Today in the Mission Yearbook - Seed fund from Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) will benefit mid councils, congregations and other entities

Decade to End Gun Violence grants available for prevention and advocacy projects

December 19, 2023

Philadelphia’s “Memorial to the Lost” features T-shirts with the 

names of those who have died from gun violence. In this archived 

photo, Overbrook Presbyterian Church hosts the display to help 

raise awareness and get conversations started. (Photo courtesy 

of Overbrook Presbyterian Church)

The 225th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) declared the years 2022 to 2032 to be the Decade to End Gun Violence and called on the church to recommit itself to the work.

As part of that effort, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program is taking applications for grants to help PC(USA) congregations, mid councils, worshiping communities and institutions conduct events to combat gun violence.

The grants are the latest example of the PC(USA)’s commitment to gun-violence prevention as reflected in various actions over the years, including the publication of “Gun Violence, Gospel Values: Mobilizing in Response to God’s Call,” a policy and study paper approved by the 219th General Assembly (2010).

Although some progress has been made, gun violence continues to be a major problem in the United States. In fact, more Americans died of gun-related injuries in 2021 than in any other year on record, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the wake of tragedies, such as the Tops Supermarket shooting in East Buffalo, New York, and the killing of 19 children and two adults at a school in Uvalde, Texas, “the Assembly agreed that we needed to really commit to 10 years of work on gun violence,” said the Rev. Carl Horton, coordinator of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program.

The grants are one way of helping to facilitate action, which the General Assembly said should occur at all levels of the church. Peacemaking anticipates that the grants will range from $1,000 to $2,000, and primarily will be used to fund advocacy and prevention efforts.

“We have $20,000 to give away to mid councils (and other eligible entities) to help them accomplish something related to gun violence, whether it be a rally, a demonstration, a gun buyback program, a screening of a documentary, a panel discussion — something locally that would move the ball forward a bit in a particular region,” Horton said.

Applications will be reviewed by the Decade to End Gun Violence Working Group. There is no application deadline, but the grants are intended for distribution in 2023 and 2024.

For more information, including the grant criteria, go to grant invitation online.

Read about a recent PC(USA) webinar on gun violence prevention here and an “A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast” episode on a similar subject here.

The Presbyterian Peacemaking 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: Decade to End Gun Violence grants

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Keren Strothman, Administrative Assistant, Financial Aid For Service, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Shawnda Styles, Client Services Specialists, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray

God, grant us peace to rest in you, love to connect with our neighbors and the courage to venture out. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - PC(USA)-related camp fosters healing for survivors of school violence

Former students return to Ferncliff 25 years later

December 18, 2023

Lindsay Kifer and her daughter, Harper, participated 

in a healing camp at Ferncliff Camp and Conference 

Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. (Photo contributed 

by Lindsay Kifer)

After a deadly shooting at Westside Middle School near Jonesboro, Arkansas, David Gill and others pined for a way to aid students in their emotional and spiritual recovery. He began delving into the idea of holding a healing camp at Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center, where he worked a few hours away.

The shooting on March 24, 1998, had taken the lives of four students and a teacher, and “everybody wanted to do something” to comfort the children, Gill said. “After a tragedy like that, it’s like, ‘Oh, my gosh, that’s our presbytery. Those are our kids,’ and so everybody was thinking, ‘What can we do? How can we reach out? How can we give a hug to those kids and help them in their healing?’”

Initially, the school community was not receptive to the idea of the camp, but after several weeks of nudging, the first application arrived out of the blue.

“I didn’t know it had been approved; I didn’t know anything, but here’s a kid registering, and then, the next day, a few more,” Gill said. Eventually, “we ended up with 68 for that first camp.”

Supported by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and other donors, the camp left a lasting impression on participants, who got to bond together and to be nurtured by caring staff and volunteers in a setting that allowed the kids to be kids.

These youngsters “weren’t coming to sit around and get psychoanalyzed,” Gill said. “They wanted permission to swim and hike and talk to each other and stay up late and do the things you do at camp, so that was important — just to be natural — and I told my counselors, ‘All you have to do is give these kids unconditional love. Don’t worry about all the psychological stuff. We’ve got people to back you up if you get in over your head. But if you can just embrace these kids and be the best counselor you can be, that’s what they need.’”

David Gill gets his T-shirt signed during the Night of

100 Hugs. (Photo by Kaye Danielson/Ferncliff)

That first camp morphed into a series of camps that have benefited not only Westside students but survivors of other school violence incidents, such as the 1999 Columbine High School shooting.

“The team that put the camps together and ran them just had such a gentle and kind of intuitive touch around making sure that we felt included and safe and able to share, but then if there was a moment where somebody did need to step aside or have some quiet time or something was overwhelming, there were no questions asked,” said Seattle mom Christine Dove, a former Columbine student who was invited by Gill to start attending the camps and taking part in other outreach efforts by Ferncliff to help survivors of school violence.

Westside camper Alex Beasley also appreciated how patient the adults were at the camps and how much camaraderie he felt. In school, “you’ve got the cliques, the jocks and the nerds and whatever, just like there is today … but at Ferncliff, all that was torn down, so everyone really connected,” he said.

Dove, Beasley and Kifer were among several alumni of the healing camps who returned to Ferncliff this past summer for a 25-year reunion that also attracted several family members and additional guests, such as representatives from PDA, one of the camp’s original funders.

“It was a great opportunity to engage and meet the people who survived these terrible tragedies,” said the Rev. Edwin González-Castillo, who leads PDA. “To listen to their stories and to hear about the impact these camps had in their lives, to see them laugh and be with their families, to see them embrace each other in love and remembering their times in Ferncliff was a heartfelt experience.”

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is one of the Compassion, Peace and Justice ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. Its work is made possible by your gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing.

Darla Carter, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Today’s Focus: Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center hosted a healing camp for school violence for students

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Chenoa Stock, Mission co-worker serving in Peru, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Rebecca Storti, Director, Meetings & Special Events, Board of Pensions

Let us pray

Ever-present God, help us to see today with the heart of Jesus the needs of those around us. And may our hands always be helping in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Columbia Seminary preaching professor explores both Bible testaments from A through Z

The Rev. Dr. Anna Carter Florence is the guest on ‘Leading Theologically’

December 16, 2023

Dr. Anna Carter Florence

In the tradition of beloved writers including Frederick Buechner, the Rev. Dr. Anna Carter Florence has written “A is for Alabaster: 52 Reflections on the Stories of Scriptures,” recently published by Westminster John Knox Press. Carter Florence, the Peter Marshall Professor of Preaching at Columbia Theological Seminary, appeared alongside the Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty of the Presbyterian Foundation on his show, “Leading Theologically.”

Their 32-minute conversation is available here.

Seminary professors “have our own questions we want to ask,” Carter Florence told Hinson-Hasty, “but it’s the questions your students are asking and the things that are happening in the classroom that you really want to explore … reading biblical texts in ways that will make them come alive.”

“It’s amazing how weary preachers can get,” she added, “so creating this space to have the text be constantly new and fresh — and not just for preachers, but for anyone who picks up the Scripture. I feel like this is a pretty urgent need right now.”

Westminster John Knox Press published “A is for Alabaster” earlier this month.

Hinson-Hasty then turned to “A is for Alabaster,” in which Carter Florence writes brief and engaging pieces on Scriptures about 52 biblical characters — 26 from the Hebrew Bible, and 26 from the New Testament.

“I read Frederick Buechner’s lexicon books when I was young and I fell in love with this abecedary form,” she said. The Book of Lamentations includes that form, she noted.

“My aim is to speak to anyone who might read [the book] about just how bottomless these stories are, how much they have to say right now, and encourage people to get imaginative themselves,” Carter Florence said.

Selecting the biblical figures to write about “ended up being a really fun challenge, because it turns out everybody’s name begins with ‘J,’” she said with a laugh. “Jacob had to be ‘I is for Israel,’ and Jonah had to take ‘F is for fish.’ Jesus got to go rogue and go in and out of everybody else’s letters. I wanted a mix of texts I had never worked with and some that I really do love to work with.”

The book concludes with a discussion guide. Hinson-Hasty asked Carter Florence one of the questions she asks of readers: Did you detect recurring themes in the book?

“I thought a lot about how the Hebrew Bible stories, the Old Testament stories, were ones Jesus might have been told,” she replied. “I thought about all of the people with complicated lives, particularly women, whom he spent time with … and what it means for us that he entered into their stories so deeply.

The Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty

“There’s a reason these stories are in scripture,” Carter Florence said. “There is no human experience that is off-limits or that disqualifies anyone from a life of faith. To be human is to live in and among and with everything that’s possible under the sun.”

Hinson-Hasty called the vignettes Carter Florence included “stories I want to sit with and think about.”

“It feels like a Christian formation tool, and for preachers, it’s a nice spark,” he said. Then he invited Carter Florence to leave listeners with a benediction, and she offered words from the Iona tradition that she often uses after leading worship:

“May God’s goodness be yours and well, and seven times well may you live your life. May you be an isle in the sea. May you be a hill on the shore. May you be a star in the night. May you be a staff to the weak. May the love Christ Jesus gave fill every heart for you and may the love Christ Jesus gave fill you for everyone. Amen.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service

Today’s Focus: Rev. Dr. Anna Carter Florence, guest on ‘Leading Theologically’ podcast

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Angie Stevens, Manager, Communication Specialist, Office of the General Assembly
Cameron Stevens, Mission Associate II, Constituency Relations, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Almighty God, make us bold daughters and sons of those who have gone before, that continuing in faith and joy we may bring the good news of Jesus Christ to those you love. In the strong name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - PC(USA)’s Synod of the Covenant offers up LaRue’s clues for preaching

Retired homiletics professor the Rev. Dr. Cleophus J. LaRue Jr. is a guest on ‘Equipping Preachers’

December 15, 2023

Photo by Alexander Michl via Unsplash

When the Rev. Dr. Cleo LaRue hears a sermon, he’s listening for four things:

• Was the biblical text central to the sermon?
• Was there a controlling thought or identifiable sermonic idea, or was it, as LaRue calls it, “pearls without a string?”
• Could you follow the sermon with your listening ear? “I am opposed to long quotes,” the former homiletics professor at Princeton Theological Seminary said. “It takes it out of your voice and makes it difficult to hear and follow with your listening ear. You have to write in conversational tone to engage your congregation.”
• Did the sermon make a claim on your life? “Are you preaching because you have something to say,” he asked, “or are you preaching because you have to say something?”

LaRue appeared online as part of the Synod of the Covenant’s Equipping Preachers series. His webinar, hosted by the synod’s executive, the Rev. Dr. Chip Hardwick, was titled “A Refresher Course on Sermon Preparation.” It’s available here.

“It thrills my heart to see these preachers signed up to have a discussion about preaching,” LaRue said, recalling Dr. Gardner C. Taylor calling the weekly task of delivering a sermon “the sweet torture of Sunday morning.”

When people ask LaRue about the current state of preaching, he tells them, “It’s what it has always been — all over the place.” Whatever rules preachers observe about their craft, “the opposite is also true,” according to LaRue. “Some say you have to sit down after 12 minutes, but there are churches where people are listening on a Sunday morning for 45 minutes or an hour. You may say, ‘If you don’t have Scriptures [as the basis for your sermon], people won’t listen to you.’ But there are churches where you’d have a difficult time trying to hear Scripture. We have been called to be faithful stewards as we understand our task to be.”

As for LaRue, “I believe that Scripture is crucial and central to preaching.” A theologian once said, “A preacher without Scripture is like a doctor without a black bag.”

The Rev. Dr. Cleo LaRue

“The biblical witness is important to preaching,” LaRue said, and so are other written sources. “There’s no way you can preach to people every Sunday morning if you don’t read. That’s my opinion,” he said. “You cannot pour forth into people, Sunday in and Sunday out, if you don’t read yourself.”

LaRue asked those present online — the monthly installments are also available to preachers serving communities of faith outside the Synod of the Covenant — if “we can talk about things you know to do, and just through the day-to-day, week-to-week routine of pastoral tasks sometimes let slip, get rusty, or, God forbid, get lazy in terms of what you need to do.”

The wonderful thing about call-and-response preaching, according to LaRue, is that “you get your grade immediately.” In workshops, some of LaRue’s white students will tell him, “I feel like I’m preaching to a congregation that’s not interested in the gospel. I get no response, and when I do, it’s somebody complaining.” Those churches “tend to kill your spirit and make you less inclined to give it your best Sunday in and Sunday out,” LaRue said.

Then he talked about preaching at a church in a farming community in New Jersey. “They just kind of looked at me. I thought, oh my God, I’m not getting through to these people. I’d grown so accustomed to the Black church,” LaRue said.

He nonetheless positioned himself at the door following worship, “and almost to a person they said, ‘Preacher, I was helped by your sermon this morning.’

“I was talking about waiting on the Lord,” LaRue said. “One guy said, ‘I’m a farmer, and I know what it means to have to wait on the Lord. I have to wait on my crops every year.’ A woman, bless her heart, said, ‘I am suffering from cancer and I’m trying my best to make it, and I heard you this morning.’”

“There are traditions where no response will be forthcoming, but the people are listening,” LaRue said. “All the more reason to give it your best on Sunday morning and trust the Spirit will be at work.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service

Today’s Focus: Rev. Dr. Cleophus J. LaRue Jr. is a guest on ‘Equipping Preachers’ webinar series

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Marsha Stearley, Desktop Support Analyst, Information Technology, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)
Tim Stepp, Associate Director, Internal Audit, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)

Let us pray

For your work in this synod and beyond, O Lord, we are grateful. Thank you for those who give of themselves to show your love to all people. Unite us in your service through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia commemorates 325 years

Santana-Grace, Carter help ‘First Church’ remember its enduring history

December 14, 2023

The Rev. Ruth Faith Santana-Grace is at First Presbyterian Church 

of Philadelphia. Courtesy of fpcphila.org worship stream.

The Rev. Ruth Faith Santana-Grace, Co-Moderator of the 225th General Assembly, is also executive presbyter of the Presbytery of Philadelphia. On Oct. 8, she traveled to the heart of the mid council and a congregational cornerstone of the denomination to preach about First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia turning 325.

The Rev. Dr. Baron Mullis, pastor of “First Church,” welcomed Santana-Grace to the pulpit during the congregation’s 11 a.m. Sunday service.

Santana-Grace brought greetings on behalf of the presbytery and the General Assembly, adding that First Church has “a special place in my heart” because it was among the first congregations to welcome her to Philadelphia when she began her call with the presbytery 10 years earlier.

“Three hundred and twenty-five years. Can you imagine the excitement and joy of your spiritual ancestors as they began to formally give shape to what they prayed would be a sanctuary of faith and religious expression?” she asked.

“What did it mean to be a church then? What does it mean today?”

The Co-Moderator’s preaching was one of the special fall events planned for the 325th anniversary by the church’s commemoration committee, including “minutes for history” and lectures by the Rev. Jesse Garner, retired pastor, on “First Church in the Community” and “First Church and Social Change.”

The 325th anniversary banner in front of First Presbyterian 

Church of Philadelphia. Photo by Fred Tangeman.

In September, the commemoration committee hosted a reception at the Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS) featuring a talk by Dr. Heath W. Carter, associate professor of American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary and senior co-editor of The Journal of Presbyterian History.

During “Steadfast Through the Storms: A Lecture on the 325th Anniversary of Philadelphia’s First Presbyterian Church,” Carter told First Church members that the congregation, referred to as the “mother church” of American Presbyterianism, “played a vital role in the story of American Presbyterianism.”

He explored the congregation’s beginnings as part of an ecumenical gathering on the corner of Second and Chestnut Streets in the heart of colonial Philadelphia. From vandalism at the hands of British soldiers during the Revolution to financial strife during the Great Depression, First Church’s history reflected the ebb and flow of American history. The congregation was at the center of complicated divisions that arose in American Presbyterianism, including the Old Side-New Side controversy in the mid-1700s and the debate over slavery a century later. Albert Barnes, First Church pastor from 1830 to 1868, was a vocal critic of slavery but did not call for immediate abolition.

From left: Ruth Faith Santana-Grace, Baron Mullis, Laura Colee 

at First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia. Photo by Fred 

Tangeman.

Carter also talked about recent history. In 1990, seven members of the church started delivering meals to neighbors dying of AIDS, an effort that evolved into MANNA, a Philadelphia nonprofit that has now provided over 21 million meals to Philadelphians in need.

“I think of the small ecumenical band that first gathered in the Barbados store in the modest colonial village that was 1690s Philadelphia,” Carter told the PHS audience. “They could never have imagined all that was to come in the life of their church and city.”

William Lake Leonard, co-chair of the commemoration committee, wrote about the event in the church’s newsletter, calling PHS “a perfect place for a celebration of history, specifically the celebration of the 325th anniversary of the founding of The First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia.”

Santana-Grace touched on the congregation’s long history during her sermon, connecting it with ministry in 2023.

“Identifying as a people of faith can be exhausting, and at times even discouraging,” she said. That’s true today, just as it was during the first three centuries of the Philadelphia congregation and the first century of the Common Era, when the Scripture Santana-Grace preached about was written: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).”

Kristen Gaydos and Fred Tangeman, Office of the General Assembly

Today’s Focus: First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia commemorates 325 years

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Champaka Srinivasan, Associate, Finance, Young Adult & National Volunteers, Presbyterian Mission Agency
David Staniunas, Records Archivist, Presbyterian Historical Society, Office of the General Assembly

Let us pray

Creator God, we pray for discernment and guidance as we try to walk the narrow path that has been put before us. We know that it will be difficult but that the rewards will be great. It is in your Son’s name that we pray. Amen.

The Voice of the Martyrs - Save the Date: The I Am N Virtual Event

Hear stories of courageous faith in the shadow of radical Islam.

Ten years ago, ISIS began marking Christian homes and churches with the Arabic letter “n,” or ن , as its fighters overran parts of Iraq. The symbol (“n” for “Nazarene”) marked the buildings as belonging to Christians and served as a threat to all believers in the area. Hundreds of thousands of Christians fled the country, but where are they today? And what about those who stayed behind? The Voice of the Martyrs presents I Am N – a virtual event where you’ll hear updates from Iraq as well as the firsthand stories of three persecuted Christians who have endured intense persecution in places dominated by Islam. You’ll also hear how God sustained and encouraged them through it and is still using them today to build his Kingdom. This special event is FREE! Hear these inspiring testimonies of costly faith, plus worship from Steven Curtis Chapman: Heather Mercer was held captive in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Hassan Abduraheem was imprisoned in Sudan for pastoring a church. John Samara leads a network of pastors in war-torn Islamist countries. Register your family and watch wherever you are! Join us for this special event and be inspired by these testimonies of courageous faith. REGISTER TODAY When you register to host at your church, we’ll send you free downloadable resources to help you publicize the event and a free book offer for everyone attending. HOST AT MY CHURCH

Please forward this email to Christian friends who will be inspired to pray for and support our persecuted Christian family.

Share this special opportunity with your friends and family.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - ‘Giving Wall’ helps Texas congregation scale new heights in generosity

For churches like First Presbyterian of Georgetown, Presbyterian Giving Catalog releases Christmas edition just in time for alternative gift fairs and campaigns

December 13, 2023

Advent and Christmas give members and friends at First Presbyterian Church of Georgetown, Texas, an opportunity 

to actively respond to God’s love through purchasing 

creative gifts offered through the Presbyterian Giving 

Catalog. (Contributed photo)

While Georgetown, Texas, may be best known as home to the famous “Christmas Stroll,” there’s no place in town Christina Bondesen would rather be at Christmas than at Georgetown’s First Presbyterian Church.

That’s home for her.

“Advent and Christmas at First Presbyterian give our members — young and old — an opportunity to actively respond to God’s love for us by giving to others,” she said.

It was the congregation’s commitment to embodying Christ’s love at Christmas by caring for its neighbors near and far that led Bondesen, who serves as the church’s office manager, and the Mission Committee, chaired by Robert Cravens, to choose the Presbyterian Giving Catalog as the foundation for the church’s Advent mission offering last year.

The increasingly popular Presbyterian Giving Catalog — which is now celebrating its 10th anniversary — is filled with a wide variety of gifts that provide real and positive impact around the world, including agricultural tools and training, livestock, aid kits, access to clean water and help to end hunger. For ease of use, the Giving Catalog is available both in print and online, in English, Spanish and Korean.

Lent is another season when Presbyterians turn to creative giving ideas 

found in the Presbyterian Giving Catalog. (Contributed photo)

“Our committee supported the Giving Catalog because it offered a variety of items at different price points that would appeal to a larger number of people,” said Bondesen. “The church’s communications director, Jaime Cowan, and I developed the idea of a dimensional paper Christmas tree that would hang from the church’s newly created ‘Giving Wall’ with ‘ornaments’ to represent the gifts given through the Catalog.”

The new 2023–24 Giving Catalog offers a total of 43 items — large, small and in between ­— to fit everyone’s missional interests and budget.

By far the Giving Catalog’s most popular gifts are the family of chickens, sewing machine, garden well, educate a child, farming tools, piglet, pair of goats, kitchen kit, fishing kit and jerry cans. To help congregations and individuals in making their choice, the Giving Catalog’s order form highlights the “Top $50 and under gifts.”

One of this year’s new items is “Community Sustainability,” available in $25 increments, a gift that offers a reliable source of income that can have a profound impact on families and communities. The new Giving Catalog also features an I Spy Activity and Resources and Ornament Templates and Instructions.

At First Presbyterian Church in Georgetown, Texas, giving stretches 

from wall to wall. (Contributed photo)

Bondesen explained that since the church couldn’t offer all of the items listed in the Giving Catalog, they instead chose a selection in various categories and dollar amounts to make them affordable and accessible to all, especially the church’s children.

“We made a postcard using the information found on the Presbyterian Giving Catalog website to give our members information about each item, and we made a paper ornament using a clip-art representing that item,” she said. “Our members could then select which items they wished to purchase, complete the back of the postcard, place it in the red metal box with their payment, and put an ornament on the tree. It was a fun, colorful, ‘new’ way to use our ‘Giving Wall’ and the committee was very happy with the results.”

Bondesen said that the committee was overjoyed by the church’s generosity, which she attributes in large part to the ways in which the stories behind each Giving Catalog gift are “meaningful and relatable.”

“It was overwhelmingly clear that mission is very important to our congregants and, as the dominant generation changes, it becomes clearer that the younger generations are more about wanting to see their support make real changes instead of just writing a check,” she said. “They want to know where their money is going and how it is being used.”

Because the Christmas offering was so well received, the church later adapted the same concept for the Lenten season using eggs instead of ornaments and a large Easter basket instead of a Christmas tree.

“I am proud as both a church and a staff member that we have such a generous congregation,” Bondesen said, “and I look forward to offering as many giving opportunities as possible as we use our time, money and talents to be God’s hands and feet in the world.”

For further information on hosting an alternative giving market with the Presbyterian Giving Catalog, click here.

Emily Enders Odom, Associate Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Today’s Focus: Presbyterian Giving Catalog releases Christmas edition

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Roger Spalding, Prospect Research Analyst, Relationship & Development Operations, Ministry Engagement & Support, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)
Frank Spencer, President, Board of Pensions

Let us pray

Lord, help us to remember that the holiness you desire is expressed foremost in how we treat our brothers and sisters. May our efforts to equip another generation for justice work be based on our love for you and our desire for your coming kingdom. Amen.