and congregational care, continues to thrive in part because of legacy gifts made by generations of members. 

Those gifts have helped ensure the church’s witness extends far beyond its walls. Longstanding partnerships with faith communities in Cameroon, Cuba, and Palestine, along with local outreach and member care, reflect a congregation deeply invested in both its city and the wider world. (Watch a video about the congregation’s legacy giving program here.) 

Legacy giving remains a meaningful way for members to express that commitment. Importantly, leaders emphasize that such gifts are not reserved for the wealthy. Rather, they are accessible to anyone who wishes to make a lasting impact.

For some, that commitment is tied to a specific moment. One longtime member, who spent decades in public service, was inspired to make a legacy gift following a recent capital campaign that expanded the church’s building. Part of that expansion now houses a mission partner serving children who have experienced trauma and supporting healthier family relationships.

Others see legacy giving as a natural extension of lifelong connection. A member who has been part of the church since childhood chose to include Westminster in her estate plans, ensuring future generations will experience the same community that shaped her faith.

Younger families are also embracing the practice. One couple, raising their children in the congregation, view their planned gift as a way to model generosity and stewardship.

Through Legacy Giving Sunday, the Presbyterian Foundation underscores that these stories are not unique to one congregation. Across the denomination, the Foundation works alongside churches and individuals to design legacy giving strategies tailored to each congregation’s mission and each donor’s circumstances.

Ministry Relations Officers, the Foundation’s regional church, support staff, help guide congregations through the process. You can find yours here. 

Additionally, you can download guides on legacy giving:

Legacy Planning Guide for Individuals 

                English

                Spanish

                Korean

Legacy Planning Guide for Church Leaders 

                English

                Spanish

                Korean

Estate Planning Workbook

                English

                Spanish

                Korean

As churches look to the future, Legacy Giving Sunday serves as both invitation and assurance: With thoughtful planning and faithful partnership, the impact of the church can endure for generations.

Robyn Davis Sekula, Vice President of Communications and Marketing at the Presbyterian Foundation, Ruling Elder in the PC(USA) and Member of Highland Presbyterian Church in Louisville

Let us join in prayer for:

Lacey Hunter, Manager, Financial Planning, Organizational Planning and Operations, Presbyterian Life & Witness
Mary Beene, Stewardship Officer, Stewardship and Funds Development, Administrative Services Group

Let us pray:

Dear God, teach us to be generous with all that we have, which all comes from you. Help us to discern the best path in caring for all that has been entrusted to us. Teach us to hear your call. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Guns to Gardens event in Minnesota is a success

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Firearms checking station (Photo by Linda Orsted)

Thanks to a $5,000 PTCA Ministry Imagination Grant, a $2,000 PC(USA) Decade to End Gun Violence grant, and mission support from First Presbyterian Church of Stillwater [Minnesota] (FPC), Guns to Gardens in the St. Croix Valley held a safe firearms recycling event at FPC on Oct. 4, 2025. Thirty-eight firearms were destroyed/recycled. Since this was the first event in our area, the planning team had no idea how many (if any) guns would be brought by their owners to be destroyed and removed from the marketplace. There was a lot of buzz at FPC immediately before and after the event in worship and in the community. It was exciting!

FPC’s pastor, the Rev. Cader Howard, had this insight: “When we first considered holding a Guns to Gardens event, there was some fear in our congregation about inviting people to bring guns onto our property. Careful listening, open dialogue, and an explanation of the detailed procedures, training, and best practices helped us work through our fear and become excited that we could offer this event.”

Stories from donors included someone who had ALS who was afraid he would use the gun on himself. Another donor’s gun had been used in a traumatic way by a family member. Several donors had inherited the guns and did not want them in their homes and did not want them returned to the marketplace.

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Chopsaw Station (Photo by Linda Orsted)

Lots of planning went into this event, beginning in January 2024 when one of the team leaders enrolled in a Guns to Gardens Action Circle training sponsored by the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship. In May, a group of three FPC members met to talk about hosting a Guns to Gardens event in Stillwater. Subsequently, three other FPC members took the Action Circle training. Finally, in April 2025 a planning team was formed and members reached out to area churches and other likely community organizations to assess community support. Team members spoke with FPC’s Mission Ministry Team. Guns to Gardens was adopted as an official mission project and recommended to the session for support. The session approved holding the event at the church once there was assurance that there would be non-intrusive police presence and adequate insurance coverage.  

Two team members attended the James Atwood Institute for Congregational Courage in September, and the supplemental RAWtools training to become firearms safety officers for the event. The team also received referrals from RAWtools for blacksmith artists in the Twin Cities who would likely be volunteers. (One person had participated in a huge Guns to Gardens event at Bronco Stadium in Denver.) We had amazing help from them in planning and on the day of the event! They are excited about volunteering again in 2026. (RAWtools is the coordinating organization for Guns to Gardens.)

We felt the Holy Spirit’s presence in the planning, training and hosting the event. We will continue this important peacemaking mission in the future and share our expertise and equipment with other organizations interested in hosting a Guns to Gardens event. This year’s event will be held on Oct. 3, 2026, in the FPC parking lot.

Community partners included St. Michael’s Catholic Church, St. Croix United Church, American Legion Post No. 491 and the Woodbury/Stillwater Moms Demand Action. We look forward to working with these community partners again and will invite others to join the project in 2026.

Pastor Cader summed up the event this way: “In a state like Minnesota with a strong hunting culture, it was refreshing to see gun owners working alongside non-gun owners at this event to safely reduce the number of guns in our community. Working together respectfully across political, cultural and religious differences, we can find common-sense solutions that keep our neighbors safer. I am hopeful that Guns to Gardens will expand to multiple sites and events in Minnesota as we teach other congregations and organizations what we have learned.”

Linda Orsted, Guns to Gardens in the St. Croix Valley Planning Team 

Prayer by the Rev. Cader Howard

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff:

Christine Diaz, Housekeeper, Stony Point Center, Presbyterian Life & Witness
Greta Garbo, Accounting Clerk, Accounts Payable Office, Administrative Services Group

Let us pray:

God of Peace, we pray for everyone who has been affected by gun violence in their families, schools and communities. Give us the courage to take positive steps in our communities to reduce gun violence and offer healing to those affected by it. Help us transform our fear into courage so that we can take action. May we not be afraid to beat swords into plowshares and guns into garden tools. Amen.

Minute for Mission: May Friendship Day

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May Friendship Day, a Church Women United initiative, is most often celebrated on the first Friday of May. The observation honors the bonds and shared priorities of Christian women around a theme of shared concern. Continually observed since 1933, May Friendship Day is also the traditional celebration of the Fellowship of the Least Coin (FLC) (presbyterianwomen.org/what_we_do/nurture-faith/fellowship-least-coin), an ecumenical, global peace and prayer movement that was begun after the second world war as a way for women everywhere — regardless of their circumstances — to participate in a unified family of faith, strengthening bonds of friendship while working toward peace through the power of prayer and community. Many FLC worship services are held in September.

The 2026 Church Women United celebrations — including World Day of Prayer, Human Rights Day, World Community Day and May Friendship Day — share the theme “Shelter Me,” inspired by Psalm 24:1 (NIV) (“The Earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”). The focus for May Friendship Day is “Protect,” based on Isaiah 32:16 (NIV), and focuses on home. As disciples of Christ, we are called to confront the urgent crisis facing many of God’s children — a safe place to call home. Together — individually and through our churches — we can offer dignity and hope to our neighbors in need through prayer, compassion, advocacy, and tangible support through trusted ministries and programs. 

For more information about May Friendship Day, visit churchwomenunited.net.

Carissa Herold, Marketing Associate for Presbyterian Women in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff:

Rebecca Cox, Stewardship Officer, Stewardship & Funds Development, Administrative Services Group
Elma Osmanovic, Production Clerk II, Hubbard Press 

Let us pray:

Compassionate One, with humble hearts, we ask for strength, wisdom and unflagging compassion to care for all who have no safe place to call home. Help us as we help our neighbors in need so that all can “abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places” (Isaiah 32:18). Amen.

Mission Yearbook: ‘Christian Minimalism’ author explains why more is never enough at conference

A TV commercial years ago asked: “Who thinks more is better than less?” The answer was that of course more is better.

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The Rev. Dr. Becca Ehrlich speaks during Stewardship Kaleidoscope (Photo by Gregg Brekke)

It made the Rev. Dr. Becca Ehrlich uneasy in ways she couldn’t pinpoint, but she went on to write ”Christian Minimalism: Simple Steps for Abundant Living.” She delivered the message at the combined plenary and closing worship at Stewardship Kaleidoscope in New Orleans. The annual conference was presented by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

It was a truly New Orleans-flavored service, with up-tempo renditions of “I’m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me” and “Shall We Gather at the River?” on keyboard and trumpet. The Rev. Dr. Alonzo Johnson, coordinator for the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People program in Presbyterian Life & Witness, also led worship.

Ehrlich, an ELCA pastor, is executive director and founder of New Breath Spirituality Center within First Presbyterian Church of Albany, New York. She said more can be detrimental. Even those who do not have the mental illness known as hoarding typically have way more stuff than they need, she said. The average American home has 300,000 things in it, and it’s not unusual to think acquiring more items, with bigger homes to fit them in, is a good thing.

“No matter how much we have, we always feel like we need more,” she said.

That’s been a problem for a while. Adam and Eve lived in a literal paradise with everything they could ever need, but with a snake’s encouragement, they wanted more — the knowledge God has. “As we know, it didn’t end well for them.”

Then there was the successful farmer in Jesus’ parable who decided to stockpile all the food and supplies he could, building bigger barns to hold it all.

“But then God is like: Guess what? You actually die tonight. What’s going to happen to all that stuff?”

Friends or family will spend days or weeks sorting it out. He could have left more memories instead.

We’re always looking for the next thing, Ehrlich said.

“We innately know what’s most important in life, but our consumer society hijacks our sinfulness so that we perpetuate this consumer cycle,” she said.

When we start making more money or buy that bigger house, we may be happier at first, but that quickly levels out. We start chasing more again and it becomes harder to be happy with less. It’s a process known as the “hedonic treadmill,” she said.

“Luckily, Jesus tells us there’s a different way to live,” she said — as he told his hearers, one’s life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. Only God can fill our deepest needs and desires.

Acknowledging this, we can receive forgiveness and do better, Ehrlich said.

So many of us cite Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” But look at the original context, Ehrlich advised.

The letter Paul wrote from prison to the believers in Philippi affirmed that, having had both little and plenty, he’s learned to be content with whatever he has. “So, Paul’s famous words about Christ strengthening him in all things is actually about being satisfied with how much or how little one has,” she said.

“God helps us to put our focus on those things that are most important, rather than our stuff,” Ehrlich said. “God is calling us to use the resources entrusted to us to the glory of God.

“How is God inviting you to live a life of enough?”

As part of the offertory, participants were invited to write down one obstacle keeping them from doing that. Then they could come forward and drop the slip of paper into a baptismal font.

The service concluded in even truer New Orleans fashion with “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Worshipers marched around the room singing, waving handkerchiefs (and at least one parasol). 

Nancy Crowe for the Presbyterian Foundation (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Penny Franklin, Executive Relations Coordinator, Executive Office, The Presbyterian Foundation
Marissa Galvan-Valle, Associate, Hispanic Resources & Relationships, Growing Faith Resources, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation

Let us pray:

Father, we thank you for calling us to be your hands and feet. We ask you to open our hearts and minds to do your work every day, everywhere, and through everyone that we meet. You have placed us here to do your work and with your help we will gladly obey. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Inspiring Bible study challenges participants to persevere in Christian witness and explore disability theology

The Garden of Gethsemane, described in Luke 22, serves as a pivotal backdrop in the hours leading up to Jesus’ arrest — a moment filled with greed, fear, loss and compassion.

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The Rev. Dr. Miriam Spies of the United Church of Canada is a self-described "Crip Theologian." (photo by Rick Jones)

The Rev. Dr. Miriam Spies, an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada and a self-described “Crip Theologian,” recently led a Bible study at the 27th General Council of the World Community of Reformed Churches on this passage, using it to explore disability theology and the call to persevere in Christian witness.

Living with a physical disability, Spies said her faith and lived experience challenge traditional models of inclusion and theological unity. Reflecting on the moment when soldiers came to arrest Jesus, she drew attention to Peter’s reaction — drawing his sword and cutting off the ear of the high priest’s servant — and Jesus’ immediate act of healing.

“In the panic of the moment, the disciples turn away from ‘blessed are the peacemakers’ toward the use of violence,” Spies said.

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The Rev. Dr. Miriam Spies of the United Church of Canada delivered Thursday's Bible study at the 27th General Council of the World Communion of Reformed Churches. (photo by Rick Jones)

She cautioned against interpreting the healing solely as a restoration of bodily wholeness. “As a Crip Theologian, I don’t understand the story of Jesus restoring the ear as his concern about the slave’s body being whole,” she said. “Such interpretations of healing are often caught up in an ableist desire for a ‘normal’ body. They may lead people to pray for healing over those who are disabled — as if the goal is to eliminate disabled people rather than acknowledging and claiming our actual bodies. The ableism embedded in such actions is deeply harmful.”

Spies connected the story to present-day systems of oppression, noting that the logic of the empire — both ancient and modern — often treats certain bodies as expendable.

“We see this, here and now, put onto Palestinian bodies, Indigenous bodies, Black and brown bodies, poor bodies, disabled bodies,” she said. “Genocides, maiming, violence, systemic oppression — tools of the empire, of settler colonialism, funded by the Global North — clearly show which bodies do not matter.”

Spies said Jesus’ act of healing the slave’s ear demonstrates God’s incarnational promise that all bodies matter, especially those deemed unworthy or expendable by society.

“Jesus’ restoration of the slave’s ear is a form of reparation, restoring what has been destroyed or harmed,” she said. “We know that so much in our world cries out for this restoration — from harm caused by slavery, colonialism, war, intergenerational trauma and ongoing damage. The use of the sword, the ability to maim another through violence, is not Jesus’ way. His action tells us that, despite structures and systems that would denigrate it, the slave’s body matters. This is part of the solidarity that we call incarnation.”

In her closing remarks, Spies urged Christians to reflect on how they respond to violence and oppression.

“In moments of crisis, how do we persevere in our Christian witness? How do we manage the impulse to respond to violence with violence?” she asked. “In our biblical text, the disciple responds to the threat of violence by cutting off the slave’s ear. Jesus responds by restoring the ear, which speaks not to the need for wholeness but to the need for compassion, reconciliation — even love — as the response to violence.”

Rick Jones, Director of Communications, Presbyterian Life & Witness, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Lynne Foreman, Major Gifts Officer, Stewardship and Major Gift Officers, Administrative Services Group
Adam Foster, Accountant, Financial Reporting, Administrative Services Group     

Let us pray:

God of great miracles, we thank you for your providence in the midst of scarcity, your reconciliation and healing after a time of broken connections and your love nurtured between neighbors across the world. Amen.

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