(PNS) Presbyterian Disaster Assistance uses terms like “unprecedented” and “all-encompassing” when referring to the destructive fires still burning both in Northern and Southern California – especially the Camp Fire that destroyed much of Paradise, Calif., a fire that had claimed at least 79 lives as of Tuesday and destroyed more than 10,000 homes. Fires in Southern California ignited just a day after a gunman killed 12 people at a country music bar in Thousand Oaks. “It is unusual for a wildfire to have such an all-encompassing effect on human habitation,” said the Rev. Dr. Laurie Kraus, PDA director. “The concern is that if rains come afterwards, we are looking at mudslides.” Four California presbyteries — Sacramento, Santa Barbara, San Fernando and Pacific — have requested National Response Team members be sent in following the Thanksgiving holiday. PDA is increasing by $10,000 the amount of an initial grant that’s usually up to $7,500 for each of the affected … [Read more...]

LOUISVILLE (PNS) Ruling Elder Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri, co-moderator of the 223rd General Assembly, told the 110 or so presbytery and synod moderators attending the Moderators’ Conference Friday that the way she understands her favorite chapter in the Bible – Romans 8 – has understandably changed and deepened since she was a teenager in a new member class at her church in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Paul’s words to the church in Rome are familiar to most Christians: “If God is for us, who is against us?” “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?” “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Except that young Vilmarie saw those as personal promises. The co-moderator said she now gives the verses a literal read, with an emphasis on the plural pronouns that are on the page, not the singular ones that spoke directly to her. “Sometimes you’ve just got to sit down and scrutinize the text,” she preached during a joyous opening worship service, … [Read more...]

LOUISVILLE (OGA) Representatives from the World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches are urging faith groups to engage with their political leaders. Jim Winkler, president of the national council, and Dr. Peter Prove, executive director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, appeared Monday on Coffee with the Clerk, a weekly Facebook Live broadcast with the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Winkler and Prove joined Nelson in Washington, D.C., to discuss the impact of the recent election results and discuss the role of various faiths in the work on Capitol Hill. Prove and Winkler say efforts to speak with members of the Trump administration have not been easy. (Left to Right) Dr. Peter Prove, with the World Council of Churches, and Jim Winkler, National Council of Churches, joined the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, for the Facebook Live broadcast of Coffee with the Clerk in Washington, … [Read more...]