Today in the Mission Yearbook - ‘Everybody needs a little Jesus’

A GA226 commissioner’s care package sparks connections

September 10, 2024

ittle Jesus figures have been shared and hidden throughout the 

GA226 site. (Photo by Rich Copley)

The Rev. Sharyl Dixon, a teaching elder commissioner from the Presbytery of the Coastlands, came prepared when she arrived at Salt Lake City for the 226th General Assembly. She was equipped with a “snackle” box and over 100 “little Jesuses.” 

There had been a planned infestation of the 1-inch rubber figurines during Eastertide when her congregation read the Road to Emmaus story (Luke 24:13–35) of the resurrected Christ appearing to two travelers.

Dixon, pastor of Kingston Presbyterian Church in New Jersey described how the confirmation class had placed 500 of these Jesuses all over the church in windows, pews, bathrooms and coffee pots along with messages that said, “Where am I to find Jesus?” In Dixon’s sermon she invited everyone to take two — one for themselves and one for someone else. “Could you give Jesus to someone who might need him or put Jesus in a place where someone might be surprised to find him?” Dixon asked of her congregation.

“We don’t know when Jesus is going to show up,” said Dixon, adding, “and we are not bringing Jesus. Jesus is already there.” Dixon had a similar idea in mind when she came to the Assembly. She placed little Jesus with multicolored sashes in planted cacti and bookshelves around the hotel lobbies or in all gender bathrooms of the convention center when she needed a little bit of joy as the best-laid plans of the Assembly’s agenda quagmired in questions and quandary.

But it was Dixon who was ultimately surprised. On Tuesday, a friend sent her a care package to her hotel with 200 more figurines and a note: “Have a great day with all of your friends.” While it was Dixon’s birthday, it had also been a day of particularly dense deliberations.

The Rev. Sharyl Dixon of Coastlands Presbytery has been 

sharing Little Jesus figures with fellow participants in GA226

 and hiding them around the GA site. (Photo by Rich Copley)

“The question was, ‘Is Jesus all my friends or is the assembly all my friends?’ It could be both,” said Dixon. She admitted that despite the other pitfalls of the proceedings, “It has made today really fun.” Now holding more than 300 Jesuses, Dixon had to get the word out about them. She posted a photo and an invitation on the 226th General Assembly Facebook group commenting, “If you need a little extra Jesus today, come on over to I-28.”

By Tuesday evening, Dixon had given out 250 Jesuses to assembly participants. But the good news of little Jesus could not be contained to Presbyterians. Hotel staff saw her giving away the figurines and asked if they, too, could have a little Jesus.

After evening plenaries, she was approached by the young waitstaff at the hotel restaurant. They shared with her and her tablemates why it was they needed a little Jesus. People deliberated over which Jesus spoke to them, explaining what their chosen color of his sash meant to them. Purple was a fan favorite, and blue and teal were also popular.

When Dixon apologized that while Jesus had a rainbow of stole selections, the figurines only came in one skin color with an unnatural hue, which was not historically or theologically accurate. Some took time to ponder the invitation to imagine Jesus as a real person, saying, “I always loved the depiction of Jesus as…” and then offering a cultural reference or “I see Jesus in …” before naming a person in their lives. Jesus could be anywhere. Christ could be anyone — in Emmaus or Salt Lake City.

“Do you mind if I take two of these for my VIP guests?” asked a hotel employee.

The VIP guests turned out to be a widower and his 14-year-old grandson of whom he had guardianship. He explained that since the death of his wife, they were living in the hotel. They traveled all over the country, running a business remotely and completing school online. On the road together, they navigated the early stages of grief and tried to figure out what home would look like in this next stage of life so soon after the loss of their beloved.

Not quite able to express what the absence of his wife meant to him and how the presence of Jesus helped to fill it, the widower said, “Everybody needs a little Jesus.”

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

Today’s Focus: Rev. Sharyl Dixon, a teaching elder commissioner 226th General Assembly came equipped with a “snackle” box and over 100 “little Jesuses”

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Jacob Roberts, Trust Associate, Presbyterian Foundation 
Lawrence Robertson, Administrative Assistant, Compassion, Peace & Justice, Presbyterian Mission Agency 

Let us pray

Faithful God, thank you for the opportunity to listen, ask questions and help one another generate plans for growth in Christ. May the ministry create a culture of care and transformation among us. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - ‘Women leading beyond the parish’

Presbyterian Women and Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries honor three at Women of Faith Breakfast

September 5, 2024

The Rev. Carol Ann Hoard. Photo by Rich Copley

The Women of Faith Awards were established in 1986 to honor women members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) whose lives exemplify their Christian commitments. Nominations are received from throughout the church, and honorees are selected by a committee of representatives from groups related to Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries and Presbyterian Women. Awards are presented at the Women of Faith Breakfast during the General Assembly.

The breakfast was a celebration of the prophetic witness that God has bestowed upon the lives of three women who are an inspiration to many outside the walls of the church. Kathy Reeves, moderator of the Presbyterian Women Board of Directors, said, “The theme for this year’s awards is ‘Women Leading Beyond the Parish.’ It recognizes women who have improved the quality of life for others in the face of systemic injustice.”

The Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett, president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, reiterated that this year’s honorees, the Rev. Carol Ann Hoard and Ruling Elders Letty Heredia and Libby Kyles, “lead as they follow our ancestors, sisters of faith across the ages who have gone before, challenging powers and principalities, making a way out of no way, so the lives of the most vulnerable can experience the abundance of life, bestowed on all by our Creator.”

In between stanzas of the hymn “For All the Faithful Women,” Hoard, Heredia and Kyles shared their stories of resilience. Heredia, a ruling elder at El Buen Pastor Presbyterian Church in New York City, described her 20-plus years in construction engineering. Her first supervisor after college asked her if she was a woman because he thought he had hired a man. Her first title was “draftsman.” Heredia said that learning that she was nominated by a group of younger women who are a part of Hispanic Latin Presbyterian Women, who told her that she is an inspiration to them, has blessed her tremendously. She said she is so grateful to be honored and encouraged the crowd to “keep fighting, pushing and inspiring all those around you.”

Ruling Elder Libby Kyles. Photo by Rich Copley

Ordained in the Baptist tradition, Hoard described herself as a wounded bird after transitioning from a church she thought she would retire from. But she found herself drawn to Shelby Presbyterian Church in North Carolina and became minister of Christian Education and Families. But she was also drawn to a nonprofit, NYC Tree Girls, that she started with a friend, Tisha Dedmon, more than 10 years ago, as both women faced their first Christmas without loved ones. Grieving and looking for joy, they dressed up like Christmas trees and went to New York City. Hoard said that her parents instilled in her the charge of Micah 6:8: “Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God.”

Kyles, an educator, community organizer and disruptor, is the executive director and director of organizational strategy and practice for the Tzedek Social Justice Fund and a co-founder of Youth Transformed for Life. Kyles is also a member of Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Asheville, North Carolina. Kyles’ pastor and co-conspirator, the Rev. Dr. Marcia Mount Shoop, said, “I don’t see any separation for her in the way she moves as a woman who is the executive director of a major granting organization to a person who is a community member or founder of an after-school program for Black and Brown children that is housed in GCPC, to her role in several groups around reparations. There is a consistency to the work she does and the person she is. She cares deeply about people, but her care and love for children is unmatched.”

Friend the Rev. Amy Kim Kyremes-Parks described Kyles as a gift to the universe. As Kyles accepted her award, she spoke specifically to her daughter in the room attending with her, yet the room of women also became her daughters. “Woman of Faith does not always mean you have to be the sacrifice. You are God-blessed. When it is yours to pick up and when it’s yours to put down.”

Shani E. McIlwain, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Today’s Focus: Women of Faith Breakfast during the 226th General Assembly

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Catherine Reuning, Mission Specialist, Theology & Worship, Presbyterian Mission Agency 
Sue Rheem, Representative to the United Nations, Compassion, Peace & Justice, Presbyterian Mission Agency 

Let us pray

God of all people, thank you for blessing your churches that open their doors and welcome the little ones. And God, help us understand that we have more than enough for ourselves, and that racism, hunger, and other stumbling blocks tumble away when we say yes to God, Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Timely sermon calls worshipers to ‘get Jesus into the room’

Cottonwood Presbyterian Church offers General Assembly participants hope and hospitality

August 27, 2024

The Rev. Nathan Sautter (in green stole), pastor 

of the Cottonwood Presbyterian Church in Murray, 

leads worship. (Photo by Emily Enders Odom)

After two busloads of General Assembly visitors had completely filled the sanctuary of Cottonwood Presbyterian Church, responding with an enthusiastic — if perhaps louder than expected — “And also with you” to the pastor’s traditional greeting, all the Rev. Nathan Sautter could say was, “Wow.”

“I’d like to welcome everyone to Utah,” Sautter began, taking it all in. “The hope and prayer of our presbytery is that you get a taste, a feel and a vibe of who we are as we seek to witness to Jesus Christ in our community.”

And in every aspect of the worship hour that followed — and the generous lunch that was cheerfully served afterwards in the bustling fellowship hall — Sautter, the church staff, its members, worship and music leaders, including the Cottonwood choir, praise band and bell choir, handily fulfilled that hope.

Today, Cottonwood, which was founded in the 1950s, is a dynamic congregation with people from seven different nations — Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Pakistan, Myanmar, South Korea and China — worshiping together.

The Rev. Ed Johnson, stated clerk in New Hope Presbytery, and his wife, Kathy, a member of Western Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, were among those worshiping from the Assembly.

“We were drawn to the church for its diversity and how international it seems, and also because we’re a Matthew 25 presbytery,” Johnson said. “Kathy and I have also missioned quite a bit internationally ourselves.”

Worshipers were challenged by Sautter’s powerful message titled, “Seen,” on Mark 5:21–43, the story of Jesus raising Jairus’ daughter and the healing of a woman with a hemorrhage.

Sautter opened by asking those gathered this question: “Have you ever been desperate? Really, really desperate, where you did something stupid or dangerous?”

Sharing examples from his own experiences as a foster parent desperate for sleep or quiet to his community context and the influx of Venezuelan asylum seekers “who walked here to seek safety and freedom,” Sautter said desperation can make people do something they would not otherwise do.

“We’ve seen it play out in Ukraine, Palestine, all over the world,” he said.

Turning to the Gospel text, Sautter described “two people at the end of their rope” frantically approaching Jesus, a father who is desperately trying to save his beloved 12-year-old daughter and a woman who has been bleeding for 12 years.

Describing the desperate father’s chagrin at Jesus having allowed himself to be interrupted by the hemorrhaging woman, Sautter wondered whether his GA listeners might be feeling likewise.

“Here’s a man who has just successfully convinced this rabbi to come to his home and now he stops,” Sautter said. “’Jesus, the clock is ticking — we gotta go!’ When you arrived, were you thinking, ‘Let’s get this thing started. I have commissioner business to get to!’”

Interruptions, Sautter, contended, are part of the call following Jesus.

“Sometimes in the interruption there is a moment of great grace and hope and healing,” he said. “Every opportunity with a person is an opportunity for transformation, healing and new life.”

But it all comes down to Jesus.

“Desperation makes us do all kinds of things,” said Sautter, “but what are we willing to do? Are we willing to bring them to the One who does heal?”

Once again weaving in the General Assembly context, Sautter observed that Presbyterians are “desperate about why young people don’t come to church and why what we say nobody cares about anymore.”

“This text reminds us that if we’re not desperate enough to touch the cloak of Jesus — to get Jesus into the room — then all that we do doesn’t matter, because he’s the one who has hope and healing,” said Sautter. “May we continue to bring people to Jesus until that day when mothers and fathers and parents and children don’t have to leave their homes because of war and violence. Our hope is in Jesus. He sees us. He calls us to make things new. And he wants us to bring others to know him, too.”

Emily Enders Odom, Associate Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Today’s Focus: General Assembly delegates gather at Cottonwood Presbyterian Church for worship

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Lisa Pesavento, HR Generalist, Presbyterian Foundation
Andrew Peterson, Mission Associate, Presbyterian Peacemaking, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Merciful Lord, forgive us for not listening for not hearing the voices of the oppressed and suffering. May your love guide us in joining our brothers and sisters for transformation, bringing glory and honor to you. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Utah’s Presbyterian churches prepare to welcome attendees to the 226th General Assembly

From gun control to poverty, churches address the needs of their communities

June 10, 2024

The number of Presbyterian churches in Utah may be few, but the ministry taking place in those churches is making an impact. From community gardens to feeding and clothing the homeless, pastors have mobilized congregations to help those in need.

For commissioners, advisory delegates, and others attending the 226th General Assembly in Salt Lake City, there will be opportunities to worship in many of the churches this summer.

Rick Jones, Director of Communications, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Randy Hobson, Manager of Design and Multimedia, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Today’s Focus: Utah churches address the needs of their communities

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Sharon Kandel, Regional Liaison for the Horn of Africa, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency 
Hyo Jin Kang, Senior Administrative Assistant, Asian & Korean Intercultural Congregational Support Offices, Presbyterian Mission Agency 

Let us pray

Almighty Lord God, give us true faith and make that faith grow in us daily. Give us hope and love so we may serve our neighbors according to your will through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.