Mission Yearbook: ‘How to Live Out Matthew 25 in a World Short of Compassion’ is discussed at church by Denver mayor

Image

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (provided) 

To launch a four-week faith formation series based on Matthew 25, Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Denver turned to one of its members to speak from his heart on his experience not fighting, but leading, City Hall.

Before worship one Sunday, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, a former school principal and state senator who was a senior education adviser to President Barack Obama, delivered a thoughtful session that can be viewed here. 

The question for today, the mayor said, is “how does a person of faith show up in a moment of such profound conflict?” Using his father’s Bible, Johnston read from the Judgment of the Nations, including Matthew 25:35–40 and, a bit later, verses 41–46.

Among the dilemmas that confront people of faith today is “how do you face the question of the choice between fighting and forgiveness,” he said. “When things you value the most are challenged, when do you choose to fight?”

A few weeks ago, Johnston was with his daughter in Washington, D.C., to scout college choices for her brother. After visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “what I saw stunned me,” he said. A Latino man delivering hot food from a restaurant had been stopped by three masked agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who were demanding to see the man’s immigration papers. Johnston’s daughter said they had to stop their ride back to the hotel and help the man, but by the time they got out of the car and walked the block where he’d been, the man was gone, and his delivery bicycle was being loaded into a police vehicle.

“My daughter looked at me as if to say, how is this possible?” Johnston said. “How is it possible in the nation’s capital, a mile away from the Holocaust Museum?”

While Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 25 is to care for those who are hungry, naked, without a home or in prison, Johnston wondered aloud what the consequences for people are who don’t do as they’re told. “If you watch those stories on TV and feel moved to fight,” he said, “that is very human and I would say a very Christian instinct.”

Johnston asked his large audience: How do we show up in these moments and what do we do?

He told the story of “a loud critic of mine,” whom Johnston decided to visit at the man’s farm outside Denver. The two talked for an hour aboard the man’s combine, harvesting wheat. For the first 20 minutes or so, the man told Johnston about the mayor’s stances that angered him, including reproductive choice, guns and immigration.

“Then I asked about his family, his values and his faith,” Johnston said. He told the man what neighborhood he lived in, a section of Denver the man knew well. As a boy, the man’s father would pack him in a pickup truck and take him to the neighborhood, the home to most of the city’s homeless shelters. The man’s father would invite a few men to get in the truck and come work the harvest on the farm, where they’d be fed and provided a bed and clothing.

“In that moment, I thought, wow!” Johnston said. “There are many beliefs we have convinced ourselves we’re on the opposite side of.” This man was “deeply committed” to living out Matthew 25, Johnston noted. “It doesn’t mean we agreed to let go of the things we disagreed on,” he said, “but it means we agree to recommit to the things that we know bind us to the call that we are to love the Lord and to love our neighbor.”

After tracing the stories of Judas’ and Peter’s betrayals, Johnston said the way to atone “is by actually proving that you will be the one to pick up 10 people in your truck downtown and go and serve them. … It requires forgiveness, but that forgiveness is not about coming back to ‘my feelings are whole and I feel good again,’ but that we have reunited around a purpose that’s bigger than us. To me, that’s the ultimate question, and I think that is the ultimate challenge we face right now.”

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Lora Limeberry, Accountant, Financial Reporting, Administrative Services Group
Elizabeth Little, Church Consultant - Charlotte, NC, Engagement & Church Relations, The Board of Pensions                      

Let us pray:

God of all peoples and places, you have called us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, and so this day we renew that commitment, for your glory. We long to see the kingdom of God expanded to include all peoples. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Run to end hunger

This year's Wegmans East Avenue Grocery Run in Rochester, N.Y.,
featured more than 1,600 entrants.

Sporting an orange safety vest over his customary clerical collar, the Rev. Tedd Pullano was out before sunrise recently, directing traffic in front of Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester, New York.

Only one thing could have gotten the church’s associate pastor for Outreach up that early.

Read Full Article

Let us join in prayer for:

• Moongil Cho, Associate, Korean Intercultural Congregational Support, Presbyterian Mission Agency
• Luke Choi, Church Consultant – Cleveland, OH, Board of Pensions

Let us pray:

Gracious God, empower your people to think and act creatively so that we may wisely use the resources you have entrusted to our care. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Raising the roof — and the rest of the house as well — is one way New Castle Presbytery is responding to the Matthew 25 call

Violent storms on Maryland’s Eastern Shore put an emphasis on long-term solutions

August 12, 2024

A partnership that includes New Castle Presbytery is working to 

address the causes of climate change. (Photo courtesy of Eastern 

Shore Long Term Recovery Committee)

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has affirmed since 2016 a commitment to mission and ministry as guided by Matthew 25. That commitment, to building vital congregations, dismantling structural racism, and eradicating systemic poverty, is meant to move us into deeper understandings of who we are called to be as followers of Jesus Christ and how we are called to love our neighbors.

Churches have long been part of the social backbone of our communities, providing safety nets through food pantries and clothing closets, offering spaces for recovery programs to meet, and generally seeking to live into Jesus’ command to love our neighbors as ourselves. Such tangible offerings of love and support are sadly necessary, as the crisis of housing insecurity continues to skyrocket, food prices get higher each year, and the fabric of a stable and healthy society is more and more frayed.

The Matthew 25 vision invites us to move beyond the temporary fixes — the stop-gap solutions — into diagnosing the root causes of hunger, homelessness, poverty, and disenfranchisement, and then seek to address those causes. That doesn’t mean we close up our food pantries and shut down our assistance funds, but it does mean we work for a day when such things are needed only in times of crisis or disaster.

The Eastern Shore Long Term Recovery Committee is an outstanding example of this movement toward addressing root causes. As climate change continues to result in more violent storms, rising ocean levels, and higher tides, homes along the Eastern Shore of Maryland experience more and more flooding.

One response to such flooding would be to raise funds and volunteers, muck out the homes, repair and replace, and call it a day. Until next week when it happens again. And again. And again.

The Rev. Cindy Kohlmann is Connectional 

Presbyter and Stated Clerk of New Castle 

Presbytery. She served as Co-Moderator 

of the 223rd General Assembly (2018). 

(Contributed photo)

A Matthew 25 response, and the response that is happening in our midst, is to look at all the factors, understand what is unchangeable or at least out of local control, and find a way to solve the long-term problem. It is clear that solving climate change and rising seas is necessary but wouldn’t create a solution here and now. Relocation isn’t a real possibility for families without financial means to move and whose livelihoods keep them anchored on the Eastern Shore. So, what could a life-giving, long-term solution be?

In this case, that solution is to raise the houses so that the regular flooding can no longer bring destruction. It’s not an easy or inexpensive solution, but it preserves dignity, community, and homesteads that go back generations. And when all the factors are weighed, it’s actually the most reasonable solution.

It costs approximately $50,000 along with many volunteer hours to raise a single house. The Eastern Shore Long Term Recovery Committee has set a goal of raising 100 homes primarily in Somerset and Dorchester Counties. You can read more about this effort on the Maryland Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster website.

Where do we come in as New Castle Presbytery? These are our immediate neighbors, within the bounds of the area where we do mission and ministry. Along with others, the Rev. Amy Lawrence, pastor of the Manokin Presbyterian Church in Princess Anne, Maryland, has gotten involved in the efforts, creating a direct connection to all of us. And this effort is clearly in line with our Matthew 25 commitment.

To that end, the Trustees of New Castle Presbytery took two actions. First, they donated $50,000 from a mission response reserve to provide the funds to raise one house. Then, they created a $50,000 matching challenge for our presbytery to meet. Raising another $50,000 across the presbytery and matching that for a total of $100,000 means we will be directly impacting the lives of three families.

Even better, an anonymous donor has offered a $400,000 matching challenge through the Recovery Committee. That means that our anticipated $100,000 will be matched to create $200,000. That’s amazing!

Our goal is to raise our matching $50,000 by our Sept. 21 presbytery meeting so we can celebrate what we’ve accomplished together. Let’s raise some houses!

The Rev. Cindy Kohlmann is Connectional Presbyter and Stated Clerk of New Castle Presbytery and was Co-Moderator of the 223rd General Assembly (2018).

Today’s Focus: New Castle Presbytery is responding to the Matthew 25 call

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Lorie Neff LaRue, Vice President, Education, Board of Pensions
Valéry Nodem, Associate, International Hunger Concerns, Presbyterian Hunger Program, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Gracious God, we thank you for the opportunity to share your love in real and tangible ways with our brothers and sisters. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - PC(USA) church in Iowa embodies Matthew 25 across generations

Interacting with the community is all about expanding the ‘relational kin-dom of God’

February 22, 2024

“Church is service,” says Thomas Hartley, interim director of Children’s and Family Ministry at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Iowa City, Iowa.

In that spirit, the church “embodies” the Matthew 25 Movement of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, according to the Rev. W. Robert Martin III, pastor and head of staff of the church that relocated to a new facility designed to help the church interact with its community.

Recent initiatives have focused on issues such as food insecurity and mental health, particularly among children impacted by the Covid pandemic. The church works to engage its children and youth in outreach programs just like adults.

Martin says that it is all about expanding the “relational kin-dom of God that Jesus was challenging us to embrace and embody.”

See more about St. Andrew in the video above. Learn more about the Matthew 25 Movement here.

Alex Simon, Multimedia Specialist, Digital and Marketing Communications; and Rich Copley, Multimedia Producer, Communications; Presbyterian Mission Agency

Today’s Focus: St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Iowa embodies Matthew 25 across generations

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Becky Burton, Data Entry Representative, Ministry Engagement & Support, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)
Kelly Cahill, Business Administrator, Information Technology, Board of Pensions

Let us pray

Lord, as you send us out, help us to stay focused on your vision for making us your people. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Inspired by Matthew 25, Iowa PC(USA) church focuses on its community

First Presbyterian embraces ‘a good challenge’

January 19, 2024

Video URL: https://vimeo.com/884980943

Volunteers with All God’s Creatures, a program

 initiated by First Presbyterian of Mt. Pleasant,

 talk to church members at a Matthew 25 fair.

(Rich Copley | PCUSA)

When leaders at First Presbyterian Church of Mt. Pleasant first heard about the Matthew 25 initiative, they thought it was “a good challenge” to think about how their faith guides them to serve their community. The church has engaged in outreach to people who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, who have immigrated to the United States and their community, and many others in this small Midwestern town. We caught up with the church as it was celebrating its embrace of the Matthew 25 initiative to hear how it has impacted it as a faith community and individuals.

The Rev. Trey Hegar is pastor of First

 Presbyterian Church in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.

 (Photo by Rich Copley/Presbyterian Mission

 Agency)

 Visit pcusa.org/matthew25 to learn about the Matthew 25 initiative.

Interviews and script editing by Melody Smith. Images and video editing by Rich Copley. Additional images from First Presbyterian Church Mt. Pleasant.

Special to Presbyterian News Service

Today’s Focus: First Presbyterian Church of Mt. Pleasant is reaching out to the local LGBTQIA+ community

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Beth Zornick, Vice President, Customer Business Systems, Board of Pensions
Princeton Abarahoa, Associate for African Intercultural Ministries, Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Gracious God, as we grow, may we feel your presence in our lives. As we discover who we are, give us the strength to go out into the world and share the gifts you have given us. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Matthew 25 workshop shows how to stand alongside international partners for the long term

Moderator: ‘There are no quick fixes’

January 5, 2024

Valéry Nodem

A recent Matthew 25 workshop on eradicating systemic poverty focused viewers’ attention on the importance of being willing to dig in “for the long haul” to help address deeply rooted problems in international communities.

The hourlong workshop by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) featured a panel moderated by Eileen Schuhmann of the Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP), who connected the overall topic — international accompaniment for sustainable development — with the church’s Matthew 25 invitation.

“Matthew 25 speaks to the importance of addressing systems rather than symptoms, and systems have been built over time; therefore, systems take time to address,” said Schuhmann, associate for Global Engagement and Resources for PHP. “There are no quick fixes in systems work. It can take years, decades or even longer for progress to be seen in systems work, so if we’re serious about eradicating systemic poverty, then we should be serious about committing to the long-term accompaniment of communities working for change.”

She tossed questions to a panel that included PHP’s Valéry Nodem, formerly of RELUFA, the Joining Hands Network in Cameroon; the Rev. Sarah Henken, a PC(USA) mission co-worker who collaborates with the Peace Commission of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia; and  Dr. Rolando Pérez, an associate professor at Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, who collaborates with the Peace and Hope Association, a Christian human rights organization in Peru.

The panelists provided advice about how to accompany international partners in beneficial ways.

Dr. Rolando Pérez

Pérez said long-term accompaniment is an important part of building trust and allows for better assessments to be made.

“We need to live with the communities to whom we’re going to be helping, and that requires time, especially in the context like ours, like mine in Peru and South America, where people, because of the violence, because of oppression, they don’t have trust anymore, so we have to recover the trust,” he said.

Religious organizations, including the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), added their voices to advocacy campaigns against the contamination and pollution. “It is very interesting to see a very poor community that nobody knows of may feel hope because some people somewhere else are raising their voices. And, you know, they’re saying, ‘They don’t know anything about us, but they’re supporting us,’” Pérez said.

Nodem, PHP’s associate for International Hunger Concerns, encouraged viewers to delve beyond the surface when working with international communities and observing issues such as poverty. Asking questions can uncover structural issues and may reveal connections to your own homeland, he said.

When going into countries, it’s “good to know our own history in those countries” and to realize “we have a lot of work to do on our own end,” Nodem said. Sometimes, there are “a lot of historical factors” involved.

He noted that in Cameroon, where PC(USA) and RELUFA have been active for years, “there’s a lot of corruption in the country, and a lot of companies in the U.S. are part of that corruption.” But there have been efforts, such as the Publish What You Pay Campaign, to create more transparency. He said it was gratifying to return to the country recently and see people continuing to trace how much money is flowing to government hands and trying to make sure it goes toward sustainable development.

Pérez said it’s important to remember that you don’t have all the answers when coming into a community.

“We never just start from zero,” he said. “… We’re always continuing with the work that somebody else has done in the past. … We have to learn what they did before,” but the “temptation is always to arrive thinking that we’re bringing something new and it’s not always like that.”

And even after a problem appears to be resolved, it’s important to stick around for a while. “The challenge is to remain to see the after-damage” because the community is still hurting, he said. “That’s where religious communities and organizations may support something.”

The Presbyterian Hunger Program is one of the Compassion, Peace and Justice ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.

Darla Carter, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Today’s Focus: Presbyterian Hunger Program hosted a Matthew 25 workshop on eradicating systemic poverty

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Jacklyn Walker, Mission Specialist I, World Mission’s Director’s Office, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Beth Waltemath, Communication Associate, Communications Ministry, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Gracious God, you have created us to be a diverse people. Teach us to learn from our differences, so that we might bear witness to the rich diversity that makes up the body of Christ. Give us wisdom. Grant us peace. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Nurturing Matthew 25 hope in the Heart of Africa

An African proverb: The smaller the lizard, the greater its hope of becoming a crocodile

January 1, 2024

The Rev. Jean-Didier Mboyo addresses incarcerated 

men in Kolwezi prison in the Democratic Republic of 

Congo. (Contributed photo)

Can you name the 11th largest country in the world? Would it help if I said it is the second-biggest country in Africa?

If you’re still unsure, pull up a map of Africa and place a finger right in the center of this huge continent. Chances are you have found the Democratic Republic of Congo, or DR Congo for short. Probably, like the rest of us, you know very little about this country named after its lifegiving Congo River. Most of us are not aware DR Congo is a country of contradictions. It holds large resources of raw materials like gold, silver and diamonds, , while at the same time being among the poorest countries in the world.

Another contradiction relates to the issue of imprisonment. While DR Congo has a population of 112 million people versus the United States’ 331 million, it holds “only” 20,000 people in 80 prisons, compared to the U.S., which incarcerates more than 1 million people in 1,566 prisons. If you do the math, there are, on a per-capita basis, 17 times more people incarcerated in the U.S. than in DC Congo.

This is a contradiction clearly in Congo’s favor, seeming to suggest that poverty reduces crime, or maybe that moral standards and faith perspectives play a bigger role in poor countries than in rich ones.

Whatever the conclusion, we are happy to report the biblical imperative of Matthew 25 to reach out to people in prison is alive and well in DR Congo, and it is the new generation that is taking the lead. The Rev. Jean-Didier Mboyo serves as head of the Protestant chaplains in the Katanga region, which covers a large part of southern Congo.

The Rev. Jean-Didier Mboyo, at left, visits Bedford Hills 

Correctional Facility in Bedford Hills, New York. Also 

pictured are Chris Burdick, New York State Representative, 

Sharon Griest Ballen, Chair of the Prison Relations Advisory 

Committee, with the author in the background. (Contributed 

photo)

However, Mboyo is also a man of the world in his capacity as vice president of the International Prison Chaplains Association (IPCA) and in charge of IPCA representatives to the United Nations in New York, with offices in Geneva and Vienna.

Mboyo is a frequent world traveler, and recently visited the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for women in New York. Here he learned more about the Adopt-A-Prison (AAP) program, which has proven to be successful in engaging local communities with a prison in their midst.

The AAP concept is already piloted in several countries around the world, including Congo, where the program is running in several male and female prisons in the Katanga region. Local community and church members demonstrate the Adopt-A-Prison principles — and Jesus’ command of loving your neighbor — through visiting prisons regularly and donating food, clothing, medication and medical supplies, as well as offering education programs and general moral support and prayers for those in need.

As Mboyo says, “When the prison runs out of food, which happens frequently, then they call us and we try to find a way to help, or if a prisoner is released from a prison far away from his or her home, we arrange for transportation.”

He adds, “This is our way of loving our neighbor.”

Incarcerated women in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Tshikapa 

prison are pictured along with donated clothing, food and hygiene 

items. (Contributed photo)

The African culture is famous for its treasure trove of proverbs that offer strength to handle the struggles of life. Mboyo is well acquainted with that culture and when reflecting on prison engagement he says: “Congo is a poor country, but through prison outreach we have learned that sharing the little we have becomes enrichment for us.”

A few minutes later he scribbled down the inherent wisdom of this lament by coining a new African proverb: “While it takes a community to save a prison, it takes a prison to save a community.”

Our prison system was established as a way for society to deal with fellow human beings who do not follow the rules. Unfortunately, we often forget our obligation to follow up with redemption and rehabilitation efforts for those we commit to incarceration. That is the reason today’s prisons increasingly are renamed “correctional facilities,” reflecting the universally accepted goal of incarceration: incapacitation, deterrence, and correction. Under the Adopt-A-Prison program, this goal of “correction” is highlighted as the key for its rehabilitative efforts and at the same time a vital common goal with the management of the prison systems or correctional facilities of the world.

The Rev. Dr. Hans Hallundbaek, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), is a co-founder of both Rehabilitation through the Arts and the Interfaith Prison Partnership, an outreach of Hudson River Presbytery. He is an adjunct instructor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Marist College. He lives in Katonah, New York.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Monday, January 1, 2024, New Year’s Day (Year B)

• First Reading Ecclesiastes 3:1-13
• Psalm 8
• Second Reading Revelation 21:1-6a
• Gospel Matthew 25:31-46

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Today’s Focus: Nurturing Matthew 25 hope in the Heart of Africa

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Kris Valerius, Manager, Denominational Rolls and Statistics, Office of the General Assembly
Miguel Vargas, Building Manager, Presbyterian Historical Society

Let us pray

God of the ages, thank you for giving us encouragement through Christ to overcome weakness and find new energies to strengthen your church. Continue to use us for your glory. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Presbyterian panel relates two compelling Matthew 25 stories

The presbyteries of Giddings-Lovejoy and Pacific share dramatic accounts with those attending the Polity, Benefits and Mission Conference

December 9, 2023

Dr. Corey Schlosser-Hall, at right, moderated a panel that included, from 

left, the Revs. Liz Kanera, Cedric Portis Sr., Linda Culbertson, Heidi 

Worthen Gamble and Ryan Landino. Photo by Randy Hobson.

Panelists from the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy and the Presbytery of the Pacific regaled those attending the Polity, Benefits and Mission Conference with the innovative Matthew 25 work going on in their jurisdictions — one related to affordable housing and the other to racial justice. 

The Rev. Ryan Landino, presbytery leader at the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy, told the story of the loan debt that was saddled years ago on Third Presbyterian Church, a predominantly Black congregation in St. Louis. Alongside Landino on the panel were the pastor of the church, the Rev. Cedric Portis Sr., and the Rev. Liz Kanerva, the associate presbytery leader. 

According to Landino, the upshot was that two white churches had benefitted from a property transaction while repair issues were left with Third Presbyterian Church. “The claim was all parties would give up something equally, but that wasn’t the case,” Landino said. “We made the decision to try to do what we can to make it right” by centering restoration, wholeness and repair. 

Two motions were made during the most recent presbytery meeting. One was to forgive all the debt that Third Presbyterian Church had acquired. The second was to repay all of the principal and interest Third had paid. The first motion passed 96-1. The second was approved by a count of 90-3. The price tag, he said, would be nearly $721,000. 

“In the middle of all this, I got a call from a bank,” Landino said. Proceeds from an estate with no successor were to go to a church in the presbytery that had closed. Instead, the presbytery would receive the largesse — $810,000 in all. 

“It was a literal example of manna from heaven in response to faithfulness,” Landino said. 

Portis said the movement of the Spirit “was unbelievable” during the presbytery meeting. “Immediately after, people hugged me and asked, ‘What does it feel like to be debt free?’ I said, ‘You’ll have to check back in six months. I’ve never ministered without this yoke.’” 

The presbytery “stared guilt in the face,” Portis said. “They didn’t run away from that guilt. They just stared it in the face. It took a lot of courage to do that.” 

“I’d be lying if I said race didn’t play a role in what transpired, but I’m excited by the direction we are heading in,” Portis said, “to forgive the debt and give us the start that we needed.” 

“We as a church are doing fine, and we’re excited for what the future holds,” Portis said. “We are excited about being true to our Matthew 25 covenant.” 

Kanerva wondered: “Can you have repair without repentance?” 

“I was born and raised in this presbytery. White folks in this presbytery have a lot of repentance work to do,” Kanerva said. “The Spirit is moving around us, but the repentance work is still there.” 

Next, panelist moderator Dr. Corey Schlosser-Hall, deputy executive for Vision and Innovation at the Presbyterian Mission Agency, turned to the Rev. Linda Culbertson, who’s served as general presbyter of the Presbytery of the Pacific for more than 30 years, and the Rev. Heidi Worthen Gamble, the presbytery’s mission catalyst. The presbytery voted last year to accept the Matthew 25 invitation. “We said we will follow our churches and share our stories about the work we’re engaged in,” Culbertson said. 

Worthen Gamble told the story of how a small number of Presbyterians working on housing issues in Los Angeles County worked hard to convince the California State Assembly to pass a law last year creating funding mechanisms to help build affordable housing in one of the nation’s most expensive markets. 

“I did not expect my folks [on the presbytery’s Homeless & Housing Task Force] to get on it like they did,” Worthen Gamble said. “They said, ‘We’ve got this. The Lord will do this,’ and I could reassure the coalition these are praying Presbyterians, and we are going to keep on keeping on.” 

SB 679 passed the California State Assembly without a vote to spare. 

“That would not have happened without Presbyterians,” Worthen Gamble said. “This affordable housing solutions agency [created by the law] has the potential to be a game-changer. But that’s another story for another day.” 

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service

Today’s Focus: Matthew 25 stories shared at the Polity, Benefits and Mission Conference

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Shelvis, and Nancy Smith-Mather, Mission co-workers serving in South Sudan, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Rebecca Snipp, Administrative Project Manager, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Dear Father, thank you for the opportunities you have given us to spread your word. Help us to serve you in all our words and actions and to show your love to the entire world. Thank you. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Theology program for incarcerated women answers the PC(USA)’s Matthew 25 call

‘I was in prison, and you came to visit me’

October 17, 2023

Dr. LaKeesha Walround, president of New York 

Theological Seminary, addresses Master of Professional 

Studies graduates. (Contributed photo)

Any self-respecting Christian seminary will teach its students that the Jesus sheep and goat story in Matthew 25 is a mandate to care for the less fortunate in society, including those in prison.

Some seminary students take this to heart by becoming prison chaplains, but New York Theological Seminary (NYTS) does not stop there. For decades, this unique seminary has focused on Jesus’ call for engagement with inner city social issues of poverty, underserved educational systems, racial disparity, and this year inaugurated a graduate theology program in a maximum-security prison for women.

In 2019, when Dr. LaKeesha Walrond joined NYTS as its first female president and learned of the seminary’s long history of theology programs for incarcerated men, her immediate question was, “What about incarcerated women?”

A Master of Professional Studies (MPS) program was quickly scheduled at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for women in bucolic Westchester County, one hour north of New York City, and populated with close to 600 women, mainly from  the New York City area.

This summer, a class of nine incarcerated women joyfully received their master’s degree certificate in a festive ceremony performed by NYTS’ top management and faculty team, in front of attending family members, friends and community volunteers. Walrond said, “This program is really about restoring humanity and letting the women know they have transferable skills to prepare them for the best life they can have while on the inside and for when they come home.”

“Teaching in a maximum-security prison is a unique experience for seminary professors,” says Dr. Nancy Fields, who is the Assistant Professor of Supervised Ministry at NYTS and a key member of the teaching team. “The teacher learns from the student what to teach. The teacher is learning, and the student is learning. That is what I bring to this experience, because the students are teaching each other through small groups and assignments, in which they get an opportunity to share and bond. This is important in an environment where the women are conditioned not to trust because you always must watch your back.”

Graduates form New York Theological Seminary’s inaugural Master of Professional Studies program at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. In the background are NYTS administrators 

and faculty members and the prison superintendent. (Contributed photo)

The MPS Program is chaired by Dr. Willie D. Francois III, who in addition to serving as associate professor of Liberation Theology at the seminary oversees the MPS program at the Bedford Hills prison and the seminary’s MPS program at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility, a maximum-security male prison located on the Hudson River in the township of Ossining.

Of his experience as director of this seminary outreach effort, he says, “The MPS program furnishes the greatest opportunity, to date, to fulfill my vocation as an abolitionist as I attempt to do life with brilliant women and men curious about human potential, justice and the sacred.”

The bold action by Walrond to bring the seminary program to a female prison not only recognizes the increasing incarceration rate for women but demonstrates the seminary’s ability to carry forward the NYTS spirit of adapting to changing world situations, demonstrated since its inception in 1900.

A good example in 1968 was hiring Dr. George W. Webber as president. A graduate of Union Theological Seminary in New York City and a World War II veteran, Webber was tasked with rescuing the rapidly declining seminary located in a posh district between the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and the United Nations. He did this successfully by restructuring the seminary’s financials, selling the 12-story building, moving to rented space in downtown Manhattan and focusing on inner city ministry.

In the early 1980s, this realignment of the seminary’s outreach included a master’s program in Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Since that launch, the program has graduated about 15 men per year. According to Francois, “The success of the program ranks well beyond our 0% recidivism rate during the last 10 to 12 years, though we take great pride in such metrics. More so, we marvel at what our graduates go home to produce as social workers, educators, anti-incarceration nonprofit leaders, social entrepreneurs and activists.”

The Rev. Dr. Hans Hallundbaek is a proud graduate from the NYTS Master of Divinity and Doctor of Divinity programs and is excited about the seminary’s prison theology programs and its potential around the country and the world. Presbyterians worldwide will be pleased to know that Union Theological Seminary was founded in 1836 by Presbyterians.

Today’s Focus: Answering the Matthew 25 call, theology program for incarcerated women

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Mary Nebelsick, Mission Associate, Interpretation Assignment Support, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Lorie Neff LaRue, Vice President, Education, Board of Pensions

Let us pray

Good and gracious God, we give heartfelt thanks for your abiding presence, which continues to enliven the faithful worship and service in congregations large and small across our denomination. Keep us faithful in our service and show us how we can encourage one another as we seek to continue to bear fruit and grow in the knowledge of you. Amen.