Minute for Mission: World Food Day

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Guillermo and Julio Lanuza show off their catch of the day. (Courtesy of Asofenix)

World Food Day is observed every year on Oct. 16. This year’s theme, “Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow,” asks us to look at how forward-thinking solutions can work alongside traditional knowledge to feed people and protect the planet. On Zapatera Island in Nicaragua, a group of families is showing that innovation doesn’t always require complex technology. Sometimes, it means finding new ways to harness the sun, the sea, and the resources already around them to build a more resilient future.

Zapatera Island, located in the municipality of Granada, faces unique challenges. Reachable only by small wooden boats built by residents, the island suffers from relative isolation. This geographic barrier limits access to government support and broader markets, leaving many families in poverty, suffering from poor nutrition. Yet, the island possesses a wealth of resources: fertile soil, freshwater, forests, abundant fish and plenty of sunlight. 

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A man installs solar panels on Zapatera Island.(Courtesy of Asofenix)

The Asociación Fénix (Asofenix), a Nicaraguan nongovernmental organization, specializing in renewable energy and sustainable agriculture, has worked for over two decades to improve living conditions in rural areas. Their track record includes installing solar-powered water systems, small hydroelectric plants and more than 500 clean wood-burning stoves across 15 communities. As a partner of the Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP), Asofenix brings both technical expertise and a deep commitment to community-led development.

Their current initiative, funded by PHP, focuses on capacity building for 28 families, aiming to establish small, community-based businesses powered by solar energy. The project rests on three pillars. First, it promotes sustainable aquaculture and value-added processing of fish, moving beyond subsistence fishing. Second, it revives Indigenous agricultural techniques, helping families cultivate crops like corn and beans for both consumption and sale. Third, it introduces a solar-powered retail system, allowing the community to preserve and sell natural products efficiently. Throughout this process, the families participate in planning, implementation and management through elected committees.

The impact extends to approximately 150 people across four communities. By producing manuals on Indigenous agriculture and compiling a community cookbook, the project ensures that community knowledge will remain within the island. Looking ahead, Asofenix plans to expand the program to more families and develop community-based tourism to secure long-term funding. 

As World Food Day reminds us, true food security is rooted in sovereignty. For the families of Zapatera Island, harnessing the potential of their own land, waters, and the sun is about more than nourishing themselves today, it is about building a future where they can sustain their families and feed their communities for generations to come.

Eileen Schuhmann, Associate for Global Engagement and Resources, Presbyterian Hunger Program

Let us join in prayer for:

Nora Baez, Lead Reservation Specialist, Stony Point Center, Presbyterian Life & Witness
Amber Baker, Donor Advised Fund Specialist, Operations, Presbyterian Foundation  

Let us pray:

May God bless the soil and waters of Zapatera Island, bringing abundant crops, plentiful fish and nourishment for every family. May the sun power their endeavors, giving light and energy to their work and hope for the future. Guide their hands with wisdom and perseverance, and may their harvests bring nourishment, prosperity and a brighter tomorrow. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: New hymn focuses on integrity and loving neighbors

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The Rev. Carolyn Winfrey Gillette is pictured near Cayuga Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in central New York state. (Photo courtesy of Carolyn Winfrey Gillette)

“Give Us Integrity, God, In the Ways We Are Living” is a new hymn by the Rev. Carolyn Winfrey Gillette that speaks to the need for churches to lift up moral and ethical values including loving our neighbors, welcoming strangers and opposing warfare that targets the innocent and the vulnerable.

“Sometimes as a pastor, I hear people argue, ‘That’s political! We shouldn’t be talking about anything that’s happening in the nation or world in church,’” she said. But during the Office of Public Witness’ recent webinar on “Faithful Resistance to ICE,” a panelist “talked about how Christians need to speak out and take action if we want to have any integrity as followers of Jesus,” she said. “The word ‘integrity’ is a good one for us to consider as we sing and pray.”

She noted that Jesus once asked, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?” Those who follow Jesus “need to love our neighbors, feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, work as peacemakers, show compassion to all (not just to people like us) and seek justice for the oppressed,” she said. “If we close our eyes and our hearts to people in need, if we ignore the cries of our neighbors (including those we are being told to hate and be afraid of), how are we living with integrity as followers of Jesus’ Way?”

Her most recent hymn “is a prayer that we will live our faith through visible acts of compassion, neighborliness, kindness, justice and advocacy.”

Scriptural references for the hymn include Proverbs 14:32; Matthew 21:28–32; Matthew 25:31–46; Luke 6:37–38; John 15:18; Mark 10:13–16; Matthew 5:9; Luke 1:52–53; Luke 12:13–21; Luke 10:25–37; and 1 John 4:16–21.

Give Us Integrity, God, In the Ways We Are Living

LOBE DEN HERREN  (“Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty”)

Give us integrity, God, in the ways we are living.

Christ taught us well — to be welcoming, kind and forgiving!

Yet all around, powers of hatred abound.

May we seek Christ and obey him.

Jesus reached out with a blessing and welcomed the children.

Yet all around us are forces of death that would kill them.

When there is war, we see Christ stand with the poor;

may your church also stand with them.

Jesus condemned and admonished the proud and the greedy.

He said to open our hearts to the cries of the needy.

May we who say we follow Jesus today

kneel with him, serving the hungry.

Sometimes we hear, “That's political!” That’s not our problem.

Yet if we live with integrity, we'll pay attention.

May people find Christians are moral and kind

and that, with Jesus, we love them.

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Joty Allison, 1001 NWC Apprentice, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Life & Witness
Katherine Babicz, AVP Financial & Investment Planning Professional, Trust Services, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray:

Almighty God, guide our efforts to provide a ministry to all who seek your love and grace. Help us to appreciate your children, to encourage their gifts, and to be facilitators and supporters as we offer them a welcoming place to gather in the light of your love and wisdom. Amen.

Minute for Mission: Mothers and daughters find connection at CSW

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Punky Dahl, left, and daughter Haley attended events during the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. (Photo by Rich Copley)

Participating in this year’s Commission on the Status of Women was a family affair for some of the Presbyterians who gathered in New York City in March.

The Presbyterian News Service caught up with a few mother-daughter pairs who took part in the 70th session of CSW, an international gathering aimed at promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women. 

Interviewed at Church of the Covenant were Laura Browne and her daughter, Julianne; Punky Dahl and her daughter, Haley; and Laura Zhang-Choi, whose daughter, Ella Choi, commented later.

The duos were among nearly 70 participants recruited by Presbyterian Women and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations to take part in timely discussions and educational sessions, worship services and advocacy opportunities.

“I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the CSW,” said Ella Choi of Stewartsville Presbyterian Church in New Jersey. “It was an extremely eye-opening experience, and I learned a lot about how faith and female empowerment are integral to one another.”

Video URL: https://player.vimeo.com/video/1174456753

Before the event, the Brownes of Orangewood Presbyterian Church applied but didn’t expect to get accepted.

“I thought, ‘Are you kidding me?’” said daughter Julianne Browne of Phoenix. “A place where I can actually go and talk to people who are doing good in the world, learn from them, bring stuff back? That sounded like everything I had been wanting for so long.”

When the Brownes learned they had been accepted, “we were screaming” with joy, Laura Browne said. 

This year’s theme, ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, prompted sessions on topics ranging from gender-based violence to survival in war-torn regions.

Laura Browne came to learn about the gender wage gap and women in leadership. It’s “very depressing that it's 2026 and there's still a huge gender wage gap in many countries.”

Julianne Browne focused more on sexual violence against women. “It's close to my heart because pretty much every woman I have met in my life, especially my friends — every single woman — has had some kind of violent experience at the hands of a man, including myself.”

Video URL: https://player.vimeo.com/video/1174492307

Zhang-Choi wanted her daughter to witness discussions about challenges that don’t “just exist in Stewartsville or in New Jersey, but worldwide, women face a lot of the same challenges.” She also wanted Choi “to see the beauty of God's imagination for all humankind,” the diversity, and the importance of making space for everyone to belong.

Choi, a junior at Barnard College of Columbia University in New York City, said participating in CSW with her mother “made it even more meaningful and impactful. Not only did it deepen our relationship through faith, but it also connected us through a shared understanding of how gender equality has progressed across generations. It reminded me of the work women, including my mom, have done for gender equality, and it motivated me to advocate for future generations of women by uplifting female voices in faith spaces.”

Video URL:  https://player.vimeo.com/video/1174430656

Punky Dahl, who’s based in Oklahoma City but attends Southminster Presbyterian Church in Tulsa, said CSW provides an opportunity to learn about issues affecting women around the world and bring that knowledge home.

Having her daughter, Haley, with her provided additional support. “Some of the sessions are very heavy, and when you can sit down and you can discuss it with someone you love, and get two different opinions, but come together as one, it makes such a huge difference,” Punky Dahl said.

Haley Dahl attended to get a feel for CSW and participated in events that did not require a U.N. badge. She was particularly interested in a panel on the intersection of homelessness and gender-related issues and began thinking about how to apply what she learned locally.

For Julianne Browne, the experience also offered a new sense of belonging. Before CSW, she said, “I didn’t feel like I belonged or like people would accept me because I am queer and I’m a woman.”

After participating in a regional online orientation, however, “it felt like the first time in a very long time that I had gotten like a sign.”

Upon arriving in New York, she said she felt welcomed by delegates and others she met. “I have felt seen.”

Darla Carter, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Life & Witness (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Roberta Romano, 1001 NWC Apprentice, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Life & Witness
Rebecca Newgren, 1001 NWC Apprentice, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Life & Witness

Let us pray:

O Holy Spirit, open each new generation to your renewing wind. Blow afresh in our lives, that we all might be empowered to do your will in service and love. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Sermon covers the messy work of being human

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Kate Trigger Duffert, shown at a Presbytery of Milwaukee meeting at Grace Presbyterian Church in Beaver Dam, Wis. (Photo by Rich Copley)

Kate Trigger Duffert, who leads General Assembly Planning, recently stepped away from those duties to preach during a Chapel Service that included mid council leaders from across the country receiving their orientation.

Calling her sermon “The Messy Bits,” Duffert preached on Ezekiel 37:1–14, which lays out the prophet’s vision of a valley of dry bones. We can place ourselves in Ezekiel’s shoes, she said.

“We hear the story and imagine how we might be called to be a prophetic witness to those around us,” she said. But “if you’re anything like me, you may be feeling a bit more like you are a part of the multitude of dry bones in the valley.”

We’re living in a time where the world seems intent on wearing us down to the bone, she said. “We carry in our bones the stories of ancestors who were harmed and who harmed. We carry DNA altered by generation after generation surviving times of sickness, hunger, upheaval and violence.”

“We are bone tired,” she said, “and so today I can’t help but find myself in our story laying out in the sun-bleached bones.”

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Photo by Tim Wildsmith via Unsplash

And yet, we’re people of faith and hope. “We have the benefit of knowing what’s on the other side of Ezekiel’s vision and the stories of Bible,” she said. We know God takes “what feels tired and useless” and shapes “life-giving witnesses to the world.”

But unlike the Creation accounts in Genesis, where God “sculpts and forms,” the image given to Ezekiel “is not one where nothing becomes something.” Instead, God “layers the deeply embodied, physical components of a person into bones before the spirit is breathed in.”

This new creation doesn’t remain bone, “jingling about like a Halloween decoration clanking bone on bone,” she said. Instead, Ezekiel’s vision is centered on a step we hope God might have skipped: It’s “the messy bits, the deeply human parts of encountering the sinews, the muscles, the tendons, the organs and blood and fluids that build upon our bones to make us alive.”

That got Duffert to thinking about the 1999 film “The Mummy,” whose skeleton is enfleshed as the film goes on. “The stuff of humanity builds upon him like scaffolding until he is finally recognizable as his former, living self,” she said. “The scenes are not pleasant. … They are messy, goopy and meant to make the viewer squeamish.”

As one “feeling like dry bones, I have to say that the idea of being alive and made new is incredibly appealing,” Duffert said. While the idea of layering on sinews and flesh “does not seem like an enjoyable way to get there, God-who-can-do-all-things makes it clear that it is a necessary part of the process. God shows us that if we are to be alive, we must engage with the muck and mire of being human.”

There are times in the church “when we are so fixated on becoming what God wants us to be that we forget our embodied humanity,” Duffert said. “We seek to disinfect our stories rather than admitting the painful truths at play. We will ourselves into the cleanliness of sun-bleached bones, forgetting that means we are no better than dead.”

But we’re called “to do the human work of being people in community, with all its mess,” she said. “When we fail to engage with the fullness of our globs of humanity, we choose to stay dry, dead bones.”

The Hebrew word “ruach” means both breath and spirit, “the same breath that is that root of not only respiration but inspiration,” sharing oxygen and carbon dioxide in a cycle back and forth with all of Creation. “It’s when we have taken on the messy work of humanness that we open ourselves up to God’s profound inspiration and the community that is Creation,” Duffert said.

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Thomas Soadwa, 1001 NWC Apprentice, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Life & Witness
Joaquin Lopez, 1001 NWC Apprentice, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Life & Witness

Let us pray:

Lord, we thank you for the privilege of being able to support your mission here and around the world. Give us the wisdom daily to do your work. Amen.

Minute for Mission: Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day

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The Rev. Irv Porter, left, leads participants at the Presbyterians for Earth Care Conference in the Blanket Exercise at the Stony Point Center in Stony Point, N.Y.

Traditionally, on the second Monday of October, the United States celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Americas on Oct. 12, 1492.

However, many communities across the nation celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day rather than Columbus Day. Indigenous Peoples’ Day is part of a growing movement to end the celebration of the Italian explorer and rather honor and recognize Indigenous people, the original occupants of the Americas.

Many scholars believe it was Viking Leif Erikson who first came to what would be become known as the New World from overseas. They believe Columbus wasn't the first European to discover what we know as the Americas and that he first landed on the island of Guanahani in the Bahamas. And, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Columbus never set foot in North America but in present-day Venezuela on his fourth journey.

While Columbus didn't technically discover America, he was instrumental in the colonization of North America and its lasting effects on this nation.

In an effort to help Presbyterians realize the atrocities enacted upon Indigenous people, the Native American Intercultural Congregational Support ministry has conducted the Blanket Exercise so that individuals can better visualize the impact of Columbus and the Church’s actions against Indigenous people.

The exercise explores the tenets of the Doctrine of Discovery, the 1493 papal edict promoting the appropriation of land and the subjection of inhabitants of that land during the era of European exploration.

Part physical experience and part history lesson, the Blanket Exercise raises awareness of the systemic and systematic process Europeans, the U.S. government and the Church used to steal land, separate families, forcibly take children from parents to boarding schools and murder hundreds of thousands of Native Americans.

During the exercise, individuals are invited to stand on the blanket of their choosing among about 20 or so covering the floor. Four individuals read from a script that outlines the cruel effects the Doctrine of Discovery had on Native Americans. An assistant periodically rolls up corners and edges of the blankets until there is scant room for participants to stand.

As the blanket exercise plays out, crowd members — playing the part of the up to 30 million Native Americans present in what Europeans called the New World when Christopher Columbus landed on Caribbean islands more than five centuries ago — take a seat as disease, warfare, broken treaties, forced migration and mandatory boarding schools took their toll. In the end, very few people remain standing on what’s left of the blankets.

In one presentation of the blanket exercise, Irv Porter, associate for Native American Intercultural Congregational Support, told participants, “If you’ve never heard this before, you’re not alone. This is the kind of history nobody cares about.” The mission, he said, is to “wake us up that this happened. We as a denomination are trying to blunt this racism.”

Although the exact number of communities that observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day,  on the second Monday in October is unknown, at least 10 states, many college campuses and more than 100 cities have replaced Columbus Day with some version of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

For many Native Americans, Columbus Day is viewed as hurtful and misleading. It’s reminiscent of centuries of violent history and colonial oppression at the hands of European explorers and the Church. For many, the hurt and ramifications of those actions and wounds still run deep today.

However, as Porter said during a blanket exercise, quoting Rio Ramirez, a Tohono O’odham educator in Tucson, Arizona: “No one here today made these things happen. But we are the ones who are living now, and we need to understand that we are all in this together.”

Gail Strange, former Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Life & Witness (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Amisi Ngongo, 1001 NWC Apprentice, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Life & Witness
Eka Tawe, 1001 NWC Apprentice, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Life & Witness

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus, thank you for inviting all of us to participate in your mission. Guide our congregations as we disciple, giving them opportunities to see your work in and through them in the world. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Faithful Resistance to ICE’ panel discussion draws hundreds

Nearly 400 people joined the recent “Faithful Resistance to ICE” discussion among three Presbyterian clergy who’ve cared for their immigrant siblings in Minneapolis and Chicago by standing against actions taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

The PC(USA)’s Office of Public Witness hosted these pastors for a 90-minute webinar:

• The Rev. Margaret Fox, associate pastor for adult ministries at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis
• The Rev. Quincy Worthington, the pastor of Highland Park Presbyterian Church near Chicago
• The Rev. David Black, senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Chicago.

Elinor Hiller, an OPW intern, asked questions of the panelists, starting with one about recent actions they and their churches have taken.

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The Rev. Margaret Fox

First Presbyterian Church of Chicago began soon after President Trump’s second inauguration, Black said, by organizing a hundred-person working group to support vulnerable neighbors. His own involvement at the Broadview Detention Center began in August, and he was struck on the head with pepper balls the following month. “I’m so proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with Quincy and so many other clergy,” Black said. “It has been extraordinary to witness, and it’s given me a lot of hope.”

Fox, who preached an extraordinary sermon the day after Alex Pretti was killed, also emphasized the importance of relying on longstanding ministry partners. Because it expanded its building two years ago and constructed underground parking. Westminster Presbyterian Church was able to host an interfaith service in late January with just 48 hours’ notice.

“I got involved specifically because of David’s hard work rallying clergy,” Worthington said. “I started going to Broadview at his invitation and saw excessive violence going on against people practicing their First Amendment rights.“

“It’s hard to think Jesus wouldn’t have something to say about that,” he said. “It has been about coalition work and figuring out how we can support [neighbors] at the congregational level. We have tried to match people with their gifts in order to serve the kingdom.”

Fox said she sees protest “as an act of witness. There is something to being visibly present as clergy. It’s a reminder there is another way of being in the world, as a connector or anchor, especially in heated moments.” Ministry “is something we are all called to. It’s not just for those ordained as teaching elders.” In Minneapolis, “the movement has been a leader-full movement of people of faith and people of no faith.”

Her first act with Operation Metro Surge was to serve tea as people emerged from an Islamic center following prayer. “It was hospitality and love, and to receive that back from our neighbors mattered a great deal,” Fox said. “Showing up in an embodied way really matters right now.”

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The Rev. David Black

Black said it’s meaningful for activists to see the moral tradition that clergy represent. Wearing a clergy collar in spaces of activism “signifies my obedience to a larger system of democratic authority.”

“When I show up in this way, people know there are people holding me accountable,” Black said. “It helps to reinforce trust when I walk into situations.”

“I am a big bearded white guy covered in tattoos who has cauliflower ears, and I’m not a Proud Boy,” Worthington said. “The clergy shirt isn’t magic, but it communicates things.”

“It’s important that people see the church of Jesus standing where Jesus would be standing,” Worthington said.

Asked about what role the church ought to play in moments of injustice, Fox said she appreciated a sermon preached around Martin Luther King Jr. day by the Rev. Anna Kendig Flores of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area. The sermon had three touchpoints: being embodied, cultivating compassion and imagination, and moving not too fast and not too slow.

While Worthington said he usually sees the world “in Technicolor,” some things are binary. One is “we view people either as precious children of God or we don’t.”

“Our wants and desires and dreams for our lives need to be laid at the foot of the Cross” in order to follow Christ, he said. “I try to take that call to discipleship seriously, and when I do that, I find it nearly impossible to remain silent in the face of such dehumanizing practices.”

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Heather von Marko, 1001 NWC Apprentice, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Life & Witness
Rachel Doll, 1001 NWC Apprentice, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Life & Witness

Let us pray:

Dear Lord, ruler of all nations, make our woeful hearts sing. Empower us to be faithful witnesses to the truth of the gospel. Give us the grace to bear one another as we encounter a world that seems to be slipping away from the vision of the kingdom you have promised us. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Presbyterians explore new paths to interfaith dialogue and peacemaking in Oman

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The Rev. Cathy Chang, Luciano Kovacs and the Rev. Dr. Elmarie Parker visit the Al Amana Centre. (Photo courtesy of Luciano Kovacs)

Staff from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Office of Global Ecumenical Partnerships (GEP) and the Office of Public Witness recently met with the Rev. Justin Meyers, executive director of the Al Amana Centre in Oman, a country on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, to discuss expanding educational and interfaith opportunities for U.S. congregations. Meyers highlighted the center’s long history with Reformed churches, its unique setting in the Middle East, and its readiness to support Presbyterians seeking deeper understanding of Islam, interfaith dialogue and peacemaking. 

Luciano Kovacs, the international Global Ecumenical Liaison who organized the meeting, explained how it and other correspondence with partners in Syria and Lebanon between Kovacs and staff from the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance are an expression to the General Assembly mandate INT-01, which commits “to including in our discussions our global ecumenical partners and a broad range of Christian and other faith perspectives, as well as people from marginalized communities in the U.S. and from frontline communities in parts of the world affected by U.S. policy.” 

On its website, Al Amana Centre describes its work as fostering “safe, immersive, interfaith experiences” designed to build peace through person-to-person connection. Its location in Oman offers “the safety, accessibility and invitation required for meaningful connections between diverse groups.” The center’s history stretches back more than 130 years through Christian-Muslim cooperation in the sultanate, making it one of the oldest continuously operating Christian-led initiatives in the region dedicated to interfaith peacebuilding.  

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Luciano Kovacs, the Rev. Dr. Elmarie Parker and the Rev. Cathy Chang visit with their host, Mohammed Ali Al Shuaili (photo courtesy of Luciano Kovacs).

The PC(USA) affirmed that partnership in 2023 with a visit to the center and in 2024 with a $6,000 grant in support of Al Amana Centre programming. That relationship also continues through Presbyterian representation in its governance. The Rev. Dr. Elmarie Parker recently joined the center’s board, and Jeff Japinga, retired executive presbyter of the Presbytery of Minneapolis, also serves as a board member. 

Meyers, who has served in Oman for 13 years, told staff that the center’s credibility stems from long-term relationships. The trust built with the Omani government enables the center to apply for the appropriate visas to host students, clergy and community leaders from around the world for immersive programs. 

He depicted Oman as a nation deeply committed to regional peace. Despite hosting peace negotiations that made significant progress, Oman had been the target of several missile strikes on March 1, 2, 3, 11 and 13, but Meyers expressed Oman’s desire to protect itself through the interception of drones and missiles, but to stay out of the war.   

“They truly have a genuine desire to build peace,” he said. The center’s role, he explained, emerges from that context. “I don’t think there’s a more neutral space to have religious dialogue in the world than the Al Amana Centre in Oman. … It’s no one’s home turf.” 

Meyers described how firsthand encounters dispel stereotypes. “Some of [our visitors] came wanting just to be safe and [are] very skeptical of Islam,” he said. “They left hugging Muslims on their way out the door, saying their lives were changed.” 

During the conversation, Catherine Gordon, representative for international issues in the PC(USA)’s Office of Public Witness, raised a challenge familiar in Presbyterian congregations: widespread misconceptions about women in Islam and the hijab. She noted that public discourse in the U.S., especially surrounding events in Iran or rhetoric about groups like Hamas, often reinforces Islamophobic assumptions. Pointing to online reactions to events such as New York City’s observance of World Hijab Day, the group discussed what can often be seen as “a blanket impression that women are oppressed.”  

Her observations prompted Meyers to explain how such stereotypes break down when Presbyterians meet Omani women. He shared that many Omani women choose hijab freely, lead in government roles and outnumber men in university settings. “When you talk to them, you find out in Oman that they’re not oppressed. It’s their choice,” he said. 

Gordon also emphasized the importance of learning Presbyterian history in Iran as one way to combat U.S. distortions of Islam and Middle Eastern cultures. She mentioned “America and Iran,” a book that explores the role of Presbyterian educational institutions and mission history there, noting that “some of the major schools in Iran were established by Presbyterian ministers.” 

Beth Waltemath,Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Life & Witness (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Jacklyn Marie Putnam, 1001 NWC Apprentice, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Life & Witness
Nancy Rivera, 1001 NWC Apprentice, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Life & Witness

Let us pray:

Lord, open our hearts and minds to the Spirit at all times. Help us to look and listen for opportunities to serve you. Ground us in the present; install faith in us to face the future with hope and joy. Amen.