Mission Yearbook: Congregations get help thriving from Presbytery of the Inland Northwest

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The Rev. Dr. Alyssa Bell (left), Pastor of Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Spokane, Washington leads with Mark Elsdon of Rooted Good. The meeting of the Presbytery of the Inland Northwest at Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Spokane, Washington on May 1, 2025 included a presentation by Rooted Good. Photo by Rich Copley.

As mid councils and congregations across the country are confronted with insurmountable expenses related to building and property management, one presbytery has reached out to its neighbors for help.

In November 2023, the Presbytery of the Inland Northwest was awarded a Lilly Endowment: Thriving Congregations Initiative to help fund the Ezra 3 Project. The project, designed to help congregations thrive in a post-pandemic environment, explores how congregations can steward land and buildings for community impact in a way that also aligns with their mission.

Congregations who choose to participate in the project are placed into cohorts where they work through Rooted Good’s “Good Futures Accelerator,” a self-guided course to help church leaders explore how creative use of property can further mission and build financial resilience.

“There are projections that a hundred thousand churches or properties related to churches could close or change use in the next decade. Even if it's just half or even a quarter of that, it's a huge number in the tens of thousands,” said Rooted Good co-founder the Rev. Mark Elsdon earlier this year at an event introducing his book, “Gone for Good?” “Therefore, there are far more church buildings today than will be viable or needed in the future. That’s just the way it is. The bottom line is that there are fewer and fewer people identifying as Christians and attending traditional church activities in church buildings.”

In addition to the Good Futures Accelerator, churches will receive a site visit from Partners for Sacred Places, who will help identify community stakeholders and explore how congregations can serve them.

Through thoughtful work and discernment, each participating congregation will create a design plan for its project and have the opportunity to apply for a $10,000 seed grant to implement its design. Upon receiving the grant, each church is provided a coach who will guide the church through project implementation.

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Katie Stark, Missional Expeditor of the Presbytery of the Inland Northwest and Ezra 3 Project Director on May 1, 2025. Photo by Rich Copley.

“Many of our churches come to this conversation because they’re looking for a way to survive,” said the Rev. Katie Stark, missional expeditor at the Presbytery of the Inland Northwest and Ezra 3 Project director, “and through the Ezra 3 Project, we help them to reframe that and ask the question of how they can thrive.”

Congregations have embraced the spirit of creativity and community through the Ezra 3 Project. Spirit Lake Presbyterian Church in Spirit Lake, Idaho, has partnered with a local performing arts organization who helped the congregation host a series of concerts in the sanctuary.

While design plans will look different from one congregation to another, there are shared hopes best expressed by the Rev. Dr. Alyssa Bell of Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Spokane, Washington. “I would hope that we would feel stronger in who we are in Christ. That we are a body that are called to be Christ’s light in the world,” Bell said. “I would hope that we have more friends than we did before in the community. I would hope that our space is being utilized in two ways … ways that both gain revenue, because that’s a practical need … but also ways in which that we are making some sacrifices to serve people in the community.”

The Good Futures Accelerator is available to PC(USA) mid councils and congregations at a 50% discount and can be ordered here.

Kristen Gaydos, Multimedia Producer, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Gohar Aznauryan, Administrative Assistant, Jinishian Memorial Program, Interim Unified Agency
Katherine Babicz, AVP Financial & Investment Planning Professional, Trust Services, Presbyterian Foundation 

Let us pray:

God of wholeness, may the world you intend be the one we seek. May the way you love be the way we love, so that even broken hearts pulse with your grace. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Service urges good care of Creation

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Photo by Emilia Morariu via Unsplash

The title and lyrics of the gentle hymn “Touch the Earth Lightly” (Glory to God #713) served as a call to action for attendees of a recent prayer service for those serving on the staff of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

The hymn, which urges listeners to treat the Earth with care, helped to close a service that stressed the need to be good stewards of Creation and to care for all living creatures.

The Rev. Rebecca Barnes and Jessica Maudlin, who are both with the Presbyterian Hunger Program, and the Rev. Dr. David Gambrell, Associate for Worship in the Office of Theology & Worship, led the online gathering, which commemorated the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.

The service opened with a Call to Worship, inspired by Psalm 148, calling for all to praise the Creator’s name.

Later, Barnes and Maudlin alternated reading a Litany of Confession, adapted from Rev. Keatan King’s “Litany of the Garden,” which referenced some of the ways in which humankind has contributed to harming the environment.

“God of air, breathe new life into our dust every day as you did in the beginning,” Barnes said. “Unite all people in one rhythm in our inhaling and exhaling. We exhale hazardous substances, without regard for who will have to inhale our contamination. Teach us to extend the privilege of inhaling deeply to all neighbors. We pray for the day when air is always fresh.”

The litany also spoke of the need for people to be generous to one another and the planet by mimicking the Earth itself.

“God of Creation, we pray that we will learn to show the Earth the same love and grace which it extends to us,” Maudlin said. “Teach us the intrinsic value of every creature. Teach us to give freely and spontaneously among one another the way that the Earth gives of itself freely to us. Holy One, we have nothing that was not first given to us by your generous heart and your open hand.”

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storm_lightning by brandon-morgan-3qucB7U2l7I-unsplash.jpg

Later, Gambrell read Luke 8:22–25 followed by a reflection from a colleague who's part of an ecumenical group called the Consultation on Common Texts, responsible for the Revised Common Lectionary. The passage from Luke describes how the disciples became alarmed when a boat they were on with Jesus was enveloped by a fierce storm while he was sleeping.

When the disciples came to him, Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and waves, causing the storm to subside. He also asked the disciples, “Where is your faith?”

In today’s world, "people also cry out in fear as the world is ravaged by hurricanes and other natural disasters as well as war and other calamities, Gambrell noted. But "this gospel passage calls us to faith anew. ... The love of God flows through this story and through all of Scripture like a river, steady and sure."

During the benediction, Maudlin prayed that God would “inspire us to work for the end of conflict, and for the full restoration of broken relationships — with you, with the ecumenical community, with the human family, and with all Creation.”

She continued, “Prince of Peace, through your wounds, teach us to stand in solidarity with the woundedness of others, of Creation, and of the world. Through your resurrection, make us people of hope — with a vision of swords turned into ploughshares and tears transformed into joy. May we come together as one family, to labor for your peace — a shalom where all your people may dwell in safety, and rest in quiet places.”

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Molly Atkinson, Senior Administrative Assistant, Financial Aid Service, Interim Unified Agency
Yesenia Ayala,  Associate, Financial Aid for Service, Interim Unified Agency

Let us pray:

Dear Lord, sustain us as we seek to sustain each other; in the beauty of your kingdom, with the beauty of your earth, amid the needs of your cities, and through the fellowship of neighbors working together. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Webinar discussing young parents’ views on church draws a large crowd

The title of the recent webinar, “Holy Shift: Young Parents Are Rethinking Everything. So Should We,” was the first clue that the more than 500 people who signed up for the first of three installments were in for a time of learning and sharing ideas.

They weren’t disappointed.

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Dr. Josh Packard

Dr. Josh Packard, a sociologist and research director at TryTank Research Institute, an initiative of Virginia Theological Seminary, took the large crowd through key findings from the Young Adult Parents Research Project, “What Happens to Faith When ‘Nones’ Have Kids.” The research investigated the evolving role of religion and spirituality among parents in the United States aged 25–39, a group marked by increasing disaffiliation from organized religion.

It noted that the number of adult “nones” has more than doubled since 2005 and now makes up 1/3 of the adult population. At the same time, the number of self-identified Christians has fallen dramatically.

Packard discussed the study’s six key findings:

The faith stops here (or nones are parenting very differently). One respondent told researchers, “I want to pass on the ability to make their own choices. If they are going to have a relationship with religion and faith, I want that to be something that they pick for themselves.”

Parents are worried about a lot of things, but religion is the least of their concerns. Imparting religious faith to their children was at the bottom of a list that included being responsible, working hard, being well-mannered and helping others.

Life is hard, and the church is not seen as a resource. Seven in 10 respondents agreed with the statement “life is generally harder than I expected it to be at this point.” Churches and congregations “have a vital role to play [in the lives of these families], but only if they adopt relational approaches that acknowledge the full range of life events shaping people’s experiences,” the study stated. “I think you are exactly who people in their 20s and 30s need,” Packard told attendees, “but they aren’t turning to you in ways they used to because they don’t see institutions and leaders as trustworthy.”

Jesus is popular, but church isn’t. On a 10-point ranking scale, Jesus scored a 9 among Christians and 7 among people of other faiths. Even nones gave him a score of 6.

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Parents are overwhelmingly confident in their ability to teach their kids to lead meaningful lives. More than 80% were “extremely” or “very” confident in their ability to teach their children the skills they need “to lead a life filled with meaning and purpose,” Packard noted.

Parents think virtues are essential for their kids, but that the church doesn’t teach them. For example, about 70% of respondents said that self-control is an important virtue they want their children to have, but 48% said the church emphasizes that virtue.

“Nones are more interested in faith than we thought,” Packard said. “Jesus and spirituality are still important to them, and there is a lot we can do in the church around those things.”

But many church models came about at a time when people trusted clergy and churches more than they do now, Packard said. “We try to get people through the doors and be the authoritative voice on an issue instead of recognizing we are operating in a low-trust environment.”

The importance of the relational component is growing. Packard called that “reaching people where they’re at so they see the church as a real resource in times of need.”

Respondents were asked if they’ll continue to go to church once their children finish high school and leave home. “Our data shows parents are intending to leave once their kids graduate, and that is kind of alarming,” Packard said. Churches may fall into the trap of “once we get parents to come back, we stop paying much attention to their needs.”

“Our ways to reach people have traditionally been through the family,” Packard said. “We might need to think about opening pathways to make sure our churches are still relevant to people without children.”

Watch Packard’s presentation here.

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Monty Anderson, Vice President/COO & Corporate Treasurer, Operations, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation
Rachel Anderson, Global Ecumenical Liaison, Global Ecumenical Liaison Office, Interim Unified Agency              

Let us pray:

Good and gracious God, help us to be faithful with the good news that you have entrusted us to proclaim. Guide and inspire us to real and practical service to the least of Christ’s brothers and sisters, that we might minister to all according to their genuine needs. In Christ’s name. Amen.

Minute for Mission: Camp and Conference Emphasis Sunday

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Girl and Horse Heartland Crop

As I look ahead to warm days and summer camp, I think of all the lives impacted each summer. I think of my elementary aged camper, Reggie, from Newark, New Jersey, who stared in wonder with me late one night at a luna moth perched on the bath house. It was a beauty of God’s creation we never would have seen had we not been sharing camp together. Or the young woman in my counselor in training group who was having a terrible teenage angst crisis. We constantly had to pull to the side of the group so she had the space to work through her emotions. Three years later I received a letter thanking me, her counselor, for taking that time with her and sharing how camp had given her the confidence to get into college and the difference that had made in her life. Camp is amazing.

But our camps are so much more than camps! Church groups join us for retreats to work on growth or social justice challenge plans, nonprofits join us to learn and grow together, and at times we are blessed to serve those in need directly. I think of Camp Fellowship in South Carolina, which was blessed to be the unintended home for months of a Ugandan touring children’s choir when they were unable to return to their country for a time.

With intentional summer programs, facilitating growth in congregations and nonprofits, and the opportunities to serve directly, I hope you will join me in celebrating all our camps as Centers of Mission and Ministry, doing the work of the church in so many ways.

Please join us today to celebrate Camp and Conference Sunday with us at your congregation. For more information, seeCamp and Retreat Sunday Resources.

Brian Frick, Co-Director of Stony Point Center in New York and Director of Camp and Retreat Ministries and Director of Camp and Retreat Ministries, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff:

Ahmad Ali, Vice President and Managing Director, Investments, The Board of Pensions
Denise Anderson, Director of Compassion, Peace & Justice, Interim Unified Agency

Let us pray:

Creator God, we give you thanks for sacred spaces for us to grow in our understanding of you, and to deepen our connection to one another. We ask your blessing on those who will encounter Christ at camp this summer, on those young adult mentors who will share their understanding of you with campers, and for all groups who gather at these spaces to deepen their witness. We love you, Lord. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Video series’ final episode explores how one church’s commitment to reparations inspires a movement

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Flags fly for equity and justice outside Oak Grove Presbyterian Church. (Photo by Rich Copley)

“You make an offering, and you hope that it in some way makes some level of amends for what happened,” Bob Heise, ruling elder at Oak Grove Presbyterian Church, told his son when he asked Heise how does one compensate somebody “for stealing what they have, including their history and ancestry?” Heise’s reflection opened the fifth and final episode of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s video series, “Zero to One: A Congregation’s Journey to Repair.” 

The final episode, “What is the Future of Repair?” featured members of Oak Grove in Bloomington, Minnesota, as they reflected on listening to the next generation, many of whom have left not just the congregation but organized religion. In this and previous episodes, church members reckoned with the historic harms and systemic injustices in and from which denominations like the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have participated and benefited.

“I believe in churches,” says Ruling Elder Jim Koon. “My theology might be squishy, but I believe in churches. But my adult kids don’t.”

The “Zero to One” series, which began with a car ride conversation between Koon and the Rev. Jermaine Ross-Allam, has traced Oak Grove’s evolution from initial reflection to courageous action. “I could see that my adult kids saw me as you saw me, as someone with the establishment, seeing only what I want to see, not seeing what I don’t want to see,” Koon tells Ross-Allam, director of the Center for the Repair of Historic Harms.

“I just had a need that still exists in me to do what I can,” said Koon. He expressed a hope grounded in both personal conviction and a belief in the church’s potential to lead systemic change. “Do I believe our efforts are going to lead to reparation on a scale that’s going to make a difference? That’s hard to believe,” he said, “but I do believe that movements start locally.”

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Elona Street-Stewart, ruling elder and synod executive, serves communion with the Rev. Irv Porter. (Photo by Gregg Brekke)

Ruling Elder Mark Pridgeon emphasized the power of local action in building momentum for justice: “I think we can move the process along with these local actions, even if we’re not seeing anything done at the national political level.”

Oak Grove Presbyterian Church committed to a future shaped by reparations, justice and faith beginning with the decision to establish two investment trusts — one for Indigenous communities and one for Afro-American communities.

Inspired by Acts 4:32–35, the final episode frames the reflections of Oak Grove’s members in the context of the early church’s radical sharing of resources and invites today’s congregations to consider what it means to surrender wealth for beloved community.

“It’s the everyday miracles of someone having courage to stand up and protect another person … to say, ‘Yes, we should surrender this wealth,’” said Milissa Carter, a ruling elder and member of Oak Grove’s Anti-Racism Advocacy Team. “That is God’s will being done. That is God working in our everyday lives.”

Ruling Elder Elona Street-Stewart, Co-Moderator of the 224th General Assembly and a voice for Indigenous justice, consults with congregations like Oak Grove Presbyterian Church in her work as executive for the Synod of Lakes and Prairies and as a team member for Restorative Actions, an “economic equity initiative born from the intersection of theology, justice, and economics.” Street-Stewart said justice is always possible, but it has to be reciprocal. “We cannot talk about justice as a fix-it. We have to talk about justice as what people value together to restore, regenerate and rebuild.”

Street-Stewart sees reparations as the work of recognizing the sacrifices of others who have come before and of creating a greater balance. “As an Indigenous person, I know that this land that I am on holds those stories and has that future hope already contained within it,” she said.

This final episode is not a conclusion, but a commissioning inviting other congregations to ask: What comes next for us? How will we respond to the call to repair?

Explore the full video series here.

Read other articles in the series or share them with your session or Christian education classes. The article introducing the series is here. The article on the second video in the series is here, while articles on the third and fourth installments are here and here.

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Princeton Abarahoa,  Associate, African Immigrant Congregational Support, Interim Unified Agency
Christopher Abney, VP, Director of IT, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray:

Christ the Reconciler, give us strength and joy in your great calling, in season and out of season, for you are within and beyond all our works and touch more people than we know. Amen.

Minute for Mission: Thursdays in Black

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The GACEIR winter meeting honoring Thursdays in Black. (provided)

The General Assembly Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations (GACEIR) recently met via Zoom for our winter meeting. In addition to working to review our work on actions referred to us from the General Assembly, we spent time in worship and devotion. On Thursday, we remembered the church’s commitment to stand in solidarity with our siblings who are experiencing violence by wearing black. We invite you to join us each Thursday to stand with and pray for the end of violence in all areas of our lives.

Violence is so prevalent in our daily experience. Consider your favorite TV show, music, movie, sport or game, or reports of mass shootings and gun violence. They all numb us and make us think of violence as OK or normal. What if we, in our daily lives, loved others like God in Christ loves them? Would we turn a blind eye to the violence and injustice we know is happening around us? What if we lived in a world that did not tolerate violence? What if the church stood as a voice against violence? What if you did?

Thursdays in Black is a global movement for a world without rape and violence. It began as a result of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women from 1988–98. Wearing black in this campaign is used as a color of resistance and resilience, rather than the historical negative connotations we have been taught.

In 2021, WCC produced a Thursdays in Black Bible Study Series to help individuals and congregations reflect on sexual and gender-based violence. The reflections are designed to help us listen to the word of God and to discern how to apply our faith and vision of justice, peace and love to the ever-increasing violent world we live in.

It is our work to make more visible the tragic reality of violence and to facilitate alternative ways to handle life’s circumstances. This study series and other resources are available to you. 

Resources and stories that highlight this important work can he found here.

As we participate in this work together, let us make the Thursdays in Black Pledge:

I commit to Thursdays in Black.
In solidarity, in protest, in mourning, for awareness and in hope

By supporting Thursdays in Black I stand:
- In solidarity with 1 in 3 women worldwide who face violence in their lives.
- In protest against systems and societies that encourage violence in any form.
- In mourning for men, women and children who are harmed and killed in sexual violence.
- For awareness and knowledge about the challenges of sexual and gender-based violence.
- In the hope that a different reality is possible.

Dianna Wright, Director of Ecumenical Relations, Office of the General Assembly

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff:

Erika Nazaryan, Administrative Support, Jinishian Memorial Program
Ashley Wiley, Administrative Support, Young Adult Volunteers<

Let us pray:

Loving God, pour out your love and compassion upon us, that by the power of your spirit, we may bring an end to the violence and hatred we bring to bear on each other. Amen.

WCC NEWS: WCC hosts United Evangelical Mission delegation

The World Council of Churches (WCC) hosted representatives of the United Evangelical Mission (UEM)—including Rev. Dr Andar Parlindungan Pasaribu, general secretary, and Thea Hummel, head of advocacy, on 2 February.  Visit of Rev. Dr. Andar Parlindungan Pasaribu, General Secretary and Ms Thea Hummel, Head of Advocacy, from the United Evangelical Mission, on 02 February 2026. Photo:Gregoire de Fombelle/WCC 05 February 2026 They met with WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, then participated in discussions about unity, mission, ecumenical formation, and communications. They also discussed the WCC Life, Justice, and Peace programme.  “It was a great pleasure to renew our relationship in our respective new responsibilities,” said Pasaribu. “Our meeting reaffirmed our shared commitment to concrete collaboration—particularly through a joint solidarity visit to West Papua, coordinated responses to the situation of churches in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and continued cooperation in the areas of human rights, gender justice, and peacebuilding. With gratitude and hope, we look forward to nurturing this partnership between UEM and WCC as a sign of our common witness to God’s justice, peace, and the integrity of creation.” Visits to the World Council of Churches See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland