Weekly Newsletter
PNews 9/29/22
One O’er All the Earth The church has been prone to schism from day one, something Paul fought against valiantly in his letters to first-generation churches. If nothing else, World Communion Sunday reminds us at least once a year that …
PNews 9/22/22
Homecoming We are entering a season of “Homecoming” – a rich tradition when schools and churches welcome back those who have been away from one another. Today our presbytery is gathering at Crestfield Camp and Conference Center. We will celebrate Holy …
PNews 9/15/22
In Praise of Restraint Queen Elizabeth demonstrated the grace of remaining influential by practicing restraint in her declarations. She knew that if she was to be everyone’s Queen, she could not side with one party against another. For most leaders …
PNews 9/8/22
On Making Rules Consistency, accountability, and transparency matter. And rules help us maintain those important commitments. But we must beware the proliferation of rules that insulate us from making difficult decisions. How will we choose – to live by exercising …
PNews 8/25/22
Refuge In this week’s Presbytery News “article”, Associate Minister Brian Wallace talks about the church as a place of refuge for its people and the community at large. Oh, and gets on his usual soapbox for a little while. read …
PNews 8/18/22
Sanctuary A sanctuary is literally a place set apart. It is a place of safety from external intrusion and malevolence. Last week, Chautauqua’s cherished identity as a place of sanctuary was brutally shattered when celebrated author Salman Rushdie was assaulted …
PNews 8/11/22
The Things We Do for Love When he commanded his disciples to love one another in the same way he loved them, it was just after he had washed the feet and shared the bread and cup with Judas. It’s …
PNews 8/4/22
What’s Love Got to Do with It? The most important ingredient of a strong abiding relationship between pastors and their congregations is love. Not just any kind of love will do. A pastor needs to love the congregation just as …
PNews 7/28/22
Escaping the Echo Chamber We cannot grow if we listen only to voices that declare what we already believe to be true; however, we tend to gravitate to voices and viewpoints that confirm our own already-settled convictions. When we stay …
PNews 7/14/22
225th General Assembly Action Highlights This year’s General Assembly convened over the period of June 17 through July 9. Committees met in person in Louisville, then the entire assembly met in plenary online to discuss and act on committee recommendations. …
PNews 7/7/22
Domestic Abuse Overture Goes to GA At the February Presbytery meeting, the Pittsburgh Presbytery approved a motion to send a Domestic Abuse Overture to the 225th General Assembly regarding removal of guns from domestic abusers. The overture was written by …
PNews 6/30/22
Fear Fear is a compelling, controlling power in our lives. Too often, we make decisions in life based in fear instead of trusting the life path we are called to in Jesus Christ. This is not faithful. Faithfulness is living …
PNews 6/23/22
Fear Fear is a compelling, controlling power in our lives. Too often, we make decisions in life based in fear instead of trusting the life path we are called to in Jesus Christ. This is not faithful. Faithfulness is living …
PNews 6/16/22
Remembering Deliverance Celebrating the gift of freedom with those who have been set free is nothing less than acknowledging our common humanity and dignity as God’s children. White folk should have been celebrating Juneteenth all along with their Black siblings, …
PNews 6/9/22
Let It Go One of the marks of true maturity is the ability to tell the difference between essentials and non-essentials. Getting wrought up over non-essential things is a sure sign that we have some more growing to do. The …