Mission Yearbook: End-of-life care is subject of POAMN conference talk

Two women with decades of experience in helping people who are near death — one as a physician, the other as a pastor and palliative care chaplain — led a helpful and from-the-heart dialogue recently as part of the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network’s annual conference, “Bridging Generations.” About 100 people from 24 states were in attendance.

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The Rev. Dr. Lorraine Leist and Dr. Jean Abbott lead their dialogue workshop Wednesday at the annual conference of the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network. (Photo by Mike Ferguson)

Dr. Jean Abbott, a retired physician and educator in Boulder, and the Rev. Dr. Lorraine Leist, associate pastor for congregational care and older adults at Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Denver, called their presentation “Is Dying More Than a Medical Event?”

We have different trajectories of dying, as a handout explained. About 10% die abruptly, with the rest falling into three roughly even categories: a terminal illness, organ failure or a frailty trajectory.

The two presenters went over three case studies. Abbott started by discussing a friend, a 79-year-old man who’d always been a vigorous traveler and distance runner who found out he had a leaky aortic valve. He underwent surgery and rehab, but his path going forward is unclear. “His great joys have always been travel and being outdoors,” Abbott said. Now he relies on his wife to keep track of his medications and to go to the hospital with him.

“This is clearly a medical situation, but it’s spiritual and existential as well,” Leist said. Questions including “why me?” and “why now?” often come up. “Someone of faith may ask, ‘where is God now? I started by getting tired and now I have this condition that could kill me.’”

Another aspect, Leist said, is the search for meaning. “What is the meaning of my life now? My life had been defined by things of my own choosing. Now [this man is] facing fear, grief and reconfiguration of family life. As a chaplain, I have been present with people struggling to adapt.”

The second case study was on Leist’s father, “and his clarity about end-of-life wishes,” Leist said. Her father got sick and died two weeks later at age 82. “What was significant is he was very clear his entire life that he wanted nothing to do with the medical system, which is a challenge for many who have medical conditions,” she said.

“When he got sick, we were clear we didn’t want him to have to go to the hospital. We involved hospice,” she said. “We were able to honor his wishes and allow him to die peacefully at home.”

“It’s interesting he avoided the rabbit hole of going down the medical pathway,” Abbott said. “Medicine always has something to treat, but there’s rarely a discussion of the big picture.”

“My father was fortunate enough to have a chaplain for a daughter,” Leist said. Family members “talked about the importance of making his wishes known” early in his disease process, about seven years before he died.

Abbott noted that some people “change their mind near the end” about the kind of care they’re receiving. “Wait a minute! I have some unfinished business,” they might say. But Leist’s father “was very clear and had a strong family who could push back at the medical system.

“We are sharing stories with you because you travel with people on this journey,” Abbott told those in attendance. “It’s important to support them and understand when their choices might change.”

The third case involved an 86-year-old woman with progressive dementia. Family members were concerned for her husband’s caregiving capacity.

“We listen and make space for the grief,” Leist said. “The promises made to care for someone for a lifetime — those are serious promises we make. Giving space and time allows people to grieve the loss of the capability to fulfill those promises.”

What, then, makes dying more than a medical event?

“We need to make space for lament,” Leist said. “We have this process of being able to cry out to God in anger and grief to create an avenue or opening to reconnect with our faith.”

We can also, of course, “provide pragmatic support — meals, driving, respite. It’s our call to love our neighbors, and it’s all over Scripture,” Leist said, “asking us to take care of each other in practical and pragmatic ways.”

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Margaret Boone, Project Manager, Special Offerings, Administrative Services Group
Shonita Bossier, VP, Operations, Presbyterian Foundation   

Let us pray:

Gracious Lord, please open our eyes to the opportunities that exist all around us. Help us to move when you call us and enable us to engage our communities so that together we might accomplish the tasks you have put before us. Amen.

Fish Box Specific Resources New for this Year!

Everything You Need for Fish Boxes It’s time to hand out fish boxes to the children in your congregation we have some free resources that make that process even easier than ever before. Fish Box Liturgy (handing out and receiving) We have liturgy you can use when handing out fish boxes and dedicating them when they return. Make sure you download your copy or find it in your leader’s guide on page eleven. Download Fish Box Liturgy Fish Box Sticker Template We are excited to offer fish box stickers! Add these to your water bottle, computer and more. Print off your own on sticker paper using our free download. Download Fish Box Stickers Gracie Story Every year Certified Christian Educator Dr. Kathy Dawson of Colombia Theological Seminary writes a story about our One Great Hour of Sharing mascot a fish named Gracie. Download and read this year’s story with the children in your congregation. Download Gracie Story Thank you for generously supporting One Great Hour of Sharing, the single largest way Presbyterians come together to make a difference in the world. If you have any questions, reply to this email or call us at (800) 728-7228 Ext. 5047.

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Mission Yearbook: Pastor emphasizes ‘presence over performance’ at POAMN conference

As part of the Bridging Generations conference recently offered by the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network, the Rev. Denise Shannon, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Thornton, Colorado, a POAMN co-moderator and spiritual director and, before that, a registered nurse for 30 years, led a thoughtful talk on “Spirituality and the Older Adult: Supporting Soul Care in the Later Seasons of Life.”

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The Rev. Denise Shannon

“I’ve spent my whole life with adults who are older, and I have an affinity and a love for them,” Shannon said. “The stories they tell are amazing, and I love listening to stories. There is something you can find in everybody’s story that gives meaning and purpose to their life.”

Shannon differentiated between religion — organized structure that brings together beliefs, practices and rituals that people find comforting — and spirituality, that sense of connection to something or someone greater.

Spirituality matters in older age in at least four ways, she said:

• Making sense of our life’s story and legacy
• Coping with losses and transitions
• Seeking reconciliation and forgiveness
• Nurturing hope and preparing for the end of life.

“It can ease a lot of anxiety. I say that from a history of sitting with people who are dying,” she said. “Those who have some sense of faith and spirituality have less anxiety at that time than people who don’t. … They seem to be less anxious and are able to be more accepting at the end of life.”

Spiritual challenges “show up when grief abounds,” Shannon said. “Some of us do grief really well and some do not. … You can have the best faith in the world, and when those losses happen, it can all go out the window.”

People with cognitive decline or dementia see their lives, memory and faith practices impacted. They may ask, “am I still valuable? Am I broken because I can’t do what I used to do and I can’t remember anymore?” Shannon said. “They feel forgotten by family, friends and God.”

A hospice chaplain who’s worked with a number of patients over 100 said they sometimes ask, “why won’t God take me now?” “It’s quite a question, and I don’t have the answer,” the chaplain said.

Shannon had a 97-year-old patient who decided to go home from the hospital to die on hospice care rather than face difficult surgery and recovery. She asked Shannon, “Why won’t God take me? I don’t want to live like this.”

“I asked her, ‘why do you think you’re still here?’” Shannon said. “If you sit and wait and listen, they’ll think through it.” The woman told Shannon, “maybe I’m not done yet. I have a new grandson, and I think I’m supposed to teach him something before I go.”

Later, the woman told Shannon she hadn’t spoken to her son in 40 years. She decided to call him. They talked, and he came to visit her before she died.

“Be willing to let the question lie. Let people noodle on it,” Shannon advised. “Sometimes we aren’t given opportunity to reflect or be listened to without judgment.”

The most important thing people in ministry can do for older adults is “to offer this act of listening,” Shannon said. “We can do nothing more important than be present, willing to listen and just sit with people” because “we all like to be heard. We like to know that what we have to say and share is important.”

Affirm people’s life experiences, “even if they’re yucky,” she suggested. “It may not feel good to hear those stories, but it’s who they are. Even in the bad experiences, they might find that one joyful thing. Their life has not been wasted just because of who they are. It’s presence over performance.”

Shannon said in the past two months or so, she’s discovered that older adult ministry need not be separate from other ministry. “We are already doing this ministry in many different ways,” she said. “We might have to adapt the things we’ve already doing for these people.”

“Maybe we need to listen before we act,” she said. Older adults “have incredible richness to give us and can inform us what they need.”

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Ricky Blade, Customer Service Representative, Constituent Ministry, Interim Unified Agency
Vivian Blade, Program Manager, Unification Management Office, Interim Unified Agency

Let us pray:

Lord God, help us to discern your guidance for all that we think, say, and do and strengthen us to walk in the paths that you have set before us. Amen.

From the Earth Care Lenten Devotional - First Sunday in Lent

February 22, 2026

Matthew 4:1-11

As I write, I have just returned from the Call for Clergy in Minneapolis to witness and resist their extrajudicial authoritarian occupation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Instead of facing our demons in a desert, religious leaders from across the nation faced them on the prairie, wrapped up in ski pants and foot warmers, thermal underwear and stoles safety-pinned to parkas. With negative thirty-four degree wind chill temperatures, Mother Earth herself screamed, “If you really want ICE, I will give you some ICE!!”

Jesus in our midst, among the least of these members of his family — strangers unwelcomed by our federal government but companioned by all who see in them the face of Christ — faced down those demons with us, in a story of reverse temptation:

Mutual Aid societies proving the miracle of loaves and fishes for families left behind after the abduction of their loved ones, including the delivery of breast milk to a three month old left unattended after ICE broke down her door without a judicial warrant and kidnapped her mother.

Movement chaplains, including a colleague from seminary, rushing to the scenes where Renee Good and Alex Pretti were murdered, offering prayer and comfort while being pummeled by pepper spray and sound cannon.

And civic leaders refusing to cave to external demands that would protect them from judicial probes at the expense of their citizens.

Over and over again, with every reason to give up, these Beloved of God, baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus, show up for one another and for God in this crisis. This same level of urgency, demon-confronting, and long haul commitment can be ours for earth care. Let us begin!

Prayer: Holy One who overcomes horror with inspiration, grant us wisdom, grant us courage for the facing of this hour.

Rev. Gusti Linnea Newquist, Pastor

Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church, West Virginia

Mission Yearbook: The Spirit is shaping the Church’s future

It began, as so many things do in the Church, with a dream.

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Emily Martin (Photo by Alex Simon)

Three years ago, we stepped into the 225th General Assembly (2022) as Young Adult Advisory Delegates (YAADs). We arrived with wide eyes and open hearts, expecting a single week of conversations about the Church’s future. If only we knew what the Holy Spirit had really signed us up for!

During that Assembly, we learned about a significant proposal: to create a commission to unify the Office of the General Assembly and the Presbyterian Mission Agency. It was an important item of business, shaping how our national Church would be organized for years to come.

But when we read the charter, we noticed something missing. The commission was designed to include a wide diversity of representatives across the Church — except young adults.

In late-night YAAD Zoom calls across time zones, a dream began to take root. What if young adults had seats at the table, too? What if the church’s youngest voices, full of creativity and passion, could help shape this future?

With the encouragement of the Spirit and the support of commissioners, the Assembly amended the proposal to add two YAAD representatives who would bring a different perspective to this work.

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Carson Brown (Photo by Alex Simon)

Neither of us had any expectation that we’d be the ones to serve. Yet, with the encouragement of friends and others in the Church, we applied — and were invited to serve on the commission!

Walking into our first commission meeting was overwhelming. The task of unification felt so big, and we were the youngest people in the room. We did not have decades of Church service or deep knowledge of national governance structures.

But we quickly discovered that being new was not a weakness. Our questions were welcomed. Our fresh eyes helped us see possibilities that others sometimes overlooked. And we realized that our fellow commissioners — wise, faithful and gracious — were also asking questions, learning and growing.

We learned that everyone, no matter their experience, has something to learn. And when we learn together, the work gets stronger.

As YAADs, our lack of a long history in Church politics became a gift. We were not weighed down by “the way things have always been.” We could focus on the present moment and the future needs of the Church.

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Young Adult Advisory Delegates participate in a prayer walk through United Nations-related sites during the United Nations'  High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development held July 2025. (Photo by Kristen Gaydos)

For 2,000 years, the Church has adapted to the Spirit’s call, evolving to meet the needs of the time while holding on to the good news of Christ. By including young adults in the commission, the Assembly chose to embrace change with courage instead of fear.

By welcoming new perspectives and change, the Church shows that the love and truth of Jesus Christ is embedded in everything. It transcends time, space or a singular governing structure. By embracing this, we can make sure that the current Church is what God has called it to be now, and that it has the tools to become what God will call it to be in the future.

What we have learned is that the Church is strongest when it welcomes unlikely voices.

God has always chosen surprising people — the too young, the too old, the inexperienced, the uncertain — to carry out the work of building the kingdom. What matters is not perfection or résumé. What matters is willingness: the willingness to show up, to offer your gifts and to let God use you in unexpected ways.

We came to the table as outsiders. Along the way, we were welcomed, respected and thanked for contributing in ways we never imagined. That has convinced us of something we now believe deeply: Voices like ours belong at the table. And so does yours.

We have immense gratitude that the Church has invited our voices to this work. We never expected to serve in this way. But God’s plans for us were bigger than our own.

Now, as we look ahead, we ask: How is God calling you to be part of this work?

Carson Brown and Emily Martin, Unification Commission  (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Beverly Bewley, Customer Service Representative, Operations, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation 
Teresa Bidart, Mission Specialist, Self-Development of People, Interim Unified Agency

Let us pray:

Almighty God, open our eyes and hearts that we may know you in our daily bread — both as we receive it from your hand and as we pass it on. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: POAMN conference speaker shares that ‘God is not done with you yet’

Nearly 100 people from 24 states recently attended “Bridging Generations,” the annual conference of the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network.

During opening worship at the Frasier Retirement Community in Boulder, Colorado, the Rev. Justin Spurlock, senior pastor at Grace Presbyterian Church in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, and Covenant Presbyterian Church in Greenwood Village set the vision for attendees with an inspiring sermon based on Isaiah 43 and his own experience.

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Brendan Schuster and the Rev. Bill Davis lead music during opening worship Wednesday at "Bridging Generations," the annual conference of the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network. (Photo by Mike Ferguson)

Conference musicians the Rev. Bill Davis and Brendan Schuster added to worship with voices, guitar and shruti box. Worshipers wrote their prayer concerns on ribbons, which they wove through chicken wire sandwiched by wooden frames, all of which were on their tables.

“My hope is that you will take a peek behind the veneer,” Spurlock said after reading most of Isaiah 43. When God tells the people “I know you” and “I love you,” “those are words that mean a lot to people who don’t have those connections, who aren’t rooted in that place,” such as the people of Isaiah’s time. “Particularly as we work with older adults, so often they have come from a place where they were rooted and are now in a place that feels quite different, a place where they don’t have those connections. They begin to think — and we leaders push it on them — that those eyes that have seen a lot cannot be trusted anymore.”

Then Spurlock asked: “When people are pushed to the side and told their memories and experiences don’t matter anymore, what happens to their sense of identity? They begin to feel they’re not loved and not known, that their faith from the past is no longer valued and perhaps no longer matters.”

“We call this space ‘wilderness,’ friends,” he said. “What if God is about to do something new in your wilderness? What if your eyes, that have seen so much, might actually be tuned to see the true new thing that God is up to in our midst? What might that mean?”

Those who have seen a lot “can see what’s coming next,” Spurlock said. “They can perceive what might be new, that these are streams flowing through these wilderness places.”

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The Rev. Justin Spurlock

The opportunity in the desert that many churches are experiencing “isn’t with families with kids. It’s with older adults. I’m speaking to the choir here,” he said. “Our senior adults among us feel like they aren’t the places where God is going to bring a flowing river, yet they have the experience to know what might actually be new. They have literally seen it all, and they can come alongside us and say, ‘let me help you dream something new. The thing you are handing us is something we tried 27 years ago, and it didn’t turn out like you leaders had hoped. Let’s try something together.’”

“It’s in these spaces,” he said, “where God does something new.”

Wind Crest Senior Living is “a stone’s throw” from Grace Presbyterian Church, Spurlock noted, and about three years ago he and others formed a new worshiping community there called Winds of Grace, part of Denver Presbytery’s rich tapestry of new worshiping communities. Even after preaching two sermons on a Sunday, Spurlock looks forward to a third sermon once a month at Winds of Grace.

“There aren’t the typical expectations a congregation brings,” he said. “I sing some songs and pray some prayers on a Sunday afternoon. They don’t care if the sermon is a little tired or I am a little tired. They accept us for who we are and we are excited to be in this space together.”

He comes out of afternoon worship “believing I have encountered the holy in the wilderness. It’s anything but a desert,” Spurlock said. “I wonder if that’s what all our church communities should feel like? They have arrived at that place because they have seen so much, experienced all of it, and they actually know what is new and what is from God.”

“We have the opportunity to lift these experiences up to provide value, to say, ‘you are known and loved, and God is not done with you yet. God is going to make a way in the wilderness.’ Amen.”

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Serrita Bell, Directory of Communications and Marketing, Presbyterian Foundation   
Barbara Betts, Manager, Presbyterian Distribution Services, Administrative Services Group, A Corporation                                  

Let us pray:

Gracious God, you have called us to bring your good news to all people. Help us to minister faithfully in our congregations and neighborhoods to your children of all ages, so that all will know of your love. In the matchless name of Jesus. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Prayer blanket ministry sends warm wishes from New York state

From the banks of the Genesee River to South Carolina’s sunny shores, God’s love is on the move.

And in the mail.

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Members and friends of First Presbyterian Church of East Avon, New York, lay hands on a prayer blanket they will send to bless the recipient. (Screenshot)

The latest in a wealth of colorful prayer blankets — lovingly handcrafted by a group of faithful volunteers at the First Presbyterian Church of East Avon (New York) in the Presbytery of Genesee Valley — was recently dispatched to a South Carolina woman who had likely never heard of the hamlet south of Rochester, but whose life would be touched by it.

“We blessed a blanket for a woman named Cas,” said Cathy Garrett, a relatively new church member who launched the prayer blanket ministry at East Avon, where she is thrilled to see it flourishing.

“Our friends met Cas while they were serving at the food bank in their hometown in South Carolina,” she said. “When they noticed that her leg didn’t look healthy, they encouraged her to seek medical attention. Because she has no health insurance, she was resistant to go to the doctor. They, however, continued to encourage her, and when she did finally seek medical attention, the doctor stated that although it was not cancer, the leg would have to be amputated. It’s our prayer that she will receive the blanket as a physical symbol of God’s love, peace, comfort and healing.”

Garrett explained that whenever the congregation receives a request for a prayer blanket, the church’s pastor, the Rev. Michelle Allen, invites worshipers to come forward, as they are able, to lay their hands on the blanket and pray as a witness that everyone shares in the ministry.

Since East Avon is a small congregation with some 50–60 members and friends worshiping each Sunday in person or on Zoom, Garrett decided that the best way to introduce the prayer blanket concept to the church was to connect with Alice Malin, who leads the Crafters, a longtime weekly ministry group.

“Alice immediately came up with a pattern for people to knit for prayer blankets,” said Garrett, who first learned about prayer blankets when she received the prayer shawl that had comforted her mother-in-law at the end of her life.

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First Presbyterian Church of East Avon, New York, has a thriving prayer blanket ministry. (Photo by Emily Enders Odom)

“As soon as the idea took hold with the Crafters, soon others in the church stepped forward to offer to teach crocheting and knitting,” Garrett recalled. “Now everyone in church is involved with the prayer blanket ministry in one way or another, including the children. We have been honored to send blankets all over the world to people we’ve never met. The stories we receive are incredible.”

Peggy Stallworth, a quilter who leads the pack in donating her beautiful, handmade quilts, shared with Garrett how the ministry has brought new meaning to her handiwork.

“Peg, who is one of those who has quilted many of the blankets,” recalled Garrett, “said to me, ‘I can’t thank you enough. I love to quilt, but I ran out of people to give them to, and now I have purpose for my quilts.’”

Whenever a blanket is hand-delivered or mailed, the church encloses a laminated photo of the congregation praying over it with text on the back to let the recipient know that the church will continue to remember them in prayer. They also invite them to email the church with updates, should they wish, and to join the congregation on Sunday mornings for worship.

“We sent a blanket to a woman who wasn’t expected to live after a stroke,” said Garrett. “She told us that when the blanket isn’t on her, it stays in her windowsill with a picture of the congregation next to it. She said she looks at it all day long, and that it has given her strength.”

Today, Garrett said, the woman is able to speak and eat and is learning to walk again.

“What a blessing it would be,” she exclaimed, “to have other churches pick up on this practice and just let the Holy Spirit fly!”

The East Avon Church invites readers to contact the church via email to learn how to start a prayer blanket ministry in their congregation or if they — or someone they know — is in need of a blanket.

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:

Doug Batezel , Senior Vice President & CIO, Information Technology, The Board of Pensions
Jon Baxter, Chief Engineer, Building Services, Administrative Services Group, A Corporation

Let us pray:

Thank you, Lord, for opportunities to share our gifts and learn from one another. Please give us the strength and courage to remain faithful to you while working hard to care for the rest of your children. We pray all this in your precious Son’s name. Amen.