Mission Yearbook: In landmark act, presbytery returns ancestral land to tribe

The Presbytery of San Gabriel and the Gabrieleno-Tongva Band of Mission Indians recently gathered to celebrate a groundbreaking act of reparative justice.

The Presbytery of San Gabriel officially returned land previously used as the presbytery’s La Casa de San Gabriel Community Center to the San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians, led by the Gabrieleno Tongva Tribal Council under Chief Anthony Morales. This marks the first-ever land-back transfer by a church in California to an established tribal government, and the first of its kind in California and Los Angeles County.

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Elder Mona Morales Recalde talks about the land transfer from the Presbytery of San Gabriel to the Gabrieleno-Tongva Band of Mission Indians. (Photo by Kristen Gaydos)

The land, located within a mile of the historic San Gabriel Mission, the fourth mission built in California, is part of the ancestral village of Siban'gna, a sacred site for the Tongva people. For decades, the historic tribe of Los Angeles, led by the Gabrieleno Tongva Tribal Council, has operated its tribal office on this land in partnership with La Casa, maintaining cultural continuity and stewardship despite centuries of displacement. La Casa de San Gabriel, founded by Presbyterian pastor the Rev. César Lizárraga and his wife, Angelita, provided varied services for the community, especially the Latino community, for almost 80 years as a mission of the presbytery.

Referring to the return of the site, Chief Morales said, “This is more than a gift; it’s a recognition of truth, history and healing. To receive land back on our ancestral village, near the very mission that symbolizes our people’s colonization, is a powerful act of justice.”

The events included a Presbyterian worship service followed by a Gabrieleno-Tongva celebration.

During the worship service, the Rev. Jermaine Ross-Allam, director of the Center for the Repair of Historic Harms, led the Prayer of Confession adapted from the Rev. Canon Deborah J. Royals of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. The Rev. Jihyun Oh, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly and Executive Director of the Interim Unified Agency, offered a sermon where she reflected on the day’s historic event.

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The Rev. N’Yisrela Watts-Afriyie, moderator of the La Casa de San Gabriel Administrative Commission, receives a blanket from Samantha Morales Johnson Yang, Cultural Preservation Officer with the Gabrieleno-Tongva Band of Mission Indians. (Photo by Kristen Gaydos)

The service concluded with an exchange of symbolic gifts between the presbytery’s administrative commission that implemented the transfer of the land and members of the Gabrieleno-Tongva Tribal Council, led by Chief Anthony Redblood Morales. The moderator of the administrative commission is the Rev. Dr. N’Yisrela Watts-Afriyie, and the commission includes Elder Mona Morales Recalde, a ruling elder of La Verne Heights Presbyterian Church, an elected commissioner with the Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission, and an enrolled member of the Gabrieleno-Tongva Band of Mission Indians.

Following the worship service, Chief Morales led a Tongva celebration that included a prayer in Four Directions, remarks from local dignitaries, and celebratory dances from the Gabrieleno Tongva Tribal Dancers, a group that was organized to honor and preserve the tribe’s traditions.

The presbytery’s decision to transfer the land comes at a time when Los Angeles is seeking hope and reconciliation amid severe challenges, including the Eaton Fire in January in nearby Altadena and the illegal ICE raids against immigrants. This land back initiative is a direct action of reparation for past harms inflicted during the missionization and colonization of Native peoples in California. It reflects a growing movement among faith communities to confront their historical roles and make material steps toward restoration.

“The Earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it,” said the Rev. Wendy Tajima, executive presbyter of the Presbytery of San Gabriel. “We are honored to return this land to its original stewards and to stand in solidarity with the Tongva people in their journey of healing and sovereignty.”

The site will continue to serve as a hub for tribal governance, cultural education and community and ceremonial gatherings. Its proximity to the San Gabriel Mission underscores the historical significance of this return, offering a tangible step toward reconciliation between Indigenous communities and religious institutions.

This historic transfer sets a precedent for churches and organizations across California and beyond to engage in land back efforts and reparative justice, acknowledging the enduring presence and rights of Native peoples.

Kristen Gaydos, Multimedia Producer (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Kelly Riley, Executive Vice President, Plan Operations, Plan Operations, The Board of Pensions
Leslie Rizzo, Production Clerk, Hubbard Press, Administrative Services Group

Let us pray:

Gracious God, we thank you for the faithfulness of your servants who seek opportunities to serve one another. We ask you to bless their generosity and multiply their impact. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Synod School class explores modern-day mystics’ wisdom

Susan Stabile, an experienced spiritual director and retreat director trained in the Ignatian tradition, led a popular class during this year’s Synod School called “Learning from Modern-Day Mystics.”

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Photo by Meritt Thomas via Unsplash

Synod School is put on each summer at Buena Vista University by the Synod of Lakes and Prairies.

Stabile defined a mystic as “a person who is deeply aware of the powerful presence of the divine spirit,” someone who “seeks, above all, the knowledge and love of God and who experiences to an extraordinary degree the profoundly personal encounter with the energy of divine life.”

Mystics “often perceive the presence of God throughout the world of nature and all that is alive, leading to a transfiguration of the ordinary all around them,” according to Ursula King. Father Richard Rohr called it “experiential knowledge of the Holy, the transcendent … God,” adding that “even one little peek into one little corner of the mystery is more than enough.”

Forebears of modern African American mystics include Sojourner Truth and Jarena Lee, the first Black woman to publish an autobiography and, along with Truth, part of the Second Great Awakening.

No less a theologian than Dr. Howard Thurman called mysticism the “response of the individual to a personal encounter with God within his own spirit.” Thurman “believed the mystic is motivated by a desire that everyone have the opportunity to experience holiness and a personal relationship with God,” Stabile said. “Social action for Thurman is sacramental. The mystic does not retreat from life but is here to promote God’s vision for this Earth.”

Stabile’s second session focused on “The Poet as Mystic.” She read Mary Oliver’s “Praying” and called poetry “one of the most useful expressions of a mystic’s inner experience.” The poet who was considered in depth during this class session was Gerard Manley Hopkins, especially his “God’s Grandeur” and “Pied Beauty.”

“Hopkins led a relatively short but passionate life,” Stabile said. “He had a relationship with Jesus Christ that seems at times to be so intimate as to remind us of those women mystics from the late Middle Ages who emphasized their spiritual union with Christ.”

Hopkins converted to Catholicism and became a priest, initially burning all his poetry and then starting all over. But “he always put his responsibilities as a priest ahead of his poetry,” Stabile said.

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Susan Stabile

On the third day, Stabile explored mystics’ use of imagination and storytelling. The Jesuit priest, Father Anthony De Mello, was an important figure on this day. De Mello defined an awakened person as “a person who no longer marches to the drums of society” but is rather “a person who dances to the tune of the music that springs up from within.”

Thich Nhat Hanh once called the beginning of mindfulness “when something we do in ordinary life can become a profound meditation with enough attention to the present.” An apostle of peace and nonviolence, Hanh was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

On the final day of class, Stabile looked at other modern mystics and some of the characteristics of deep religious experience. She opened with Julie Fehrenbacher’s poem “The Most Important Thing,” which ends with these words: “I whisper hallelujah to the friendly sky. Watch now as I burst into blossom.”

The mystics for this day included Evelyn Underhill, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Thomas Merton and Simone Weil.

Stabile called Underhill “a quiet giant in the world of mysticism.” She was the first woman to lecture clergy in the Church of England and one of the first women to offer a retreat. Her “Practical Mysticism” is an effort “to demystify mysticism,” Stabile said.

Heschel was among the giants in the civil rights movement. Deported by the Nazis in 1938, he viewed ecumenism as the necessary means to combat racism.

Merton is “a favorite of mine,” Stabile said. To Merton, contemplation is “the response to a call: a call from [One] who has no voice, and yet who speaks in everything that is.”

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Martha Reisner,  Director, Affiliated Markets, Engagement & Church Relations, The Board of Pensions
Tina Rhudy, Director, Building Services, Administrative Services Group      

Let us pray:

Welcoming God, teach us the importance of hospitality as a means of sharing Christian love. Give us opportunities to extend hospitality freely and sincerely, and hearts to receive it with grace. Amen.

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Mission Yearbook: Young Adult Track inspires new leaders at Triennium

“Suddenly I found that I had a dream job that I never knew I dreamed of,” Bobby Watson told a group of nearly 50 young adults participating in the learning path of the Young Adult Track at the “As If We Were Dreaming”-themed Presbyterian Youth Triennium. For many delegates ages 19–25, the opportunity to attend a Triennium was a dream come true — especially after missing their chance before turning 18 due to the Covid pandemic.

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Young adults attended 2025’s Triennium event in Louisville. (Photo by Rich Copley)

Watson was one of several speakers chosen to address this year’s group. Others included Dr. Tamice Spencer-Helms, author of “Faith Unleavened: The Wilderness Between Trayvon Martin & George Floyd,” and the Rev. Dr. Jerry Cannon, with a guest phone call from his nephew, celebrity Nick Cannon.

This was the first Triennium to offer a dedicated Young Adult Track, featuring two distinct paths: service and learning. The Rev. Jeremy Wilhelmi, who oversaw the learning path with the Rev. Maggie Alsup, said the goal was to feature speakers — especially those close in age to the young adults — who could share personal stories and model authentic leadership.

Bringing young adults to Triennium had long been discussed, but the idea gained urgency when 2022’s event was canceled due to Covid.

“I have been looking forward to going to Triennium for forever,” said one young adult from the Heartland Presbytery delegation. “But my year was the year canceled by Covid, so I was really disappointed. But when I heard about the fact that I could come here and do an opportunity for the young adults, I was over the moon.” 

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The Rev. Jeremy Wilheimi curated the learning path on the Young Adult Track for the 2025 Triennium event. (Photo by Rich Copley)

Abby, 21, from Mid-Kentucky Presbytery, said, “In the young adult track, we learned about what good leadership qualities are and what are some of the issues in the world that we might, as young adults, need to take on and make changes in the church to help it be more inclusive and more empathetic towards everyone.”

For Esinam, a college student studying nursing and a member of the Ghanaian Community Presbyterian Church, a new worshiping community in Irving, Texas, Triennium offered a chance to build leadership skills. Recently ordained as a ruling elder during her church’s chartering process to become Covenant Community Church in Grace Presbytery, she hoped to better engage youth in her congregation. “It was really inspiring. I was low-key overwhelmed at my first training because I was learning so much,” she said. However, she found comfort knowing that several elders were ordained at the same time.

A recent Forbes article noted that Gen Z is reshaping the workforce, especially around purpose-driven work, authentic leadership and flexibility. Their experiences — as digital natives and with the Covid pandemic occurring during pivotal moments of their educational and career development — create a unique relationship toward efficient use of new technologies like artificial intelligence.

Themes of purpose, authenticity and flexibility were reflected in Watson’s session. Watson — now a policy advocate at Texas Impact and co-starter of Vidas Robadas — shared his journey through high school, college, and young adulthood and how those experiences shaped his interfaith policy work and the concept of faithful leadership. He named familiar Generation Z challenges: crises like the pandemic, wars abroad and school shootings.

For Watson, leadership means putting faith into action, being open to unexpected opportunities, relying on your support network, adapting to challenges and failures, creating positive change in your community, listening to and understanding diverse perspectives, taking initiative to address social issues and staying flexible and resilient.

“Everything that led me to Texas Impact was a series of failures, a series of surprises that I didn’t think would be important, and a series of people who got me to the next place,” Watson said as he introduced the concept of a “better North star.”

“I believe there are things you can want to be a part of that is a better guiding point to take you on a complicated, mixed and zigzagging path than if there were that one thing, that perfect plan,” he said. “I don’t think dream jobs are real, but I do believe in dream goals.”

At Triennium, young adults discovered how living out one’s faith can be just as creative, unexpected and winding as a dream.

Beth Waltemath, Communications Strategist (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Rebecca Rayner, Paralegal, Legal & Risk Management, Administrative Services Group
Shelby Reedus, NCTC Administrative Officer, Trust Services, The Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray:

Father, we thank you for your ability to forgive us for being such an inconstant people. Help us to honor your son, Jesus, the way he deserves, each and every day. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Webinar explores theology of salvation

The Office of Ministry Education and Support’s second Leader Formation Webinar of 2025was led by Dr. Martha Moore-Keish. The J.B. Green Professor of Theology at Columbia Theological Seminary. continued her exploration of core Presbyterian theology.

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Martha Miller

The Leader Formation webinars are organized and facilitated by Martha Miller, a PC(USA) ruling elder and certified Christian educator who’s the manager for Ministry Education and Support within Mid Council Ministries.

Moore-Keish began her talk by reminding participants of the importance of questions when it comes to faith, including what salvation means.

“Christian faith — living, breathing Christian faith — is not about just memorizing certain answers, but it is about living with questions,” she said.

Moore-Keish then introduced the root of the word translated as “salvation” in the Hebrew Scriptures, yasha. This word, she explained, means freedom from any kind of distress, freedom from slavery, healing from illness, or simply “help.” It is referenced in all of these ways in Scripture, she said, quoting Psalms and Isaiah in particular, and points again and again to the work of God and God’s presence.

In the New Testament, in which the word used for salvation is sozo, these same ideas of divine salvation carry over, Moore-Keish said. She pointed out that this emphasis on salvation is evident even in Jesus’ name. In Matthew, the angel instructs Mary to name her son “Yeshua,” which means “he saves.” Then Jesus is also referred to as 

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Dr. Martha Moore-Keish

“Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.” Moore-Keish explained that this combination continues to emphasize that God’s salvation is not some distant act of help, but rather entirely connected to God’s close and abiding presence.

The webinar explored four perspectives of how Jesus saves according to parts of his life: infant Jesus as the light of the world, healer Jesus, Jesus on the cross sacrificing himself and Jesus resurrected to new life.

“I hope that you might begin to sense is that even where you begin the story affects how you think Jesus saves,” Moore-Keish said. “So, we’re going to go through each of these just briefly and see what resonates with you. I hope what you notice is that salvation is not a monolithic or simple or static term, but that it has been and is interpreted in a variety of ways — not only in Scripture, but also through Christian tradition.”

Moore-Keish went on to teach about perspectives on salvation from theologians throughout history. She began with Greek early Christian theologian Athanasius and John 1, explaining his idea that Jesus saves us from “separation from God” and for “life in full communion with God.” Womanist theologian Dolores Williams, meanwhile, emphasized the example Jesus sets in his ministry of redemption through righting relationships, as seen in Matthew 4.

Moving on to Mark 15, Moore-Keish introduced 12th-century theologians Peter Abelard and Anselm of Canterbury. Abelard wrote about how Jesus saves humanity from sin driven by fear — of danger and of death — that keeps us from fully loving God and one another. Anselm, meanwhile — and Reformer John Calvin in a way — described Jesus as satisfying the debt humans owe to God and are unable to repay. Finally, Moore-Keish touched on John Chrysostom, who said that Jesus saves us — not just from fear of death — but from death itself. Freed from death, we are liberated to rejoice in life abundant here and now.

Moore-Keish emphasized that these five perspectives are just some of the many theological interpretations on salvation through Christ that have been suggested over the past two millennia. While the doctrine of salvation through Christ has been arguably the most central and unifying tenet of Christian faith, it has been and continues to be understood in many different ways.

Moore-Keish ended her talk with a reference from the PC(USA)’s Book of Confessions. Quoting from The Confession of 1967, she read, “God’s reconciling act in Jesus Christ is a mystery which the Scriptures describe in various ways. These are expressions of a truth which remains beyond the reach of all theory in the depths of God's love for humanity. They reveal the gravity, cost and sure achievement of God's reconciling work.”

Layton Williams Berkes, Communications Strategist (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Douglas Portz, Vice President, Church Relations, Engagement & Church Relations, The Board of Pensions
Vaughn Ratliff, HR Specialist, Human Resources, Administrative Services Group

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus Christ, even when it seems our small “loaves and fishes” are shrinking before our eyes, you remain Lord of your church. May you work ever-new miracles of abundance through our efforts and give us always your vision as we seek to remain faithful in times of change. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Sunday dinners bring community together at Louisville church

Dianne White was watching TV one day when a book promotion caught her eye.

“Chef Alexander Smalls’ new book really piqued my interest because he’s from South Carolina, which is where I’m originally from,” said White, a ruling elder at Shawnee Presbyterian Church in Louisville’s historic West End.

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In March, Shawnee Presbyterian Church in Louisville launched its popular Sunday dinner program. (Contributed photo)

West Louisville, a diverse and vibrant neighborhood, is known for its rich African American cultural heritage.

“When I found out that ‘When Alexander Graced the Table’ was both a recipe and a children’s book about ‘Sunday dinner,’ I knew it was a sign that I had to order it,” White said. “It even has a recipe from when Smalls was a boy of six. His contribution to the family’s Sunday dinner was a lemon icebox pie!”

Because White, a retired educator and expert chef in her own right, has long been advocating that Shawnee engage more intentionally with both the surrounding community and the presbytery, she sensed that the surest way to the people’s hearts would be through their stomachs.

In other words, “Sunday dinner.”

“People know what ‘Sunday dinner’ is because it’s an important tradition in a lot of cultures,” she said. “For us, we would gather at the grandmama’s house after church, and we would have Sunday dinner. Since the meal can be anything we want it to be, not just soul food, I knew that our members could use their imagination and whatever resources we had on hand to make it happen.”

And that’s just what they did.

On Sunday, March 23, White and a small group of faithful volunteers from the 30-member church — one of the four historic African American congregations in Mid-Kentucky Presbytery — launched the new Sunday dinner program.

Designed as a “drop-in” event from 1-3 p.m. on the fourth Sunday of every month, Shawnee Sunday dinners are tailored to accommodate a variety of schedules, guests and worship times.

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Servers with Harvey Browne Presbyterian Church assist with the Sunday dinner. (Contributed photo)

“We want to be a bridge for the ‘9th Street Divide,” White said, referencing the “barrier” that exists between Louisville’s East and West Ends. “People are afraid to come to the West End, but there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

As a harbinger of the new program’s success, the first meal on March 23 drew about 50 hungry diners, including members from congregations across the presbytery, like Harvey Browne Memorial Presbyterian Church, Shawnee’s “sister church,” where Tom Hughes is a ruling elder.

And not only is Hughes active at Shawnee as part of the administrative commission created by the presbytery in February 2023 to support the small congregation with church governance, but he is also a member of “Harvey’s Helpers," a volunteer ministry of HBPC.

Harvey’s Helpers is a group of mixed aged and mixed skill individuals interested in supporting church projects ranging from painting to minor repairs, landscaping and more.

White recalled a tense moment when she shared with the administrative commission the fire marshal’s pronouncement that the inoperable chair lift leading from one of Shawnee’s outside entrances to the church’s upper level was a dangerous fire hazard that either had to be fixed or removed.

“That’s when Tom offered to come to Shawnee and take pictures of the broken chair lift to see if Harvey’s Helpers could do it,” said White.

When Hughes showed the photos to HBPC ruling elder Dave Doehnert, who convenes the volunteer group, they determined that the chair lift would be too expensive to repair. So last year, four members of Harvey’s Helpers came over, took it apart and hauled it off.

“Tom is a quiet godsend,” White said.

And someone who also enjoys a good Sunday dinner.

“It was very nice,” Hughes said. “And not only was the food very good — Dianne made her famous caramel frosted pound cake — but it was also a chance to interact with people. I met someone from Harvey Browne whose name I had heard but had never really met even though he’s a lifetime member and I’ve been there for 30 years.”

And as for the lemon icebox pie, White said she hopes that there will be youth in the church who will one day make Smalls’ childhood recipe.

Rev. Emily Enders Odom, Associate Director of Mission Communications (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Tracy Pou, Vice President, Marketing & Communications, Engagement & Church Relations, The Board of Pensions
Rick Purdy, HR Manager, Human Resources, Administrative Services Group

Let us pray:

Open our eyes, O God, to the world around us, to the liberating power of the gospel and your abundant expressions of reconciling love. Amen.