PNews 7/8/21
America celebrated two federal holidays within two weeks. The Fourth of July, a holiday for almost 250 years, and Juneteenth, one just celebrated for the first time this year. Juneteenth (June 19th) commemorates the emancipation of the last remaining enslaved Africans in the Confederacy after the Civil war. As we celebrate this complicated historical event, present-day outlooks are unfortunately mixed concerning the importance of educating youth about American history, specifically the enslavement of Africans. What should our response be as Christians? What role does Critical Race Theory play in the teaching of American history and why is it important? Please join Rev. Brian Wallace and Elder Ralph Lowe as they grapple with these questions and more during this week’s episode of Awareness and Transformation: Conversations about Life, Race, and Faith.
The 225th General Assembly (GA) will be held in June/July of 2022. The Session of your church may nominate a young person to attend the General Assembly as a Young Adult Advisory Delegate (YAAD). The person whom you nominate should be at least 17 years old on June 20, 2022, and no older than 23 years on that same date. Click “read more” for more information. The deadline has been extended until July 12, 2021.
On behalf of the Committee on Nominations, we invite you, the Ministers and Sessions of Pittsburgh Presbytery, to recommend one or more candidates for Senior Vice Moderator of Pittsburgh Presbytery for the year 2022. The Senior Vice Moderator will succeed to the office of Moderator of Pittsburgh Presbytery in 2023. We hope that you will prayerfully consider this invitation for candidates. Self-recommendations are in order, so please share this invitation with your congregation. Click “read more” for more information.
Partners for Sacred Places is pleased to sponsor the 2021 Faith&Form/Interfaith Design Awards. This year the awards program includes all categories from 2020 as well as new categories that are open to a broad array of congregations and nonprofit organizations. Entries are welcomed and encouraged from architects, landscape architects, designers, artists, students, consultants, nonprofits, and religious organizations. Submissions will be accepted from July 1, 2021 to September 30, 2021.
The PC(USA) is now taking pre-orders for the 2021-2022 calendar. It is a 19‐month calendar (September 2021-December 2022) that contains many planning aids for pastors and other church leaders. It includes lectionary for Sundays and special days, liturgical days, liturgical colors, resource information for PC(USA) programmatic emphases, updated synod, presbytery and Presbyterian Mission Agency staff directories, color foldout synod/presbytery and world maps. The Presbytery is not going to place a bulk order for churches again this year, so we are encouraging those that want calendars to place their orders directly with the PCUSA Store with the link below. They will be shipped directly to you, eliminating multiple touch points and the need to pick them up.
What Next? is a creative tool to help ministries and communities of faith re-imagine our programs and life together. This tool will help you identify and discern creative new approaches, new ministries and new ways of being the big C church in a post-pandemic age.
Every week Presbyterian Outlook provides free resources for worship planning! You are welcome to use this liturgy in your online worship services and distribute it to your congregation. It is free for worship use. Please credit Rachel Young and the Presbyterian Outlook.
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