Mission Yearbook: Leaders of new worshiping communities are learning in Apprenticeship Program

The 1001 New Worshiping Communities movement is now hosting leaders for its Apprenticeship Program, a nine-month, part-time initiative designed to equip and sustain those called to start new expressions of faith outside the walls of traditional congregations. 

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1001 Apprentice Program

The program, administered through the office of 1001 New Worshiping Communities within Presbyterian Life & Witness, is built around three core pillars: one-on-one coaching, a weekly cohort, and hands-on guidance for launching or growing a new worshiping community. The goal is not simply to train church planters in isolation but to surround them with ongoing relationships and accountability throughout the journey. 

“The trainings, resources, connections, and, most importantly, the community, were very empowering,” said the Rev. Rola Al Ashkar, who leads Iama Embodied Ministries, a conscious community rooted in embodied spirituality, trauma-informed practices and integrative theology in North Central California Presbytery “It was a weekly reminder that I don't have to do it alone, and I miss it every day.” 

Each apprentice is matched with a coach drawn from one of the largest and most diverse networks of trained coaches. Coaches meet regularly with participants to help them navigate roadblocks and identify the next steps tailored to their specific ministry context. 

Every Thursday from September until May, cohort members gather via Zoom, rotating through spiritual direction, conversations with established new worshiping community leaders and dialogical training. For many participants, that weekly rhythm becomes a lifeline. 

“Talking with other new worshiping community leaders who are doing this work brings an immense sense of relief and encouragement because they understand how challenging it is,” said Julie Gvillo, a Reiki master and commissioned pastor through the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy who leads A Place of Grace. She added that the financial support the apprenticeship program provides — including a stipend and coverage of coaching costs — has also offered meaningful relief to leaders who often work without the resources of an established congregation behind them. 

Beyond the weekly video gatherings, the program also brings participants together for in-person retreats, which many describe as transformative. 

“The retreats have been the best part for me, getting to connect with the others in person,” said the Rev. Alicia Vela Anderson from Chicago. “The connection to others has really broadened my imagination for what my ministry could become.” 

The diversity of the cohort itself is frequently cited as one of the program's most formative features. Participants come from a wide range of ministry contexts — from yoga studios to music communities to neighborhood gatherings — reflecting the breadth of what 1001 NWC envisions as the church. 

“To see the wide variety of people involved has been very uplifting — to see the future kingdom of heaven reflected in the hearts and faces of my fellow cohort,” said Steve Zeoli, a filmmaker and founder of Rainmakers Community. “All these caring, thoughtful, wonderful people? An utter joy.” Zeoli’s new worshiping community is one of 32 new worshiping communities supported by the New Church Development Commission of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta. 

The program is led by the Rev. Sara Hayden, director of apprenticeships and leadership cohorts for 1001 NWC and host of the movement’s podcast, “New Way.” Hayden brings firsthand experience to the work of guiding emerging leaders through the complexities of church planting. More than 200 new worshiping community leaders across the country have turned to the program and its cohort network for mutual support and continued training.

Whether a leader is just beginning to discern a call or already gathering a community, the program meets participants where they are — helping them establish vision, develop gathering strategies and set achievable goals. 

For those navigating a ministry that doesn’t fit neatly into conventional church structures, the apprenticeship offers something especially rare: the sense that they are not alone. 

“The reflective work we are encouraged to do is meaningful and inspiring,” Gvillo said. 

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Melody Smith, Manager, Story Ministry, Interpretation & Communications, Presbyterian Life & Witness
Layton Williams Berkes, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Life & Witness

Let us pray:

Loving God, you who gave us eternal life, you who shares the power of your love through others, you who amaze us when we expect the worse, help us love as you love us. Amen.

EarthBeat Weekly: Nepal disaster latest in summer of environmental catastrophes

Nepal flood disaster latest in summer of environmental catastrophes   EarthBeat Weekly Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change September 4, 2026   A drone view shows mud covering properties at Trishuli in Nepal's Nuwakot district Aug. 27, 2026, following devastating floods. (OSV News/Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar) The images and videos coming out of Nepal have been nothing short of horrifying.  Walls of water and debris hundreds of feet high traveling at top speeds over 100 miles per hour wiping out villages and river communities in the mountain valleys of central Nepal and Tibet. More than 1,000 people have died, with thousands more missing.  The flash flooding on Aug. 26 is believed to have been triggered by a combination of a landslide and melting glacier nearly a mile above in the Himalayas. Scientists are still studying what role climate change may have played in this catastrophe, though it is known that glaciers around the world have been melting and shedding ice at increasing rates for decades due to rising temperatures resulting from burning coal, oil and gas. The Himalayas are heating two times as fast as the global average. Meanwhile, the immensity of the destruction is already apparent. "Nothing is left there," Sr. Oliva Kujur, a Sister of Charity of Nazareth, told Chris Herlinger, international correspondent for Global Sisters Report, following an initial assessment of the damage in rural Nepal Aug. 30. A report on the damage, conducted by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Kathmandu and the Nepal Jesuit Social Institute, "observed severe damage to housing, farmland, and vital infrastructure. Urgent priorities include safe drinking water, shelter assistance, medical care, sanitation, and long-term recovery support."  Other Catholic organizations are involved in the response, including Caritas Nepal and Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops' international aid agency.  "Many of the main roads have been washed away, either fully or partly," Senthil Kumar Gurunathan, CRS country representative for India, told OSV News. "So what we are trying to do is to find alternative routes, working with local people to see what are the existing motorable roads. These may not be the main roads, but these are lifesaving roads, still intact." On Sunday, Pope Leo XIV offered prayers for the victims, their families and rescue workers. "May the concern of everyone help to alleviate the suffering and provide the necessary aid to the people affected," he said.  A moment of hope emerged Friday when rescue teams pulled two men alive from a tunnel, where more than 40 others were believed trapped inside as well. Days earlier, the story came to light (see below) of a school principal whose quick decision-making helped 900 students safely evacuate to higher ground before the flood waters arrived 13 minutes later, wiping away the school in its relentless currents.  Read more:  Nepal floods leave 'nothing' behind as Catholic nuns mobilize aid Catholic aid worker in Nepal sees 'long road' to recovery after flooding, mudslides Catholic agencies respond to Nepal floods, as US bishop calls for greater international aid The flash flooding in Nepal is just the latest of a series of major environmental disasters to strike across the world this summer.  Extreme flooding has also occurred in other parts of Asia, as well as Ghana, Peru and across the U.S., while major earthquakes have razed parts of South America and East Asia. Wildfires have sparked across the U.S., Canada, Spain and France. And extreme heat waves have dotted the global map. "It definitely is unusual," John Service, a senior technical adviser for the CRS humanitarian response team for 13 years, told me for a story this week. "This is more than we normally have at one time." The flurry of natural and weather-related disasters this summer comes as international aid has experienced extensive cutbacks, including from the United States. While some new grants have been awarded and new funding sources tapped, the decline in funding — and with it personnel — has strained efforts of relief organizations like CRS to quickly respond. An increasing contributing factor to disasters is climate change, which in the case of hurricanes, storms, wildfires, heat waves and flooding is magnifying the intensity.  So many people in Nepal "have lost everything," Gurunathan told me. "They don't even have a change of clothes right now." "This is a traumatic experience they have just been through. They need to know that they are not alone," he said. "They need your prayers and your support. They need it now and they'll need [it] for weeks and months to come." Read more: Devastating floods in Nepal pile on 'unusual' summer of environmental disasters What else is new on EarthBeat:   Pope asks Catholics to acknowledge 'unfaithful' attitudes for care of creation by Justin McLellan Celebrating a new form of the Catholic Mass "for the care of creation," Pope Leo XIV urged Catholics to contemplate nature as well as the ways they have shirked their responsibility to care for it. Read more here »   Vatican body develops concept of 'ecological sin' in spiritual salvo on the environment by Justin McLellan In a sprawling document published Sept. 2, the Vatican's International Theological Commission makes the case for developing an "ecological spirituality" in light of the Christian understanding of the Triune God. Read more here »   When sisters lead the way: Faith, climate and the work of regeneration in Kenya by Sr. Catherine Ciingi Farmer-managed natural regeneration training helped sisters in Isiolo, Kenya, equip themselves and the wider community with practical skills for restoring degraded land. Read more here »   During the Season of Creation, remember the living water that sustains all life by Daniel P. Horan That water is a symbol of healing and renewal makes a lot of sense. Most of our human bodies are made up of water, and all other creatures also require water for survival. But we humans can take water for granted. Read more here »   Wendell Berry, writer and farmer, was extolled by many as a modern-day prophet by Yonat Shimron, Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service His writings touched on conservation, community and belonging, and he acquired legions of fans beyond environmental studies — including many scholars of religion. Read more here » What's happening in other climate news: Climate goals missed, U.N. says world must now remove carbon at scale —Chico Harlan for The New York Times NPR spent 2 years tracking deaths from heat. We found a staggering hidden toll —Alejandra Borunda for NPR A principal saved 900 students before his school was washed away in Nepal —Binod Ghimire and Claire Moses for The New York Times Trump's quietly working to give part of Yosemite to a private developer —Anna Kramer for NOTUS How intense rains in the Grand Canyon turned into a deadly disaster —Gabrielle Canon for the Guardian No one knows all the toxic chemicals you're eating —Liza Gross for Inside Climate News United Nations talks in Mongolia expose growing drought crisis as climate impacts worsen —Sibi Arasu for the Associated Press Power plant endangerment repeal enters White House review —Jean Chemnick for E&E News Meet the super PAC working to crush clean energy's political foes —Julian Spector for Canary Media Final Beat: The Season of Creation began Tuesday (Sept. 1) with the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. That day, Pope Leo celebrated the newly added Mass formulary "for the care of creation" in the gardens of Borgo Laudato Si'.  Those looking for other ways to mark the monthlong Season of Creation can check out Season of Creation Daily, a series of 34 reflections created by Peter McLoughlin, co-facilitator of the creation care team at the Paulist Center in Boston.  The short reflections pair a photo with quotes from saints, pope, theologians, environmentalists and other writers before offering a few reflection questions to ponder.  The first iteration of Season of Creation Daily was published here at EarthBeat. They were last updated in 2025 and can be found at SeasonofCreationDaily.org.  As always, thanks for reading EarthBeat.   Brian Roewe Environment Correspondent National Catholic Reporter broewe@ncronline.org     Featured Advertisers   Experience a transformative pilgrimage to Poland: private guides, local encounters, and formation-based travel led by US founders who lived there.   Advertisement

Truth and Action Roundup 9.4.26

View this email in your browser Welcome to the Truth and Action Roundup, your reliable weekly source for information, inspiration, and opportunities for action during the second Trump administration.  Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to continue receiving it. Pierre Damas Bel stepped out of his vehicle this Monday and died by suicide after being fitted with an ankle monitoring device, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Temporary Protected Status ruling that cleared the way for the Trump administration to deport him. The Trump administration has been targeting Haitian communities across the country to intimidate and stigmatize them, using ankle monitors and dehumanizing imagery sent over official government channels. According to his father and his pastor, this treatment affected Pierre greatly: he felt embarrassed and humiliated by his ankle monitor before he died. The Trump administration is now aiming this same social stigma at Haitians across the country, building on the Trump campaign’s earlier vilification of them by targeting people in Springfield during the election. Pierre’s tragic death shows how this hateful rhetoric leads to suffering, and why we must persistently oppose the bigotry that thrives in our politics and religion. By silently assenting, we have allowed this suffering to spread: people are now targeted in communities across the country, from New York City to the Rio Grande Valley. We’ve already seen numerous reported deaths from the mass deportation campaign this xenophobic rhetoric has justified. Instead of turning away from this violent approach, we’ve seen ICE celebrating record detentions in July.  As Christians, we cannot be silent as communities are torn apart by deliberate violence. Pierre Damas Bel was vilified by the president and vice president for years. The federal government turned against his community, arresting and deporting its pastors and community leaders. He was targeted by immigration officials and humiliated by authorities who wanted to make an example out of him, treating him as a social menace. This young man was killed by the cruel bigotry now spreading in every community in our country. We can no longer be lukewarm with the lives of our neighbors; by avoiding conflict in our pews, we are sacrificing the most vulnerable among us.  In the News The Trump administration’s deportation regime continued its cruel work, despite mounting evidence of its harms. Ohio college student and athlete Pierre Damas Bel died by suicide Monday morning after being forced to wear an ankle monitor by immigration officials, which Bel described as causing him “a feeling of shame and humiliation.” Bel, who was Haitian, lost his TPS protections at the end of July after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to end the status for about 300,000 Haitians. Haiti is currently reeling from a brutal gang massacre that left 47 people dead and more than 50 others kidnapped.  The American Prospect reports on a recent third-country removal flight by ICE that took about 71 people to Sierra Leone, the Central African Republic and Ghana. The report describes verbal and physical abuse by the security guards, as well as an apparent intent to send many of the detainees onward from these third countries to their countries of origin, in violation of protections against exactly that.  ICE officers and agents arrested roughly 50,000 people in August, continuing the record pace set in July. ICE is in the midst of a nationwide arrest surge that is not as visible as aggressive enforcement efforts earlier in the year, like Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota.   ICE is set to spend up to $2 million on four-legged robots as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. ICE said the robots aren’t attack dogs; the agency said they’re intended to help keep officers out of harm’s way and assess dangerous situations before agents enter them. The planned purchase comes as the Department of Homeland Security faces criticism over another unusual law-enforcement tool: electric-shock gloves. ICE awarded a contract worth more than $16.7 million for over 6,000 pairs. The gloves look like an ordinary pair of gloves but can deliver an electric shock. Last week, a group of Democratic senators sent ICE’s acting director a letter calling on the agency to cancel the contract and instead focus on de-escalation and training.    It was another turbulent week in foreign affairs, with conflicts and other developments around the world. A U.S. missile hit a home in southern Iran where dozens had gathered to celebrate the wedding of a fisherman’s daughter, according to a rights group and Iranian media. Iranian state media said four people — two women and two children — were killed and more than 60 were wounded. The strike came amid the latest round of American bombardment in southern Iran, which the U.S. military said was targeting air defenses, radar systems and maritime assets.  Oil giant Chevron confirmed that it will expand operations in Venezuela after President Donald Trump announced an ambitious deal to develop the nation’s oil reserves and give the Pentagon a stake in the profits. The company plans to invest more than $7 billion over the next five years, with the goal of more than doubling its current production to about 600,000 barrels a day.  Two Palestinian teenagers were killed during a raid by settlers and Israeli forces in the West Bank. Since the beginning of 2026, at least 79 Palestinians, including 19 children, have been killed in the West Bank by settlers or Israeli forces, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Congo’s authorities said Monday that the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history has topped 6,000 cases with 2,911 deaths. More than 1,360 people have recovered from the virus, in what authorities said was an “encouraging” development. The World Health Organization has said the outbreak remains out of control and is on track to surpass the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak, the deadliest on record, which killed more than 11,000 people, primarily in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.  Thousands remain missing and the delivery of aid has been hampered by treacherous conditions after flash flooding in Nepal and Tibet. A week after the disaster, survivors who fled up mountainsides are still being collected by army helicopters and evacuated.  Republican members of Congress are publicly backing U.S. President Donald Trump in his trade war with Canada and blaming Prime Minister Mark Carney's government for walking away from negotiations. While some Republicans are quietly concerned that an escalation of costly tariffs could worsen their re-election prospects in the midterms in November, most are outwardly expressing support for the president's trade strategy.  It was a busy week for Congress and the federal government, especially as November’s midterm elections approach. Top U.S. Postal Service officials tasked with issuing new regulations on mail voting expressed concerns in internal meetings about how the rules they were drafting could delay or block ballots from reaching large swaths of eligible voters for the upcoming midterms, but the rules moved forward anyway, according to ProPublica. In a March executive order, President Donald Trump directed the Postal Service to create the new rules, including requiring states to give USPS a list of all voters eligible to receive a ballot in the mail and requiring USPS to use those lists to determine which ballots get sent to voters. USPS officials were tasked with crafting the details of how the new system would work.  The U.S. Postal Service could "derail" the midterm election if it continues rushing out "untested" technology as part of President Trump's push to restrict mail-in voting, a newly released whistleblower report warns. With voting by mail for the midterms set to officially start this week, key parts of the USPS plan for carrying out Trump's directives, including requirements for states to comply, remain blocked for now by a court order in the legal fight over the president's executive order.   Sen. Ed Markey secured the Democratic nomination in Massachusetts' Senate primary Tuesday, once again fending off a push for generational change as he seeks a third term. Markey, 80, defeated Rep. Seth Moulton, 47, who had attempted to argue that it was time to do away with the "status quo" in his pursuit to oust the octogenarian. Perhaps no other issue defined the race more than transgender rights, and Markey repeatedly hit Moulton for previously saying he would not want his daughters to play against transgender athletes.  The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday approved legislation to prevent a government shutdown through the midterms, as both parties opted to defuse a volatile dispute before the November elections that will decide the balance of power in Congress for the final two years of Donald Trump’s presidency. A continuing resolution authorizing government spending until Dec. 11 passed the House by a 370-48 vote, with only 19 Republicans and 29 Democrats in opposition. Had it not passed, lawmakers would have had until the end of September to approve new funding or face a government shutdown.  Far-right activist Laura Loomer targeted Florida Democratic Senate nominee Angie Nixon and several other Black women in a string of racist and sexist posts, prompting a public rebuke from former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Loomer’s latest racist tirade follows a similar attack on Rep. Jasmine Crockett last year, when Loomer used racist stereotypes against the Texas Democrat. Two centrist Democrats, Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, took the unusual step Tuesday of rescuing House Speaker Mike Johnson’s own agenda in the face of a conservative rebellion. Those Democrats backed a key GOP procedural vote that needed to succeed for Republicans to later bring several bills to the floor. The reason? It helped pave the way for a priority bill for Golden supporting lobstermen. But their vote also allowed Johnson to proceed with messaging votes that Democrats oppose, including a resolution to condemn socialism that Republicans hope to use against Democrats on the campaign trail. The defection of those two Democrats quickly enraged members of their own party — including some party leaders, who were shocked by the two members’ votes, according to CNN.  Private schools that provide targeted support to minority students could lose their tax-exempt status under regulations proposed by the U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday. In its announcement, the Treasury Department said the rules would take effect May 31 and apply to as many as 18,000 private schools and universities.   Take Action Next Tuesday we will host Engage and Adapt, where we will discuss and talk with the Workers Circle and the Freedom Summer and Justice Revivals.  Next Wednesday we will co-host “The Vote Is Sacred” with partners to discuss faith-based campaigns for democracy.  Call on Congress to promote peace in Sudan through current legislation in the House and Senate.  What We’re Reading “The Most Welcoming Church Will Let You Leave” | “An exit that destroys the person using it is not much of an exit.” (By Joshua W.J. Brown) “Wendell Berry, Voice for Land and Neighbor, Dies at 92” | “A farmer and poet, Berry centered the logic of Sabbath and love of locality into his life and writing.” (By Mitchell Atencio)   Deep Breaths Breath Once More Today is a good time to take a nice, deep, cleansing breath. Maybe two.   Our senses have been under assault. There has been too much stimuli lately -- just too much. Wars and rumors of war prevail. Sometimes we just need to pause and pray.   Today I am sharing this prayer by Charles Eric Lincoln, written in 1944 f and ound in the book “Conversations with God” edited by James Washington, Ph.D.   –Rev. Moya Harris, Senior Director of Programs    Return, O Lord  By Charles Eric Lincoln  Dear Lord, I am bewildered by the angry world.   I do not know the meaning of the flags unfurled.   The noisy skies, the tortured seas: What sayest Thou, O Lord, to These:   I hear the strident call to arms; above the scenes  Of men in desperate debate, their war machines  Defile the skies, pollute the earth.   How much, O Lord, can peace be worth?   Hast Thou in merited disgust turned back from man  Who recklessly has broken trust and sinned again?   Forgive our selfish lust for power  And save us in this dreadful hour.  Return, O Lord, return and save this wretched race,   Save us, not by Thy justice Lord, but by Thy grace,   Forgive our foolish, pompous way,   And save us from ourselves, we pray. The Truth and Action Roundup is compiled by Sojourners staff: President: Rev. Adam Russell Taylor Senior Research Associate: J.K. Granberg-Michaelson Digital Content and Community Specialist: Kassandra Tapia Chief Program and Impact Officer: Bryan Epps Political Director: Chad V. Stanton Senior Program Director: Rev. Moya Harris Education and Engagement Program Manager: Cortnie Brooks Donate Subscribe Unsubscribe or update email preferences Copyright © 2026 Sojourners. All rights reserved. Email: sojourners@sojo.net | Tel.: 202.328.8842