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Investing in music is the church’s civic responsibility

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If the church wants to contribute to a society grounded in empathy and love, it has a civic responsibility to enthusiastically fund and advocate for its music programs. A church that wants to be healthy must treat its music program as a nonnegotiable budget item and prioritize the stability of its musicians. The first step in identifying a pathway forward to a thriving and sustainable music program is to seek the professional opinions of the musicians in your midst. If it has been more than two months since you have asked your music minister about their work and vision, take the step this week to set up a time to listen to them. This gesture alone will set you apart. Here are questions you can ask your music minister, staff or volunteers: How can I help? Do you have what you need to succeed? If you could create any kind of program, what would it look like? What would make the biggest difference in your ability to reach your vision? How can I support you this … [Read more...]

Tagged With: music

Christian education at home: Passing the peace

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We all have familiar comforts we turn to when times are tough.  A particular blanket or food or even a smell may help center us when we feel unsettled.  Words can also ground us when life feels unpredictable.  This activity helps children identify and draw on Jesus’ promise of peace as a means of bringing comfort during this uncertain and unusual time. Start your time with your children by asking them to share things or activities that make them feel safe and comfortable.  If they need a bit of prompting to get started, share some of the ways that you find comfort.  (“When I’m worried, I look at a picture of our family because it reminds me that we have each other to rely on no matter what happens.” Or: “When I feel stressed, I like to listen to my favorite song.  It calms me down and makes my heart feel happy.”) After you’ve talked about the tangible ways we seek comfort, shift to discussing words that give us comfort. You can ask them what they would say to a friend who is … [Read more...]

Tagged With: Christian Ed • COVID19

Lent in the COVID-19 wilderness: Reflections of a college chaplain

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Guest commentary by Ashley-Anne Masters The last time I saw many of my college students in person was Ash Wednesday. During the day, the Episcopal campus minister, Lutheran campus minister and I hosted “Ashes to Go” at the Free Expression Tunnel on one of the college campuses in Raleigh, North Carolina. Some were thrilled to see us; others murmured that we shouldn’t be there. One refused to take our photo when we asked; another thanked us profusely. My favorite stranger asked as she passed, “It’s what Wednesday?” That evening, senior high youth joined my students for dinner before the combined worship service between two partner congregations and our campus ministry. There was bacon and there were king cakes. There was stress about tests, and hoping against hope to just make it to spring break. There was angst about crushes. There was pain due to hard family situations. It was dusty, finite, business as usual. After preaching, two clergy colleagues and I imposed ashes. … [Read more...]

Tagged With: COVID19

How to survive social distancing with your family

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Guest commentary by Matthew J. Skolnik Some of my friends are celebrating that their introverted nature finally feels useful. Others who have traditionally had multiple social engagements planned for each day of the year are less than pleased. Then there are those families who don’t know how they will survive at home — together. Yes, together. Schooling is taking place at home. More adults are working from home. Play dates are canceled. Sports and recreation activities are postponed. Sanity is also apparently a loosely-defined reality with kids bouncing off the walls and with human spawn begging for more screen time. Can anyone say cabin fever? Or maybe better put, cabin hostility. While I am no expert, my office is 10 feet from my living room, and I have made plenty of mistakes over time that hopefully some will find of benefit. Mistake 1: Lack of schedule and routine We may not need Major Payne running our households, but disciplining, directing and defining time is … [Read more...]

Tagged With: COVID19

Parable of the Brown Girl: The Sacred Lives of Girls of Color

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Khristi Lauren Adams Fortress Press, 200 pages Reviewed by Fay C. Acker Through contemporary parables, Khristi Lauren Adams introduces us to seven brown girls, including the insecure brown girl, the brown girl finding her voice and the brown girl in search of an identity. “Parable of the Brown Girl” demonstrates how girls who have been marginalized, overlooked and discredited began to see themselves through God’s eyes and are nurtured into an understanding of themselves as valuable. These brown girls are telling their stories and resisting the way they’ve been defined. Of varying ages and circumstances, the brown girls articulate their own grief, suffering and hope in light of family difficulties, bullying, identity and cultural heritage crises, academic and social challenges, and class distinctions. With the focus on the girls, the author interweaves their narratives and her personal story with theology, contemporary scholarship and current events. Adams confronts stereotypes, … [Read more...]

In the midst of a worldwide health crisis, J. Herbert Nelson and Diane Moffett write a pastoral letter to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

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LOUISVILLE (PNS) — The Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the President and Executive Director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency have written a pastoral letter to Presbyterians living with the rapidly-spreading coronavirus pandemic. The letter, written by the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, and the Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett, is as follows: Dear Siblings in Christ, These are truly trying times for all of us as we face a rapidly spreading virus, panic buying that has left grocery shelves nearly empty and supplies in great demand. We have seen the worst in people and the best. Yet, through it all, we take hope in Christ and the promise to never leave us. We are holding each of you in prayer. Like the rest of the country, our Presbyterian communities are physically separated, but we are still deeply connected through our common humanity, spirituality and strong faith in God. We are not only with you in prayer and solidarity, we are also here to … [Read more...]

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