Today in the Mission Yearbook - Jesus Christ is the same — yesterday, today and forever

‘The one thing I am certain of’

August 20, 2020

Sydney Rae/Unsplash

Even when writing in times of national crisis (9/11) and personal loss, words never abandoned me as they have now. I’m not sure what to write because I don’t know what our lives will be like by the time you read this.

What I do know is that the comfort we took in the predictability of our rinse-and-repeat lives screeched to a halt during Lent, when COVID-19 brought us phrases like “flatten the curve” and “social distancing.” The pandemic made us scramble for alternative ways to work, school our children and preach God’s Word. It was truly a Lenten journey in which the invitation to walk more closely with Christ was no longer an option, but mandatory.

The world was given a divine timeout that it needed. And with fatalities from the virus rising, concerns for my elderly parents, disabled brother and truck driver husband had me reevaluating what was really important. Was I being true to myself — to God’s call in my life? The goats on my “someday” list edged higher up.

Still, I couldn’t stop thinking how bidding adieu to the old world wasn’t bad. I saw images of China’s atmosphere clearing as fewer cars on the road meant fewer fumes in the air. I heard stories of time-stressed families sitting down to a meal together. I also saw more clearly the changes that still needed to happen high-speed internet for rural areas, health coverage and paid sick time for all, etc. And, I caught a glimpse of Presbyterians stepping out of their comfort zones to try something new like streaming worship online. These steps have been long overdue.

For far too long we have been wandering in the wilderness questioning God’s guidance. Behind the questioning were our personal agendas to get back the church of yesterday — to be the church we wanted, not what God wants. As a pastor, I’ve felt the frustration of leading God’s children into uncharted territory, where new ideas, like moving Sunday school away from Sunday and slowing down all programming to pray more, were looked upon as crazy.

One of the craziest ideas I had was that of being a “modern-day circuit rider” in my rural area. I suggested that the churches use video conferencing to “beam” me in on a given Sunday. I would preach in person at one church per week, with the other churches tuning in online. Each church would have me in person one Sunday a month and utilize virtual preaching the other Sundays. The idea tanked. No one was willing to risk using technology in such a way on Sunday morning. That was three years ago.

Now COVID-19 has created a deluge of Presbyterian YouTube personalities who have had to master online worship overnight. I, too, picked up the camera again and resurrected my idea of online devotionals filmed at my Vermont “farm” — remember, I still need to get those goats. When I posted the videos to the church’s Facebook page, something happened: They were well received! The crazy idea wasn’t so crazy after all.

I believe we are only beginning to process the impact COVID-19 will have on our ministries. I also believe that the impact goes beyond the use of technology. This isn’t about becoming the next televangelists, but about being faithful in serving God’s children within the context to which God has called us. For some, that might mean utilizing the old-fashioned phone tree to keep connected with parishioners. And that’s OK. Wherever we go, I just pray we don’t go backward. I pray we dare to risk big and boldly for the glory of God.

Now I see something beautiful that I didn’t see before. I see the reassuring message that in our changing world, God is still working through us. No matter what happens, Jesus Christ is the same — yesterday, today and forever.

 Donna Frischknecht Jackson, Editor, Presbyterians Today

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Shelly Lewis, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)
Tony Lewis, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation

Let us pray:

Gracious and loving God, show us the way with your compassionate, freeing love. Amen.

Rethinking Evangelism registration is open

Rethinking Evangelism registration is open: Missing Montreat programs? Take a look at a few of our upcoming events. Re...

Rethinking Evangelism registration is open

Missing Montreat programs? Take a look at a few of our upcoming events.

Rethinking Evangelism October 12-14 This online event, in partnership with Theology, Formation & Evangelism in the Presbyterian Mission Agency reconsiders what effective evangelism might look like in their particular neighborhoods and communities. Join leaders Ray Jones, Jerry Cannon, Ralph Watkins, and more. Register here.

Wee Kirk October 19-21 The Wee Kirk conference aspires to provide Christ-centered opportunities for inspiration, encouragement, and community among leaders of small membership churches so they can do the same in their congregations and regions. There are only 80 spots available. Register here.

Healthy Congregations October 21-23 This is an in person event. Facilitator training workshops will include: Creating a Healthy Congregation; Response to Anxiety and Change; Leadership in a Healthy Congregation; Relationships in a Healthy Congregation; Healthy Congregations Develop Generous People; and Spiritual Care of Healthy Congregations. Learn more here.

Crossroads Antiracism Training October 23-25 This online and/or in person Crossroads antiracism training will specifically address the political challenges facing the church in light of how the coronavirus pandemic has laid bare the acute structural inequities of the USA and their impact on communities of color, particularly Black, Indigenous, and Immigrant communities. Register here.

Book a fall Sabbath getaway in the mountains September 2-December 13 Getaway to Montreat for special sabbath $100/night rates in the historic Assembly Inn. Give you and your family a place to relax and renew your spirits in the mountains this fall. Book here.

Interested in camping? Our campground is open for reservations through October 31st! Book here.

Montreat@Home Register for our online youth program and lead your middle and high school youth throughout the fall 2020 or spring 2021 semester. The program is designed with flexibility to fit your group! Learn more about the program.

More Fall Events

Click to read more about these online and/or in-person events.

Fall Craft Week | Postponed to September 2021. Learn more here.

NC School Celtic Consciousness | Postponed to 2021. Learn more here.

Women's Connection | Postponed to September 2021. Learn more here.

Rethinking Evangelism | October 12-14. Learn more here.

CTS Spiritual Formation | October 12-November 6. Learn more here.

A Virtual Program with John Philip Newell | October 18. Learn more here.

Wee Kirk | October 19-21. Learn more here.

Healthy Congregations | October 21-23. Learn more here.

Crossroads Antiracism Training | October 23-25. Learn more here.

Finding Comfort and Hope | October 30-November 1. Learn more here.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - ‘Community’ is redefined in view of COVID-19

I don’t want to return to ‘normal’

August 19, 2020

William White/Unsplash

Social distancing as a way to flatten the curve of COVID-19’s spread has created many questions about how to maintain a sense of community while not physically coming together in one space. For Christians, though, the social distancing that resulted from the worldwide spread of a virus raises a pressing question: How do we understand ourselves as the church when we can’t meet in person?

John Calvin proclaimed that the marks of the true church are the gospel rightly preached and the sacraments rightly administered. So, if the existence of the church is indicated by its worship, as Calvin said — the Word preached and the sacraments rightly administered — what does the current diaspora mean for the church?

I want to explore four traditional characteristics of church that, although most clearly expressed and reinforced when we gather together, can apply to the Christian life well beyond worship held in a church building.

The first is call, which is best experienced in the corporate Call to Worship that opens many a Sunday service. Presbyterians believe that God’s grace is “prevenient”; that is, that God acts first. The Christian life — and worship itself — is begun by God calling us to God’s self, into his own kingdom and glory (1 Thessalonians 2:12). However, during a time of sheltering we are reminded that this call can happen every day, anywhere. Daily Prayer from the PC(USA) “Book of Common Worship” offers this call in the form of prayer — morning, midday, evening and at the close of day — inviting us to a new rhythm of worship beyond a church building. How else can you open yourself to hear God’s call?

The call of God then leads us into confession — the telling of the truth about ourselves, about God and about the relationship of the human and divine. Our words express and form our faith, telling it like it is and shaping us for what is yet to be. This truth-telling includes the confession of sin and the responding assurance/confession of God’s mercy. It is truth told in our formal confessions of the faith (The Apostles’ Creed, the Brief Statement, etc.). It is truth presented in the ways the Word of God comes to us in worship and life — in song and prayer, in Scripture and preaching, in the witness of nature and of others. It is shared truths and traditions mutually accessible even when we are apart. Is there a prayer, song or other devotional practice you can commit to sharing at the same time as others?

Confession then prepares us for the element of worship traditionally defined as the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup — communion — although it includes the passing of the peace and fellowship time. Without being able to break bread together or touch hands in a hearty shake, communion as the church takes on new expression. When I studied communion in the PC(USA), it became clear that all kinds of ways of receiving the elements were viewed as “communing together.” Just as God’s action among us is not hampered by particular models of participation in a communion meal, God is not hampered by our inability to get together. The church is the church every time we choose to lean on one another, passing the peace by phone, text or computer. The church is the church when a simple table grace is said, asking God to join us all together in love and communion.

Lastly, the fourth characteristic of what church has always been about, still is and always will be, is commissioning. In baptism we join Jesus’ disciple-making work of bringing Good News to all. Commissioning is for the work of the church in the world — no matter how we meet, where we meet or if we cannot meet together. How can we express our love of neighbor and reveal that the church is strengthened by the very necessity of finding new ways to socially connect? What gratitude can we express to God, together or apart? How can we live out the call, confession, communion and commissioning, not just as traditional Sunday morning rubrics, but as the very framework for being the church today?

 Barb Hedges-Goettl, a PC(USA) pastor who, with her husband, Len, co-pastors a small neighborhood church outside of Philadelphia, has a Ph.D. in liturgical studies, which began with an interest in what it means to be the church.

Let us join in prayer for:   

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Clare Lewis, Presbyterian Investment & Loan Program
Nina Lewis, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray:

Almighty God, giver of all good gifts, bless our efforts to provide to the people of this world. Through these efforts, may more of your children know the abundant life that Christ came to bring us. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Does the church dare to move forward?

I don’t want to return to ‘normal’

August 18, 2020

The Rev. Donna Frischknecht Jackson

As a pastor, I am fielding calls now about getting back into our sanctuary for worship. It seems this desire to get back to “normal” is becoming the new virus sweeping the nation. In a way I can understand the longing to return to worship in a sanctuary. I have a rural congregation with older members who have not been all that quick to embrace virtual worship. I’ll admit, though, I’m in no hurry to return to traditional church. I find something exciting in what God is doing with video devotionals and sermons.

Case in point: This past Maundy Thursday we were going to have a dinner followed by a Tenebrae service. There would have been anywhere from nine to maybe 13 people attending. I would have spent about 15 hours planning the service, doing bulletins, coordinating music and then actually driving an hour to the church to lead the worship.

COVID-19 changed that. Instead, I did a video devotional from the porch of my Vermont home and put it on Facebook. By the following morning, more than 100 people watched and 15 shared the message. Traditional worship would have gathered 13 people max. Virtual worship welcomed many more. I think the opportunity God is presenting us with is a new way of getting the good news out beyond the cloistered four walls of our sanctuaries. We’ve already begun doing so with virtual worship. Why stop now?

Why? Because the god of traditional church has a tight grip on its children, and as its grip tightens, I feel my heart racing because it just doesn’t feel right to go backward.

Early this week I began working on an agenda for a church meeting. As I did, I noticed something unsettling. There were many pre-pandemic business items on it. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t discuss replacing the church furnace. Not at all. But am I the only one who hears these conversations as a bit strange in the time we are in now? What happened to the time we have been given in our divine timeout to discern a new way forward? We have been presented an opportunity to reboot our lives, rethink our churches, reassess what’s really important — yes, we need a furnace, but I don’t want that to take over our discussions. I want the space to breathe in the Spirit of newness.

Today, I woke up sad because of all the talk of reopening our world and getting back to business as usual. After three cups of coffee, sadness gave way to a realization: I don’t want normal.

I don’t want to go back to what was. I want what can be. I have been wanting that as a pastor for a long time. I’ve been wanting to use technology to share the “old, old story of Jesus and his love” with more people beyond our little community.

I have also been campaigning for us to see our time of corporate worship beyond traditional Sunday mornings. After all, studies show fewer and fewer people are wanting to give up their Sunday mornings to go to a church building. They’re not saying they don’t want God. They just don’t want access to God to be so limited — only available at 10 a.m. on Sunday at the church building.

The truth is, I don’t want to get back to normal, because that normal was killing me. It was zapping my creativity. It was trying to measure success by how much I took on and got done. It affirmed my worth by the accolades I received. Normal was not normal. It was a half-life. It was shallow. It was wearing me down. Yet we seem to be rushing back to all that is not life-giving.

I have a church meeting tomorrow. I wonder how I will share with my dedicated elders that their pastor doesn’t want to be normal. I wonder if any would want to join me in discovering a richer, deeper, bolder life. I wonder if they will want to call a new pastor, one that is content with the old way of being the church. I wonder: Am I the only person who doesn’t want “normal”?

Donna Frischknecht Jackson, Editor, Presbyterians Today

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Brad Levy, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)
Bridgette Lewis, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray:

Dear Lord, thank you that no matter who we are, you love us. Thank you for your presence with us today. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Forman Christian College continues to offer education in Pakistan amid pandemic

Flexibility, tireless work ethic and technology are keys to carry on despite COVID-19

August 17, 2020

Students at Forman Christian College in Lahore, Pakistan, study together in the fall of 2019, prior to the pandemic. (Photo by Robyn Davis Sekula)

Though in-person classes are suspended at Forman Christian College in Lahore, Pakistan, faculty are doing all they can to ensure that the university’s more than 5,000 students are still receiving an education.

After two weeks of rewriting course objectives and outlines, faculty began teaching virtually on March 30. If students don’t have internet access, packets that include lectures and coursework are being mailed to students.

And in several cases of extreme dedication, a faculty member called a student and read the student the lecture for that day’s class so the student could keep up. Other faculty have loaned out used laptops and smartphones.

Flexibility and tireless dedication are part of the work ethic of Forman, which was founded in 1864 by Dr. Charles W. Forman, a Presbyterian missionary. The college served India and then Pakistan for more than 150 years. It’s prepared to survive the COVID-19 pandemic, too.

“We did our budget projections through December, taking a fairly pessimistic view,” says Dr. James Tebbe, rector of Forman Christian College. “I have to admit I was very relieved when I saw that we could keep all of our faculty and staff.”

Diligent stewardship has helped Forman’s leadership build up reserves that are helping cushion the university during this time. Technology improvements on campus have been key as well, Tebbe says. The school also has its own water supply and electrical system that augments water supplied by the city. This has been helpful in allowing the staff who live on campus, including Tebbe, to remain safely sequestered.

Out of 5,000 or so university students, about 100 do not have internet access, estimates Cheryl Burke, head of Academic Advising at Forman. Only about 50 cannot be reached; some may have changed phone numbers or email addresses recently.

During her 16-year tenure at Forman, Burke has been largely responsible for student activities and how they augment academics on campus. She’s helped the college turn its attention toward helping students succeed. Her most recent position is serving as head of the Academic Advising Center, which works with students to ensure they have what they need to complete courses and graduate on time. This work has helped Forman build a strong foundation for academic success — and it’s part of why students can continue to succeed off campus while learning at home.

Burke’s work is sponsored by Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta.

“Our students are doing really well,” Burke says. “The biggest issue is the emotional toll it is taking. We’ve received a lot of panicky emails from students. We’re telling them, ‘Just breathe. It will be OK.’”

Forman has been on a rapid growth trajectory for the past few years, Tebbe says. The campus is busy and crowded in normal circumstances.

Enrollment may take a dip in the fall, Tebbe says, and Forman is preparing for that financially.

For Christians in Pakistan, Forman is a place where they can receive an education on an equal playing field with non-Christian students, says Rev. Sam Schreiner, executive director of the Friends of Forman, a nonprofit organization that supports Forman Christian College.

Christians are about 2% of the population in Pakistan. Christian churches have been targeted for violence. Christians are given far fewer opportunities to receive an education and do not have access to the same services as others. In many cases, Christians are given the most menial of jobs for low pay. Scholarships funded by contributions from the U.S. are crucially important to allowing students to rise above these circumstances, Schreiner says.

Christians make up 12% of the Forman student body, and 80% of them need some form of scholarship.

The other important cultural aspect of Forman is that Muslim and Christian students can study alongside each other, which is a rarity in Pakistan, Schreiner says. They can get to know each other as friends, and change perceptions of each other. “Forman is doing so much more than providing an education in Pakistan,” Schreiner says. “Forman is changing the culture of Pakistan and modeling tolerance.”

Robyn Davis Sekula, Vice President of Communications and Marketing for the Presbyterian Foundation, a ruling elder in the PC(USA) and an active member of Highland Presbyterian Church in Louisville

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Shanea Leonard, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Heather Leoncini, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray:

 Loving Lord, thank you for those who hold so much hope and potential. Work through your people to enable them to grow in faith, wisdom and skill to become positive agents of change to your glory. Amen.