Minute for Mission: Presbyterian Higher Education

Image

Agnes Scott Library Student (Jeff Arnold)

Because our colleges and universities are Presbyterian-related, we value learning, faith, service and connection to each other, the Church, and the world, honoring the dignity and worth of every person.

We don’t value learning and all faith traditions represented on our campuses in spite of our church-relatedness. It is because we are church-related that we value and cherish all inquiry and welcome and encourage all faith communities.

Learning, faith, service — the order is important. We are schools, not churches, and our primary mission is education. Learning comes first. Nevertheless, as church-related institutions, we are concerned to educate whole people for the whole world. We strive to graduate students who are not only academically well-prepared but also spiritually and socially mature participants in the religious and civic communities of which they are a part.

We value our relationships with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and with other schools who share a similar relationship. We are not, and do not wish to be, identical institutions. Yet we appreciate our common connections and commitments. We benefit from our mutual relationship, we are all grateful for the historic and ongoing support of the Church, and we are committed to maintaining that relationship.

Our connection to the world is both social and environmental. We seek to serve the whole world through our service to each student. We understand ourselves to be part of a global community of teaching, learning and inquiry. We also work to exhibit, embody, and encourage environmental responsibility on our campuses and beyond. As stated above, we strive to educate whole people for the whole world.

Honoring our efforts to live out our commitment to learning, faith, service and connection takes place in the context of our ongoing and pervasive commitment to honor the dignity and worth of all people. Our schools are resources and instruments through which the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) serves the world as we serve each of our students in all their magnificent variety and particularity.

Jeff Arnold, Executive Director, Association of Presbyterian Colleges & Universities

Let us join in prayer for:

Barbara Betts, Manager, Presbyterian Distribution Services, Administrative Services Group
Beverly Bewley, Customer Service Representative, Operations, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation    

Let us pray:

Gracious God, we are grateful for the Presbyterian emphasis on education and for the many blessings that allow Presbyterian-founded colleges and universities to faithfully serve more than 140,000 students each year. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Professor leads compassionate preaching webinar

Image

The Rev. Dr. Cláudio Carvalhaes

Exploring the ways that preachers’ prayers impact their preaching was the task recently for the Rev. Dr. Cláudio Carvalhaes, professor of worship and practical theology at Union Theological Seminary. Carvalhaes spoke for about 90 minutes as part of the Synod of the Covenant’s monthly preaching workshop. Watch his presentation here.

“What a world we’re living in! In a time of fascism, prayer is more important than ever,” Carvalhaes said. We either “want to go to the streets and fight or coil back in our beds and never leave.”

Taking in news reports from places like Gaza, which Carvalhaes called “a laboratory for cruelty,” can leave us feeling paralyzed and hopeless, he said. “We need to create opportunities for our people to do something,” he said, showing a recorded clip of a line of Buddhist monks on a 123-day prayer walk for peace. “We could do something like that. We could have a peace walk around the block every Sunday before worship,” he said.

From people in cities such as Minneapolis, we are learning the importance of group singing as resistance, he said. “St. Augustine said that singing is praying twice,” Carvalhaes said. “There is a whole theology being developed on the streets.” Our lives, he said, “are one whole prayer, and our prayer ends only with our last breath. Our spirituality comes from the breath of God, so while we’re breathing, we’re praying.”

Five years ago, Carvalhaes published “Praying with Every Heart: Orienting Our Lives to the Wholeness of the World.”

“Today, I want to develop this notion of ‘praying with,’” he said. It’s a title given to him by a Buddhist friend at Union Theological Seminary.

Image

The Rev. Dr. Dave Davis

Most Presbyterian worship services begin by calling people to worship. “We start with the belief that God is already there,” he said. “But so many other traditions believe you have to call upon God to come [to the service]. They have prayers or singing to ask God to come.”

Capitalism has taught us that “we are on our own” and “have the freedom to be ourselves,” he said. If all the people on the call were applying for the same job, the one who got hired “would be praised for the strength and power” that got that person hired, Carvalhaes said. “The rest of us, our families would tell us ‘you’re not good enough.’ The system blames us individually for what the social system can’t give to us, and we just buy into it.”

In our churches, if something happens that “takes us off the grid of living well,” such as a job loss, we may survive for a few months off our savings and our unemployment checks. After that, in an example Carvalhaes presented, we may get anxious about paying our bills, and so we go to our church for financial help. The pastor may ask the session to authorize some money to help us, but it’s not enough, and we begin to ask for prayers each week during worship, which annoys our fellow worshipers. “You can do better,” they tell us. “Why do you have to ask each week?” Eventually the pastor tells us, “Sorry. We have already helped you. The session says that we don’t have enough money for everybody.”

“In this example, I am trying to show how committed we are to each other, but capitalism keeps us from going all the way to help people,” he said. “There are limits and boundaries we have clearly posted but we don’t talk about.”

He concluded his talk with thoughts on mercy and gratitude.

“We say, ‘God have mercy,’ because we have gone too far, or don’t know how to return, or we have lost all hope. The prayer is the hope we will find the God who lives in those far places as well,” Carvalhaes said. “At the end, God will be with us — either for new beginnings or a full end. It’s a scream to a God who lives outside the gates and can provide us a welcome no one else will.”

The Synod of the Covenant’s monthly preaching workshops are available to frequent preachers living and working both inside and outside the bounds of the synod.

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Jon Baxter, Chief Engineer, Building Services, Administrative Services Group
Serrita Bell, Director of Communications and Marketing, Presbyterian Foundation    

Let us pray:

Our loving God, thank you for the gift of those who reach out to others in a spirit of love. May their example be a light to the world, that all may live in peace. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Resources spotlight efforts to support healthy drinking water

Image

For Living Waters for the World, a ministry of Synod of Living Waters, hope is found every time a cup of clean water is shared between partners — a simple act that becomes a promise of health, dignity and new beginnings. With 600 million people worldwide still waiting for safe water, the need remains great. Yet across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), congregations, presbyteries and partner ministries continue to help communities write a different story.

One of those stories belongs to Saachi, a little girl from Placetas, Cuba. When she was 3 years old, her community’s raw water source contained worms. Illness was a constant threat, and clean drinking water was not available. Today, Saachi is 8 — healthy, thriving and drinking safe water from a Living Waters for the World purification system operated by trained local leaders and supported by long‑term church partners. Her family no longer fears sickness from water. Her community has a fresh start.

Saachi’s story is featured in a new video titled “A Time for Hope,” which Living Waters for the World is encouraging congregations to share in worship, mission committee meetings and educational settings. The video is part of a broader initiative that includes Clean Water Sunday, a set of worship and educational resources now available to all PC(USA) churches. Watch the “A Time for Hope” video here.

The Clean Water Sunday materials include:

• A complete liturgy
• Bulletin inserts and posters
• A children’s message and youth engagement ideas
• A churchwide curriculum exploring the global water crisis and how communities are responding with hope.

These resources are designed to give congregations a meaningful, accessible way to engage global mission. Across the PC(USA), global ministry is still very much alive — not only through Living Waters for the World, but also through partner ministries like Solar Under the Sun, PC(USA) mission networks and through the many presbyteries that continue to walk alongside communities around the world. What we’re seeing is that when churches engage in long‑term, partner‑driven mission, hope takes root in ways that last. Clean Water Sunday gives congregations a simple way to step into that story — to celebrate what God is doing through local leaders, to learn about the global water crisis, and to join in sharing Christ’s love, one cup of clean water at a time.

Living Waters for the World currently partners with more than 1,100 communities in 28 nations, supported by over 2,600 trained volunteers. The ministry also collaborates with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, which partners with Living Waters for the World to expand access to clean, sustainable water in Haiti and El Salvador. Through PDA’s support, local leaders are restoring and strengthening water systems in communities recovering from disaster and instability.

PDA has been a trusted partner across the denomination for many years. We’re grateful to be working alongside them in Haiti and El Salvador, helping communities rebuild and thrive through clean water.

Congregations can access the Clean Water Sunday materials here.

Steve Young, Executive Director, Living Waters of the World

Let us join in prayer for:

Jenny Barr, Reference and Outreach Archivist, Presbyterian Historical Society, Presbyterian Life & Witness
Andrew Kang Bartlett, Associate, Presbyterian Hunger Program, Presbyterian Life & Witness             

Let us pray:

Loving God, we pray that all congregations will open their arms to those who live in their communities, embrace the gifts that new people bring and allow the Holy Spirit to enable them to thrive as new creations in Christ. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Milwaukee church commits to education, inclusion and support of community

Tippecanoe Presbyterian Church in Milwaukee is featured in a video highlighting a summer arts and science literacy camp led by Jane Borden.

The program serves a diverse group of students, including neurodivergent learners, and emphasizes hands-on, nature-based activities aimed at reducing summer learning loss. The video also notes the church’s long-standing role as host of Divine Intervention, a warming shelter for people experiencing homelessness, as well as its broader efforts to use church space to support the surrounding community. 

Video URL: https://vimeo.com/1154036764?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci

Alex Simon, former Multimedia Specialist, Presbyterian Life & Witness (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Dwayne Batcho, Production Clerk, Presbyterian Distribution Service, Administrative Services Group
Doug Batezel , Senior Vice President & CIO, Information Technology, The Board of Pensions       

Let us pray:

Gracious God, you call us as partners in Creation. Through your Son, Jesus Christ, fill us with blessings and grow in our lives, that by the Holy Spirit, we may go out into the world to do your will. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Book encourages a walk of faith

The writing team of the Rev. Dr. Cynthia Campbell and the Rev. Christine Coy Fohr, which previously gave us “Meeting Jesus at the Table: A Lenten Study,” has a new book that’s been published by Westminster John Knox Press, and the two stopped by the virtual studios of “A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast” to talk about it. Listen to their 49-minute conversation with hosts Simon Doong and the Rev. Lee Catoe here.

Image

Westminster John Knox Press published "Meeting Jesus on the Road."

Campbell served in ministry, taught at seminaries and was the ninth president of McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. Coy Fohr is head pastor at Harvey Browne Presbyterian Church in Louisville. Their new book is “Meeting Jesus on the Road: A Lenten Study.” Videos to aid group studies of the book are here.

Campbell said the title for the new book came from a collection of essays from Kosuke Koyama called “Three Mile an Hour God.” “His point was if you walk and try to have a conversation at the same time, 3 miles per hour is probably as much as you can do,” Campbell said. “God slowed God’s self down to 3 miles per hour. The incarnation happens in the bodies we actually inhabit, with all the limitations and all the possibilities.”

“If we believe in this 3 miles per hour God who chose to be incarnate and take on flesh, we should let our spiritual and physical lives do the same,” she said, “that they can come alongside one another and build one another up.”

Walking prompts are included in the book, Campbell noted.

“I love the idea of holding a person or an issue in your mind or your heart as you take a walk,” she said. 

As people walk their neighborhood or one nearby, they’re asked, “What did you see? What does that tell you about who lives there?” Campbell said. “Jesus lived in a real location. You can go to Israel-Palestine and there are guides who will say, ‘this is exactly where the Sermon on the Mount happened.’ We don’t know that, but what we do know is that he was in the whole region, and you can look around. Context matters, and being aware of that is a very important spiritual discipline.”

Image

The Rev. Christine Coy Fohr

Coy Fohr wrote a chapter on walking a labyrinth. “People for centuries have tried to slow down and be mindful and prayerful,” she said. “There’s a spiritual practice in walking unattached to wherever we’re going.”

The very act of slowing down “can be so important to being present in a way that we see Jesus being present to people,” she said.

In Mark’s gospel, Jesus tries multiple times to explain to the disciples what discipleship entails, Campbell said. “It’s about decentering yourself. It’s about changing allegiance from the reign of Caesar to the reign of God, to living in this new, dynamic, different way,” she said. “I think Jesus had to understand there was no way these folks would really get it until they are on the other side of the resurrection, which is where the gospels are written.”

“These are hard questions,” she said. “Who am I loyal to? What’s the center of my values, and what am I willing to put on the line for that? How much of me am I willing to invest in living in a different way?”

Coy Fohr also wrote the final chapter, on Easter itself. In that chapter, the authors note that after his resurrection, Jesus instructed the people to “go back to Galilee and there you’ll find me,” she said. “We explored what that means, to go back to the thing that first captured your heart, that first got you on this journey, and it just keeps going.”

“You’re not thinking, I’ve reached the endpoint and I’m good to go,” she said. “It’s an ongoing process, and it’s not an easy process.”

“It’s also about going back to that place where you were first captivated by Jesus and by this joy of living your life differently, and the possibility that holds.”

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Cheryl Barnes,  Lead, Global Ecumenical Liaison-US, Global Ecumenical Partnerships, Presbyterian Life & Witness
David Barnhart, Film Producer, Advocacy & Community Engagement, Presbyterian Life & Witness   

Let us pray:

God of love, you came down to this lowly place because you loved us so much. Help us to follow you and go out to the ends of the world to proclaim the gospel to the unreached, that your kingdom may come on this earth! We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Prepare to Apply for the World Communion Offering Grant

Preparing to Apply for the World Communion Offering Grant The PC(USA)’s Grant Management System We are excited to share more details about the World Communion Offering Grants made possible by your faithful giving to the World Communion Offering. The PC(USA) utilizes an online grant management system to administer grants, and below are a few helpful tips and tricks to make the application process as easy as possible. If you haven’t used the PC(USA)’s grant management system, Akoya GO, before, you will need to set up an account in order to apply for the a grant. The WCO Grant application is intentionally brief and focused on clarity. It should take about 15 minutes to fill out the grant application online once all required content and responses to questions have been collected.

Required Documents and Other Grant Stipulations Gather all required documents in advance. You can find the list of required documents on our World Communion Offering Grant FAQs.  Additionally, applicants will agree to: Use funds as described in the application Share brief stories, images and/or reflections about the project’s impact for reporting and interpretation purposes

View Our Grant FAQs

For all questions related to the World Communion Grant application, contact Marla Edwards at Marla.Edwards@pcusa.org.

Thank you for generously supporting the World Communion Offering.   If you have any questions, reply to this email or call us at (800) 728-7228, Ext. 5047.

Ministry Matters - Facing change with clear eyes and open hearts

Pastoral Transition Is Holy Work by Andrea Byer-Thomas   "A pastoral move is never just about one pastor leaving and another arriving. Transitions unsettle relationships, routines, assumptions, power patterns, anxieties, loyalties, hopes, and sometimes old wounds that had scabbed over. Pastors carry a mixture of gratitude, grief, relief, anticipation, worry, and unfinished longing. Congregations carry their own mixture too." Continue Reading What the Numbers Actually Tell Us About the UMC Right Now by Lovett H. Weems Jr. "Things are different today. However, the trajectory of change since 2019 has not so much been different from the past, but accelerated. For example, there are 25 percent fewer local churches today, but the number of churches has been declining for as long as most of us can remember, if not longer."  Read Now No one needs to explain to United Methodist clergy and lay leadership what happened in the disaffiliation process between 2019 and 2023. Trauma-Informed Ministry From foundational frameworks for trauma-informed care to reflections on Scripture, preaching, and pastoral practice, this collection equips church leaders to minister faithfully in the wake of tragedy, crisis, and everyday stress. Explore articles on building resilience, practicing hope, and finding stability for both congregations and the people who lead them. Explore More

For seventeen centuries, Christians have debated Constantine's legacy—did he save the church, or transform it into something else entirely? Lavender contrasts Nazarene Christianity's humility and sacrificial love with Imperial Christianity's alignment with power, tracing the divide through war, wealth, persecution, and church-state relations. A timely, self-examining look at Christian nationalism and public witness, complete with an eight-session study guide for churches and classes. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was, above all, a lifelong reader of Scripture—one whose deep engagement with the Bible shaped his resistance to Nazi tyranny and his costly discipleship. Drawing on moments across his life, from Harlem to imprisonment, Howell shows how Bonhoeffer's reading became a bold awareness that his life belonged to God, even amid uncertainty and evil. An invitation to read Scripture as Bonhoeffer did: faithfully, courageously, and with eyes open to the world. Includes a companion code for Amplify Media video sessions. Countless pastors have turned to this annual to lighten the load of sermon and service preparation, year after year. It's a tried-and-true resource that makes your demanding job easier, whether you use its contents as is or tailor them to your own approach. Includes morning and evening services for every Sunday, fully indexed sermon outlines and topics, midweek devotionals, special-day services, wedding and funeral resources, and more.