Today in the Mission Yearbook - From stand-alone churches to mixed economy ministries

Podcast explores innovation and social entrepreneurship in new models of church

November 19, 2024

“What does it feel like to be stuck?” asked the Rev. Sara Hayden, host of the “New Way” podcast, a production of the 1001 New Worshiping Communities (1001 NWC) movement. Her guest, Dr. Corey Schlosser-Hall, deputy executive director for Vision and Innovation at the Presbyterian Mission Agency, gave both a theological answer and a personal anecdote. According to Schlosser-Hall, to be stuck is to be without confidence and faith, i.e., lacking in “con-fidelis.” Feeling stuck reminded him of driving a brown Ford Pinto station wagon in high school and having to navigate the North Dakota winters with only rear-wheel drive. Sometimes, one needs more to get unstuck and stop spinning one’s wheels than to exert more effort doing the same thing. Sometimes, one needs a group of people pushing from behind or sand to help with traction under one’s tires.

In the first episode of two, titled “The Holy Spirit is the Sand Under the Tires,” Hayden and Schlosser-Hall speak about the balance between following surprising leads and new ideas and sustaining organizations with predictable patterns and a culture of comfort, drawing on examples they’ve encountered over the years. Schlosser-Hall has worked on the mid council level in the Pacific Northwest and currently oversees the PC(USA)’s Center for Innovation, and Hayden has spent her career working with church planters and founders of new worshiping communities, most recently as 1001 NWC’s associate for apprenticeships and residencies. The conversation lifted up examples of ministries built in the back room of fair-trade chocolate and coffee shops to small-business incubators born out of industrial-grade church kitchens that inspired churches to think about themselves not as ministries seeking members to join them but as their churches as members belonging to a larger community and economy of social entrepreneurship.

“To be clear, we need them both,” said Schlosser-Hall. “If you pull up the volume too high on the comfort and familiarity, then you get stuckness. But if you pull up the volume too high on the serendipity and holy newness, then you get out of whack.”

In episode two, Schlosser-Hall delves deeper into defining what ministries built on a social entrepreneurship model mean in contrast to stand-alone churches that contract with what they consider outside partners in mission as a “supplement to our stand-alone church,” rather than part of their core identity as a church that is itself a member of the larger community.

“I’m fascinated by how the church is moving more into an understanding of itself as less a stand-alone church and more one node in a constellation of relationships in its community,” said Schlosser-Hall.

Hayden and Schlosser-Hall then imagine how the stand-alone church is sustained economically by its members, but the social entrepreneurial model of ministries shares the economic responsibility and the call to serve others among many initiatives. One of the ways that the PC(USA) is helping communities imagine, transition into or build new models of ministry is through the “Good Futures Accelerator Course.” Because of the partnership between the Presbyterian Mission Agency and Rooted Good, which has developed the course, PC(USA) churches receive a 50% discount on the course.

Beth Waltemath, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Daily Readings

• Morning Psalms 54; 146
• First Reading Habakkuk 3:1-10 (11-15) 16-18
• Second Reading James 3:1-12
• Gospel Reading Luke 17:1-10
• Evening Psalms 28; 99

Today’s Focus: Dr. Corey Schlosser-Hall, guest on the New Way Podcast

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Beth Zornick, Vice President, Customer Business Systems, Board of Pensions 
Princeton Abarahoa, Associate for African Intercultural Ministries, Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries, Presbyterian Mission Agency 

Let us pray

God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for the windows of opportunities that have opened. May your Word go forth in power, and may new believers come to faith. We pray, too, for protection, discernment and boldness for those who labor. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Reading Luke backwards and confronting the ‘bounds of empire’

During Stewardship Kaleidoscope, the Rev. Dr. Eric Barreto suggests paying extra attention to Luke’s crucifixion narrative

November 18, 2024

Eric Barreto speaks at Stewardship Kaleidoscope in Portland, 

Oregon, on Sept. 24. He serves as the Frederick and Margaret 

L. Weyerhaeuser Associate Professor of New Testament at 

Princeton Theological Seminary. Photo credit: Gregg Brekke

The Gospel writer Luke set out to provide an “orderly account” of the life of Jesus. Yet reading the story backwards yields insights we can appreciate even more today, said the Rev. Dr. Eric Barreto in the second plenary address at the recent Stewardship Kaleidoscope. The annual conference was presented by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Barreto is the Frederick and Margaret L. Weyerhaeuser Associate Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Barreto encouraged listeners to pay attention to Luke’s crucifixion narrative. Look at what it says about what it means to live within (and resist) the bounds of empire. Also notice how community is key, not secondary to the good news of Jesus Christ.

Here are a few highlights:

The meaning of the cross

The crosses we see at churches or wear around our necks meant anything but hope in Jesus’ time, Barreto said. A cross was a threat of humiliation and excruciating death at the hands of a violent empire.

“The cross is the strangest of good news: the defeat of death with death, eternal life purchased with the death of God’s son, forgiveness shared in a place utterly devoid of mercy,” Barreto said.

No one story can capture its full meaning. Luke wrote for an audience who’d heard the story before, but something compelled him to bring it to life in a new way.

A tale of trauma and grief

The power of the state to seize and destroy weighs heavily in Luke’s account of the crucifixion, Barreto said.

Two individuals were crucified along with Jesus. One taunted him. The other said Jesus was innocent, and the two criminals had been condemned justly.

Jesus told both: “Today you will be with me in paradise” — not just someday, but today.

That was “an audacious promise,” Barreto said.

Others present at the crucifixion agreed Jesus was innocent; he was not the first innocent person to be crushed by an empire and would not be the last. Some were there for the spectacle of a public execution. Some went home beating their breasts in agony.

“The cross shows us the depth of our own inhumanity,” Barreto said. “We have trusted empire’s violence all too much.”

Rethinking sacrificial giving

Jesus warned of the scribes who walk around in long robes, commanding respect and grabbing the best seats and places of honor. He also said they “devour widows’ houses.”

Then he saw a widow place two coins, all she had to live on, in the treasury along with the gifts of the rich.

“So often we read this as a stewardship text exhorting sacrificial giving,” Barreto said.

On the heels of what Jesus had just said about widows’ houses being devoured, it could be read as the widow’s “house” being devoured by an empire demanding a lot of those who have little and little of those who have a lot.

The one who dared to believe

An angel visited a presumably young, poor, uneducated woman in the middle of nowhere in the empire. Mary was naturally perplexed at being called “favored one.”

“In what way is she favored in this world?” Barreto asked.

Though perplexed, Mary was unafraid even when the angel described what was being asked of her. To dare to believe what the angel was telling her was dangerous, he said. Perhaps asking “how can this be?” was not about conception but about how a world-upending prophet could come from her circumstances.

Mary’s powerful song when she visits her cousin Elizabeth is not a one-off, Barreto said.

Someone, after all, had to teach Jesus how to walk, talk, pray and believe in the God of Israel. It’s not hard to believe his mother might have sung that song to him over and over, Barreto said. You can hear Mary’s voice when Jesus speaks, but the beginning of his ministry is not the beginning of his story.

“This started when one woman believed, when one woman trusted God’s promises and said yes to God,” Barreto said.

Maybe reading Luke’s story backwards can help us trust God as we confront our bounds of empire, too.

Nancy Crowe for the Presbyterian Foundation, Special to Presbyterian News Service

Daily Readings

• Morning Psalms 57; 145
• First Reading Habakkuk 2:1-4, 9-20
• Second Reading James 2:14-26
• Gospel Reading Luke 16:19-31
• Evening Psalms 85; 47

Today’s Focus: Rev. Dr. Eric Barreto speaks at the Stewardship Kaleidoscope

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Andrew Yeager-Buckley, Project Manager II, Administrative Services Group, A (Corp) 
Gina Yeager-Buckley, Manager, Youth & Triennium, Theology, Formation & Evangelism, Presbyterian Mission Agency 

Let us pray

Creator God, we give thanks that you have bound us together as your children from many lands to send and receive your infinite love. Be with your churches as they continue to renew themselves for your glory. In Christ. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - PC(USA) ministries call for U.S. to fund vaccine support

Two new malaria vaccines at center of initiative

November 17, 2024

Photo by Mirko Sajkov from Pixabay

The PC(USA) Africa Mission Networks and the Office of Public Witness (OPW), located in Washington, D.C., are collaborating to advocate for the U.S. government to support vaccination access for low-income countries through Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Specifically, there are two new malaria vaccinations that have been approved for use by the World Health Organization (WHO) that have proven successful after decades of research.

The OPW and the Africa Mission Networks urge Presbyterians to contact their senators and representatives to co-sponsor or support legislation to ensure funding for Gavi through House Resolution 1286 and Senate Resolution 684, and to ensure funding of the President’s Malaria Initiative in the appropriations process. Both affirm continued bipartisan congressional support for the purchase of vaccines in low-income countries as a cost-effective, efficient means to lower infant and maternal death. An OPW Action Alert, which provides a template for submitting a digital letter of support to your representative, was recently issued.

You can find the template and alert here.

In addition, churches can download a bulletin insert or display a PowerPoint slide, which provides program information and allows congregants to access the letter template via a QR code or website.

Statistics indicate that 95% of malaria-related deaths occur in Africa, and 80% of malaria deaths are suffered by children younger than 5 years old. According to its website, Gavi partners with organizations like WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, donors, governments, NGOs, and research and technical health organizations, among others, to improve access to new and under-used vaccines for millions of vulnerable children. Since 2000, it has helped vaccinate more than 1 billion children in 78 lower-income countries.

Its business model emphasizes the importance of a country’s accountability to immunization by requiring eligible countries to fund a portion of their vaccination expenses and invest in childhood immunization. That model, to date, has resulted in nearly 20 countries fully funding their immunization programs.

“With malaria being a major health challenge, especially for children under 5, there is a strong demand for effective preventative measures. Vaccines provide an additional layer of protection, complementing existing tools like bed nets and antimalarial drugs,” said the Rev. Dr. Pascal Bataringaya, president of the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda. “By incorporating malaria vaccines into their health-care services, the church can offer a more comprehensive approach to malaria prevention and treatment, complementing existing measures like bed nets and antimalarial drugs.”

The Zambia Council of Churches issued the following statement:

“The vaccine could significantly reduce the malaria death rate, which is currently at four people per day in Zambia. Among these are individuals in our congregations, and the heavy burden of sickness on the congregants hampers productivity and places additional pressure on pastoral work.”

“The vaccines will be warmly welcomed by the population, given the damage that malaria causes in our households (loss of human life, abortions in pregnant women, school absenteeism, anemia, and poverty),” said Dr. Pacio Tshianza, from the Presbyterian Community of Congo.

Scott O’Neill, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, November 17, 2024, the Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

• First Reading 1 Samuel 1:4-20
• Canticle 1 Samuel 2:1-10
• Second Reading Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18) 19-25
• Gospel Mark 13:1-8

Today’s Focus: PC(USA) ministries call for U.S. to fund vaccine support

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Myoung Ho Yang and  Ji Yeon Yoo, Mission co-workers serving in Hong Kong, Presbyterian Mission Agency 
Cindy Yates, Maturities Specialist, Presbyterian Foundation 

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 in lands abroad. Open our hearts to your transforming power so that our fruit will be acceptable in your sight. In Christ we pray. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Presbyterians for Earth Care webinar touts urban tree canopies and edible landscapes

Two experts share their experiences and helpful suggestions for churches during an hour-long online event

November 16, 2024

A webinar offered Wednesday by Presbyterians for 

Earth Care stressed the benefits churches can 

provide through community gardens. (Photo courtesy 

of Arkansas Interfaith Power & Light)

If establishing edible landscapes and climate resilient communities is the goal, Presbyterians for Earth Care recently provided at least some of the answers during an informative webinar. Watch the hourlong broadcast here.

PEC invited Scharmel Roussel, executive director of Arkansas Interfaith Power & Light, and the Rev. Dr. Shelly Barrick Parsons, executive director of Richmond, Virginia-based Capital Trees, to talk about work toward those goals in their regions — and how faith communities and individuals can do their part.

Arkansas Interfaith Power & Light has been awarded several environmental justice grants related to regenerative agriculture from federal agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Natural Resources Conversation Service. A current “Grow More Food Where People Live” grant supports community gardens producing fruits and vegetables that go to food distribution efforts in low-wealth areas. The three-year grant has trained dozens of urban farmers, student interns and volunteers on the benefits of Earth-friendly agriculture methods that conserve water and protect soil health.

“We envision resilient communities that gather around locally sustainable food systems,” Roussel said. “We intend to demonstrate we can do healthy feeding outreach to those in need while at the same time reducing our carbon footprint.”

The USDA estimates that agriculture contributes 9% of greenhouse gases, while the EPA says it’s 10%, Roussel noted. Both agencies “partner to advance sustainability in growing food.”

Part of the problem is our diet, which for many Americans is meat-based. “Big agriculture is not feeding America. It’s feeding livestock,” Roussel said. The Washington Post has reported on University of California at Berkeley research that uses gene editing to eliminate cattle methane emissions.

At Bethlehem House in Conway, Arkansas, a student’s capstone project was to install garden beds so residents could grow, harvest and cook their food. “Regenerative” and “genesis” come from the same root word, Roussel pointed out. “It has to do with new life.”

Helpful steps people can take include reducing lawn sizes and installing pollinator gardens instead, Roussel said. Churches can build a community garden with a compost system. They can also add a Little Free Pantry.

City of Hope Outreach in Conway has impacted nearly 16,000 neighbors, Roussel said. Its community garden has helped divert nearly 30,000 pounds of produce from the landfill to food pantries and compost systems. Nearly 60 interns have been involved.

“The fruit of justice will be peace,” the prophet Isaiah writes. Roussel added that food justice is related to environmental justice, social justice and peace.

Barrick Parsons said it’s Capital Trees’ vision “to build a greener, more livable Richmond.”

In addition to the better-known benefits trees provide in an urban landscape — including reducing the impacts of heat islands, improving air quality, supporting wildlife, reducing erosion, improving soil quality and mitigating the impacts of floodwaters —trees also improve mental and physical health, she said. One study indicated that as little as 30 minutes in a greenspace once a week improves our well-being.

Capital Trees has also shown that illegal practices, including redlining, have resulted in diminished tree canopies in neighborhoods of color. Redlined neighborhoods have up to 30% less tree canopy, which inhibits not only the availability of shade but the evapotranspiration process, which has a cooling impact on urban neighborhoods.

“Trees are a scalable and affordable solution,” she said. Churches can help by partnering with organizations that give trees away and by learning, meeting, listening, engaging and partnering with neighbors who are impacted by having fewer trees. “Take time to get to know the community with less tree canopy percentage,” she suggested, and “advocate and prioritize retaining trees and tree canopy before, during and after” new development occurs.

“Churches can be places for people to gather and work on community health and well-being,” she said. “It’s a way to raise awareness and it draws people into conversations about larger initiatives.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service

Daily Readings

• Morning Psalms 56; 149
• First Reading Joel 3:9-17
• Second Reading James 2:1-13
• Gospel Reading Luke 16:10-17 (18)
• Evening Psalms 118; 111

Today’s Focus: Presbyterians for Earth Care webinar

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Angela Wyatt, 1001 Apprentice, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Mission Agency 
Yun Kyoung Yang, Editorial Assistant, Korean, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation 

Let us pray

Loving God, thank you for courage, creativity and perseverance. Give us health and strength in difficult circumstances. Shine your face upon all of us so your love will light our path. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - New resources provided to support peace in the Philippines

Prayer and liturgy offer year-long accompaniment to help resolve conflict

November 15, 2024

While the Sept. 1 Day of Prayer for Just Peace in the Philippines has passed, a new set of resources and prayers is available to help congregations and individuals support peace year-round among Filipinos, and push for a resolution of the armed conflict on the island country in southeast Asia.

The National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), a global partner with PC(USA), provided the resources. They ask for support for the resumption of peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

The resources can be viewed and downloaded off the World Mission’s Philippines country page here.

They include:

• A letterfrom the NCCP.
• A background documenton the Day of Prayer.
• Prayer for a Just Peace — Englishand Tagalog
• Liturgy for a Just Peace — Englishand Spanish.

In addition, Ms. Minnie Anne Mata-Calub, general secretary for the NCCP, shared more information in a video message to its global partners.

In the message, Mata-Calub notes that the most vulnerable communities have suffered internal displacement and human rights violations. In November last year, the GRP and the NDFP released a joint statement indicating the possible resumption of peace negotiations. The NCCP believes that both parties returning to the negotiating table can mitigate loss of life and the continued propagation of human rights violations.

“But since the joint statement was released, both sides have made no further announcements regarding any developments in the peace process,” Mata-Calub says in the video. “Meanwhile, violations of human rights and international humanitarian law related to the government’s counter-insurgency program continue unabated. The NCCP is persistent and optimistic in advocating for the resumption of the peace negotiations; for as agreements are reached in key issues, such as in socio-economic and political reforms, the foundations of peace are strengthened, and the blueprint for a more just future is set.”

Sept. 1 is significant because of the signing of The Hague Joint Declaration in 1992 in The Hague, The Netherlands, by representatives of the GRP and the NDFP. The Declaration document set the objective of the peace negotiations: attaining a just and lasting peace by addressing the roots of the armed conflict and thereby resolving it.

It is the hope of the NCCP that beyond the Day of Prayer for Just Peace the new prayers and resources can inform its ecumenical partners and Presbyterians throughout the year to heed Jesus’ call to become peacemakers.

Scott O’Neill, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Daily Readings

• Morning Psalms 130; 148
• First Reading Joel 2:28-3:8
• Second Reading James 1:16-27
• Gospel Reading Luke 16:1-9
• Evening Psalms 32; 139

Today’s Focus: Sept. 1 Day of Prayer for Just Peace in the Philippines

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Dianna Wright, Director, Ecumenical Relations, Office of the General Assembly 
Najee Wright, Housekeeper, Stony Point Center, Presbyterian Mission Agency 

Let us pray

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Advent Unwrapped: Make Room for Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love!

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The small c (for commercial) Christmas officially starts the first time I unintentionally hear Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas”. Usually it annoys me, especially if it comes before Remembrance Day, but this week, when I heard the song (on November 12th) while searching for affordable eggs, I wasn’t mad. I wasn’t even annoyed, because I feel like a world so skilled at making room for skepticism, war, despair and hate needs a little Christmas. I know that I need a little more Jesus. I need to intentionally make room for the hope, peace, joy and love that Christ brings, before I get confused, ‘lose the plot’, and forget my unique place in God’s great story. After all, in God’s story, we all have a part! All of us, working together, to make space for grace, feels truly, big C, counter cultural, Christmas. For Everyone Ready to break free from the consumer frenzy? Let's explore a simpler, more thoughtful way to celebrate the holidays.   Advent Unwrapped Guides – buy less gift ideas. For Worship Planners and Leaders   We had this Facebook discussion with members of the disability and accessibility network just for you to listen to at your convenience. Worship service resources for Blue Christmas, Christmas Eve, and the first two weeks of Advent (Hope and Peace) are now available in the worship section of the Advent Unwrapped webpage. 40 Days of Engagement on Anti-Racism Webinar on Tuesday, November 19 at 7:00 p.m. EST: The Texts of Advent: Finding Good News and Avoiding Antisemitism. [Image credit: © Karen Sudom, 2024. Permission has been granted for non-commercial use in United Church of Canada worship services during Advent 2024. To use these resources after December 2024, please contact the artist at ksudom@gmail.com] For Musicians   Check out our new scripture and service music for the season and our Advent and Christmas Songs:  -O Come, Emmanuel -The Giver  -The Giver (American Sign Language) -Memory  -Silent Night  -O Come All Ye Faithful  -Away in a Manger    And this Blog on Christmas music from years past by Tammy-Jo Mortensen. Plan to attend the “What we will sing when we sing a new song” webinar on Tuesday, November 26 at 7:00 p.m. EST. For Churches Struggling to do Music   Invest in Your Musical Future: The Oxford Fund offers grants of up to $750 to cover two-thirds of the cost of music education, including organ, guitar, and piano lessons. Connect with Your Community: Reach out to your local Music United Convenor or join the Music United Facebook Group to connect with people and resources in your area. Be Bold: Be it warbly and off pitch, sing! Start with simple, beloved songs, and remember that we sing faithfully to a God who loves us unconditionally. Be Intentional: Sing your prayers, provide context and build meaning in the music that you select, intentionally pray with others in the singing of the songs, possibly by dedicating them. For the background to some beloved Christmas hymns read Bruce Harding’s Intercultural Hymn Festival for Advent. Be Creative: If you are looking for some piano music to play as possible preludes or postludes or to help folks learn hymns, there are wonderful resources online. The United Methodist Church has many public domain hymns. As we prepare for Advent together, I am reminded of the words of Dorothee Söelle, from the poem “When he came” in her book Revolutionary Patience. In the poem she states that “he needs you, that’s all there is to it.” Indeed, Jesus needs us, this Christmas, and always, as an infant needs loving adults. Will you help bring about his revolution? Nothing says Advent like the end of the world. Until then, I am waiting with you, Alydia Twitter Facebook Website Email Instagram YouTube LinkedIn Your generosity enables the United Church to love, serve, and minister in the world. Make an online donation or learn more about your options to support the work of the church.

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