Mission Yearbook: Free guide is a primer on Congregation-Based Community Organizing

Churches interested in grassroots organizing as a way to help their communities and boost congregational vitality have a new downloadable resource from the Presbyterian Hunger Program.

The ministry has released a free, eight-page guide, “Congregation-Based Community Organizing (CBCO): A Call to Do Justice, Love Mercy and Walk Humbly.” 

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The Presbyterian Hunger Program has released a new guide on congregation-based community organizing.

The guide is a primer on CBCO, which is defined as “a grassroots, faith-rooted approach to building collective power and addressing systemic injustices within local contexts.”

The guide includes tips on getting started; examples of victories won by groups, such as the Missoula Interfaith Collaborative and Justice United Seeking Transformation in Pensacola (JUST Pensacola); and a list of CBCO networks.

The Rev. Phil Tom of the West Kensington Ministry in Philadelphia said congregation-based community organizing allows congregations to be more impactful than working alone and can be utilized by churches of any size.

“It’s about building people power and building community power, and the church can be a part of that, even though it's a small congregation,” Tom said. This kind of organizing can make “a powerful difference in their neighborhood and the city.”

Through research, listening sessions and Nehemiah action assemblies, CBCO groups focus on key issues for problem-solving and advocate for solutions while putting collective pressure on community leaders.

“CBCO is grounded in the belief that, through deep relationships and faithful witness, faith communities are uniquely equipped to walk alongside frontline communities in the shared pursuit of justice and the common good,” the guide notes.

City leaders “see the power in numbers and they see that you’re united,” Tom said.

The Rev. Dr. Angela Johnson, pastor of Grace Hope Presbyterian Church in Louisville’s Smoketown neighborhood, knows the value of CBCO work. She’s co-president of Citizens of Louisville Organized and United Together, better known as CLOUT, which has been pushing for change in that Kentucky city for decades on topics such as police-community relations, gun violence, aging in place and the development of an affordable housing trust fund.

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At Louisville Seminary’s Black Church Studies Consultation, the Rev. Dr. Angela Johnson, president of CLOUT, stands next to John Aden, an associate organizer for CLOUT. (Photo courtesy of the Rev. Dr. Angela Johnson)

CBCO is an effective way of holding leaders accountable, Johnson said, and is tied to the idea that elected officials have a responsibility to the people. “They work for us,” Johnson said.

Grace Hope was one of the original conveners of CLOUT. Its most recent victories include successfully campaigning for a crisis intervention center that will offer mental health services and be an alternative to both jail and the emergency room for individuals in need of evaluation. 

Some of CLOUT’s Nehemiah action assemblies, during which key leaders are brought on stage to be asked to commit to solutions, have attracted around 1,000 people, Johnson said. 

“We have gone to the stakeholders in advance and said, ‘This (proposed solution) is what we're asking for. Will you do this?’” Johnson said. “We do that within a committee, and then they come on stage, and we ask them that in front of the people.”

Even if the official doesn’t agree to what CLOUT is pushing for, that “doesn't mean, as far as we're concerned, that it's over,” Johnson said. “We will keep pursuing (the issue) because we know that’s for the good of the people.”

Tom said CBCO can be a way to increase spiritual and congregational vitality and appeal to young people, who want to be active in their communities and in social movements.

Trying to make a difference in the community is part of answering God’s call for justice and to take care of those who are hungry or have other needs, such as being unhoused, Tom said. In passage after passage in the Bible, “how can you ignore the word ‘justice’?”

To download the CBCO guide, go here. To read an article about an episode of the Presbyterian Advocacy Hour that focused on grassroots organizing, go here.

Darla Carter, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Life & Witness (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Caralee Wheeler, Program Associate, Development Office, The Presbyterian Foundation
John Wilkinson, Director, Stewardship & Funds Development, Administrative Services Group

Let us pray:

Lord of the harvest, be with your laborers, so that their faithfulness may bear much fruit. Amen.

World Communion Offering Cultivating Forms of Reconciliation

Causes Supported by the World Communion Offering The World Communion Offering supports five cause areas that cultivate reconciliation around God’s Table of Grace. You can read more about the specifics of this work in our Leader’s Guide and by clicking the links below.

Racial Justice Presbyterians have long worked for racial justice in the world by partnering in mission work like Project 180. This project celebrates the coming 180th anniversary of Liberia’s independence from the American Colonization Society, which you can read more about on page six of the Leader’s Guide.

Gender Justice The PC(USA) holds itself accountable to its commitments to actively work against sexism and for gender justice, partnering in events like the National Queer Gathering and the Commission on the Status of Women.

Peacemaking The way to peace includes helping to clarify the moral and ethical issues at stake in public policy. The Office of Public Witness supports projects like the Decade to End Gun Violence, focused on preventing illegal guns from getting into the wrong hands.

Global Witness Global Ecumenical Partnerships connects, equips, and accompanies people in shared work and witness for God's work in the world. Global Ecumenical Liaisons prioritize locally discerned, partner-led initiatives, ensuring that shared witness follows relationships and that local wisdom guides decision-making, like this one in the Middle East.

Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Supporting ministry around the world with other denominations and ecumenical partners is part of the PC(USA)’s identity. This includes articulating Reformed and Presbyterian identity in the midst of the church’s ecumenical commitments and providing guidance for the church’s conversations with non-Christian religious traditions.

Read more information about the World Communion Offering in our Leader's Guide.

Download the Leader’s Guide

Thank you for supporting the World Communion Offering. We hope your congregation will consider receiving this new offering on Oct. 4, World Communion Sunday.

If you have any questions, reply to this email or call us at (800) 728-7228, Ext. 5047.

World Communion Offering — Free Resources for All Ages

Lesson Plans and Activities for All Ages Looking for ways to involve children or your whole congregation in the World Communion Offering this year? We have some excellent activities and lesson plans to use with your congregation. Intergenerational Lesson Plan Use this lesson plan to help your congregation be in community with each other while learning about the World Communion Offering and its reconciliation ministries. Download Intergenerational Lesson Plan Stand-Alone Activities Pair these activity suggestions with one of the lesson plans, use them as a filler at the end of a Sunday school lesson or fellowship meal, or even include them as part of your Rally Day or program year kickoff. Download Activity Page Young Children Lesson Plan Geared for younger children, this lesson plan focuses on Micah 6:8: “love kindness.” Use this lesson plan as its own special one-time event or use it in a small group setting such as Sunday school. Download Younger Children Lesson Plan Older Children Lesson Plan This curriculum, meant for older children, uses Micah 6:8 to talk about loving kindness. This lesson plan works well as a single event or in a regularly scheduled gathering. Download Older Children Lesson Plan Looking for other World Communion Offering resources? Check out our previous email or view all of our resources on our website. Thank you for generously supporting the World Communion Offering.   If you have any questions, reply to this email or call us at (800) 728-7228, Ext. 5047.

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Minute for Mission: Hiroshima Day (Nuclear Victims’ and Survivors’ Day)

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The Hiroshima Peace Memorial, also known as the Genbaku Dome, is the only building that survived near the center of the first atomic bomb explosion on Aug. 6, 1945. It stands there today, preserved just as it was right after the blast.

I was not alive to bear witness to the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. My understanding of those events was primarily shaped by two sources: history lessons in school and the stories my family recounted of their lives during U.S. involvements in war. My grandparents and elderly family members offered precious glimpses into what it was like to live through and after the tragic events of Aug. 6 and 9, 1945. 

My family wove stories of both tragedy and joy, prosperity and suffering, heartbreak and resilience. It fills me with gratitude to carry the role of messenger of my ancestors’ experiences. Yet, reflecting on the horrific bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki stirs anger, sorrow and conflict within me regarding the rationale of the U.S. behind that decision. 

Nuclear Victims’ and Survivors’ Day commemorates the day that generations of lives, and their stories, were cut short. While I know these souls and stories are safe in the arms of God, I wrestle with the weight of these lives that were taken to justify ending a war. I ponder the histories that were never told, the wisdom that was never passed down, and the art that was never created. Even today, what stories are too daunting or too intense even to begin to articulate from this harrowing time?

The biggest question I wrestle with of all is this: How do we, more than 80 years later, honor those lost stories and wrestle with our place among these complex narratives to move toward reconciliation and a future of peace without fear that our stories will be ended too soon?

When ruminating on these lofty questions, I turned to Psalm 34 for guidance. 

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;

    He delivers them from all their troubles.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted

    and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

When we cry out about the horror of war, God will be crying alongside us. I have no fear when these stories are recounted because I have faith that God was suffering alongside those who lost their lives that day. I have faith that God was mourning alongside the hibakusha survivors in Japan and the downwinders in the American Southwest. I have faith that God is singing the songs of the ones who were lost right alongside us as we sing. I know that our loving and merciful God will be right there next to us, guiding our way and holding our hand, as we learn, grow, and fulfill our call for justice and peace.

Psalm 34 continues:

Turn from evil and do good;

    Seek peace and pursue it.

We are taking steps toward peacemaking and reconciliation when we take the time to learn about the histories and lessons of peace instead of letting them be forgotten. When we remember and tell difficult stories for generations to come, we are doing a courageous act of truth-telling to understand our past, so we don’t repeat it. When we share stories and histories, we are carrying out God’s call to seek peace and pursue it, working for a world where peace is guaranteed for all of God’s children. 

Grace Kromke, Peacemaking Fellow, Office of Public Witness

Let us join in prayer for:

V. George Waters, Ministry Relations Officer, Development Office, The Presbyterian Foundation
Donyale White, Accounting Clerk, Accounts Payable Office, Administrative Services Group

Let us pray:

Holy and Gracious God, we thank you for the stories that endure and your comforting presence in our troubled and aching hearts. Help us to carry out the memory of those who lost their lives and had their stories cut short, not as a burden, but as a sacred promise of truth, trust and peace. Guide us as we seek justice, pursue peace, and work toward reconciliation in a world still longing for unity and harmony. United by love, we lift up your name and the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Amen. 

Mission Yearbook: Three people and an organization are honored by Presbyterians for Earth Care

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Photo by Beth Jnr via Unsplash

Presbyterians for Earth Care (PEC) recognized three individuals and an organization for their exceptional environmental achievements at PEC’s virtual Annual Gathering.

Dr. William P. Brown, the William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia, received the William Gibson Eco-Justice Award for his long-term dedication to teaching and preaching on environmental issues in the Old Testament.

He is a co-founder of Earth Covenant Ministry, an organization of Presbyterian churches in the Atlanta area that later became part of Georgia Interfaith Power and Light.

Arkansas Interfaith Power and Light (AIPL) was presented with the Restoring Creation Award for working in community gardens and backyard gardens for more than a decade. Many of the garden locations have been on church properties, where congregations have been engaged.

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Dr. William P. Brown

Drew Hill and Hudson Davis received PEC’s Emerging Earth Care Leader Award for showing exceptional promise as future leaders. Hill, a young adult from Santa Fe, New Mexico, is passionate about social progress, protecting the environment and serving the public. From an early age, Davis was captivated by prehistoric and modern animals and the sanctity of nature.

Brown has received numerous awards, grants and academic chairs. In addition to teaching and preaching on environmental issues, Brown has written 12 books and was editor of “Engaging Biblical Authority.” He is currently completing a major commentary on the Psalms for the “Old Testament Library Commentary” series for Westminster John Knox Press. Next will be a commentary on Genesis 1–11 in the new Interpretation series, also to be published by WJK Press. He has assisted with writing Creation care overtures for previous General Assemblies.

AIPL’s network of growers had 21 community garden locations, seven new partners, and several small backyard gardens in low-wealth communities. AIPL has involved a total of 74 interns, trainers, and students and has engaged more than 22,000 people each year to learn about growing some of their own food in sustainable ways.

AIPL provides 13,725 pounds of nutritious fresh produce and other food items to food pantries and no-cost markets. A total of 43,300 pounds of organic matter was diverted from landfills over a two-year period. AIPL interns also shared organic waste from the organization’s gardens with chickens at on-site coops and added organic matter to onsite compost bins. AIPL is reaching even more people in more low-wealth communities by awarding 10 $2,000 grants.

Davis is a 24-year-old scientist serving the Mammoth Site, located in Hot Springs, South Dakota. As the assistant science educator, he lives out his childhood dreams of being a paleontologist while getting to pass on the power of curiosity about the natural world to the next generation.

Davis embodies his faith while teaching about the amazing world we live in. He runs classes and tours at the site and leads the summer camp program, a free weeklong program. During the summer, he’s a supervisor for the Mammoth Site’s Internship Program, helping mentor 6–8 college paleontology students. Hudson also helps design exhibits for the museum and dig for fossils of ice-age animals in local caves.

Hill is a young adult from Santa Fe, New Mexico, passionate about social progress, protecting the environment, and serving the public. Raised in the community of First Presbyterian Church of Santa Fe, Hill was a youth deacon and ruling elder prior to graduating from high school, working as summer staff at Ghost Ranch Education and Retreat Center and serving as a PC(USA) Young Adult Volunteer in Washington, D.C.

He received a Bachelor of Philosophy degree at the University of New Mexico, graduating in 2024. He was a Young Adult Advisory Delegate during a previous General Assembly. Since completing his degree, he has worked as a district staffer for U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez of Las Cruces.

Hill has worked with the Advocacy Committee on PEC overtures for the 2026 General Assembly and serves on the Advisory Committee of CANOPY, the Creation Action Network of Presbyterian Young Adults.

Presbyterians for Earth Care (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Matthew Warmbier, Administrative Assistant, Trust Services, The Presbyterian Foundation
Renee Warner, Operations Administrator, Operations, The Presbyterian Foundation              

Let us pray:

Merciful God, continue to work through your people to nurture those you are calling to serve your people and work for justice and peace. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Faith leaders honor retiring Lutheran bishop in West Bank

Local and international faith leaders, including a contingent from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) led by the Rev. Jihyun Oh, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly and Executive Director of Presbyterian Life & Witness, turned out to Talitha Kumi German Lutheran School  in Beit Jala, West Bank, to celebrate the many years of ministry of Bishop Dr. Sani Ibrahim Azar, who leads the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land.

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Well-wishers fill the chapel at Talitha Kumi school in the West Bank to honor Bishop Dr. Sani Ibrahim Azar. (Photos by Rich Copley)

During a two-hour service of worship and thanksgiving, speaker after speaker rose to praise Azar, who completed his ministry at the school he attended as a youth. Talitha Kumi, which means “Little girl, get up!” is named for what Jesus told Jairus’ daughter according to Mark’s gospel in order to raise her from the dead.

“I started here as a child and I will end — not my life, but my ministry — here in the place where I started,” Azar said. He recalled worshiping alongside his father and a few of his fellow students who had a hard time praying for the forgiveness offered in the Lord’s Prayer.

“He helped me learn to forgive others as God forgives me,” Azar said of his father. Now, “I have to think twice about praying sometimes, because when I pray, God answers.”

He said his hope for the church “is that God is the one with whom we are connected, filling our needs and saving our souls.”

“This is also my school — my home for 12 years,” said Bethlehem Mayor Maher Canawati, who offered remarks and a gift for the retiring bishop. Talitha Kumi has helped “living stones” in the Bethlehem community for many years, Canawati said.

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Brass for Peace plays as part of Friday's worship service at Talitha Kumi School.

The Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, Christian Kopp, called Azar a bridge-builder and declared him “an honorary Bavarian for life.”

The Bishop of the New England Synod in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Nathan Pipho, said that shortly after his election as bishop, Pipho’s predecessor scheduled a Zoom meeting for him with Azar. “Of all he did to prepare me, putting Bishop Azar on my list was the top of his list,” Pipho said, thanking God that Azar has been “the hands and feet of Christ.”

“Be with him in retirement as you have so clearly been with him in his ministry,” Pipho prayed.

A retired pastor noted that under Azar’s leadership, Muslim and Christian students “have gotten to know about each other’s faith,” she said.

Yehiel Curry, the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, gave Azar a Bethlehem star, which “is nothing new here. It represents the light that shone when Jesus was born. It also represents the light in Palestine.”

“From your siblings here, I want you to know there is a pretty good delegation here,” Curry said. “All of us from the ELCA want to say thank you.”

The PC(USA) contingent was in Jordan and Israel-Palestine to meet with partners, renew friendships and learn in partners’ context. 

Talitha Kumi School serves children in grades K through 12 growing up near Bethlehem in a challenging economic and political situation.

The school includes a kindergarten, a community college, a boarding school for girls and a large guest house. It’s currently home to 700 students. About 30% of students are Christians and 70% are Muslims. About 100 students attend the Talitha Kumi Community College.

Empowering girls is one of the school’s core aims. Talitha Kumi is a pioneering co-educational school in Palestine, providing a setting where boys and girls have been able to learn side by side for many years. About 90% of the students live in the West Bank and the remaining 10% live in East Jerusalem and other Palestinian enclaves.

For almost 20 years, the school has been training students as mediators. Talitha Kumi follows Palestinian curriculum in elementary school and adds German as a foreign language in second grade. Learn more here. 

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

Let us join in prayer for:

Judy Walton, Vice President, Lending Services, Presbyterian Investment & Loan Program
Laura Wampler, Operations & Rights Associate, Operations, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation

Let us pray:

Good and great God, you meet us in everyday life and call us to extraordinary experiences. Help us to hear your call for our lives and to answer in faith, “Here am I; send me.” We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.