Pastor's Life - Property

Pastoring includes faithful stewardship of church property by Rev. Eileen Lindner An undervalued skill in ministry is the capacity to prioritize. Each day offers opportunities for allocating time to meetings, hospital calls, sermon preparation, counseling, civic engagement, staff meetings and the like. An on-going struggle for many pastors is in reserving time for personal prayer and Bible study to say nothing of family commitments and adequate rest. Little wonder then that issues of church property often take a backseat to dozens of other demands. Indeed, if the church roof isn’t leaking it seldom comes to mind. Yet, today the church is confronted with a large and growing challenge regarding property. Faithful stewardship of this our largest financial asset seems, by turns, to be both illusive and potentially a key component of renewed witness and mission for the church of the future.

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The Reverend Eileen W. Lindner is an Honorably Retired Minister of Word and Sacrament of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) In her varied career she has served as an Overseas Associate of the PC(USA) in Egypt and Lebanon and has been an active participant in the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland, serving on the Worship Design Committee for the World Assembly in Canberra, Australia. In the United States she directed the Child Advocacy Office of the National Council of Churches USA. President Jimmy Carter appointed Dr. Lindner to the United States Commission for the International Year of the Child in 1979. She later served the NCCUSA as the Director of Research and Planning and finally as Associate General Secretary. Lindner holds a Ph.D. degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York and a M.Div. degree from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. She is the author of several books and numerous articles within periodicals. As a pastor, Lindner has served parishes in Illinois, New York and New Jersey. For a decade she served as Senior Pastor at the Presbyterian Church at Tenafly, NJ. In retirement, Lindner has led a four- year research effort on behalf of the Presbyterian Foundation focused on congregational transitions and property sales.

Featured Resources

Project Regeneration Is your church considering what God might be calling you to do next? Are you wondering if closing your doors or merging with another church is right for you? Reach out to your Ministry Relations Officer to talk about Project Regeneration. The Foundation would be glad to walk beside you during your time of discernment. More Information

Church Financial Leadership Coaching Program Strengthen your church financial leadership with our no cost, 12-month coaching program that pairs pastors with an experienced, trained personal coach. A coach could assist you with finance and generosity challenges and thinking through a plan to create a culture of generosity within your congregation. More Information

Stewardship Navigator New resources have been added to the Stewardship Navigator, the Presbyterian Foundation's free online stewardship planning tool. Explore newly added stewardship sermons and templates for letters, commitment cards, newsletters, and campaign communications. Explore Now

WCC News: Chiang Mai conference opens to explore “Being Church in the World Today”

A gathering of World Council of Churches (WCC) commissions and reference groups on Life, Justice and Peace opened in Chiang Mai, where ecumenical leaders will explore what “Being Church in the World Today” means.  Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, general secretary of the World Council of Churches adressed the Joint Conference of WCC Commissions and Reference Groups on Life, Justice and Peace on the openning day of the conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand, 5 October 2026. Photo: Sean Hawkey/WCC 05 October 2026 WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, in his opening address, offered a WCC perspective on ecclesiology, mission, witness, and hope. “Humanity faces wars and armed conflicts, growing inequalities, displacement and migration, ecological destruction, technological disruption, artificial intelligence, religious and political polarization, declining confidence in institutions, and profound questions concerning human dignity and the future of life itself,” he said. “At the same time, Christianity itself is experiencing major transformations.” The church is God's before it is ours, reflected Pillay. “Here unity is not an ecclesial luxury,” he said. “It is related directly to Christian witness.” He further noted that a divided church struggles to proclaim a reconciled Christ. “This is particularly important for the ecumenical movement,” he said. “The WCC’s understanding of unity cannot be reduced to organizational uniformity.” Dr Prawate Khid-arn, assistant general secretary for ecumenical relations of the Church of Christ in Thailand, prayed that the meeting will renew people’s hearts, deepen their commitment, and give them fresh energy and courage for the journey ahead. “May our discussions lead not only to words and recommendations, but also to meaningful actions that bring hope to those who suffer, restore human dignity, strengthen justice, care for God's creation, and contribute to genuine and lasting peace,” said Khid-arn. “May the Holy Spirit guide your conversations, inspire your discernment, and strengthen our common witness.” Rev. Grace Moon, general secretary of Christian Conference of Asia, noted the context of the meeting in Asia—a region full of spiritual richness, cultural diversity, and resilience, yet also a place where many still face challenges like inequality, displacement, violence, discrimination, and climate change. “Our Christian faith means we cannot ignore suffering or injustice—we are called to stand with those who are hurting, excluded, or silenced,” said Moon. “We cannot solve these problems alone.” Moon further noted that climate injustice, conflict, and discrimination are all connected. “Our calling goes beyond charity—it is about working together for justice, healing, and the well-being of all people and creation,” said Moon.  The conference marks the second time that WCC commissions related to the Life, Justice, and Peace programme are meeting - the first such gathering was held in Geneva in 2024. The first day of the conference currently underway began with pilgrimage encounters, giving participants an opportunity to meet local communities and organizations in and around Chiang Mai working on issues including clean air, migration, HIV and health justice, and interfaith dialogue. Address by the WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay: Being Church in the World Today: A WCC Perspective on Ecclesiology, Mission, Witness and Hope PHOTO GALLERY: Conference of the WCC Commissions and Reference Groups on Life, Justice and Peace in Chiang Mai, Thailand Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, general secretary of the World Council of Churches adressed the Joint Conference of WCC Commissions and Reference Groups on Life, Justice and Peace on the openning day of the conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand, 5 October 2026. Photo: Sean Hawkey/WCC 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

Mission Yearbook: PDA director shows solidarity with Puerto Rican siblings

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Presbyterian Disaster Assistance volunteers at work in Puerto Rico in 2018. (Photo courtesy of PDA)

Speaking during a recent installment of the Presbyterian Hunger Program’s “Solidarity Hour,” the Rev. Edwin González-Castillo waxed eloquently and at times nostalgically on the topic of Puerto Rico, the Caribbean archipelago where he was born and raised. Watch his presentation here.

González-Castillo, the director of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, hails from a San Juan neighborhood “where famous baseball players and salsa singers came from,” he said.

Webinar host Eileen Schuhmann, PHP’s Associate for Global Engagement and Resources, noted that the Solidarity Hour focused attention on Bad Bunny’s historic Super Bowl halftime performance. She asked González-Castillo: What’s key to understand about Puerto Rico’s history and current reality?

San Juan was founded in 1521, nearly a century before the founding of Jamestown, the first English settlement in North America, González-Castillo pointed out. Indigenous people lived there well before Europeans arrived. Because San Juan was “a doorway to trade routes,” it was for centuries “one of the most fortified cities in the Americas,” he said. “It was a treasure, a place that gave access to other places.”

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The Rev. Edwin González-Castillo (Photo courtesy of PDA)

Puerto Rico became a U.S. colony in 1896, a result of the Spanish-American War. Since then, Puerto Ricans have served in the U.S. military during every major conflict since World War I, even though Puerto Ricans living on the island can’t vote during presidential elections — only in primaries. Puerto Ricans living on the U.S. mainland can vote. 

When the United Nations determined in 1946 that member nations could no longer have colonies, the United States started calling Puerto Rico a territory. “We have taxation without representation,” González-Castillo citing a line from the time of the Boston Tea Party. Still, Puerto Rico is “a small island in the Caribbean with a with a big impact all over the world.”

Just about anything one can purchase in Puerto Rico by law comes from the United States, “or at least a ship from the U.S.,” he said, thanks to the Jones Act of 1920. One effect of that law has been to drive up prices in Puerto Rico, González-Castillo said. When he and his wife shipped their car from Puerto Rico to their new home in Louisville a few years back, a vehicle registration clerk wanted to verify the taxes on the car they’d paid in Puerto Rico. When González-Castillo showed the statement to the officials, “they were surprised how high the taxes were,” he said. “They thought I was giving them the price of the car, not the taxes.”

Following a catastrophe such as Hurricane Maria, many Puerto Ricans had to wait for weeks for building materials and other goods to arrive. “We needed special permission from the U.S. to receive goods from other countries,” González-Castillo explained. On top of that impediment, since 2016, a U.S.-imposed oversight board, PROMESA, established by the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act in a deal designed to reduce Puerto Rico’s crushing debt, makes all of Puerto Rico’s significant money decisions.

“Their interest is the people we owe money to,” González-Castillo said. “They are the ones who make decisions about budgets and how the money is spent.”

Schuhmann asked him: For U.S.-based Presbyterians, what might solidarity look like?

PDA received “a lot of volunteers” following Hurricane Maria, González-Castillo said. “People really wanted to help the people of Puerto Rico.” To help those who were helping others, PDA put together a training on decolonizing volunteerism.

“Everything comes down to the relationships we have,” he said. “That meaningful solidarity has to be less about charity and more about relationships and partnerships.”

“The people of Puerto Rico know how to help themselves and attend to their needs,” González-Castillo said. “We welcome expertise and knowledge, but we really value people who support local efforts.”

When Protestant denominations came to Puerto Rico to establish churches, they sliced the island “like a cake,” he said. Most of the 78 Presbyterian churches are on the western side. “The Presbyterian Church has a long-standing presence there — even before the missionaries arrived,” González-Castillo said. “Part of the relationship has to come with the recognition that we are here to learn and not come with the mentality that we are here to tell you how to do things.”

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Paula Tibbs, Administrative Support, Partners Beyond the PCUSA, Presbyterian Life & Witness
Jaymi Hendrix, 1001 NWC Apprentice, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Life & Witness

Let us pray:

Dear God, thank you for giving us opportunities to serve — to be your hands and feet — and to share our time, talents and treasures with our neighbors in need. Amen.

Minute for Mission: World Communion Sunday

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Micah 6:8: “What does the Lord require of you? … to do justice and to love kindness and walk humbly with your God.”

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a house with many rooms, so there must be a BIG kitchen table. The Gospels have enough food references to stock a pantry and Scriptures make plain that Jesus loved to sit and share meals with friends and strangers. 

So, I imagine God’s kitchen table is bustling with all types, surrounded by people we know and people we don’t, all brought together for the sake of being together. God, ever the gracious host, greets each of us with a warm hug, pulls out a seat, and invites anyone and everyone to stay awhile.

This image is insightful in the context of our resurrection into new life, but the metaphor extends into our lives on earth as a foretaste. In the Lord’s Prayer, we boldly request that this be made true on earth as it is in Heaven. Graciously, God spoke through the Prophet Micah what is expected to accomplish this monumental task: Do justice. Love kindness. Walk humbly with God. 

Simple, right? Yet despite the thousands of years since we received this guidance, we remain inhabited in a world that is too often unjust, unkind and idolatrous. Our focus on what makes us different is used to justify exclusion, instead of recognizing the gifts of diversity and God’s call to be together. But though we continually fall short, God’s grace impels us to keep trying to live into the fullness of Micah’s prophecy with each new day.

The World Communion Offering is a new way for Presbyterians to “love kindness” by recognizing the inherent worth of every person, practicing hospitality and making room at the table for all people. This Offering works to reconcile God’s children by supporting the wider Church in the work of racial justice, gender justice, global witness, peacemaking, and ecumenical and interfaith relations. 

This World Communion Sunday, I invite you to consider how you can join in this mission. Is there someone you need to extend a merciful hand to? Are there members of your community seeking justice and failing to receive it? Whose love is missing from your table? Can you build a bigger one?

Your gifts, combined with those of other congregations, empower the World Communion Offering to support the PC(USA) ministries, partners, congregations and mid councils addressing these questions and their underlying challenges. While reconciliation begins in our hearts, the Special Offerings recognize how we can do this work together. With God’s help, we can work toward the Kingdom of Heaven with the hope that each and every person can take their seat at the Table of Grace.

Sarah McDowell, Annual Giving Officer, Stewardship and Funds Development

Let us join in prayer for:

Jessica Oms, Reservation Specialist, Stony Point Center, Presbyterian Life & Witness
Njeri Wagana Hughes, Associate, Partners Beyond the PCUSA, Presbyterian Life & Witness

Let us pray:

Holy God, as we come to your table on World Communion Sunday, we thank you for all your servants who enact justice around the world and who ensure that your love is made known. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Book promotion supports ministry leaders who have student loan debt

The Office of Financial Aid for Service of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has launched an initiative to support emerging leaders in ministry who are navigating student loan debt. The Student Loan Coaching Book Promotion will provide eligible participants with up to $100 in book credits from the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, along with free shipping.

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The promotion is available to individuals who have been in ministry for 10 years or less, including pastors, Christian educators, church music directors, and chaplains  — serving in paid or volunteer roles. Applicants must have student loan debt, register for Student Loan Coaching through the Office of Financial Aid for Service (FAS), and complete the Coaching Assessment with FAS’s partner, PeopleJoy, to receive the book credits.

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Young Adult Volunteers read during 2024-2025 orientation. Financial Aid for Service is offering a book promotion for those in the PC(USA) who qualify for their student debt coaching (photo by Rich Copley).

“This book promotion is available to volunteers as well,” said  Sandra Duverge, associate for Financial Aid for Service. “We recognize that people in ministry are often volunteers, especially Christian educators.” Duverge explained that eligible volunteers will still need to be carrying student debt and be employed by a nonprofit, even if it is not PC(USA)-related, in order to be eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness and the PSLF debt coaching provided by the Office of Financial Aid for Service and PeopleJoy. 

Duverge emphasized that the promotion is designed to motivate new leaders to engage with coaching while providing essential resources for their spiritual and professional development. “Our hope is to build a strong foundation for the calling of people in ministry through access to printed resources as well as an encouraging coach to help people reduce student loan debt,” she said.

The funds can be used to purchase a wide range of materials from the PC(USA) Store, including theology books, curriculum, children’s books, Bibles, journals and other ministry-related resources. Distribution will be through physical shipments, with shipping costs covered by Financial Aid for Service.

The program is expected to run through the end of the year, with plans to continue in January. After 12 months, participants may be eligible for an additional $50.

Duverge noted that while the up to $100 credits are a strong incentive, the real value lies in helping ministry leaders begin their journey toward student loan forgiveness. “There’s a lot of fear around financial instability and financial debt,” she said. “It’s easier to ignore it even if eventually it’s just going to become a bigger problem.”

Apply here for the book promotion.

For more information, visit pcusa.org/loanassist.

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Jason Smith, Stewardship Officer, Stewardship & Funds Development, Administrative Services Group
Christina Barrosso, Administrative Assistant, Special Offerings & Appeals, Administrative Services Group

Let us pray:

When we open our hearts to your love, O God, we can share stories of our seeking and finding you with people of all ages and conditions and so receive new experiences of your grace. Thank you for the blessings you our into our lives when we reach out to one another. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Pastor explores preaching with a sacramental imagination

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Worship & Music Conference leaders prepare the communion elements before a 2023 worship service at Montreat Conference Center (Photo by Rich Copley).

The Rev. Dr. Dave Davis recently gave preachers in and around the Synod of the Covenant plenty to think about through a webinar that helped participants weave the sacraments more fully into their sermons.

Davis, pastor of Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton, New Jersey, offered his “Preaching from Font to Table” talk as part of the synod’s monthly preaching webinars. His talk is available here.

Davis has been teaching this material as an elective at Princeton Theological Seminary for a couple of years. “This is a conversation about preaching on the occasion of the celebration of one of the sacraments,” Davis said, “and also how a deeper understanding of the sacraments can provide imagery and a theology for our sermons, a more robust relationship of Word and sacrament.”

When he asks seminary students to come up with a quality sermon they’re heard or are aware of on either of the sacraments, they sometimes have difficulty, Davis said, adding, “I’d like to invite you to join me today in reflecting on your own preaching life in respect to the sacraments.”

Dr. Nora Tubbs Tisdale, who taught Davis and many other preachers, argues in “Preaching as Local Theology and Folk Art” that pastors ought to be exegeting congregational life as well as biblical texts. “She suggests early on in that book that one can observe sacramental furniture as a reflection of the church’s relationship to the sacraments, especially when the sacraments are not being celebrated” on a given Sunday as part of worship, Davis said.

Davis grew up in a church where worship leaders pushed the communion table “against a far wall in the chancel” on Sundays when the Lord’s Supper was not being celebrated. But other faith communities take a more visible approach. Davis visited Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church outside Annapolis, Maryland, where he was shown a prominent baptismal font bolted to the floor, rendering it unmovable for any event. 

Pinnacle Presbyterian Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, features a large window with a view of a wadi that fills with water when it rains. The water then “goes right into their baptismal font. It’s a very powerful image,” Davis said. Church leaders told Davis the font has a leak that can’t be fixed, “and so baptismal water was always leaking into the nave of the sanctuary, which I think is a cool image to work with,” he said.

He noted that author and priest Barbara Brown Taylor calls preachers “detectives of divinity,” and Notre Dame theologian Mary Catherine Hilkert in her book “Naming Grace” identifies the preacher’s task as helping “the listener see what Christians know: that the whole world and life itself is charged with the very grandeur of God,” Davis said. “What we are called to do with our sermons is help people see the world as God intends, bearing the very grandeur of God.”

Preaching is a corporate act, and Dietrich Boenhoeffer put the preacher’s task like this in his “Worldly Preaching”: “I preach because the church is there, and I preach that the church might be there. Church preaches to church.”

Davis sometimes uses the phrase “bringing the world to bear on unsuspecting biblical texts” when preachers employ the lectionary to aid their preaching. With that approach, “it’s amazing how contextual your preaching can become and how relevant the living Word becomes,” Davis said. The sacraments can also be brought to bear on unsuspecting biblical texts as “a way to unleash understandings of scripture in new ways and make it relevant on the occasion of baptism and eucharist,” he said.

“I don’t want you to think I’m perfect at this,” Davis said. “I went back and looked at some of my sermons in preparation for today, and I was doing exactly what I am now calling out.”

Davis mentioned BEM, the Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry document the World Council of Churches first published in 1982 and reprinted many times after that. BEM gives “the clearest outline of the theological fenceposts of each of the sacraments,” Davis said, employing a term favored by his professor, Dr. James Kay. “That’s how I understand these various ways of approaching the Lord’s Supper.”

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Dayna Oliver, Grant Management Office, Presbyterian Life & Witness
Jacklyn Walker, Administrative Project Manager, Center for Repair, Presbyterian Life & Witness

Let us pray:

God of the old and the new, the great and the small, thank you for the warmth of your love and the inspiration of your Spirit. May you continue to bring new life into your churches, that we might proclaim in a myriad of ways the wonders of your love. In Jesus’ name. Amen.