Blog Post by Rev. Vanessa Hawkins Designated Associate Presbytery Leader vhawkins@glpby.org Last week, all five members of the presbytery staff packed up a day’s worth of work, computers, and snacks and traveled down south to Cape Girardeau for a day “In the Neighborhood.” We have traveled and worked together on several occasions with presbytery gatherings and leadership retreats, but this…
Blog Post by Rev. Vanessa Hawkins Designated Associate Presbytery Leader vhawkins@glpby.org We have a long fight and this fight is not mine alone. But you are not free whether you white or whether you black, until I am free. Because no man is an island to himself…And I’m not just fighting for myself and for the black race, but I’m…
Blog Post by Rev. Vanessa Hawkins Designated Associate Presbytery Leader vhawkins@glpby.org Last Sunday was a busy day for the presbytery! I started Sunday morning off listening to my GPS inform me that some of the streets to First Brighton were unverifiable. Not one to be derailed by GPS, I headed out only to get lost and be rescued later by…
Blog Post by Rev. Cedric Portis Co-Moderator of the Committee on Local Arrangements (COLA) The 223 General Assembly is upon us. I’m confident that our preparation and planning will pay off this week as we welcome and host Presbyterians from all over the world. These past two years I’ve had the privilege of serving as co-moderator of the Committee on…
Blog Post by Rev. Carol DeVaughan Co-Moderator of the Committee on Local Arrangements (COLA) In case you aren’t aware – the General Assembly of PCUSA meets in St. Louis in about 10 days. I really hope this is not news to any of you, because you, as members of the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy are part of the hosts for this…
Guest Blog Post by Rev. Dr. Chris Keating Pastor of Woodlawn Chapel Presbyterian Church I’ve always been a bit uncomfortable with words like “privilege” or “bias.” There was little about my childhood that could be described as privileged—at least not in the way some might use the term. Middle class, certainly, but hardly privileged. And while I’m far from…
Blog Post by Rev. Vanessa Hawkins Designated Associate Leader of the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy vhawkins@glpby.org This past Sunday as I sat in First Church Edwardsville, Illinois, as they dedicated their new building, I was in awe at this new stage of their journey. Entering the building I was engulfed by the sound of excited voices and the smell of newly…
Learning More about Environmental Ministry by Sue Bradford Edwards Member of Florissant Presbyterian Church When I volunteered to be a part of the FPC Green Committee, I hoped to learn about becoming an environmentally aware church. What I hadn’t counted on was being called on to learn about environmental racism. On November 14, 2017, I participated in a videoconference put…
Blog Post by Rev. Vanessa Hawkins Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy Designated Associate Leader vhawkins@glpby.org May 2006, I participated in a guided tour through several neighborhoods in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina had swept through the city. Starting in the Garden District, our guide systematically led us, a group of nine, through neighborhoods bustling with joggers, commuters, and restaurant employees preparing for…