(OGA) The year was 1986 and J. Herbert Nelson, II began his career as a Presbyterian pastor. Little did he know where the next 35 years would take him. The Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be the first to say he didn’t realize he had reached this milestone in his ministry. Nelson is also the first to say he didn’t imagine that he would be where he is now, especially as the denomination looks at where it needs to go as a 21st-century church. The Stated Clerk recently sat down to reflect on what he’s learned in his more than three decades in the ministry. by Rick Jones and Randy Hobson, Office of the General Assembly … [Read more...]

LOUISVILLE (OGA) After serving in an interim role with the Office of the General Assembly for more than 18 months, Dianna Wright has been named director of ecumenical and interreligious relations, filling a vacancy created in 2019 with the passing of the Rev. Robina Winbush. The Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), announced Wright’s appointment today. He also announced that Julia Henderson, who had been serving OGA in a part-time capacity for the past several months, will now devote full-time hours to the denomination. Henderson, who served as interim director of Assembly operations, oversaw preparations and planning for the Church’s first online General Assembly last summer. She will continue to serve as leader for GA planning and business management through the 225th General Assembly in 2022. “We have been blessed with the opportunity to work with two individuals that have brought new vision to the work … [Read more...]

(PNS) Member communions of the National Council of Churches contributed to “Words of Comfort, Prayers for the People,” a 21-minute video released on YouTube and Facebook on Wednesday. “I sincerely hope,” said the Rev. Dr. Jim Winkler, the NCC’s president and general secretary, “this is the last major milestone we’ll need to mark.” The NCC video features the prayers of denominational leaders and pastors and concludes with words of hope from the NCC’s chief operating officer, the Rev. Dr. Leslie Copeland Tune. “Send your healing power to this land and throughout the Earth,” said Bishop Teresa Jefferson-Snorton, Presiding Bishop of the Fifth Episcopal District in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, “that this virus may not have the victory but that we will always look to you as our source and our strength.” The Rev. Dr. Michael Livingston, a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) pastor serving as the interim senior minister at The Riverside Church in New York City, asked … [Read more...]

(PNS) John Detterick, who for eight years led the General Assembly Council (now the Presbyterian Mission Agency) and before that the Board of Pensions for five years, died Tuesday at age 80 at his home in Denver after a long and courageous battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his loving wife and four children. According to those family members, he will be remembered by many for his wisdom, faith, honesty, humility, leadership and grace. “He was a great leader for our church, and the two of us were the closest of partners in the ministry of Christ’s Church,” said the Rev. Dr. Cliff Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk Emeritus of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and professor of World Christianity and Ecumenical Studies at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. “I give thanks to God for John Detterick for the many gifts he shared with me, with the broader church and with the Church Ecumenical.” “While I did not know John, people have fond memories of his ministry and work,” … [Read more...]