Mission Yearbook: Pastor calls generations to share truth, build bridges and walk together in hope

With Psalm 78:1-7 and Ruth 1:8-17 as her preaching texts, the Rev. Dr. Lorraine Leist brought the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network conference to a thoughtful and hopeful conclusion during closing worship.

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The Rev. Dr. Lorraine Leist

“I am struck by the richness of all we have experienced here together,” said Leist, the associate pastor for congregational care and older adults at Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Denver. Scripture echoes these themes,” she said, “the generations learning from one another, always drawing us deeper into God’s love.”

The psalmist “invites us to listen to the triumphs of faith and failures as well,” she said. “These truths are not to be hidden but passed down.”

In our churches, older members might confess that “we stayed silent when we should have marched,” she said. “Shared ministry comes from such honesty.” It’s “faith informing justice.”

Younger members can learn the practical skills that were required of their forebears to create victory gardens, for example, and of “making do.” Those skills can help young people who see responding to climate change “as a spiritual imperative.”

Truth-telling “can feel heavy,” Leist said, “but Psalm 78 calls us to speak honestly so hope can take root and every generation might see their hope in God.”

We also need the gift that Ruth offers us: an expansive love that bridges generations, Leist noted. Ruth’s mother-in-law, Naomi, “refuses to sugarcoat her reality,” and her daughters-in-law “choose the path that each needs”: Orpah electing to take the path toward home, and Ruth opting for a different path, crossing “boundaries of culture, family and nation. She embraces an expansive love.”

More than just a show of personal loyalty, Ruth’s choice “is a pivot in salvation history,” according to Leist, securing David’s line “and, in a Christian reading, preparing the way for Jesus. She shows us God’s purposes can unfold in the very places where human boundaries break open.”

Younger church members have many gifts to offer the church, including “questioning the binaries that shape identity — male and female, insider and outsider, even the secular and the sacred,” Leist said. “Their truth-telling challenges us not to cling to neat categories, but to embrace the fullness of God’s Creation.”

As a child, Leist would listen to her mother’s stories about the life of Leist’s grandmother, who lived on a farm in southern Indiana that had no running water. The farm was miles from the nearest store, and family members went to town once a year to purchase new shoes. “She could mend anything and find a use for things that people threw away,” Leist said of her grandmother. “Such resilience matters today.”

These kinds of stories “remind us that we too can adapt, persist and remain faithful.”

New opportunities emerge from such an exchange, she said. “Different generations collaborate to create something neither could have done alone,” she said. “May our younger generations share their imagination, not be afraid to push boundaries, and challenge assumptions that have kept us in the past. May we all remind each other that where you go, I will go.”

“May we leave this place embracing hope and walking together in the wide, wide hope of God,” Leist said.

At the conclusion of the service, Leist blessed those gathered with words that included this charge: “Friends, as you go forth from this place, may you remember to be brave enough to tell the truth and receive God’s boundary-crossing love, so we can build bridges together. Go with God’s peace. Amen.”

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Angielee Acevedo, Lead Housekeeper, Stony Point Center, Interim Unified Agency
Rhea Adams, Service Desk Technician, Information Technology Infrastructure, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)

Let us pray:

God of every generation, teach us to tell the truth with courage and to listen with love across age and experience. Help us pass on stories of faith, resilience and justice, so that hope may take root in those who come after us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Workshop urges faithful conversations about advance care planning

The Rev. Cindy Ray, executive director of the Presbyterian Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, was in her wheelhouse when she recently offered a workshop on the intersections of faith, stewardship and advanced care planning during the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network annual conference.

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Photo by Olivier Collet via Unsplash

She opened with a slide of her parents, Jerry and Gerry, who were married for 70 years. Her dad suffered a massive stroke four years ago and was placed on a respirator, even though it was his wish not to be kept alive by artificial means and to die in the company of his family. Her mother had to decide when to take him off the respirator. “I was so glad to have that advance directive,” Ray said. “We told our mom, ‘you are honoring his wishes.’”

Ray said that any conversation on advanced care planning should be multigenerational. “I encourage families to bring their grandkids into it, especially if they are grown,” she said. “It also allows them to grapple with the fact that the lead generation won’t be with them forever.”

The biggest question to be answered is, who will speak for you if you can’t speak for yourself? Not only is it a planning process for making decisions about future medical care, it’s “a matter of faith,” Ray said, since “God is the sovereign author of our life” and life is “a sacred gift, but our bodies are vulnerable.”

“Death is a reality, but it is not the final word,” Ray said. “Our hope is in the resurrection and the promise of eternal life.”

Someone who agrees to implement health care instructions on your behalf if you are unable must be able to answer “yes” to a few questions, Ray said, including:

• Are you willing to take on this role and responsibility?
• Do you understand my wishes for future health care?
• Can you make the decision I would want to make, even if you disagree? 
• Can you make important health care decisions under stressful situations?
• Do you feel you can strongly advocate in the face of family members and others who may challenge my wishes?

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The Rev. Cindy Ray

Ray also discussed what a power of attorney and an advanced health care directive do. The latter includes medical treatment you want and don’t want, how you want your agent to make decisions, how you want your pain to be managed, where you want to receive care, your preferences regarding mental health care treatment, your desire to donate organs and tissues, and plans for your funeral arrangements. 

Ray noted that 9 in 10 people say talking with loved ones about end-of-life care is important, but Pew Research reports that fewer than 3 in 10 people have done so. “Those have been some of the most blessed moments in my ministry,” Ray said.

She also had ideas about how to open the conversation:

• Choose a comfortable and private setting to avoid interruptions or time constraints.
• Initiate the discussion by saying something like, “I know this isn’t easy to talk about, but if I get sick or have an accident and can’t make decisions for myself, I’d like to share what would be important to me so you could be my decision-maker.”
• Share your thought process. Explain that you have been thinking about the future and want to be prepared. Frame the conversation in a way to help the family and ensure wishes are respected.
• Focus on your faith, stewardship and values. Talk about what you appreciate about life and how your values and beliefs are guiding your preferences for medical care.
• Explain the why. Let your family know that talking about this now can help them make decisions later and avoid conflict and guilt.
• Explain the default. Clarify that without a directive, health care providers’ default is to “do everything,” Ray said, which may not align with your wishes.
• Be prepared for discomfort. Acknowledge that these conversations can be uncomfortable for everyone, but sharing your feelings can help launch the discussion.
• Take your time. It’s not necessary to cover every detail in one meeting. Ray’s advice was to start with “a brief chat, and let it evolve into a series of ongoing conversations.”

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Christopher Abney, VP, Director of IT, Presbyterian Foundation
Susan Abraham, Associate, Mission Program Grants & Mission Development Resources Committee, Interim Unified Agency

Let us pray:

Faithful God, you are the giver of life and the holder of our days. Grant us wisdom and courage to speak honestly with those we love, to plan with care and to entrust each other with sacred decisions. When conversations are hard, remind us of your presence and the hope that carries us through every beginning and every ending. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Equipping grandparents to build faith, one relationship at a time

Sandy Safford, the faith formation coordinator at Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church in Lakewood, Colorado, has a number of tools that grandparents can use to engage in intergenerational ministry and create lasting memories with their grandchildren as well as other children and youth at their church. During a “Grandparent/Grandchild Ministry” workshop recently held as part of the annual conference of the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network, Safford discussed dozens of tried-and-true options.

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Photo by Sergiu Valenas via Unsplash

Safford helpfully grouped the ideas into eight categories: retreats and camps, activities that bridge or cross the generations, grandparent days, equipping grandparents, long-distance grandparenting for keeping in touch, holidays, writing and sharing your stories, and congregations and worship.

Safford herself is a first-time grandmother, but she made it clear “you don’t have to be a grandparent” to engage some of the ideas she shared from her more than 30 years’ experience. “They are for equipping grandparents and how we as church leaders can provide opportunities beyond the church for grandparents in our communities,” she said.

In many faith communities, “so many folks serve as grandparents without being blood relatives,” Safford said. Her own children fondly remember the “substitute grandparents” from her family’s 10 years in Utah. “My children were so loved. We all have folks who just want to love on our kids and our youth. Take advantage of that,” she advised workshop participants. “They have gifts to share.”

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Sandy Safford

Among Safford’s many ideas for intergenerational ministry:

• A Grandparent Retreat, which “should be easy for a lay leader to do for a weekend. There are a variety of activities, and it’s flexible,” Safford said. “You can make it happen with a small team.” One thing Safford has observed is that “it’s a whole different experience when the parents aren’t there. There are precious moments of listening, discovering from one another, and sharing stories.” The weekend is designed “for kids and grandparents to get to hear each other’s stories. Also, for grandparents to chat with one another.”
• One grandmother Safford knows has a grandchild who lives far away. The grandmother writes her grandchild every week and tucks some stickers into the envelope. When they video chat, the grandchild shares with her grandmother what she did with the stickers. “That’s an easy connection,” Safford said.
• It’s also relatively easy to host an intergenerational tea party around the holidays, mixing generations at the tables and supplying each table with a board game. To mix things up, Safford will call “time” after a few minutes and have children rotate to another table, picking up the board game as it is at their new table.
• At a scavenger hunt on church grounds or in a park, participants can look for certain objects or colors, bringing them back to share. Invariably, a grandpa will bring back a blade of grass after following instructions to find something green, put it between his fingers and make it whistle. Pretty soon, all the grandchildren are following suit, Safford said.
• Safford uses the “Growing in God’s Love” children’s Bible and others. Flyaway Books has a number of titles exploring difficult topics, including “My Elephant is Blue,” Melinda Szymanik’s book about “big, heavy feelings.”
• Birthday adventures are fun events for both old and young, and don’t add to the typical pile of presents the grandchild receives. It can be a day of “doing something together” involving just the grandparent and the grandchild.
• Beloved magazines Ranger Rick and Highlights are still around, Safford noted.
• “Faith on Our Feet” is a series of monthly gatherings Safford’s church offered to blend worship and a mission project.

“Part of my ministry is to equip everyone to build relationships,” Safford said. “I strongly believe we need to provide that for every kid in the congregation.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Rafaelina Valerio, Housekeeper, Stony Point Center, Interim Unified Agency
Princeton Abarahoa, Associate, African Immigrant Congregational Support, Interim Unified Agency

Let us pray:

Loving God, thank you for the wisdom of elders, the curiosity of children and the bonds that grow when generations share faith and love. Bless all who step into the role of mentor, grandparent and guide, so that every child may feel known, cherished and rooted in you. Amen.

Pastor's Life - God sustains

God sustains pastors as they do God's work by Rev. Dr. Alice Ridgill While driving on a bright, sunny day a few weeks ago, I crossed a bridge I had driven over many times before. As I approached it, my familiarity made the crossing feel entirely routine. However, what I assumed would be a mundane excursion became a memorable experience. On that unforgettable day, I found myself not only appreciating the parts of the bridge I could see but also reflecting on and appreciating the parts I could not. Although I had crossed that bridge countless times before, it had never dawned on me that what lies hidden below a bridge is far more important than what is seen above. Bridges don’t stand because of what is visible above the surface; they stand because of what is securely anchored below the surface. As I casually drove across the bridge, I realized that it is not the visible beams or cables that enable bridges to endure. Rather, it is pilings driven into bedrock and caissons sunk deeply below the waterline, those unseen foundations, that enable bridges to continually bear the weight of vehicles day after day, month after month, and year after year.

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Rev. Dr. Alice Ridgill is a scholar and preacher with more than 25 years of experience in pastoral ministry and presbytery leadership. She has served as a solo pastor, campus pastor, and organizing pastor of New Faith Presbyterian Church in Greenwood, South Carolina. Most recently, Rev. Dr. Ridgill served as Associate General Presbyter of the Presbytery of Charlotte, where she provided executive leadership to 93 congregations. She currently serves as a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve.

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Mission Yearbook: Florida church is celebrated as PDA volunteer host site

Three years after Port Charlotte, Florida was hit by Hurricane Ian, a church that hosted as many as two to three teams of volunteer groups per month is closing the door on that chapter but leaving room for an epilogue.

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The Rev. Devon Andrews is pastor of Wintergarden Presbyterian Church in Port Charlotte, Florida. (screenshot)

The Rev. Devon Andrews, pastor of Wintergarden Presbyterian Church, recently led a poignant service honoring the church’s tenure as a Presbyterian Disaster Assistance volunteer host site.

Thanks to the small-but-mighty 33-member congregation, volunteers from all over the country received a place to stay while helping residents recover from 2022’s Hurricane Ian and subsequent storms that have moved through the gulf coast of southwest Florida.

The church opened its property despite having extensive hurricane damage to its sanctuary and property and provided a welcoming presence during a harrowing time for the community in the wake of one of the worst hurricanes to hit the U.S.

The service, with a liturgy of thanksgiving from PDA, was a time to reflect on the host site years and to thank those whose love and partnership helped Wintergarden to provide for the community while it persevered through its own challenges.

“Our church is a church of servants,” Andrews explained in an interview with Presbyterian News Service. “We serve our community in the best way we know how to.”

After the devastation wrought by Ian, “we started hearing all the stories of all the damage, and the question was, how can we (as a church) help and what do we do?” Andrews said.

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Operating the volunteer host site was a labor of love for Wintergarden Presbyterian Church and its partners. (Photo courtesy of Wintergarden Presbyterian Church)

Along with becoming a host site, Wintergarden continued serving hundreds of neighbors through its food pantry program and obtained critical funds, including a $100,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County to support the purchase of rebuilding materials to help residents who had sustained significant damage to their homes.

“The majority of what we received (through grants) all went back out into the community,” Andrews said. “So, we were able to help homeowners with new doors, with garage doors, with windows, with paying a portion of their roof, helping buy drywall and insulation — all different building materials, really — to make their homes safe, sanitary and secure.”

Jim Reitz, a member of the PDA National Response Team (NRT), praises the congregation for its dedication. Despite being small, “it is an amazing group of people that are doing a lot of good stuff,” he said. It‘s helpful to have a pastor who cheers you on, “saying, ‘We can do this. Let's go.’”

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The Volunteer Host Site helped Port Charlotte to recover from Hurricane Ian. (Photo courtesy of Wintergarden Presbyterian Church)

When Reitz arrived in the community shortly after it was hit by Ian, up to 80% of roofs he saw were covered with blue tarps. But now he’s struck by the many new roofs and repairs he’s seen in the community as well as the restoration of the church.

“You laid the foundation, the footer, if you will, and then teams came in and they started building the brick walls, one layer at a time,” Reitz said during the service, which included a presentation of gifts from PDA.

“I, this morning, am just inspired by hearing your stories, and the stories of the other work partners and your listening to the Spirit calling, and trusting God to be with you,” said Michele Holifield, a fellow NRT member who presented the church with a cross and a certificate of appreciation from PDA.

Andrews credits much of the success of the host site to an array of partners that have included not only PDA, Peace River Presbytery and the Florida Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Network but also the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church and the United Methodist Committee on Relief. Others include SBP (the St. Bernard Project), Mennonite Disaster Services, Church of the Palms in Sarasota, the Gulf Coast partnership, the United Way in Charlotte County and Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church in Tampa, among others.

“All those partnerships are what kept us going and kept us motivated because we couldn't have done anything without the partnerships that we had,” Andrews said.

PDA has several other host sites. For general questions about volunteering, contact the PDA Call Center at pda.callcenter@pcusa.org or 866-732-6121.

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Golnaz Golriz, Guest Relations Manager, Stony Point Center, Interim Unified Agency
Sheldon Sorge, Field Study Coordinator, Stewardship & Funds Development, Administrative Services Group

Let us pray:

Gracious God, we give thanks for the hands that served, the doors that opened and the hearts that said yes when the needs were great. Bless the volunteers, partners and neighbors who rebuilt hope one board, prayer and act of love at a time. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Mission Yearbook: New Orleans church hosts reception before the start of Stewardship Kaleidoscope

The charm and convenience of New Orleans’ storied streetcars weren’t lost on an adventurous group of Stewardship Kaleidoscope Conference participants who had arrived a day early to explore the city.

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St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church hosted a welcome reception Sunday for those arriving a day early at the Stewardship Kaleidoscope Conference. (Photo courtesy of St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church)

As the diverse group of conference leaders and attendees from around the country rode the historic St. Charles streetcar line together, they were visibly moved as they approached the magnificent façade of the St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church, which opened its doors on to greet them by hosting a welcome reception, complete with traditional Mardi Gras beads for each guest.

“In welcoming participants in the Stewardship Kaleidoscope Conference to New Orleans, we wanted to share the hospitality of the local church and give thanks for the work of the greater church that helps resource the local church where vital ministry happens,” said the Rev. Chris Currie, senior pastor at St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church, who attended the conference with several staff colleagues. “In a time of polarization and toxic online discourse, having opportunities to build bridges, share in each other’s lives face to face, and support one another in our service to Jesus Christ is who we are called to be as Christ’s church.”

Themed “Stewardship: The Art of Resiliency,” the 2025 conference was held Sept. 22–24 at the Sheraton Canal Street, New Orleans.

“The hospitality at the reception was wonderful, and I had the chance to meet a lot of different Presbyterians from across the denomination,” said Luci Duckson-Bramble, director of Development for the Presbyterian Historical Society in the Interim Unified Agency of the PC(USA), who co-led a conference workshop with PHS’s records manager, David Staniunas. “Being there was a reminder of the connectedness of the PC(USA), and it’s always good to hear how we’re serving congregations and the broader communities.”

Drawing leaders from across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and other ecumenical partners, Stewardship Kaleidoscope is designed to ignite generosity in faith-based communities, give practical tools for cultivating generosity in congregations, expand the leadership capacity of those who lead stewardship initiatives, and cultivate adaptive approaches for funding Christ’s mission.

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St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church in New Orleans threw out the welcome mat Sunday to people attending this year's Stewardship Kaleidoscope Conference. (Photo by Emily Enders Odom)

“It's a challenging time to be the church right now,” said the Rev. Sandra Moon, vice president of Church Finances & Property and Adaptive Initiatives for the Presbyterian Foundation. “In a time of deep social and political upheaval, and frequent natural disasters — to which New Orleans is no stranger — the 2025 conference theme, ‘The Art of Resiliency,’ is especially timely.”

Moon, who served as Stewardship Kaleidoscope operations chair, resourced and supported the all-volunteer conference planning team together with the event co-chairs, Stefanie Marsden, relationship manager for the Texas Presbyterian Foundation, and Caralee Wheeler, development program associate for the Presbyterian Foundation.

Because 2025, which marked the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the region’s — and the people’s — resiliency was always top of mind.

And while each of the preachers and speakers addressed the conference theme through the lens of their own context, experience and expertise, the Rev. Jean Marie Peacock — who was Vice Moderator of the 216th General Assembly (2004) — reflected on resiliency and stewardship in the context of New Orleans and the recovery efforts in response to Hurricane Katrina.

In addition to leading a plenary session, Peacock also offered a workshop titled, “Missional Ministry in Your Own Backyard.”

Peacock’s was one of some 35 workshops that in-person participants would be attending during the three-day conference, all while gaining invaluable insights from the speakers and preachers and enjoying unique opportunities to connect with other conferees, not to mention the conference leaders as well.

“When I saw that Alonzo Johnson was one of the preachers at the conference, I made sure to sign up,” said Theresa Purnell, a ruling elder at the Oak Lane Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, who was at Stewardship Kaleidoscope for the first time.

Purnell shared that Johnson, who coordinates the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People Program, is a former pastor of the Oak Lane Church.

Johnson, a prominent PC(USA) leader and powerful preacher, led worship on the conference’s opening day. In addition to Johnson and Peacock, the featured keynoters and preachers were the Rev. Dr. David P. King, the Rev. Dr. Corey Nelson and the Rev. Dr. Becca Ehrlich.

Emily Enders Odom, Former Associate Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Laura Bryan, Manager, Financial Aid for Service, Interim Unified Agency
Lucy Bryant, Online Service Client Relations Specialist, Operations, The Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray:

Dear Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to serve you. Help us to continue doing your work and advancing your kingdom. Allow others to see the love we have for you through our service. Amen.