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When We Face an Unknown Future (a free hymn)

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BEACH SPRING 8.7.8.7 D ("God Whose Giving Knows No Ending") When we face an unknown future that we can’t imagine yet, when the closeness we have treasured turns from blessing into threat— As we miss our friends and loved ones, as we crave community, may we look, God, in this season, for a whole new way to be. Jesus faced the lonely desert as a time to look within. There he met such trial and conflict; there he knew you were with him. In this time of separation when we miss the life we’ve known, may we hear your voice proclaiming: “I am here! You’re not alone.” May we cherish those around us as we never have before. May we think much less of profit; may we learn what matters more. May we hear our neighbors’ suffering; may we see our neighbors’ pain. May we learn new ways of offering life and health and hope again. God, when illness comes to threaten, and when so much here goes wrong, may we know this thing for certain— that your love is sure and strong. You’re … [Read more...]

Tagged With: COVID19

Presbyterian leaders seek ways to support congregations responding to COVID-19

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The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) plans to send out a video worship service for Easter to congregations – with J. Herbert Nelson, the PC(USA)’s stated clerk, preaching. That’s one of the ways PC(USA) leaders are working to provide support for congregations, mid councils and pastors struggling to respond to the COVID-19 epidemic – a range of responses discussed March 26 during conference call meetings of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board’s coordinating committee and the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA). One reality is the recognition that some congregations are struggling financially – as more Americans lose their jobs, as giving to some churches goes down, as congregations struggle to collect and pay per capita. Diane Moffett, president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA), said the PC(USA) will work thorough Presbyterian Disaster Assistance to try to provide “some kind of relief to churches that are dealing with this crisis” … [Read more...]

Tagged With: COVID19

Presbyterian World Mission and COVID-19: A conversation with Sara Lisherness

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As COVID-19 continues to spread and international travel is disrupted, Presbyterian World Mission has asked all of its mission co-workers who have the United States as a home base (meaning they are U.S. citizens or permanent residents) to return home as recommended by the U.S. State Department, and is working with them individually to determine what’s best in their particular situations.  The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) also has brought back young adult volunteers (YAVs) serving at its international sites. Sara Lisherness has served as interim director for World Mission for the past seven months. Lisherness spoke with the Presbyterian Outlook March 25 about what the unexpected transition has been like for the mission co-workers, and about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the PC(USA)’s international work. Here are excerpts from that conversation. What’s this been like for the mission co-workers? So far, about 70 mission co-workers have chosen to shelter-in-place – … [Read more...]

Tagged With: COVID19

GA meeting site in Baltimore to be converted into field hospital

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A decision may be getting closer about whether to hold the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – set for June 20-27 in Baltimore – as scheduled. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced this week an order to convert the Baltimore Convention Center, where the General Assembly is scheduled to meet, and the nearby city-owned Hilton Hotel into a field hospital for COVID-19 patients. Hogan did not say when the field hospital would open — it’s intended to provide care for an expected surge of COVID-19 cases. The Maryland National Guard is setting up the facility, which is to be operated by a joint partnership of the University of Maryland Medical System and Johns Hopkins Medicine. Hogan has asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide 250 beds. The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly is committed to making a decision about the 2020 General Assembly no later than April 15 — and possibly sooner. Kerry Rice, the PC(USA)’s deputy stated clerk, … [Read more...]

Tagged With: COVID19 • GA224

New advisory opinion on congregations celebrating communion

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The Office of the General Assembly has released a new advisory opinion from J. Herbert Nelson, the stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), about how congregations can celebrate communion in an emergency or pandemic. A key question: Can a PC(USA) congregation celebrate the Lord’s Supper if it is meeting virtually — not in person? Yes, according to the new advisory opinion, titled “Communion in an Emergency/Pandemic” and released March 24. “In emergency circumstances there may be situations in which the pastoral needs of that moment require that the church take actions that run contrary to normal practice,” the advisory opinion states. A session of a congregation or church council may determine that includes celebrating communion online, the opinion states — giving instruction to guide sessions in making that decision. “When circumstances limit the ability of the congregation to gather in person for a lengthy period of time, the session may decide for pastoral … [Read more...]

Tagged With: COVID19 • sacraments

Breaking News

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The word is that springtime arrives late this week, yet here on the Maine coast we have little to show for it. There are, here and there, green shoots thrusting through the rock hard crust of four months of deep frost, buds are forming out there at the long naked tips of dark branches. But the awakening tingle is absent. That familiar ray of hope and bright anticipation that has touched over eighty such promising seasons has been shadowed, eclipsed in this leap of a year by a portent, a grim tocsin that resounds in the ear like the clattering rattle, clanging bell of a leper, the rumbling wheels of a laden plague cart – “Bring out your dead!” Corona, the word echoes and re-echoes through these days. Corona, ancient Latin for a crown – and “uneasy lies the head…” all heads that wear it. Recalls us, if we hearken, to another jagged headpiece pressed brutal down across the broken brow of one who mended lepers, bore away the festerings and plagues that cursed our … [Read more...]

Tagged With: COVID19 • poetry

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