Today in the Mission Yearbook - Taking the Hygh road

Communicator turned scholar Dr. Larry Hygh Jr. kicks off simultaneous conferences for church communicators

September 30 2021

Dr. Larry R. Hygh, Jr.

When telling the church’s story, it helps to know one’s own faith story well enough to tell it succinctly and powerfully.

That ability was on ample display recently as three national groups of communicators meeting simultaneously — conferences of the Religion Communicators Council, the Associated Church Press and the Canadian Christian Communicators Association — began with a talk by a United Methodist Church communicator turned scholar, Dr. Larry R. Hygh Jr. Hygh called his talk “Beyond the Little Black Box.”

Hygh, who now teaches and coordinates the internship program in the communication studies department at California State University San Bernardino, was formerly the lead communicator with the United Methodist Church. Before that, he was learning faith stories from his family, including his great aunt on his mother’s side, with whom he lived for a few months when he moved to Southern California in 2002.

In those days, his great aunt was still in her 90s. She died in 2014 nearing her 107th birthday.

She cooked with old bacon grease and was an avid gardener. “I miss her fresh greens cooked to perfection,” Hygh said.

Faith was “the major impact on her life,” he said. She taught Sunday school and was president of the missionary society. Until she turned 102, she had a dozen or so people over once a week for a mid-week prayer service. Every morning at 6:30, her phone would ring, and she’d begin the day in fervent prayer with her faithful prayer partner. “They prayed for everyone in the community and around the world,” Hygh recalled.

After they prayed, she’d prepare a full breakfast for herself and her grandnephew — which they couldn’t eat until they’d first completed the Baptist Sunday school lesson for the day and she’d prayed again, asking God to “guide us, direct us, protect us and correct us.”

That’s the same prayer Hygh invokes for those who are telling the church’s stories, at local, regional and national levels. “It’s my prayer we would ask God to do just that,” Hygh said. “If we want to be lifelong listeners, we must be lifelong learners.”

Churches’ faith stories can be told in the same way we tell our individual stories of faith. Both are precious. “When you know the story, handle it with care,” Hygh said, “so it can be shared with vigor and compassion for years to come.”

Hygh described his own church upbringing as “MethoBaptoCatho.” He attended a parochial elementary school in Marshall, Texas, run by an order of Black nuns out of New Orleans. His upbringing in the Black church helped inform views he holds today on issues including voting rights and a commitment to social justice.

“What’s your faith story?” Hygh asked periodically during his talk. “Being able to tell who you are shapes your faith, and vice-versa.”

Those who help people of faith tell their stories, especially in a post-pandemic world, will be creating meaning in emerging realities that are not yet clearly defined.

At CSU San Bernardino, Hygh’s students are matched with a nearby nonprofit agency. Students create a public relations campaign for the nonprofit using whatever technology they think is appropriate.

Hygh asks students, “How do you use the latest technology to tell the story of your nonprofit? The tools are ever-changing and new platforms are emerging.”

He suggested each person on the webinar identify a platform or app “that strikes your curiosity. Read an article or watch a YouTube video” explaining the technology, and then “tell a colleague what you did and ask them to hold you accountable. Willingness and accountability intersect to propel us to this unknown space.”

Hygh sees a “both/and” approach for churches as they begin to once again worship in person while providing an online experience to people who’ve joined their virtual worship services.

At the church Hygh attends, “we know we will have to have some sort of virtual component for people who don’t want to drive across Los Angeles to go to church” on Sunday or who’d rather worship the Almighty as many have over the past year — in their pajamas.

“This is uncharted territory,” Hygh said. “Not everything will go smoothly. Keep trying new things to reach new people.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Gina Yeager, Associate, Youth & Triennium, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Alexandra Zareth, Associate, Leadership Development & Recruitment for Leaders of Color, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Gracious God of the possible, continue to give your congregations optimism and strength for the tasks you have set before them. Give them a spirit of cooperation to meet their needs. Please also keep them ever mindful of, and responsive to, the other needs in your world. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - It’s not over

Pushing racism away from Europe

September 29, 2021

Igiaba Scego (Photo by Simona Filippini)

“I’m a Black Italian, a Black European, a woman who was born in Rome with Somalian roots,” said writer Igiaba Scego. She spoke out about herself after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died in police custody in Minnesota after being pinned to the ground, and whose last words were, “I can’t breathe.”

“Every time I think about my education, I think of the Afro Americans. Without them, I probably would not have survived,” Scego said. Her words reveal the deep relationship between Europe and the U.S., especially in the fight against racism.

In his last published book, Paolo Naso, a Waldensian layperson, professor of political science and coordinator of Mediterranean Hope — the migrants and refugees’ program of the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy — remembers exactly where he was when the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968.

“I was at home, and my father, a Protestant reverend, was glued to the television when the murder of Reverend King was announced,” Naso said. “My father desperately said, ‘Now it’s over!’”

Understanding racism — in order to fight it — has always been a mutual task on both sides of the pond.

More than 50 years after Dr. King’s assassination, what happens in the U.S. still impacts Europeans. More than 5 million people (nearly 8% of Italy’s 60 million people) are now stable resident migrants. A new religious pluralism has arrived.

We are observing a new Italy, where the so-called “second” generation since Dr. King’s assassination are now adults. In this context it is, perhaps, even more intolerable for many to live through racism again. Enough!

“We have a problem with the antiracism collective response in Italy,” said Fiorella, a member of the Federation of Protestant Youth in Italy, whose family is of African descent. “We must focus on education, and we have to improve the visibility of the pluralism we, fruitfully, are living in. People have to see that pluralism.”

Anita Nipah, an Italian Methodist with a Ghanaian background, said, “I would not define Italy as a racist country, but a country that has not stood up clearly and firmly against every kind of racism.” She added, “The lack of celebration of the plurality has not helped the inclusion and the integration; it has brought to consider Black bodies as aliens from the Italian society. They watch over me when I step in a shop, and in my daily [life], I still have to justify my ‘Italianity,’” said Nipah, who has served the Protestant churches in Italy as a member of the National Council of the Youth Federation.

Confronti Magazine and Study Center in Rome, a partner of Presbyterian World Mission, has launched an English-language version of its magazine, ConfrontiWorld. Confronti in Italian means “dialogue,” and ConfrontiWorld is “the world through the dialogue.” It focuses on interfaith dialogue and religious solidarity to give voice to European believers of all backgrounds.

Consider making an online gift to support the work of World Mission in Europe.

This article is from the Spring 2021 issue of Mission Crossroads magazine, which is printed and mailed free to subscribers’ homes within the U.S. twice a year by Presbyterian World Mission. To subscribe, visit pcusa.org/missioncrossroads.

Dr. Claudio Paravati, Director of Confronti Magazine and Study Center in Rome

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Myoung Ho Yang and Ji Yeon Yoo, Mission co-workers in Hong Kong, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Cindy Yates, Maturities Specialist, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray

Creating God, help us recognize your image in one another. Inspire us to join your transforming ministry that protects the weak, challenges the strong, frees the prisoner, proclaims peace and heals the broken. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - What we share with the hungry

We might ask, ‘What is separating us from those who have the need to begin with?’

September 28, 2021

“Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul and no one said that any of the things that belonged to [them] was [their] own, but they had everything in common.” (Acts 4:32, English Standard Version)

Bryce Wiebe, director of Special Offerings and the Presbyterian Giving Catalog, makes bread dough while preaching an online sermon for the Synod of the Covenant. (Screenshot)

Sharing food is one of my great joys. I know, I know … that isn’t altogether unique, and definitely not unique for Presbyterians I know. We gather around tables for myriad reasons, and in lots of different ways. But the act of sharing food can remind us of other things we share: namely a need for food — hunger — and the interdependence it takes to make a meal possible. I think it is true that we never eat alone. Not really. Even if we sit at the table by ourselves, we are eating with each and every person who finds a part to play in this interconnected food system that helps bring food to table.

Soon after the shutdown orders began in March 2020, some of us came to a new, or refreshed, awareness of the fact that many people in that intricate system have limited resources for keeping their tables filled. There’s beauty in the truth that “we never truly eat alone,” but it is tragic when we see so many of those with whom we “eat” — essential farm, transportation, restaurant or grocery workers — barely have enough themselves, if they’re able to eat at all.

Christians are called (and often do) give generously to meet human need. The sentence above from Acts 4 keeps working on me, though. Seeing and meeting the need are essential actions in the story, but this sentence pushes my reflection further.

What I see in this breath of Acts 4 (and it’s only a breath) is a practice of unity’s truth in the face of a separation lie. Seeing the need, they give to meet it, but also embrace a more challenging suggestion: We cannot eat alone, and no one will hunger alone, either. “Ownership,” in the story, was surrendered as a sign and symbol of disunity, of a world where some eat on their own and some do not eat at all. The next story, where believers decide to hold back a portion and are dishonest about it, would teach us not to be dishonest in our speech, but also to reject the lie that affluence, ownership, and control can sustain us, when all they do is sort, stratify and separate, with death-dealing results for ourselves and for others.

The next time we recognize a need in someone else, we would do well to give to meet it. We might do better if we ask what is separating us from those who have need to begin with.

Questions on which to reflect:

In what ways to I separate myself from my neighbor-in-need?

In what ways do I embrace the lies that affluence, ownership and control can save me?

In what ways do I fail to face the needs of another because I wish to hide from that need within myself?

The work of the Presbyterian Hunger Program is possible thanks to your gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing.

This piece was originally published on “Where Your Heart Is…A Weekly Offerings Stewardship Blog.”

 Bryce Wiebe is director of Special Offerings and the Presbyterian Giving Catalog. This reflection comes from a sermon Wiebe recorded for the Synod of the Covenant. Click here to watch the sermon.

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Angela Wyatt, 1001 Apprentice, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Yun Kyoung Yang, Editorial Assistant, Korean, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation

Let us pray

Holy Lord, may our words, our work and our hearts welcome all your children into the broad and beautiful kingdom of God. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - ‘Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’ are not trends

They’re fundamental Christian values

September 27, 2021

Photo by airfocus via Unsplash

These days, every organization is coming up with a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion — commonly referred to as DEI — strategic plan. The hiring of diversity and inclusion executives has grown 113% in the last five years. As of February 2021, half of Standard & Poor’s 500 companies have a chief diversity officer. The national agencies of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are also putting together DEI plans as a response to the General Assembly mandate for a Race Audit in 2018. However, this is not the church jumping on the latest business trend. DEI has been a core value from the birth of the church. In fact, the church practiced them first. Consider the basic definitions of DEI and how they were present in the early church, from its Pentecost birth.

• Diversity is the presence of difference in a setting. In Pentecost, the message was preached in multiple languages! No one’s difference was erased. Everyone heard the story of Jesus in the language they dreamed in. The interpretation service of Pentecost makes today’s United Nations system of interpretation look antiquated.
• Inclusion is the practice of ensuring people feel a sense of belonging. Luke tells us that the believers “spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts” (Acts 2:46). When they went to Herod’s Temple, they still had to abide by the division of people forced by the structure of the temple, its stoned walls creating Court of Gentiles, Court of Women, Court of Israel, and Court of Priests. But in the homes, everyone sat around the same table and broke bread together. No one was left out. There is no more a powerful and visceral way of experience belonging than breaking bread together.
• Equity is the process of ensuring that processes and programs provide equal possible outcomes for every individual recognizing that no one starts from the same place. The Pentecost church knew that inequity ravages most fundamentally in economic structure. So, they had the courage and the logistic intelligence to create their own economic system where they “distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need” (Acts 2:45).

Don’t dismiss or treat DEI terms as trendy corporate terms. They are fundamental Christian values. I even offer them as Marks of the Church. The Reformation lifted gospel preaching and administration of sacraments (Calvin added discipline of the church) as marks of the true church in order to recognize church work independent of a 1,000-year-long hierarchy of papal authority. It was a bold move. We need an equally bold move today. Because American Christianity, its theology and practice, has been deeply compromised by the ideology and practice of white supremacy. Robert P. Jones, the author of “The End of White Christian America,” writes, “American Christianity’s theological core has been thoroughly structured by an interest in protecting white supremacy.” The three values of DEI as marks of the Church create a critical perspective to discern where our churches have strayed from their mission to be a community where all belong and used to justify and protect white privileges.

Theology has always been a conversation between God’s work now and God’s work in history, between news and Scripture. All truths are God’s truths. This also means we have much to learn from our faith parents. And in the book of Acts, we witness what compelled and propelled the church to be more diverse, equitable and inclusive (though those are not the exact words they would use) was the reality of the resurrection. The experience of resurrection serves as the rationale and the energy for this fresh understanding of God’s people that includes all.

The Rev. Samuel Son, Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Manager for Diversity & Reconciliation

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Philip Woods, Associate Director, Director’s Office, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Dianna Wright, Director, Ecumenical Relations, Office of the General Assembly

Let us pray

Gracious and wonderful God, we thank you for the magnificent world you created. We thank you that you have made us a people who seek relationships with others and with you. Keep us ever mindful of your presence among us. Amen.

Minute for Mission: Gifts of New Immigrants

September 26, 2021

Rola Al Ashkar

Rola Al Ashkar is a Presbyterian Christian from Lebanon. She grew up in a non-religious family, in a culture drenched in religion. Her parents took her and her brothers to church and Sunday school on occasions. When she had her confirmation class, she received her first Bible, and even as a teenager, she read the Bible with critical eyes, questioning parts of it and searching for answers. Her curiosity led her to regularly attend Sunday services, youth meetings and church summer camps, and through those experiences her faith grew and she found a community in the Presbyterian Synod of Syria and Lebanon.

Rola continued to search for more depth and to struggle with her commitment to her reformed faith, as she experienced religious discrimination in a culture where Presbyterians were a minority in a minority. At age 17, she decided to study theology and serve the church, though being a female minister wasn’t heard of at the time. Due to family opposition and cultural restraints, she could not join seminary until seven years later.

In 2011, she finally joined the Near East School of Theology in Beirut and was a part-time student for four years. Afterward, she transferred to Princeton Theological Seminary, where she graduated in 2016.

Even after her graduation, there were still no precedents to women ordinations in the Middle East, and Rola almost gave up her dream to become a pastor. This is when she decided to travel to the U.S. where she started serving Parkview Presbyterian Church in 2018, an intercultural PC(USA) church in Sacramento, California. Rola found a loving and supporting community in the Presbytery of Sacramento, where she got ordained in April 2021.

Now, Rola serves Westminster Presbyterian Church in Sacramento as Ministry Assistant for Outreach and Christian education and is the organizer of Iama Yoga New Worshiping Community.

Rev. Magdy B. Girgis, D. Min., Middle Eastern Ministries, PC(USA)

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Janna Wofford, Operations Manager, Association of Presbyterian Colleges & Universities (APCU)

Let us pray

Lord Jesus, today you call us to welcome the members of God’s family who come to our land to escape oppression, poverty, persecution, violence and war. Like your disciples, we too are filled with fear and doubt and even suspicion. We build barriers in our hearts and in our minds.

Help us by your grace,

To banish fear from our hearts, that we may embrace each of your children as our own brother and sister;

To welcome migrants and refugees with joy and generosity, while responding to their many needs;

To realize that you call all people to your holy mountain to learn the ways of peace and justice;

To share of our abundance as you spread a banquet before us;

To give witness to your love for all people, as we celebrate the many gifts they bring. We praise you and give you thanks for the family you have called together from so many people. We see in this human family a reflection of the divine unity of the one most Holy Trinity in whom we make our prayer.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Theologically speaking

How Scripture relates to racism

September 25, 2021

Elmina Castle in Ghana, West Africa, where enslaved Africans were held before boarding ships headed across the Atlantic Ocean bound for Europe and the Americas. (Photo by Philip Woods)

The objective of this brief reflection is to explore the theological interplay between the Bible and racism. Being an African Jamaican, I have embraced the Christian faith through Presbyterian missionary Christianity. For me, Scripture centers on being “the Word of the Lord.”

This has meant that the religio-cultural and social context or life setting of the text — or that of the messenger of the narrative (sitz im leben) — generally has not been questioned. However, despite the intentional miseducation, the hidden texts of my ancestors, through words and songs, an alternative hermeneutics has emerged that is best illustrated through the critique of Pan-Africanist Marcus Mosiah Garvey (1887–1940). His teachings and writings contributed to the rise of the Rastafari movement in 1930 that called for a new hermeneutics in reading and understanding Scripture. They recognized that centuries of misusing the Bible in defense of racism must be intentionally opposed.

European colonialism and its partnership with western missionary movements from the 15th century incorporated the church and the Bible as strategic allies in their conquest of other peoples’ lands and resources. The misuse of the biblical text gave moral and spiritual justification of dehumanizing other peoples and the stealing of their lands and made it morally acceptable to enslave them.

Scriptural and theological justification for colonialism was appropriated in the reading of the Old Testament texts in which they claimed that God gave divine approval for the Israelites to forcibly seize Canaanite lands. Later profitability of their stolen lands led to the dehumanization strategy of forced capture, imprisonment and transportation of millions of Africans and their eventual enslavement on European plantations in the Americas. By misusing the Bible to legitimize their economic objective of acquiring maximum profit, the theological rationale was established in their reading of Genesis 9:18–29 and Genesis 10 — in particular, the misunderstood passage referred to as the “curse of Ham.”

This embodiment of “spiritual wickedness in high places” was most evident when I first visited Elmina Castle in Ghana in 2004. Hundreds of thousands died in captivity, and the Atlantic became the African cemetery and a memorial of their holocaust.

It was not only the Hebrew Scriptures that were used to justify slavery by the Christian Scriptures, especially Pauline texts such as Ephesians 6:5ff, Colossians 4:1 and 1 Timothy 6:1. The European colonizers and their contemporary ideological partners in the white supremacist movement regarded people of other ethnic groups, especially those of African descent, to be destined to serve as less than fully human beings. The use of Scripture to support racism is intentionally designed by the powerful to acquire and maintain, at all cost, political and economic power at the expense of those humans they deem to be unequal to their self-ascribed superior ethnic/racial standing.

Consider making an online gift to support World Mission’s response to needs of Christian churches around the world.

This article is from the Spring 2021 issue of Mission Crossroads magazine, which is printed and mailed free to subscribers’ homes within the U.S. twice a year by Presbyterian World Mission. To subscribe, visit pcusa.org/missioncrossroads.

 The Rev. Dr. Roderick R. Hewitt, Mission Crossroads

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Ashley Winn, Senior Assistant, Presbyterian Investment & Loan Program
Jung Ju Winner, Marketing Assistant, Presbyterian Women

Let us pray

Thank you, God, for the opportunity to spread seeds of life through the word of God. We ask that you would help us grow in love and service to others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Presbytery takes steps to welcome transgender teens

As more teens identify as transgender, policy seeks to include them

September 24, 2021

Brittani Burns/Unsplash

The Presbytery of New Covenant in southeast Texas has had a strong youth ministry for decades. A highlight has been its Youth Conclaves weekend retreats that are led by the youth themselves. These retreats are a time to meet other Presbyterian youth and a time to grow as disciples. Our presbytery also recognizes that youth is a time of exploration and identity formation — including gender or sexual orientation. This became apparent in February 2020, when a request was received regarding a young person who was hesitant to attend a retreat weekend because of who she is. Katrina is transgender. She had attended the previous year when she hadn’t fully come out, and she stayed in the boys’ cabin. While she knew she didn’t want to stay there, she wasn’t sure she would be able to stay with the girls. The presbytery’s General Council made a quick decision, with a hastily written policy, that Katrina could attend and stay with the girls. We felt that, at the very least, she could feel comfortable, and we were covered legally. We knew, though, that inclusion of transgender youth in church events had to be addressed because there were more teens like Katrina among us.

A 2019 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report found that 2% of high school students identify as transgender. Thirty-five percent of transgender youth attempt suicide and 27% admit to feeling unsafe going to school. That’s why we included the following words in the final transgender youth policy: “In our work as a presbytery, our love for one another — especially those who are often excluded — is how we are known.”

We brought the transgender youth policy to our March 2020 presbytery meeting for a first reading. There were no comments. In retrospect, this wasn’t surprising because it was our first of what would be many Zoom meetings to come, and people were not only getting used to the format but were also reeling from the quickly unfolding ramifications of the COVID-19 shutdowns.

Before the second reading, General Council contacted pastors or clerks of session from every congregation in the presbytery to receive feedback. Most was positive, but two primary objections to the policy emerged. The first had to do with parental notification. Originally, the presbytery policy stated that if a youth comes out to their sponsor or the Youth Council leaders as transgender, the parents would not be notified. The reason for this is that instances of transgender youth being met with violence in their homes is simply too high. Instead, it was decided that the Youth Council leaders would work with the youth to find a way to talk to their parents. In addition, parents wouldn’t be notified ahead of time that their child would be in a cabin with a transgender youth. There were parents, youth sponsors and other adults who felt that parents should always be notified, no matter what.

The second objection had to do with inclusion of youth who aren’t comfortable rooming with transgender peers. The original policy included statements that some saw as discounting the genuine feelings of unease, disapproval and fear that some youth may have in the rather intimate situation of sharing a cabin and bathroom with a transgender peer. They didn’t want these youth to feel excluded or criticized because of their beliefs or feelings.

After a major revision, the policy was presented and approved in January. In the final transgender youth policy, wording was changed to assure folks that all youth would be welcome, even if they were uncomfortable with their transgender peers. Brief explanations were added around the issue of parental notification, which included that parent would be informed that their children may be staying with a transgender youth. Perhaps, though, the most important part of the policy is near the end. It states a reminder for us all: “It is difficult to imagine all of the situations where what we have always done is limiting or exclusionary. This document is intended to be a map towards inclusion. As a presbytery we continue to strive to find ways to be as inclusive as possible for all God’s children.”

 Becky Ardell Downs, pastor of John Knox Presbyterian Church in Houston for 10 years, married for 27½ years to Mark Downs, pastor serving as a hospice chaplain

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Carla Wilson, Customer Service Consultant, Presbytel, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Miatta Wilson, Mission Specialist, Office of Christian Formation, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Sovereign God, help your church in every corner of the earth to be committed to and effective in ministries with children and youth. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Race, faith and climate change

God loved the world, not just one people

September 23, 2021

Markus Spiske/Pexels

The first time I became aware of a connection between race, faith and climate change was in the late 1980s when I was a sociology student in Venezuela. I lived in Caracas with my family. In this cosmopolitan city, there was lots of nonregulated air pollution that caused me to have a sore throat and irritated eyes daily.

In Venezuela, we used lead gasoline. I thought it was all that existed, until one day I read a very small article hidden in the middle of one of our major newspapers that said, “The conditions the International Monetary Fund placed on Venezuela to receive millions of dollars of aid includes to continue consuming lead gasoline for another four years.” We had the knowledge that consuming lead-free gasoline would be better, but our government was making it available to U.S. markets only. Lots more can be said about this deal. Clearly, justice for all is not always the way our governments have treated people around the world.

As a citizen of the United States now, I have learned that to sustain our lifestyle we use almost 25% of the world’s natural resources and produced, until recently, the same percentage of carbon emissions responsible for climate change. Meanwhile, the Gospel tells us that “God so loved the world” (John 3:16). God loves the world, not just one people. Our impact in the world — ethically and spiritually — is calling us to free the waters of justice (Amos 5:24), so that Creation can hear Christ’s good news from the children of God (Romans 8:19; Mark 16:15).

If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it is how interrelated our world is and how much our lives depend on the well-being of others. As a person of faith, called to love my neighbors as myself, I feel compelled to reject — and grow suspicious of — any dreams and views of the good life that are built at the expense of others.

This past year has also taught us that those who suffer during this pandemic in greater numbers are the same Black, Indigenous and Latinx people who have been impacted by racial and environmental injustice for generations. They are the same people who are also most vulnerable to climate change for they cannot pack up and leave when a storm is approaching and return when it is convenient. They are the ones who do not have access to good food, clean air and clean water, and whose bodies are already compromised, not by choice but by systemic racism. They are the ones who live alongside oil refineries and who have to fight for better environmental laws to protect them. They are the farmworkers who harvest 95% of our fruits and vegetables nationwide, and who — for more than 10 years in Florida — have been fighting for laws to protect themselves from life-threatening heat waves: to have the right to take breaks, to cool down and drink water.

Working to restore our relationships with each other and the environment is a calling of our faith, not a threat to our privilege. For us Presbyterians, it can be a blessing at this time in history to avert the suffering of future generations. If scientists are right, we have less than 10 years to stop climate change. Now is the time for a sustained, united action guided by the teachings of our faith to usher in an equitable and peaceful life for all people on Earth.

 Neddy Astudillo, Venezuelan American, eco-theologian, Presbyterian pastor and GreenFaith organizer in Florida

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Brunhilda Williams-Curington, Program Assistant for Stated Clerk, Office of the General Assembly
Jeanne Williams, Managing Editor, Curriculum Resources & Geneva Press, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation  

Let us pray

Our Father, we offer you praise that you reveal our true capacities for speech, leadership and service to our families, church and community. We ask that you enable us all to find our voice to love the poor, advocate for justice and lead in righteousness. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

God's Mission Our Gifts: September 2021

Your October Mission & Service Stories OCTOBER 3 Your Support Is There When Disaster Strikes   [Photo credit: Cordillera Disaster Response Network] In times of emergencies, your generosity is on the ground ready to help in over 120 countries where there are United Church partners and ecumenical relationships. Thank you!   OCTOBER 10 Dignity Is on the Table   [Photo credit: Centre 507] Many of us don’t have to stand in line for every single meal with a tray in hand. That’s why special dinners like Café Cinq-Zero-Sept, hosted by Ottawa-based Mission & Service partner Centre 507, are so important.   OCTOBER 17 Defining Love: Emmanuel’s Story   [Photo credit: Emmanuel Baya]   Emmanuel Baya learned sustainable agriculture techniques at the Asian Rural Institute, a Mission & Service partner that teaches farming skills. Now, he is passing on life-saving information to over 287 children and 7 communities. An incredible story for World Food Sunday. A video of Emmanuel's story is also available. Check out the full Mission & Service worship service (scroll to "Worship Ideas") for this Sunday, including children’s time and sermon.   OCTOBER 24 Growing Stronger Together: Maina’s Story   [Photo credit: ASWA]   Maina’s mother died when she was a baby. Sadly, she didn’t have an opportunity to go to school. Now, she can read and write and is teaching others to, as well. Here’s her amazing story.   OCTOBER 31 Your Generosity Has a Worldwide Impact: Mambud’s Story   [Photo credit: The United Church of Canada]   What do soccer, organic farming and ministry have to do with each other? Mission & Service, of course! Mambud’s story is a tangible example of how your generosity sends ripples of compassion across continents. A video of this story is also available. WORLD FOOD DAY SERVICE—DONE! 191,000,000 children under 5 years old are malnourished. This World Food Day (Oct. 17, 2021), share an uplifting service (scroll to "Worship Ideas") about how Mission & Service helps fight hunger. Sermon, children’s time, bulletin insert, slide, video and digital impact report included! Congregational Stewardship/Generosity This is your resource to help you grow generous disciples and gather the resources you need to do God’s mission. Please modify and use these ideas in your context.   You Are Amazing! Thank You! Thanksgiving is the perfect time to tell your donors and supporters that they are, in fact, amazing, and to thank them. After all, without their generosity, your community of faith doesn’t exist. How will you do it? Here are three ideas: Direct messaging as part of the Offering Invitation during Thanksgiving worship. For example: “Every week at this time, we ask you to be generous with your money and make a gift to support the mission of this congregation. And every week you respond. On this Thanksgiving Sunday, I want you to know that you are amazing and we appreciate you. Thank you." Or, “You make what happens through this congregation possible. You really are awesome! Remember that as you make your gift today. Thank you.” A Thanksgiving card sent to each donor and supporter. A short article in your newsletter/website telling people they are amazing, because their generosity makes them stand out in a culture of greed and possession. Also, let them know how their generosity makes your mission possible (and what it you’re doing with their gifts) and thanking them. Community Ministries Are Special Whether you work with a camp, inner-city ministry, chaplaincy, or some other form of Community Ministry, it’s always important to find new supporters and better engage current donors. Spend some focused time developing skills in this special cohort of the Stewardship Best Practices module of Called to be the Church: The Journey. This three-week program will help you dig into the best practices for stewardship specifically for your context. This module runs Tuesdays, October 26, November 2, and November 9 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. MT (6:00 - 8:00 p.m. PT and 8:00 - 10:00 p.m. CT), followed by individual support sessions to create and implement a plan for increasing your year-end donations. To register or for more information, contact Vicki Nelson. Every Small Step You Take Makes a Difference Increasing giving and generosity is not about making huge changes. Gaetz Memorial United Church in Red Deer, AB, sent semi-personal cards to every member and donor thanking them and asking them to consider an increase in giving. Within two weeks, 21 people had made large one-time gifts or increased their monthly giving through the church’s Pre-Authorized Remittance (PAR) plan. You can do this, too! It really is just that easy. Discover Your Gifts—Share Your Gifts: Epiphany 2022 Five weeks of NEW stewardship worship material sermons, prayers and children/youth materials. Find them on the United Church stewardship in worship page in late October. Best results when used as part of Called to Be the Church: The Giving Program Image credit: marian anbu juwan from Pixabay  Called to Be the Church: The Journey You want to increase revenue and participation to do God’s mission. You asked, “Can’t you just tell us what to do?” Here’s our answer: Claim Your Mission Cultivate Generosity Create a Culture of Gratitude Learn how and get help doing it at united-church.ca/stewardship. Look for Module 1: Stewardship Best Practices.   “Give this informative, interactive course a chance to turn the tide. Don’t give up on your church. You won’t be sorry!” --Lorna Watkinson-Zimmer, Gaetz Memorial United Church, Red Deer, AB   These sessions will be open to only three communities of faith per cohort, so be sure to SIGN UP RIGHT AWAY! Questions? Email us. More sessions may be added as needed. Stewardship Seconds, offering invitations, and offering prayers Stewardship Seconds, offering invitations, and offering prayers for October 2021 are available on the United Church’s stewardship worship theme page. Scroll down to “Related Material” at the bottom of the page. GOD’S MISSION, OUR GIFTS is your newsletter. We want to provide news and information that you can use in your community of faith, whether you’re a minister, a board member, an administrator, a treasurer, or anyone else who wants to make a difference.   What else would you like to see? What can we do to help your community of faith get where it needs to go? Send us your thoughts! Fill out your Mission & Service goal-setting form online! Visit the United Church’s COVID-19 page for tips and resources for members and communities of faith during the pandemic. And for help with government COVID-19 support, visit the United Church’s emergency funding page. Donate Facebook Twitter Website Email Instagram YouTube LinkedIn   Your generosity enables the United Church to love, serve, and minister in the world. Make an online donation or learn more about your options to support the work of the church.

Copyright © 2021 The United Church of Canada, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you indicated that you would like to receive updates about the work of The United Church of Canada. Our mailing address is: The United Church of Canada 3250 Bloor Street West Toronto, Ontario M8X 2Y4 Canada