Minute for Mission: Transgender Day of Remembrance

November 20, 2021

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Transgender Day of Remembrance is a day to name and mourn the many transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming people murdered each year because of their gender identity. On this day, we raise awareness of the extreme violence committed against transgender people simply for existing as they are. On this day, we commit to the work of creating a healed world where all gender identities and gender presentations are met with not only respect but celebration.

Unfortunately, fear and hatred of transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming people is stoked and encouraged by anti-transgender legislation that undermines the right of each of us to name ourselves and live according to our true identities. Politicians arguing over access to public restrooms and children’s sports teams undergird the irrational fear and hatred transgender people are forced to navigate in a world questioning their basic human rights. Discriminatory barriers to fair access to housing and employment put transgender people at increased risk of exposure to violence. Transwomen of color experience the highest risk of discrimination and violence due to the intersection of their racial and gender identities, those most vulnerable to oppression in our society.

In 2020, the Human Rights Campaign recorded 44 murders of transgender and gender-nonconforming people due to their gender presentation, and by October 2021, the number was up to 38 for that year. (See “Fatal Violence Against the Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Community in 2021”: hrc.org/resources/fatal-violence-against-the-transgender-and-gender-non-conforming-community-in-2021.)  

In the context of the church, the erasure or ignoring of gender identities beyond male and female as well as the use of Scripture and theology as tools of exclusion and violence have made it challenging or impossible for transgender people to thrive in many communities of faith. In 2018, the 223rd General Assembly approved the overture Affirming and Celebrating the Full Dignity and Humanity of People of All Gender Identities. The fact that we need to affirm the dignity and humanity of any group of people signals how far we still have to go in recognizing the beauty of our Creator’s full image reflected in the vast diversity of Creation. Even so, the PC(USA) has committed to celebrating God’s image lived out in all people and to working for a world where all can not only have life, but life abundant.

Courtney J. Hoekstra, M.Div, Th.M., Associate for Advocacy Committee Support, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Norma Cunningham, Accountant/Investments & Audits, Presbyterian Foundation
Patricia Curtis, Production Clerk, Hubbard Press, Administrative Services Group (A Corp) 

Let us pray

Breathe courage and love into us today, Creator. Make our words and actions those that overturn oppression and violence and create a world honoring every being made in your image. May we not rest until all may freely and abundantly live into the fullness of who you created them to be.

Churches, Denominations and Religions: Today in the Mission Yearbook - Air Force Chief of Chaplains has retired, but not from ‘soul care’

Churches, Denominations and Religions: Today in the Mission Yearbook - Air Force Chief of Chaplains has retired, but not from ‘soul care’: Presbyterian minister Major General Steven Schaick looks forward to next chapter of life in service to God November 19, 2021 Chief of Chapla...

Distinctive Advent prayers//Worship and Whiteness

Say, “come,” alternating with “ven” and then “vem.” Distinctive advent prayers and calls to worship by Cláudio Carvalhaes Many people are feeling, in one way or another, that the world is moving toward a difficult place, that we are moving toward an impending collective death. Inequality soars. The vast majority of people around the earth are getting poorer....What prayers are Christians called to pray during these times?  READ MORE Jesus celebrated Hanukkah! Jesus before Christmas by Rebekah Simon Peter Christmas wasn’t always part of the Christian experience. There’s no record that Jesus or his disciples or the early church celebrated Christmas at all, as they did all the Jewish holy days and holidays. In fact, the first Christmas or Christ Mass wasn’t celebrated until the 4th century.   READ MORE Black's Chapel founded in West Virginia by Circuit Rider Samuel Black Worship and Whiteness by Andrew Wymer Hierarchies of race profoundly shape Christian worship. Race and colonial systems of white power shape how individual worshippers, worshipping communities, and liturgical traditions encounter God through liturgical practices. READ MORE Worship Elements November 21, 2021 Preaching Advent 1  Year C, NOV 28, 2021 One site to  search, find, lead Subscription bonus: access 20 years of lectionary sermon helps A Journey Through Scripture in 365 Days Browse our selection of books in preaching, worship, ministry leadership, and church & culture. Get 2022 Annuals while supplies last Making all things  new in  2022! A primer for Christian thought

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Today in the Mission Yearbook - Iowa church sows seeds of hope through longtime partnership

Growing Hope Globally helps communities around the world fight food insecurity

November 18, 2021

First Presbyterian Church in Conrad, Iowa, has a longtime partnership with Growing Hope Globally to help fight food insecurity in other countries. It raises money for the program and helps build public awareness. (Photo Courtesy of First Presbyterian Church)

Almost 20 years ago, some members of First Presbyterian Church in Conrad, Iowa, heard a presentation about a program in which U.S. farmers and churches team up to raise money to help subsistence farmers in various parts of the world.

Arlyn Schipper, a member who also happens to be a farmer, “looked at me after the meeting and said, ‘Why can’t we do that?’ and the rest is history,” said the Rev. Kerry Carson, longtime pastor of First Presbyterian.

Since then, the church has raised nearly a quarter of a million dollars as a supporter of the program, Growing Hope Globally, which brings U.S. farmers, churches and surrounding communities together to raise money and awareness to reduce world hunger. The money allows poor communities around the globe to get tools and training to help in the growing of their own food, according to the Growing Hope website.

“It’s a great community project and a great way of learning about what rural communities are facing in other parts of the world and to be in community with them,” said Alex Morse, regional director of East and Midwest Growing Projects for Growing Hope, formerly known as Foods Resource Bank.

In turn, communities in Africa and other parts of the world receive assistance to help them become more self-sufficient at growing their own food while retaining their dignity.

“We don’t send food overseas,” Carson said. Money is “way more efficient and doesn’t sit on a dock and rot some place while political organizations try to figure out where it should go.”

U.S. churches choose how they would like to support Growing Hope. Some raise crops and donate the proceeds to the program while others hold events, such as auctions, dinners, bike rides or 5K races to help fund agricultural development projects internationally.

“It’ll not only change your life, but it’ll change the people’s lives overseas,” said Schipper, a board member at large for Growing Hope, which held its national summit in Conrad in 2019 with First Presbyterian.

Over the years, First Presbyterian has worked collectively with a handful of churches from various denominations in the area to help raise funds, initially relying on growing field crops on land the churches would donate. More recently, due to shifts in the farming business, First Presbyterian has relied more on produce from First Presbyterian’s youth garden.

Prior to the pandemic, we would have “a big community corn feed to celebrate our harvest in August,” Carson said. While gathered at the park “we roast corn out there and people can buy vegetables and enjoy an afternoon together… It’s kind of a great way to end the summer and get ready for the new season, and everybody in the community can be participating in that project that way.”

Growing Hope benefits people in about 35 countries in various parts of the world, including Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and Asia, as well as the Middle East, Morse said. About 500 churches are involved.

“Over the last 20 years, we’ve been able to help over 2 million people achieve food security, and this last year, we were able to help almost a quarter of a million people with improved agricultural training,” Morse said.

Carson said First Presbyterian has helped people in about 25 countries. We’ve either sent people there, we’ve contributed funds there, or we’ve received guests from there.”

One of the best things about the program is that international partners “self-identify what their greatest needs are in terms of finding food security,” Carson said. “Sometimes that’s improved plantings. Sometimes it’s water resources. Sometimes it’s seeds to provide diversity of food so that they can be healthy. Sometimes it’s food storage. Sometimes it’s infrastructure like being able to get produce to a major highway or market so that they can be sold.”

Schipper was attracted to the program because it makes use of something he and his Iowa community already do: grow food. He said he also gets satisfaction from knowing that he’s helped someone who really needs it. “It’s a helping hand, not a handout,” he said.

Darla Carter, Communications Associate, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Amanda Craft, Manager, Immigration Advocacy, Office of the General Assembly
Octavia Craig, Treasury Assistant, Purchasing, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)

Let us pray

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the example of your Son, Jesus, and his desire to reach out to help those in need. Help us to recognize our own opportunities to spread the love of Christ as your ambassadors. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Strengthening the connections between the Matthew 25 vision, Scripture and theology

Theology and Worship resources are designed to enliven the imagination as Presbyterians find their place in the Matthew 25 mission

November 17, 2021

the Rev. Dr. David Gambrell

New resources from the Office of Theology and Worship will help those engaged in the work of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Matthew 25 invitation make a stronger connection between the three foci of the vision and the biblical passage — particularly in Matthew 25:31–46, which is known as the “Judgment of the Nations” passage.

When he was invited to offer a study guide to help people understand and consider how this passage of Scripture is connected to the Matthew 25 vision and its three foci, the Rev. Dr. David Gambrell, associate for Worship in the Presbyterian Mission Agency, approached the question as a preacher and worship planner.

“I thought about how I might both preach and pray about the connection between Jesus’ vision of the sheep and goats and the work of building congregational vitality, dismantling structural racism and eradicating systemic poverty,” he said.

In producing “God with Us in Jesus: A Matthew 25 Bible Study,” Gambrell realized it would be helpful to illustrate several different approaches to reading and interpreting Scripture. So, in the study he uses literal/plain reading, historical/critical reading and spiritual/symbolic reading to help learners gain various insights into the Matthew 25 vision.

“Scripture speaks to us on different levels,” Gambrell said. “Throughout the history of the church, Christians have read Scripture in a variety of ways.”

According to Gambrell, as people use the study, their main takeaway will be that God is with us in Jesus Christ. The whole gospel of Matthew, he said, is an affirmation of our faith, from the first chapter, where Matthew introduces Jesus as Emmanuel, “God with us,” to the last chapter, where Jesus says, “I will be with you always to the end of the age.”

“But we find out that Jesus is with us in a special way through our ministry with people who are hungry and thirsty, strangers or vulnerable, and those who are sick or in prison,” Gambrell said. “So, the Matthew 25 vision invites the church to be with Jesus in this work.”

For Gambrell, it’s easiest to connect Matthew 25 with poverty because Jesus literally talks about feeding people who are hungry. But our work must also address the systems of injustice and inequality that create poverty and perpetuate oppression.

When one uses scholarly and historical tools and digs into the Greek, one finds words like “ethne” for the nations — the root of the word “ethnocentrism” — and “xenos” for stranger, where the word “xenophobia” comes from. “This is helpful in connecting Matthew 25 with the church’s work against racism,” Gambrell said.

For congregational vitality, Gambrell connects Matthew 25:31–46 with sacramental images. When early Christians read about eating and drinking with Jesus, perhaps they too thought of the Lord’s Supper. When they read about welcoming and clothing strangers, perhaps it made them think of what we do when we welcome new members of the church in baptism.

The Rev. Dr. Barry Ensign-George, coordinator for Theology and Worship, worked on an accompanying piece, “Bringing Matthew 25 into Focus,” to go with Gambrell’s Bible study. While Gambrell helps reveal how other parts of Scripture, including Ezekiel, help ground and clarify the Matthew 25 vision, Ensign-George approached the question of how the Matthew 25 passage is connected to the church’s vision theologically.

“How is it that Scripture can guide our life as a denomination? What do we look for? And how do we understand the connections?” he asked. “How is it that the words of Scripture call us to join the mission of God in our world? Our confessions and the Foundations of Presbyterian Polity section of our Book of Order have wrestled with these questions and give us good guidance.”

By addressing these questions, Ensign-George hopes people in the denomination and beyond will grow in their ability to engage in gospel work “to help those with this question (about the connection of the Judgment of the Nations passage to the Matthew 25 invitation’s foci) see how the vision is grounded in Scripture and God’s call to faithfulness today,” he said, “and to see a piece of this work for themselves in God’s mission in the world.”

Paul Seebeck, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Cindy Corell, Mission co-worker in Haiti, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Christina Cosby, Mission Specialist, Middle East, Europe & Central Asia Office, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

God, please guide and direct ministries of the church. Help them find creative and meaningful ways to connect the way of Jesus. Amen.

Today in the Mission - Being Matthew 25 people

Merged congregation of LoveJoy United Presbyterian Church takes on racism, poverty and building congregational vitality

November 16, 2021

Karen Wilson, Sandy Monroe, the Rev. Daniel Ervin and Mary Cordes in front of the College Avenue Presbyterian Church in Alton, Illinois, which has been sold with proceeds funding Matthew 25 initiatives of the new LoveJoy United Presbyterian Church. (Contributed photo)

As LoveJoy United Presbyterian Church (LUPC) in Wood River, Illinois, lives into its commitment to be a Matthew 25 congregation, it is seeking to empower every church member to discover their individual calling and gifts so they can go forth and serve.

“It doesn’t have to be serving on a committee at church,” said Karen Wilson, a ruling elder and chair of the Mission and Outreach Committee at LUPC. “It can be driving a neighbor to a doctor’s appointment or those kinds of things. You’re out there in the world seven days, not just Sunday mornings or the day the committee meets or whatever.”

In February, the session of LUPC accepted the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s invitation and voted to address all three Matthew 25 focus areas: building congregational vitality, dismantling structural racism and eradicating systemic poverty.

“I think if we all just live by that [Matthew 25] what a world this would be,” said Wilson, adding that deacons are currently making calls to people in their care groups to make sure all — including children — are part of the congregation’s Matthew 25 work. They are also creating local, United States and world maps to show where they are making an impact.

The LUPC congregation was formed through the 2016 merger of College Avenue Presbyterian Church of Alton and United Presbyterian Church of Wood River, about 15 minutes apart. The merged church took its new name from Elijah Parish Lovejoy, the first pastor of Upper Alton Presbyterian Church, the predecessor of College Avenue Presbyterian Church. A pro-slavery mob shot and killed Lovejoy for his strong stance against slavery and for freedom of the press.

The Alton congregation nested with the Wood River congregation for more than a year before discussions of merger began. “They couldn’t have been more welcoming,” Wilson said of United Presbyterian. “We just felt right at home as soon as we got there. It was really a good match for us.”

The congregations voted separately on merger in August 2016 and held their first service as LoveJoy United about a month later.

The former College Avenue congregation sold its building in December 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic. LUPC formed a committee — LoveJoy United Philanthropic Crusaders — and gave it the task of recommending to session how proceeds from the sale of the church building in Alton should be used to continue to “joyfully serve through compassion, mission, justice and all-inclusive grace.”

Thus far, the Crusaders have received session approval to donate to each of these local missions. They are currently working on other larger project ideas:

Community Hope Center ($1,000) — serves individuals and families experiencing financial hardship, whether temporary, short-term or long-term. Support includes help with groceries, clothing, toiletries, household items, meals, haircuts and other services to share hope and the love of Christ through action.

Crisis Food Center ($1,000) — provides one week of nutritionally balanced food monthly, as well as new and gently used clothing, to individuals and families in need.

OASIS Women’s Center ($1,000) — provides shelter for people experiencing domestic violence and their children. The donation from LUPC was quadrupled through a matching grant program.

Overnight Warming Center in Alton ($1,000) — provides a warm place to sleep and meals when temperatures dip below 20 degrees. Not all guests are unsheltered; some come to the center because their homes are not bearable on extremely cold nights.

Riverbend Family Ministries ($3,500) — provides resources for small nonprofit organizations to work together from a central location, providing individuals and families holistic support to be self-sufficient after trauma primarily from violence, addiction, poverty and homelessness.

Roxana School District ($1,000) — provides Christmas gifts for students in need.

Wood River-Hartford School District ($1,000) — provides Christmas gifts for students in need.

The Rev. Daniel Ervin began serving as LUPC’s first pastor in October 2017. He grew up in Statesville, North Carolina, and received a bachelor’s in social work with a minor in Spanish at North Carolina State University. He earned a Master of Divinity and a Master of Theology at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, and previously served as a resident minister at First Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Tammy Warren, Former Communications Associate, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Rich Copley, Communications Strategist, Communications Ministry, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Yvonne Colyar, Customer Service Consultant, Communications Ministry, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Gracious God, we give thanks to you for those who reach out to those in need, demonstrating God’s gifts of hospitality and grace. Together may we be students and stewards of your creation. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - ‘The danger of a single story’

Global partner NCCK teaches a new understanding of Korean history

November 15, 2021

The Rev. Kurt Esslinger in South Korea, where he serves as a mission co-worker. (Photo by Hyeyoung Lee)

An article recently published by the Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS) explored the aspects of racism present in U.S. Christian missions to Korea during the time of Japanese colonization of Korea (1905–1945) and reaching into the first years after the end of World War II but just before the Korean War broke out in 1950.

The article was a follow-up to a webinar PHS hosted with Dr. William Yoo of Columbia Theological Seminary, who discussed racism in the earlier missionaries to Korea. Those missionaries discouraged opposition to Japanese colonization and found it hard to completely remove themselves from authority over the new Korean church institutions.

Yoo uncovered aspects of Christian mission to Korea usually presented with rose-tinted glasses, acknowledging that while U.S. missionaries to Korea did a courageous job, the racism still present in their work was problematic — while celebrating the way some Korean Christians saw their faith connected to their political liberation despite the missionaries’ attempts to separate them.

This installment is the first of a four-part series looking further into what happened after the end of WWII in 1945 and into the division of Korea into two zones administered respectively by the U.S. and the former Soviet Union. The article delves into U.S. Christian and U.S. government actions in Korea in the context of discussions around the 1619 Project, an initiative from the New York Times Magazine on the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It also discusses antiracist initiatives taken Presbyterian World Mission, like the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategic Plan that seeks to dismantle the influence that white supremacy has on our church and our society.

The series was inspired by presentations by people of color such as the novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who delivered “The Danger of a Single Story” as a TED Talk. Reading about the history of U.S. actions in Korea and watching the TED Talk by Adichie may show us that our perspective on the Korean War has been a dangerous “single story” and how the legacy of white supremacy not only poisoned institutions in the U.S. but also mission theology, the church and government policy toward Korea as well.

The Reconciliation and Reunification Department in the National Council of Churches in Korea seeks to end the Korean War, advocating for the U.S. government to end its hostile policy toward the Korean Peninsula and to open the way for a peace agreement, including meetings with the Korean Christian Federation, a federation of Protestant Christians in North Korea officially recognized by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea government.

NCCK teaches a new understanding of Korean history, and he hopes to share that new understanding with Christians and policy makers in the U.S.

Rev. Kurt Esslinger, Mission Co-Worker serving with the National Council of Churches, Korea’s Reconciliation and Reunification Department, living in Seoul with his wife and son, ordained as a minister in Chicago Presbytery

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Nikki Collins, Coordinator, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Paula Cooper, Mission co-worker serving in Malawi, Kenya, Rwanda, Zambia, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Loving God, we praise you for the witness of faithful people who serve you. May we witness your presence in their faithful lives and acts of assisting others. Amen.