Today in the Mission Yearbook - Report: Asian American women have fewer church leadership opportunities

Men and women disagree on why, according to the National Survey of Asian American Congregational Practices

July 31, 2024

The Rev. Dr. Young Lee Hertig is executive director 

of Innovative Space for Asian American Christianity

While men in Asian American congregations cite biblical beliefs as the main reason why fewer women are in leadership, women in these congregations say overrepresentation of men is the dominant reason.

These findings come out of the first-of-its kind National Survey of Asian American Congregational Practices conducted by the Innovative Space for Asian American Christianity, known as ISAAC. The survey explored women’s and young adult leadership in Asian American congregations, church conflict and church involvement in the Stop AAPI Hate movement.

The report contains the largest sample of Asian American congregations with questions related to church ministry. “People with no data are not a people,” said Dr. Jerry Park, a Baylor University sociologist who analyzed survey responses. The survey provides empirical data on communities that have been largely invisible in past research.

The survey took place between March 2022 and July 2023, with funding from the Lilly Endowment. Of the congregations participating, 62% were Asian American (or multiracial with Asian Americans as the largest percentage) and 38% were white, multiracial (excluding those with Asian Americans as the largest group), Black, Latino or other.

Survey results show that women clergy in predominantly Asian American congregations were not allowed similar access to leadership responsibilities as their counterparts in non-Asian American congregations. Thirty-two percent of Asian American congregations did not allow women to teach alone with adult men, for instance, while 17% of women from non-Asian American congregations faced that restriction.

In Asian American congregations, 43% of male respondents reported biblical beliefs as the main reason fewer women were in leadership, while 23% of female respondents from these congregations agreed. By contrast, women emphasized the shortage of female leaders in visible leadership as a major barrier to leadership opportunities, with 42% of women in Asian American churches citing overrepresentation of men as a primary restricting factor and 35% citing work-life balance as a major barrier.

Photo by Jon Tyson via Unsplash

The survey also showed that Asian American churches tend to be younger. Forty-two percent of Asian American churches were in the age range between 13–34 years old, compared to 22% of non-Asian churches. About 35% of Asian churches report no leaders under the age of 30 on the session or ruling church board, compared to 17% of other churches.

Since its launch in 2021 through a Lilly Endowment Thriving in Ministry grant, ISAAC’s PastoraLab has convened local and online cohorts of more than 70 participants in leadership development, prophetic preaching workshops and community-building retreats.

Debbie Gin, director of Research and Faculty Development at the Association of Theological Schools, and Dr. Jamie Smith conducted an external evaluation of the PastoraLab program. Gin and Smith identified increased agency and confidence, leading with authenticity and growth in adaptive leadership skills as some of the personal and professional growth outcomes of program participants.

ISAAC’s research team plans to translate the National Survey of Asian American Congregational Practices into three primary Asian languages and broaden the pool of respondents to better capture the diversity of Asian American congregational experiences around the country.

“Asian American women don’t have the full capacity to exercise their gifts in Asian American churches,” said ISAAC’s executive director, the Rev. Dr. Young Lee Hertig. “ISAAC exists to interrupt this pattern, fostering tangible and prophetic change in our congregations through mutual learning and empowerment.”

Innovative Space for Asian American Christianity, Special to Presbyterian News Service

Today’s Focus: National Survey of Asian American Congregational Practices

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Eliza Minasyan, Coordinator, Jinishian Memorial Program, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency 
Rosa Miranda, Associate, Hispanic/Latino-a Intercultural Congregational Support, Presbyterian Mission Agency 

Let us pray

Lord, thank you for the members and leaders of your church who model Christ’s love. We pray that all leaders of church and government will seek first the welfare of the people they serve. Thank you for your presence among us, for multiplying the faithful acts of your people through the powerful love of Christ. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Without passages on justice for the poor, the Bible is a very slim volume

‘Lift from the bottom, and everyone rises,’ the Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis says on the ‘New Way’ podcast

July 30, 2024

The Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis

“I was raised to see that faith and justice were completely linked, and so I just think it’s about living out one’s faith,” says the Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, who talks with the Rev. Sara Hayden on the “New Way” podcast about being raised by an activist mother and where she is finding hope and challenge in her own activism and motherhood today.

The “New Way” podcast is a production of the 1001 New Worshiping Communities movement, hosted by Hayden and produced by Rev. Marthame Sanders through Mudeif Productions.

Theoharis is the executive director of the Kairos Center For Religions, Rights & Social Justice  and the co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

“Church was my second home,” says Theoharis, who remembers accompanying her mother every week to North Shore Presbyterian Church in Shorewood, Wisconsin, and to social justice meetings in the city. Theoharis taught Sunday school by age 13 and was ordained a deacon by age 16.

Theoharis encourages people, “especially church folk,” to see solutions beyond charity. Citing Deuteronomy and the Jubilee and Sabbath codes, Theoharis describes the idea in the Bible as “lift from the bottom, and everyone rises.” While she admits that this is the opposite of the logic of our current economic system, there is evidence that it works.

Theoharis estimates that the United States spends $1 trillion annually on children in poverty, because childhood poverty results in more expansive policing and higher incarceration rates later in life. “A $1 investment in ending child poverty saves $7 in the future,” says Theoharis, who calls this “good economics.”

Investments like this are possible through policy changes. She cites the success of the child tax credit offered during the Covid pandemic shutdown. “That raised tens of millions of people up, and 4 million kids who are living below the poverty line were raised above the poverty line with just one social program of a couple hundred dollars a month.”

“When we organize society around the needs and demands of those who have little instead of those who have much, then actually everybody is lifted up,” she adds. The lifting up is both physical and spiritual for Theoharis, who describes how accepting the scarcity mentality and injustice of our current system limits our capacity to envision and worship a God who created enough and supports the thriving of Creation. “It’s literally only a very small percentage of the [wealthiest] 1% who do not benefit. And those folk will lose some resources, but probably they’ll gain more humanity,” says Theoharis.

In the second part of their conversation, Hayden and Theoharis look to the Bible for inspiration regarding anti-poverty programs and healthier societies through tending to the needs and health of the most vulnerable. Theoharis describes the “arc that starts in Genesis and goes all the way to Revelation,” where caring for the poor, welcoming the immigrant, and including and supporting others are the most common themes in the Bible. “There are 2,000 passages in the Bible about justice for the poor,” says Theoharis. “If you cut those passages out, you don’t have a Bible anymore. It all falls apart.” Alongside this imperative to care for the downtrodden and the disenfranchised is a vision of a society living within God’s spiritual and economic blessing.

“There need be no poor people among you,” Theoharis reads aloud from the Jubilee codes of Deuteronomy 15 (NIV), “for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, if you only fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all of these commands I am giving you today.”

To live into this vision, Theoharis draws on the communities and movements she’s helped to establish and sustain, such as the Freedom Church of the Poor and the Poor People’s Campaign, but she also leans into daily reflection and practice. Theoharis tells Hayden she reads the Bible daily and asks herself, “What am I doing today and every day to help poor people take action together?”

Beth Waltemath, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Today’s Focus: Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, guest on the ‘New Way’ podcast

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Martha Miller, Manager, Ministry Education & Support, Office of the General Assembly 
Victor Min, Senior Translator, Global Language Resources, Administrative Services Group (A Corp) 

Let us pray

Loving God, help us to be people of faith, hope and love in a world that needs them desperately. Help us to express your love. Teach us to cling to the possibilities of your transforming power and allow us to help others to do the same. In your loving and welcoming presence, we pray. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Author and speaker Brian McLaren makes a second appearance at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church

The author of more than 20 books talks about his latest, ‘Life After Doom’

July 29, 2024

The Rev. Dr. Brian McLaren

With his most recent book, “Life After Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart,” now available, author, speaker and activist Brian McLaren recently returned to New York Avenue Presbyterian Church’s airwaves for a 90-minute presentation and Q&A on “Creating a Church for the Future.” Watch McLaren’s talk and the session that followed here.

“I’m not going to give you the answers,” McLaren told the large online crowd. “What I hope by the grace of God I can do is play a role in stimulating your creativity. What we need at times like this is not some top-down formula. We need creative thinking that breaks out of the old boxes and unleashes part of our brain that very often we don’t use when it comes to religion and Christian faith.”

“This is especially relevant, I think, for Presbyterians,” said McLaren, who works with a number of other mainline denominations as well. He said he recently spent time with the faithful at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas and First Presbyterian Church of Charlotte, as well as one of the PC(USA)’s new worshiping communities, an initiative of the PC(USA) that “really exemplifies the kind of creativity I hope we can stimulate in all of our minds and hearts. There are so many beautiful things happening in Presbyterian churches.”

“Let’s remember,” McLaren said, “that the church as we know it — church with an organ, church with pews, church with a pulpit, church with crosses, church with stained glass windows — these are inventions. People created these things. They didn’t always exist. The very early church had none of these things, and so what we consider normal and maybe even essential for churches, we have to understand that no, these are just residues of other people’s creativity. If we keep things exactly as they made them, we are not imitating our ancestors — we are actually violating their creativity when we refuse to be creative on our own.”

McLaren offered five guidelines “to help you in your creativity”:

• Welcome ourselves to reality. We’re well aware of forces, including climate change, financial changes and changes in congregations’ mix of ages, he said. Those changes have made many people nostalgic, “wishing they could go back to the past,” but understanding “that creativity is one of the characteristics that brought us this far.” Most mainline churches have three wings, he said: the nostalgic wing, a smaller creative wing and those between the two — often including clergy and lay leaders — walking on eggshells.
• Unleash our creativity, or “we’ll just keep bringing our old solutions” to the problems churches face, McLaren said.
• Prioritize adaptability. The Reformers knew the church needed reforming, but some of them insisted that the church needed to keep reforming once it was Reformed. McLaren used the illustration of a tree that had grown up near a river that had changed its course, leaving the tree’s roots exposed. “This tree did everything right. It took root near water … but now the soil has been eroded under those roots,” he said, displaying a picture. “When we think about the church of the future, we have multiple uncertainties that we need to face.” Church leaders adapted mightily during the pandemic. Like that tree, we ought to be about strengthening our roots and developing our seeds “to prepare for a future beyond our own survival.”
• Go deep in the essentials. After giving viewers “100% permission to disagree,” McLaren said that among the deep changes Phyllis Tickle described is one he would add: from defining Christian faith from a set of beliefs or a kind of structure or hierarchy to defining Christian faith as a set of skills or capacities developed through practices including mentoring, apprenticeships, rituals and conversations.
• Move and build a movement. What’s needed is “a creative and agile spiritual movement that works across our denominations and helps our more progressive and creative congregations to have a shared vision together,” McLaren said. Institutional structures “almost never declare an emergency and almost never train people for life after their decline.”

Learn more about New York Avenue Presbyterian Church’s McClendon Scholar Program here.

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service

Today’s Focus: Author Brian McLaren speaks at New  York Avenue PC on “Creating a Church for the Future”

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Terri Milburn, Accounts Payable Manager, Administrative Services Group (A Corp) 
Debbie Miller, Associate for Lending & Investment Service, Presbyterian Investment & Loan Program  

Let us pray

God of all ages, we thank you for all stages of our faith and lives. Open us to serving and welcoming all your children. This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, who met strangers and friends and who gives us new life. Amen.

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Today in the Mission Yearbook - Volunteer opportunities open overseas for young adults

Spend 10 months in Germany or Poland working with children and youth

July 28, 2024

Poland to offer multiple volunteer opportunities for young adults between the ages of 19–30. Although this program targets the same demographic as the PC(USA)’s Young Adult Volunteer program and is supported by YAV, the selected participants will not be part of the YAV program. Both opportunities begin in September 2024 and conclude in June 2025.

One opportunity resides in Wroclaw, Poland, presented in part by Parafia EA Wrocklaw. Called the “Venice of the North” by Poles due to the different branches of the Oder River that flows throughout the city, it is the third largest city in Poland, with more than 650,000 residents. Volunteers will work with children of the Evangelical Parish, the College of Eastern Europe Jan Nowak-Jeziorański and other youth and local organizations. Some of the listed duties include:

• Organizing activities for children and youth
• Assisting with charitable activities
• Conducting English classes for Wojnowice Castle employees
• Handling the parish’s social media
• Assisting with refugee activities.

Housing, pocket money, travel reimbursement up to $1,000 and Polish language instruction are some of the perks provided.

Alethia White

“Our partners are excited to welcome Americans to join them for a year of volunteer and learning opportunities. Especially during a time of global uncertainty, choosing to make friendships across borders can feel like choosing hope,” said Alethia White, the PC(USA)’s co-regional liaison for Northern and Central Europe and the point of contact for the volunteer positions. “Being in a safe space to learn and grow is an experience that one carries through the rest of life. As regional liaison, I’ve heard our partners’ excitement and enthusiasm for these partnerships and hope volunteers will embrace the chance to spend a year in Europe among friends.”

The Berlin opportunity is provided by ecumenical partner the Berlin Mission. This position will also work with children and youth and people with disabilities. Housing, pocket money, travel costs to Germany (up to $1,000) and language instruction are all part of the compensation provided to the selected individual. Basic German language skills are an advantage but not required, since an intensive language course begins the volunteer’s year of service.

“If you know a young adult looking to explore what it means to be involved in a local community and work with an intercultural group of other young people, this is a unique and exciting opportunity to do that,” said White.

For more information about either of these opportunities, including program applications, contact Alethia White at alethia.white@pcusa.org.

Scott O’Neill, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Today’s Focus: Young adult volunteer opportunity in Poland and Germany working with children and youth

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Eliane Menezes, Mission co-worker serving in Guatemala, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency 
John Merten, Data Entry Representative, Relationship & Development Operations, Administrative Services Group (A Corp) 

Let us pray

Gracious God, we thank you for moments and people in your lives that give us a glimpse of your kingdom. Help us to seek you in everything that we do, whether it’s hammering nails, feeding a hungry person or siting with someone amid grief. In your Son’s name we pray. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Podcast explores 30 years of service by more than 1,900 Young Adult Volunteers

YAV Coordinator Destini Hodges is the guest on ‘Between 2 Pulpits’

July 27, 2024

Destini Hodges

Destini Hodges, coordinator of the PC(USA)’s Young Adult Volunteer program, took to the “Between 2 Pulpits” airwaves to describe and celebrate a ministry of social justice and faith transformation that’s produced more than 1,900 alums over the last three decades.

Listen to the 35-minute conversation among Hodges and “Between 2 Pulpits” hosts the Rev. Dr. John Wilkinson and Katie Snyder here.

One week every August, the year’s crop of YAVs ages 19–30 “come together for a process we call ‘disorienting the YAVs,’” Hodges said. “We don’t want you coming in with a preconceived notion of what you think the year is going to be but allow the process to shape you.”

YAVs, who spend their year of service at one of four U.S. sites or one of six international locations, “get immersed in the community,” Hodges said, including going to church and attending sporting contests and other activities in addition to their service. About 40% opt to stay in their community long-term once they’ve completed their year of service, Hodges noted.

“Our slogan, ‘A year of service for a lifetime of change,’ is really true,” Hodges said. Even though she herself was never a YAV, “I love the way the young adults are transformed” through their service.

Wilkinson said he appreciates “the notion of vocational discernment. It may be an odd thing for me [a longtime pastor] to say, because I love it when people go off to seminary. But at the same time, our theology is ‘the priesthood of all believers,’” he said. “I don’t think you need to go to seminary in order to discern a vocation and to serve in the world. I love the notion of people using this year as a way to clarify some values or get a sense of where God is calling them beyond service in the church, as important as that is.” He asked Hodges how the YAV program helps young adults in their discernment process.

“Between 2 Pulpits” is hosted by the Rev. 

Dr. John Wilkinson and Katie Snyder.

People who come to the program are increasingly involved in the social justice realm, Hodges replied. “This is not your grandma’s faith-based program,” she explained. “You get the theology, but more so why our theology tells us to move in social justice ways.” The message is, “Keep up the work that you’re doing because our programs matter for the future of bright young adults,” Hodges said.

Being embedded in YAV work for a year is part of the discernment process, according to Hodges. “We tell YAVs there’s really no mistake they can make during their placement year,” she said. “This is a way for you to learn more about yourself and give back to the community, and also to discern whether this is for you or not for you.”

Each YAV site is equipped with a spiritual leader, and site coordinators “do a really good job getting to know the YAVs so they are vocationally stimulated in their communities,” Hodges said. “A lot of what we do in the U.S. connects across seas and within the U.S. We like to say we’re a connectional church, but we’re also a connectional world.”

Like everyone else, YAVs face “different isms around race, sex, class and environmental concerns,” Hodges said. To get insight into what YAVs are working on in their communities, Hodges recommend people read their blogs, which are here. Apply for a YAV position here.

“The year is rewarding, but it can be hard for a YAV,” Hodges said. “They’re in a context they’re not used to being in.”

Traditionally, many YAVs have been white women from middle-class backgrounds. But over the past decade or so, Hodges said, more and more men and people of color have volunteered for the year-long program. So long as the young adult meets the age requirement “and you’re willing to explore a Christian identity through the lens of social justice, come apply,” Hodges suggested. “Journey with us.”

Listen to previous editions of “Between 2 Pulpits” here.

 Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service

Today’s Focus: YAV Coordinator Destini Hodges is the guest on ‘Between 2 Pulpits’ podcast

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Andrea McNicol, Manager, Budgets & Forecasting, Administrative Services Group (A Corp) 
Melody Medley, Lead Customer Service Consultant, Presbyterian Church (USA)  

Let us pray

Gracious God, thank you for igniting the fire that burns within those who serve you. As you have called us out to model your love and infinite possibility, bless us to stay the course as you shape us. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - PC(USA)’s LGBTQIA+ Equity Advocacy Committee applauds United Methodist Church vote removing ban on ordaining gay clergy

The vote ‘signifies a profound shift toward acknowledging the inherent worth and spiritual calling of all individuals’

July 26, 2024

Photo by Igor Omilaev via Unsplash

Following  an action by United Methodist Church delegates to repeal their church’s longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s LGBTQIA+ Equity Advocacy Committee, known as ACQ+E, issued this statement:

“The LGBTQIA+ Equity Advocacy Committee joins our United Methodist Church siblings in celebrating their historic votes to remove prohibitions for ordaining LGBTQIA+ clergy. We’re also excited to see the UMC removal of teachings against homosexuality and their recognition of marriage as ‘between two people of faith.’

“Removing prohibitions against ordaining LGBTQIA+ clergy and taking the courageous step of revising official teachings regarding homosexuality signifies a profound shift toward acknowledging the inherent worth and spiritual calling of all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation. This, combined with recognizing marriage as a sacred bond between two people of faith without regard to gender, reflects powerful steps in the UMC journey of moving toward an active practice of faith that sees all people as equal in the eyes of God.

“Both the PC(USA) and this committee share a strong commitment to promoting full inclusion within our church. This path is neither easy nor short. As we move forward into new territory, we acknowledge the dedication, sacrifice and courage of those who have guided us thus far. We also understand that our denomination has experienced and will continue to bear the equality struggles and burdens of our UMC siblings. However, even in the face of uncertainty, we hold steadfast to our belief that human equality goes beyond the confines of patriarchal history and cultural restrictions of love. Divine Love creates us as equals in every respect and Divine Love will continue to overcome the shackles of discrimination and prejudice that prevent such love from being expressed in pulpits, between spouses and in the world at large.

“We are united with our United Methodist friends in this most recent, hard-earned victory and look forward to walking with them on the path of full acceptance and inclusion within God’s universal church.”

LGBTQIA+ Equity Advocacy Committee, Special to Presbyterian News Service

Today’s Focus: PC(USA)’s LGBTQIA+ Equity Advocacy Committee

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Donald McKim, Writer/Editor, Theology, Formation & Evangelism, Presbyterian Mission Agency 
Sally McKinsey, Managing Editor for Call to Worship, Theology, Formation & Evangelism)

Let us pray

Dear God, we pray for our Christian companions who bring our communities bread for the journey. Amen.

CCA Podcast - Mental Health, Clergy, and the Church

OFFICE HOURS All calls are confidential. Clinical coordinators are available. Monday – Friday 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM (724) 396-1510 Check Out CCA's Podcast: Ask Christian Counseling Associates With CCA Podcasts, you will receive sound clinical advice, inspiration, timeless wisdom to face daily challenges, and information to help others along the way. For our listeners: please click the buttons below to watch or listen to the CCA podcast. Then subscribe to our podcast on YouTube, and give us a thumbs up. This will make a big difference! On this Episode of Ask Christian Counseling Associates: Mental Health, Clergy, and the Church: How is My Pastor Doing?  This time on Ask Christian Counseling Associates, we meet with Professor and Licensed Professional Counselor, Dr. Kristen Kansiewicz, to discuss the state of clergy mental health, as we ask the question, how is my pastor doing? Click Here to Listen to Our Podcast! Click Here to View Our Podcast! Don't Face the Struggle Alone, Reach Out to CCA Today! We hope you find this podcast episode informative and helpful. Whatever you face this week, we pray for God's blessing to follow you! If we can be of service, please reach out to us today. God Bless! Richard Hoffman, Ph.D.   Clinical Director Christian Counseling Associates SERVICES....WHY CCA....LOCATIONS....ABOUT Christian Counseling Associates   Serving Pennsylvania, Arkansas New York, Ohio, West Virginia, and Internationally in Liberia, West Africa Stay Social With Us: