Today in the Mission Yearbook - ‘Our model for that is Jesus’

Sabbatical grants available for new worshiping community leaders

October 26, 2021

1001 New Worshiping Communities (NWC) is offering its leaders and pastors an opportunity for rest, renewal and reflection time through a round of Sabbath and sabbatical grants. There are two opportunities available:

Sabbath retreat grant — A $1,500 award for NWC leaders with at least two years’ experience for a period of at least one week

Sabbatical grant — A $3,500 award for NWC leaders with at least five years’ experience for a period of at least four weeks.

Individuals with at least five years’ experience in new worshiping communities are also eligible for the Sabbath retreat grant.

To apply for one of the grants, visit the 1001 Sabbath & Sabbatical Grants web page here.

The Rev. Jeff Eddings, associate for coaching and spiritual formation with 1001 NWC, said there are 20 Sabbath retreat grants and 17 sabbatical grants available.

“The Sabbath retreat opportunity allows a leader at least one week of sabbath space. They receive $1,500 to help shape that time. The sabbatical grant is at least four weeks, and one receives $3,500 to help shape their time,” said Eddings. “You don’t have to be ordained to receive either of these grants. A lot of our leaders have been doing this work for a long time and not all are ordained.”

Eddings, one of the early pioneers in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s church planting movement, began his career with NWC in late 2017. He explains that sabbaticals are more than just rest — they build spiritual fortitude for the work of church leaders and pastors.

“Our model for that is Jesus. It is very clear in the Scripture that he took time apart frequently and went off on his own to be in contemplative prayer with God, and to be in his own space, to be in the wilderness. Jesus models this way of ministry for us and builds our capacity to be able to do the ministry that is ours,” said Eddings. “It’s a command, God invites us into this space to rest in a way that strengthens us for the work that we’re being called to do.”

According to Eddings, sabbaticals are important tools to help nurture one’s faith journey. Church leaders are often expected to be “on call” 24/7, and depression and burnout are serious and real ramifications of their calling. He hopes these grants provide a transformational opportunity for those who are chosen, and that their Sabbath journey will be life-changing, much like the one that changed him several years ago.

“Metaphorically but somewhat literally, my sabbatical saved my life in terms of where I was personally and in ministry, said Eddings. “I’d been pastoring my community about 10 years and we’d come out of a challenging season which also impacted me personally. I was just ready to be done. Fortunately, my community reflected with me on where I was and helped prepare me to take on the sabbatical. Entering that space was so meaningful and coming out of it I was able to serve my community for five more years and feel refreshed in that service. It helped me understand more fully who I was as a pastor, and who I was being called to be.”

“I think pastors and sometimes communities feel so much pressure to make these sacrifices for Jesus, but Jesus is not calling us to burn out.”

Click here for the Sabbath and sabbatical grant applications in English and Spanish.

 Scott O’Neill, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Daniel Braden, Managing Editor-Publishing, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation
Luci Duckson-Bramble, Director of Development & Services, Presbyterian Historical Society

Let us pray

Gracious God, you have taught us to celebrate with those who are celebrating and to cry with those who are crying. May our eyes be open to see and distinguish between the two. Keep us mindful of all those who need your Spirit shining through us as much as they may need our monies and our labors. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Building faith connections that last a lifetime

Formative events including Triennium can help form ‘a deep, personal desire to serve’

October 25, 2021

In the late 1980s, when I was serving as a youth group leader in my local congregation, my pastor invited me to attend a gathering that I recognize now as the early stages of a new movement for youth in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Even as I was being drawn headlong into the phenomenon that was — and still is — the Presbyterian Youth Triennium, I had no idea how the lens through which I viewed the PC(USA) was about to change.

As I look back, I realize that by sending me to Triennium, my youth minister was nurturing my personal commitment to Jesus Christ while also fostering my gifts for inspiring my peers and reaching out to youth both in the church and the local community. Newly energized, I set about building relationships and encouraging participation in worship, Sunday school, retreats and mission trips, which in many instances helped introduce life-giving ministry to young people with no previous connection to the PC(USA) — young people who were facing the challenges of poverty and structural racism in their daily lives.

These were the formative days of what would become for me a deep, personal desire to serve and to create a foundation of faith as set forth in Psalm 71:17: “O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.”

Nowadays, I always pair that verse with the PC(USA)’s Matthew 25 invitation and our denomination’s renewed emphasis on building congregational vitality, dismantling structural racism and eradicating systemic poverty, goals that have been at the heart of the Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program since its inception nearly three decades ago.

Through the program — in which a traditional YAV year runs from August to August — young adults ages 19–30 are invited to engage in world issues, commit to self-reflection and learn about the “least of these,” all while living out the Matthew 25 vision as they lean into “a year of service for a lifetime of change.”

According to Destini Hodges, interim coordinator for the YAV program, because the YAV program has been heavily focused on racial reconciliation and poverty for the past 27 years, it has been part of the Matthew 25 invitation even before it became a vision of the whole Church.

YAVs are supported, in part, through the Pentecost Offering, one of the PC(USA)’s four Special Offerings. Not only does the offering benefit the YAV program, but it also supports the Presbyterian Youth Triennium — so transformational in my own life — and the Educate a Child, Transform the World national initiative. A unique feature of this shared offering is that 40% of it is retained by individual congregations for local ministries while the remaining 60% is used to support children-at-risk, youth and young adults through ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. Please join us in helping to build future leaders and, in so doing, proclaiming God’s wondrous deeds.

Lynne Foreman, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Mission Engagement Advisor, Northeast Region and Young Adult Volunteer program

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Terri Bowman, Customer Service Representative, Hubbard Press, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)
Jeff and Christi Boyd, Mission co-workers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

God, your compassion for all your children is reflected in the lies of so many people in your church. We thank you for their quiet faithfulness as they minister each in his and her own way to those around them. Amen.

Minute for Mission: United Nations Day 2021 – Vision for a Better World

October 24 2021

On this day in 1945, the United Nations Charter came into force. “We the Peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war … to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours …”

From our office you can see the large United Nations flag fluttering in the wind high above the General Assembly building.The flag is a familiar sight recognized around the world. Its two olive branches symbolizing peace are tied together in the shape of the palm of the hand embracing all the peoples and countries around the world. The blue background signifying peaceful environment. For many around the world who have endured war and conflict, famine, natural disasters and more recently displacement from the effects of climate change, the U.N. flag has been a symbol of hope and refuge.

Several years ago, I took a friend on a tour of the U.N. Without any prompting, she said, “Oct. 24 is United Nations Day.” When asked how she knew, she answered that the U.N. troops came and helped her country to end the ongoing war. She was grateful for the intervention. Today, the U.N. is present in many countries around the world — from Afghanistan to Haiti to Syria — distributing aid and vaccines, keeping the peace, protecting and working for dignity of all people.

The United Nations began as a great experiment after the devastation of World Wars in the last century. The world continues to look to the U.N. as a beacon of hope recognizing that it has a crucial role to play in the world.

As followers of Christ, we too have a role to play. We have been given a simple and yet powerful command: Love one another as Jesus Christ has loved us. Be a good neighbor. May we fulfil the Matthew 25 vision to lend a hand to those who are in need and provide refuge and hope that transcends national boundaries. And work for the peaceable kin-dom here on earth.

Sue Rheem, Representative to the United Nations, Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Margaret Boone, Project Manager, Special Offerings, Mission Engagement & Support, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Shonita Bossier, Vice President, Operations, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray

Creator God, we pray for all your children on earth, of every nation and of every race; that we may be strong to do your work. We pray for the Church in the world. Give peace in our time, O God. For the United Nations, for all governments and their leaders, give peace in our time, O God. For worldwide agencies of caring which bind wounds and feed the hungry, give peace in our time, O God. For all who seek to transform systems that wound give peace in our time, O God. For all who work for justice and peace, give peace in our time, O God. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Chat with author yields advice on how to get rigid churches to talk about race

The Rev. Dr. Carolyn Helsel and the Rev. Jimmie Hawkins offer tips as newly revised book is released

October 23, 2021

During a virtual discussion on helping white people talk about racism, a compelling question popped up in the chat box. The gist: How can a person bring up antiracism in a church where most members don’t want any more change and would prefer to go back to “better times”?

That was one of the topics on the minds of more than 40 people who gathered to hear author and Presbyterian minister Dr. Carolyn B. Helsel chat with the Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, Associate Director of Advocacy for the Compassion, Peace & Justice ministries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

The online event dovetailed with the release of the second edition of Helsel’s book, “Anxious to Talk About It: Helping White People Talk Faithfully About Racism” (Chalice Press).

In response to the question about bringing up antiracism in a rigid church, Helsel reached back to ancient times as a way to suggest offering personal testimony.

“The leaders of the young church were constantly evolving and being converted anew into new ways of thinking and new ways of interacting with one another, and they had to tell other people about their experience,” including receiving visions from God, said Helsel, Associate Professor in the Blair Monie Distinguished Chair in Homiletics at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Taking a similar approach today, a person could explain how they’ve changed and grown as a result of conversations and interactions with people of color, Helsel said. For example, you might say, “These are the gifts that I have experienced as a result of these friendships and … hard stories that have been shared with me, and this is the hard story of my coming to realize this for the first time.”

Such testimonies “can help us enter the conversation and bring our churches to a more open conversation” about this topic, she said.

Hawkins offered advice about how to approach people and advised against expecting a quick fix.

“I think oftentimes we have to make people feel that their position is being treated fairly, that people are being heard,” he said. “But, again, it’s a process that you have to go through. There’s not going to be any easy answer to changing a church culture that has taken 100 years to develop.”

He went on to stress the importance of being “willing to walk with people, and again, making people feel that we’re in a level of engagement with one another,” rather than trying to shame people, he said. “We all are flawed children of God,” but at the same time, “there is a calling from God for a more just society, for a more beloved community,” and racism hampers efforts to achieve that.

He also talked about incremental change. “I think one of the things that we can do is make sure that we’re presenting the issue of race in a way that people can begin to at least sit down at the table and begin to engage in a conversation, and then as we go along, to make it more in-depth … dealing with issues that are right there in front of us,” he said.

Getting young people to speak up can help, he said. “We’ve got to acknowledge the leadership that young people have to bring us to a different place and challenge us in ways” that might not be comfortable, he said. “Members who are hesitant will take it a lot better from a young person than they will from the minister or from an elder in the church.”

Earlier in the discussion, Helsel expressed appreciation for the advocacy work of Hawkins and the Presbyterian Office of Public Witness, which he leads.

“For me, learning about the work of my denomination and what they’re doing on a national level has been inspiring for me on the local level to show up at the Texas Capitol when they’re talking about … voter registration laws that are going to make it harder for folks to vote and standing up and making a statement,” she said. “So having some greater courage because of the gifts that I have witnessed has helped me live out my faith” in a new way.

Darla Carter, Communications Associate, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Jacqueline Boersema, Director Financial Education, Board of Pensions
Raymond Bonwell, Corporate Secretary, Board of Pensions

Let us pray

Gracious God, may we be open to your freshness and your recreative work in our midst. Repurpose us to do your work as we live into your kingdom. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Is the church really dying? Or is it dying to change?

University of Pennsylvania Religious Studies professor talks prophetic preaching during the Festival of Homiletics’ opening day

October 22, 2021

Dr. Anthea Butler

Like great Black preachers from previous generations, including Dr. James Cone and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., modern-day prophetic preachers have two main jobs, Dr. Anthea Butler said during the first day of the online Festival of Homiletics: bringing solace to people in the pews in times of trouble and speaking truth to power.

“The gospel can bring news that confronts and challenges us and demands a hearing,” said Butler, the chair of Religious Studies and Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. “In a time when people won’t get their vaccines, there are hard messages that need to be said,” even to congregations that haven’t worshiped in person together in more than a year. “We have to measure what we say.”

Butler’s talk was titled “Preaching the Tough Positions: Persuasive, Prophetic Preaching for a New Age.”

“Is the church really dying? Or is it dying to change,” organizers ask on the festival homepage. “How can the church recapture what it was in the first century — a distinctive, confessional community, willing to stand against the status quo, to speak up against the empire and to stand for the gospel — in a 21st century context?”

As a historian, Butler looks at “the times people had hard messages to say,” occasions when they “had to confront something awful.” When speaking with the congregation about “strident” issues including, for example, getting vaccinated or reopening schools, “approach it directly with truth,” Butler advised the preachers, part of the crowd of more than 1,400 viewers.

Instead, what Butler often hears from the pulpit is anecdotal stories about the preachers themselves. “If you begin to talk about facts, people will focus on what you are saying,” Butler said.

“Your job is not just giving the message,” Butler told the preachers. “People want to trust you and trust one another. It that trust is broken, you are not just wounding yourself. You’re wounding them.”

Ask yourself this, Butler suggested: “Do I want to make a political statement rather than making a statement from the gospel? We have people [in our congregations] who want to fight for certain political activity. What are truthful ways to give people voices? How we deal with our congregations is an important part of truth-telling and prophetic witness in this particular age we are in.”

Parishioners now have plenty of voices they can hear via social media, “but [preachers] are there only once or twice a week. … It’s important for you to think about how you will talk to your parishioners. What are you watching? Who is influencing you now?”

Worshipers of all ages can take in online worship services from anywhere in the world. Butler’s mother, a woman in her 80s, “looks at masses from all over the world, and she tells me about them.”

Contrast that with biblical times, when “prophets would walk to and fro, but they didn’t have much competition,” Butler said.

“Is you message uplifting or challenging? Is it something you took from someone else?” Butler asked the preachers. “How do you use what you are given to have impact in a world with a cacophony of messages?”

Take care of yourselves, Butler urged preachers. Many pastors are thinking about retiring or leaving ministry because the pandemic has made their work so difficult. “How is that affecting you? You are tired and weary. You’re worn out, and the circumstances of the pandemic have taken a lot from you too,” including congregants who died during the pandemic, declining membership and dwindling contributions.

Like the preachers who served before the current generation — say, those called to preach during the Civil War— “your relationship to God is going to fuel the prophetic preaching that you have.” Take time to be silent, meditate and “think about the ways your life has been impacted and how your preaching has changed,” Butler said. “The call of God on your life may not now be as strong as it was.”

“That’s when prophetic preaching is the strongest — when we take the time to rest and to contemplate, reflect and renew,” Butler said. “I ask you today to consider that.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Ricky Blade, Customer Service Consultant, Communications Ministry, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Michele Blum, Managing Director of Editorial, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation

Let us pray

Precious Creator, we thank you for faithful witness. Bless them and guide them by your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Beltway-area church receives ‘best of’ award

Founding pastor of Brambleton Presbyterian Church says the honor means the 2005 church plant is trusted and seen as credible

October 21, 2021

the Rev. Elizabeth Brookens-Sturman

The founding pastor of  Brambleton Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Elizabeth Brookens-Sturman, remembers what it was like to establish a new Christian church presence in the area just beyond the Capital Beltway. That’s why she isn’t taking lightly Brambleton’s honor of being named the “best of” churches in Ashburn, Virginia, announced in a recent issue of a local magazine.

Thirty miles west-northwest of Washington, D.C., and part of the Washington Metropolitan area, Brambleton Presbyterian Church began as a new church plant in 2005. The plan was that the church would be fully independent, including leadership and finances, within five years. Then came the financial crisis of 2007–08, which set the church back a bit.

“It’s hard to establish a Christian presence in the nation’s capital right now,” she said. “It didn’t happen overnight. But we took the time and had a plan in place to establish leadership within the community.”

For Brookens-Sturman, being named “best of” by the readers of Ashburn Magazine  means that Brambleton Presbyterian Church is trusted and seen as credible. Calling 2020 a “tipping point year,” the church’s leadership was out in the community more than ever, helping people live through the pandemic.

 “These are crazy times,” Brookens-Sturman said. “People need help on what was being talked about in the public faith arena. Many wanted to know if there was a Christian faith practice that would make a difference.”

With mental health issues escalating throughout the area, Brookens-Sturman felt the church needed to be a presence in the community it served to help people heal and come together in God’s grace.  One way she helped do this was by creating opportunities for people of diverse faith backgrounds, including Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians, to serve together.

“What we have in common is that we pray,” she said. “We need God to help us. Our faith traditions demand that we respond charitably to one another.”

So, they serve and pray together, publicly.

Brookens-Sturman stressed that being named “best of” doesn’t mean Brambleton Presbyterian Church is better than the other churches around it. But it is, she said, “a kind of embrace” to her and to those she is anchored to.

“There was a lot of work involved, mine and our leadership team,” she said. “But the Presbytery [National Capital], the denomination [PC(USA)], Vienna Presbyterian Church and Riverside Presbyterian Church [partner congregations] all had a long-term commitment to spring a church. That gives me a lot of hope.”

Now these entities are beginning the process of starting a new worshiping community on the other side of the Beltway in Clarksburg, Maryland. Only this time Brambleton Presbyterian Church is acting as the partner congregation. The organizing pastor, the Rev. Carrie Yearick, is filling in for Brookens-Sturman, who is on a three-month sabbatical.

Currently Brambleton Presbyterian Church is meeting in a school building. But that will change in the not-to-distant future. A developer in Louden County is building a Performing Arts Center and has offered the church access to the building on Sunday mornings. There’s even a sign in the Civic Center that announces “The future home of Brambleton Presbyterian Church.”

“We’ve never been about a building, but about being a presence that is focused on one person, God’s grace revealed in Christ,” Brookens-Sturman said. “And then being Spirit-inspired healing forces” by “bringing people together around what we have in common.”

Brookens-Sturman is also one of the 1001 new worshiping community coaches. In 2012, the 220th General Assembly of the PC(USA) declared a commitment to a churchwide movement resulting in the creation of 1001 worshiping communities over the next 10 years. At a grassroots level, nearly 600 diverse new worshiping communities have formed across the nation. 

Paul Seebeck, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Barbara Betts, Senior Administrative Assistant, Presbyterian Distribution Service, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)
Teresa Bidart, Bilingual Mission Specialist, Self-Development of People, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

O Lord, your church spreads across the world to bring the good news to all who would receive it. Be with church leaders and congregation members as they seek to do your will on good days and on difficult days. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Changes are coming to Triennium, a life-changing event for thousands of Presbyterian youth and young adults

A new venue and new way of being in small groups are designed to enhance the beloved event, which takes on a Matthew 25 focus

October 20, 2021

Triennium worshipers celebrate amidst a confetti shower at the conclusion of Saturday worship. (Photo by Rich Copley)

The 2022 version of Presbyterian Youth Triennium will feature a Matthew 25 framework, activities that will extend a full year following Triennium and enough innovation to send thousands of high schoolers and young adults scurrying to register — once registration goes live this winter.

Among other changes, organizers are moving the popular every-three-years event, set for July 24–27, 2022, from the campus of Purdue University, which has hosted Triennium since 1983, to a place where everyone involved can enjoy around-the-clock air conditioning: the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, as well as at least eight nearby hotels, most of them connected to the convention center by pedestrian walkways. All attendees will enjoy their meals together in a large assembly hall at the convention center. Meals together will also include Bible study, games — and one of PYT’s signature components, music.

The theme for the gathering of high school-aged youth from the PC(USA) and Cumberland Presbyterian Churches, said Gina Yeager-Buckley, Associate for the PC(USA)’s Presbyterian Youth and Triennium, is “When Did We See You?” Taken from Jesus’ Judgment of the Nations as depicted in Matthew 25:31-46, the theme is designed to engage young people with seeing, acting, awareness and a number of justice qualities, including just living and “just being just,” she said. The mission priorities at the heart of the Matthew 25 invitation— dismantling structural racism, eradicating systemic poverty and building congregational vitality — will be explored in depth, “as they are the foundational content for the whole event,” according to Yeager-Buckley.

Another innovation: rather than meeting in small groups as before, attendees will explore Triennium themes as part of about 15 “Lens Labs,” such as through poetry. Youth who would rather stay in a small group can do so using a small group guide. Participants will “choose how to explore the Scripture based on passion, interest or curiosity,” Yeager-Buckley said.

“Truthfully, this generation of young people — they are profoundly, seriously ready to go when it comes to race and poverty,” Yeager-Buckley said. “They are more passionate about the environment, about fairness, about how a person is truly ‘themselves’ — as God made them — and how they tackle, disarm and embark upon the serious path of healing.” Congregational vitality, a Matthew 25 focus many see as a natural fit with Triennium, comes “from vigilance and action,” she said. “It can stem from idealism that then evolves into a deep resonance and understanding. That’s where we’re going with PYT 2022.”

 While organizers are waiting until fall to announce Triennium leadership, Yeager-Buckley said the leaders selected are “exciting” and “excited about the 2022 event.”

“There is this sense that all of us are embarking on a new adventure to connect younger Presbyterians with each other, to the world as it is and to how God calls them to see and do. When you have that feeling — as planners, leaders, chaperones, parents — you feel gratitude and a sort of scary joy, because it’s a change. And the world is tough. And our young people are so ready to see and do.”

During the year following Triennium, youth will build on their experience through an approach called PYT Beyond. Those opportunities will include resources, opportunities, traveling retreats, leader development seminars and mission experiences, both in-person and virtual, all employing the PYT theme and content.

Those post-Triennium events “will expand and deepen the impact of the excellent content the event and its leadership create,” Yeager-Buckley said. A full ministry team called “PYT-B” is at work fleshing out these features.

“This is something we have wanted to do for the past decade, so that the impact lasts longer and goes more deeply,” Yeager-Buckley said. “We know Triennium is impactful, but what makes it more impactful is taking it and sharing it.”

 The cost for youth to attend is $515. Adults will pay $535. Registration information can be found at presbyterianyouthtriennium.org.

Mike Ferguson, editor, Presbyterian News Service, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Deborah Bernard, Executive Assistant to the President, Board of Pensions
Mary Jo Besspiata, Administrative Assistant II, Executive Director’s Office, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Loving God, may we be part of the healing and, in being so, be healed ourselves. In the name of Jesus, Amen.