Blog Post by Rev. Kathleen Henrion Interim Pastor at John Calvin Presbyterian Church, Bridgeton, MO Member of Gathering Planning Team and Presbytery Technology Consultant “Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Won’t you be my neighbor?” These words sung by legendary Presbyterian Pastor Fred Rogers at the beginning of each episode of Mister Rogers Neighborhood welcome us into a…
Good people, A recent Post-Dispatch article (found here) is a sobering reminder of the depth and breadth of hunger and financial need in the St Louis area. I encourage you to read it together with the photos and captions that let us glimpse the lives of some of our neighbors whom the food pantries serve. Early in the pandemic, I…
Blog Post by Rev. Marc Wendleton Pastor at Moro Presbyterian & First Presbyterian-Brighton, in Illinois Member of the Dynamic Leaders Team This past June, I got married, and my new wife, Linda, and I bought a new home together. We both had lost our previous spouses, so we had not only our own stuff but our late spouses’ stuff and…
What on earth do you want to hear from a children and youth ministry director in 2022? I asked that in the PC(USA) Leaders Facebook group and had 37 comments in a matter of two days. There are so many question marks with how to reach our young people that their requests ranged from “how do you start from scratch”…
Blog Post by Jim Cook, Ruling Elder Member of our Presbytery and Past Interim Presbytery Leader, along with his Stem Cell Donor, Ludwig Original “Be the Match” Blog Posted on April 13, 2021 –FOUND HERE Below find the recent and exciting update! Dear Ludwig, My name is Jim Cook and I am the recipient of your donated stem cells. I…
Blog Post by Christi Tennyson PCHAS Development Officer “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.” These provocative words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu resonate with me because they describe how Presbyterian Children’s Homes and Services embodies its mission. Many people…
As we continue to suffer a seemingly ceaseless wave of violence and mass murder from across the country, our presbytery stands in solidarity with the grieving people of Uvalde, Texas and the approximately dozen more communities traumatized by the mass murders that were permitted to occur this last weekend alone, ranging from Philadelphia, PA, Chester, VA, Macon, GA, Hempstead, NY,…
A message from General Counsel Mike Kirk as our prayers and lamentations continue We like to think of our churches as places of safety and refuge. A place to commune with God and join in fellowship with our church community. Unfortunately, others view churches as targets. White supremacist Dylan Roof murdered nine people at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church…
Update for Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery Rev. Dr. Kenneth Chester Dobson, HR In 1994 I resigned as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Alton to accept a joint call by the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ) to return to Chiang Mai, Thailand. Between then and now, in chronological order, I have served as Executive Director of…
Blog Post by Rev. Thirza Sayers Pastor Hillside Presbyterian Church, Light for the Darkness, Our Selah Due to the isolation and anxiety caused by the pandemic and the fear, violence, and uncertainty caused by the war in Ukraine, many of us have personally experienced mental health variances in the past few years. Few of us have weathered this storm completely…