Minute for Mission: Repairers of the Breach

Kintsugi, the 15th-century Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the broken areas with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold or other precious metal, reminds us that when repaired, formerly broken places reveal new lines of character and beauty.  

But what of God’s world? The world God entrusted to our care? So many parts are broken, damaged by cruelty to each other, misuse of Creation or refusal to take God’s commands seriously.

In Isaiah 58, the prophet reminds us, “You shall be called repairers of the breach.” Repairers. And as we question the breaches that may have resulted from our own actions, we ponder how to repair them, creating something unique, beautiful and resilient. Which ones get attention first? How can we repair a breach that may have existed for decades or one that has only recently emerged? Where can we work for repair to reveal beautiful new veins of gold?

Your gift to One Great Hour of Sharing provides a way for those whose lives have been affected by poverty, hunger or disaster — whether natural or human-caused — to begin to repair the lives of their families and communities. It provides a way for the least of these, more often than not women and children, to become those veins of gold, binding their families and communities together in strength.   

In the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God repaired the breach that separated us from our creator, performing a kintsugi of sorts upon us — putting the broken pieces of our lives back together while lining our broken places with the gold of God’s grace. As we follow Jesus’ example, walking alongside the most vulnerable to partner in repairing the harm inflicted upon them, we celebrate that we are the Church … together.

 

Let us pray~

Restoring God, in Jesus, you have given us the ultimate example of repairing the hurts that divide us. May our gifts and our prayers join with the most vulnerable among us to restore your people and your world. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Remembering with honesty

The good old days weren’t good for everyone

February 28, 2023

Marco Bianchetti /Unsplash

The older we get, the more we begin to think, “My memory isn’t what it used to be.” With each successive decade, we seem to remember less, and less accurately, than we used to. Sometimes we look back and see what we want to see, rather than what really happened. We see this in Numbers 11.

The Israelites are in the thick of 40 years of wandering toward the Promised Land. The persnickety pilgrims look back on what they remember as an incredible buffet from before their journey began: fish, cucumbers, melons and leeks. Except, of course, they aren’t remembering everything just as it was. They seem to forget that the King of Egypt enslaved them. They don’t remember the order given to the midwives to kill all the baby boys. Somehow making bricks in the blazing desert sun had faded away. As Moses listened to them, he probably thought, “Their memory is definitely not what it used to be.”

The Numbers passage goes on to describe how God answers Moses’ call for help, and how the Holy Spirit empowers the elders to keep the tribe moving forward. But let’s stay in the first few verses of Numbers 11, with the Israelites’ faulty memory, since it has some connection to our own faulty memories today.

The Israelites want to return to the good old days, which in reality were not as good as they remember. Sometimes we who are white in America are seduced into this same impulse. Maybe like me, other white readers look back to earlier times when racial division seemed so much less prominent in our country. I was not old enough to be aware of the struggles over race in the 1960s and early 1970s. By the 1980s, my high school and college days, I don’t really remember much attention being paid to race. In fact, I don’t really remember learning about racial disparities until I went to work at our national church headquarters a decade ago. Maybe like me, you who are white remember the “good old days” when racial justice was not front and center as it is now.

But our memory is not what it used to be. I feel quite certain Black, Indigenous and People of Color who read this column are wondering what country I’m describing. After all, in the 1980s I was part of a fraternity giving demeaning racist pledge names to our Black pledges. The decade of the ’90s saw injustices such as the Black and Latino teens called “Central Park Five” who were unjustly found guilty of assault, a conviction vacated in 2002. The first decade of the 2000s saw marked progress in our national leadership, but also found Islamophobia skyrocketing after Sept. 11, 2001.

These brief examples, out of many others that could be recounted, jolt us to remember more fully that the “good old days” were not as good as we might remember. Needless to say, older readers would be able to describe memory mismatches in the decades before the ones I remember myself. For instance, many of us have only now heard of and are learning about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, where hundreds of Black people were killed and an entire section of the city was destroyed. We don’t remember it because the story was quashed for decades afterward. Maybe like me, you are only now learning more about Juneteenth, our newest national holiday, so that we can remember better what it means to be liberated from oppression. Presbyterians Today spotlighted Juneteenth in a 2020 story at presbyterianmission.org/story/pt-0520-juneteenth.

Our memory may not be what it used to be, but the remainder of our Scripture passage gives us hope. Moses prays, “If only the Lord would put the Spirit on all God’s people!” The Holy Spirit has come to all of us, equipping us to live faithful lives, and, yes, sharpening our collective memories. Even more importantly, the Spirit’s clarifying power shows us the world as it is, not as we wish it were. As the Spirit comes on us, we are empowered to pursue racial justice, so that increasingly these become the good old days for all of God’s people.

Chip Hardwick, Transitional Synod Executive of the Synod of the Covenant, which includes presbyteries in Michigan and Ohio

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Rebecca Snipp, Administrative Project Manager, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Barbara Soete, Mission Specialist for Special Offerings, Mission Engagement & Support, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)

Let us pray

Almighty God, giver of all good gifts, bless our efforts to provide to the people of this world. Through these efforts, may more of your children know the abundant life that Christ came to bring us. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - California congregations commemorate merger in stained glass cross

New Hope and St. Paul’s Presbyterian churches have come together to carry on legacy of ministry in Anaheim

February 27, 2023

Stained-glass artist Greg Atwood and artist the Rev. Denise Anderson met for the first time at the dedication service for the stained-glass cross at New Hope Presbyterian Church. (Photo by Rich Copley)

Video URL: https://vimeo.com/789040582

St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church and New Hope Presbyterian Church  recently celebrated their merger, guaranteeing vital ministry will continue at the corner of South Magnolia and Orange avenues in Anaheim, California.

The merger is the culmination of long journeys for the congregations separately and together. St. Paul’s heyday was many years ago, the church’s pastor, the Rev. Jason Micheli, said. When he was called to the church, its remaining membership was trying to discern its future and the future of its property in Anaheim. New Hope started as a 1001 New Worshiping Community, starting in the early 2000s with money from the Black Fund, a forgotten appropriation made by the Presbytery of Los Ranchos during the civil rights movement era.

When New Hope needed a new home, the congregations started talking about how they could join their ministries together.

The message “You Matter” anchors the stained-glass cross. (Photo by Rich Copley)

In November, the birth of New Hope and union of the congregations was celebrated in a stained-glass cross that is now the centerpiece of the church’s sanctuary. It was designed by the Rev. Denise Anderson, co-moderator of the 222nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Compassion, Peace & Justice Ministries, and crafted by stained glass artist Greg Atwood of nearby Laguna Niguel.

“I did not know that the ministry that I’ve been called into — its history, its struggle, its joys, everything about it — could be captured in one image,” New Hope Pastor the Rev. Chineta Goodjoin said of the cross, which bears the words “You Matter.” “It’s a part of our culture, our values, to tell people that they matter, and to live it out, when we journey together in this place.”

Micheli said, “There was a lot of intention built into the cross in order to capture the stories of the two congregations, their history, legacy and how God has brought all that together.”

Watch the video above, or here, to see the story of New Hope and St. Paul’s and moments from the November dedication celebration for the stained-glass cross.

Rich Copley, Multimedia Producer, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Stephen Smith, Security Trading & Assistant Portfolio Manager, Trust Services, Presbyterian Foundation
Shelvis, and Nancy Smith-Mather, Mission co-workers serving in South Sudan, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

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

Earth Care Devotion for First Sunday in Lent

February 26, 2023 By Barbara Hassall    Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7 In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth; God separated the light from the darkness; created all living things and placed Man and Woman in the Garden to care for all of creation. God looked at this and declared it Good! It was all in harmony. Death was not part of the equation until Mankind was misled and succumbed to their own pride and violated the only prohibition given by God. They ate the forbidden fruit and evil entered their lives and they would now die. Even God’s beautiful creation began to feel the effects of death. As we enter the Season of Lent, a season of repentance and self-reflection, we look at our personal responsibility to the creation that God placed in our care so many generations ago. It isn’t so much a time of “giving up” a favorite food or activity. It is a time to learn and put into action practices that will lead us toward a restoration of the harmony with God’s creation that was lost through disobedience and pride. As we move toward the Celebration of Resurrection and Restoration think about some practical actions to bring the earth back into harmony. Do simple things such as turning off the water when brushing your teeth, turning off lights when you leave a room, plant broad leaf tress to increase the canopy, invest in clean energy and care for God’s creatures with love and compassion. God wants and desires the relationship with Mankind that we lost so long ago. Take the steps to move closer to God and be bathed in God’s smile and grace as we honor His son.   Prayer: Creator God, who created all things, bless your creations and restore harmony for generations to come.   Barbara Hassall is a Ruling Elder at The Sanctuary in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; the President of the Florida Presbyterian Disaster assistance Network, former Presbytery Moderator of Tropical Florida and a Commissioner to the 225th General Assembly. Please consider promoting the PEC devotions in your church and consider using them in sermon preparation and teaching lectionary Bible groups. The Lenten Devotional was made possible by the volunteers contributing their devotions as well as financial donations that covered the cost of recruiting contributors, editing, laying out, web posting and promotion online, by email and social media.  Your donation towards our work is needed and appreciated.  You can give online through our secure website presbyearthcare.org/giving or by mail to PEC Treasurer, P.O. Box 8041, Prairie Village, KS 66208.

Copyright © 2023 Presbyterians for Earth Care, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you are a member of Presbyterians for Earth Care, or because you opted to join our email list. Our mailing address is: Presbyterians for Earth Care P.O. Box 8041 Prairie Village, KS 66208

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Presbyterians for Earth Care webinar explores ways older adults can work to halt climate change

‘We are moving from exhortation to implementation’

February 26, 2023

Photo by Sandy Millar via Unsplash

More than 135 people were on hand for a recent webinar as timely as it was relevant: Older Adults and Climate Change. Presbyterians for Earth Care offered the session, which featured brief presentations from three panelists:

Dr. Patricia K. Tull, the A.B. Rhodes Pastor Emerita of Old Testament at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, who has devoted her post-academic life to environmental theology.

The Rev. Jim Antal, a climate activist, author and public theologian who serves as special advisor on climate justice to the general minister and president of the United Church of Christ.

Dr. Dan Terpstra, a ruling elder at First Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; former moderator of Fossil Free PCUSA; a retired research associate at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; and a member of the Presbytery of East Tennessee’s Climate & Energy Stewardship Team.

Resources cited during the webinar can be found here. Watch a recording of the webinar here.

Dr. Patricia K. Tull

“We are now decades behind where we should have been” in slowing down climate change, Tull told the large crowd. Older adults “are not guilty, but we are responsible to help revolutionize how we humans power our lives. We owe it to the people who did very little to create the problem.”

Here’s why restoring Creation can succeed, Tull said: We already have the knowledge, tools and technology that “we need to pull this off.” More and more people are getting involved, and technologies are getting less expensive. “And the government passed real climate legislation last year” in the form of the Inflation Reduction Act, Tull said. “We are moving from exhortation to implementation.”

“Presbyterians have great potential,” Tull said. They’re “high in skills” and many have above-average financial resources, “and our Christian faith calls us to honor and care for the Earth. We have a denomination that has resources and is organized to help us. We really do have the wind at our backs.”

Antal offered a brief biblical understanding of vocation. While we often think of God calling individuals, “God also calls communities, and the call to address the climate crisis is a communal call,” Antal said. “We are most free when we embrace our interdependence.”

The Rev. Dr. Jim Antal

The Greatest Generation “recognized that World War II placed an inescapable moral claim on them,” Antal said. Millions sacrificed their lives. Churches turned their landscaped grounds into victory gardens. Millions of Americans became vegetarians so that U.S. troops could have the protein they needed to wage war on two fronts. “The Greatest Generation understood the importance of ‘we,’” Antal said. “As elders, we often have more influence than we recognize.”

He suggested churches do four things to address the climate crisis: preach on climate justice, get involved in advocating for policies to restore God’s Creation, hear one another’s testimonies, and “process our grief over the degradation of the Earth we love.”

“Forgive me if I get a bit Presbyterian wonky,” Terpstra said. “I’ve been a scientist and a Presbyterian most of my adult life. But I became a climate activist only a decade ago” after attending the Forward on Climate rally in Washington, D.C., in 2013.

Dr. Dan Terpstra

That event led to Terpstra’s advocacy in divesting from energy companies. He and others have since expanded their gaze on divestment to include mid councils, churches and individuals. They’re also looking carefully at what banks do with the money that’s being invested, advocating for banks with relatively less of their funds invested in fossil fuel companies.

Once the panelists had completed their presentations, PEC Moderator the Rev. Bruce Gillette helped them field questions from webinar participants.

“It’s important to lead by example,” Tull said in response to a question, adding, “we’re all at a different level of excitement about doing new things. One thing that’s important to do is let our actions reflect our words.”

“Telling our stories about our struggles [over, for example, with whom we bank] can open up the conversation,” Tull said. “But it can take time to adjust to a new idea.”

“We have a long way to go,” Gillette said, “and we need to move quickly. We need to stress our sense of urgency.”

The webinar ended with the playing of Carrie Newcomer’s song, “If Not Now.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Melody Smith, Digital & Marketing Communications Director, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Natalie Smith, Marketing Manager, Electronic Resources & Strategic Business Development, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation

Let us pray

Loving God, we know you through your Son, Jesus Christ, and we serve you as led by the Holy Spirit. May we respond to your call as servants even as we seek to be leaders in your church. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - First female pastor in Palestine ordained

The Rev. Sally Azar is ordained by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land

February 24, 2023

The Rev. Sally Azar is the first Palestinian woman ordained by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. (Contributed photo)

On Sunday, Jan. 22, Sally Azar was ordained as a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, making her the first female pastor in Palestine. In 2006, the Evangelical Church laid the foundation by deciding that women could also be ordained.

Azar grew up in the church. Her father was a pastor there and is the bishop now. It is a second home for her. She attended children’s services and youth events, and it was here that the decision matured in her to become a pastor. It was always clear to Azar that she wanted to work in a church context and with people, and many people recognized the potential of a pastor in her early on. But it was important for her to make the decision of her profession alone regardless of other people’s opinions and to have a wholehearted yes not only to the profession, but to this calling. That is why it took her awhile to decide she wanted to become a pastor. Her father, Bishop Sani Ibrahim Azar, was always a role model but never an interferer; he let her go her own way and make her own decisions.

Azar studied theology in Lebanon and in Germany. Nevertheless, it was always clear to her that she wanted to come back to her home country after her studies. Even though she felt very welcome and comfortable in the church in Germany, she feels at home in Jerusalem and wants to serve there. Working with young people is particularly important to her in the Middle East conflict.

“Young people grow up here with walls and checkpoints. They know nothing else and think that this is the norm,” Azar said. “I also grew up thinking that borders and checkpoints are commonplace. Only when I traveled to other countries did I realize that this is not everyday life in many parts of the world. I enjoyed this freedom and asked myself why this is not the case in my home country. Especially under occupation, young people need a place to recharge.”

Azar wants to do her best to help Palestinian Christians breathe a sigh of relief and create a home even in these difficult times. She will be working in the Jerusalem and Beit Sahur communities, and she is very much looking forward to connecting the English-speaking church in Jerusalem with the Arab assemblies and building projects together.

Of course, she feels the specialness of being the first Palestinian woman pastor to be ordained and thus make a bit of history. But this is not so important to her personally, as she is much more touched by the joy of the people in the communities. The communities were prepared for this by the establishment of the Women’s Desk in 2008, where the equality of women and men in the church and society was addressed. Azar noted it was the women in the churches who were against a female pastor — not necessarily the men.

As a female, and as someone who is still young, there will be many challenges. But she is experiencing a lot of support from the church leadership. Azar assumes that the first years will be apprenticeship years where she will also make mistakes. She fervently hopes that people will associate these mistakes more with her as a person and less as a female pastor. One of her first ecumenical projects is the World Day of Prayer at the beginning of March, in which women from every church will participate.

Watch a brief video on women’s ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land here.

 Damaris Plarre, Special to the Presbyterian News Service

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Adam Slutzky, Directory, Project Delivery, Strategic Planning & Execution, Board of Pensions
Ashley Smalley-Ray, Assistant VP/Trust Officer, Trust Services, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray

Faithful God, thank you for the opportunity to gather to give you glory through our worship, fellowship and the ways we choose to behave toward one another. May the light and love of Jesus Christ be witnessed throughout the church. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Annual Princeton Theological Seminary conference trains Asian American church leaders

Center for Asian American Christianity gathering focuses on mental health

February 23, 2023

Dr. Jessica ChenFeng

“Jesus came to give us life to the full. Is life to the full having a secure job and taking care of our families well, or could it be life to the full is that I feel true internal freedom?” said Dr. Jessica ChenFeng, quoting John 10:10 in the opening keynote for the “Pursuit of Asian American Happiness” virtual conference recently hosted by the Center for Asian American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary.

The ecumenical conference is in its second year and drew over 275 attendees to its two afternoon keynotes by ChenFeng, associate professor of marriage and family therapy at Fuller Theological Seminary, and Jess Cho Kim, a licensed clinical social worker, activist and church elder in New Jersey. The keynote speakers focused on the causes of Asian American mental health challenges as related to histories of migration, racialized trauma and cultural taboos, then spoke to the role that the Asian American church can play in healing.

“I want to validate that for someone who has lost so much in the immigration process, it makes sense that some of the biggest dreams for their family is simply educational and financial stability,” said ChenFeng.

Jess Cho Kim

In her life and her practice, she has watched these losses manifest themselves in the distance from an original country, culture, language and extended family; in the emotional labor and financial costs of maintaining bonds and supporting family overseas; in the language gap between first, second and third generations; and in the stoicism necessitated by survival, by linguistic dislocation and by the stress of trying not to harmonize while not fully prepared to face the racialized society that is America.

Subsequent generations experience these losses through the silences when they must learn of their cultural migration stories through school rather than in deep discussion with older generations, especially when those stories include escape from war and involve racialized violence.

“My dream is that we would hope for healing that goes beyond the tangible and the concrete, that we would have relational connection that is meaningful,” said ChenFeng. “We would be known, be seen and loved by our communities, by other racial groups, that there’s true freedom from generational pain, that we can live with a deeper faith, hope and love, and that there’s a mutual connection with siblings at church and neighbors in the community.”

ChenFeng pointed out that it is often Asian American churches that play a role in defining what is real for families struggling with the psychic costs of immigration and trauma. Pastors who preach about mental health issues and who actively address the legacies of their own family trauma normalize their existence and offer hope for a way through.

In the second keynote, Cho Kim also emphasized the role the pastor can play in integrating mental health into the flourishing of individuals and the community. Cho Kim acknowledged that Asian Americans represent 50 different ethnic groups speaking more than 30 languages. “We’re very diverse, but we do know that 42% of Asian Americans identify as Christian … and we know they seek their church leaders before they go to mental health professionals.”

Cho Kim, who has developed a mental health training program for Korean American church leaders through the Mustard Seed Generation, where she serves on the board, offered a model of how to set up a mental health ministry that involves more than just the preacher. She suggested setting up a mental health team of three members with representation from a licensed professional and people with experience facing their own challenges or giving care to others who have.

Cho Kim concluded with a call to action, saying we can’t afford to ignore the mental health of Asian Americans any longer because the mental health system is broken and under-resourced. She cited how “post-Covid, Asian American mental health challenges are on the rise.”

“As Christians, we’re called to bear one another’s burdens,” Cho Kim said, quoting Galatians 6:2. “Jesus cared about our minds, bodies and spirits. … Loving our neighbors means we are to care about the mental health of others.”

Beth Waltemath, Communications Associate, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Nicholas Skaggs, Processing Archivist, Presbyterian Historical Society
Eva Slayton, Mission Specialist, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Good and gracious God, we rejoice that you have called us to be your own and serve your church. We give thanks that by your Holy Spirit, you give us what we need to fulfill your call upon our lives. Inspire us to use what you have given that we might grow in your knowledge and bear the fruit of our faith in Christ’s name. Amen.

Ministry Matters - Hopeful discernment: the Asbury revival & sacred conversation | From dust to dust to hope

So has revival happened at Asbury? Hopeful discernment: the Asbury revival and sacred conversation by Tom Fuerst   The claim I make here is not some kind of both-sides-are-right argument. Rather, I think the weaknesses of both traditions suggests that, on their own, they lack something necessary in being the complete body of Christ. If anything, my argument is that both-sides-are-wrong without each other. The church needs urgency. The church needs discernment. The church needs warm hearts. And the church needs Oxford fellows. Were not both of these realities hypostatically incarnate in our Wesleyan namesake? Read here

What do we gain from facing our mortality? From dust to dust to hope by Jake Owensby   Kate Bowler had been suffering bouts of debilitating intestinal distress for some time. Eventually a specialist diagnosed her condition as cancer. Stage IV cancer. She was 35 years old. A rising star at Duke. Married to her high school sweetheart. And the mother of their baby son. You may be familiar with her story. Her writings and her media appearances tell us what it was like to get that wretched news and to undergo the harrowing and successful treatment. Read here

How different are we really when we consider our lives and struggles and weaknesses? Lent is a season of stubborn hope by Kate Bowler/Religious News Service   Whole swathes of space are empty, while elsewhere galaxies drift through the void for eons of time before colliding with each other. Some stars go nova and incinerate the planets orbiting them, expending themselves in an explosion so powerful that our naked eyes can see it millions of light-years away. Cosmic dust coalesces and new stars are born, while black holes swallow light itself. Read here

Being an authentic person, facing sin, and the sermon this Sunday Breaking rules, Scripture's stories, and worshipping with children this week

Getting ready for worship on Lent's First Sunday