BALTIMORE – Equity and inclusion: How well is the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) doing? That question was like a bright thread running through the discussions as the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board met Feb. 12-14 in Baltimore. Some of it came directly, in presentations on assessments underway. And sometimes it surfaced in questions about how the PC(USA) deals with issues involving immigrants and people of color. Migration. Board member Michelle Hwang outlined recommendations that the Racial Equity Advocacy Committee(REAC) will be bringing to the General Assembly in June – saying the theme of REAC’s efforts this year will be migration, forced or voluntary. REAC held its meeting in January in El Paso, and also traveled across the border to Ciudad Juarez to meet with asylum seekers who are being forced by the policy of the Trump administration to wait in Mexico as their asylum claims proceed. Those conversations were powerful, Hwang said – and REAC wants to work to strengthen … [Read more...]

BALTIMORE – One of the three emphases of the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Matthew 25 initiative is congregational vitality. But what exactly does “congregational vitality” mean for a typical church? During a Feb. 12 session, members of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board got a primer on what counts and what doesn’t. “Notice I didn’t say anything about our buildings, our budgets or our butts in the pews,” said Kathryn Threadgill, the coordinator for the Vital Congregations initiative, near the end of her presentation. “Congregational vitality is about spiritual faithfulness” in a 21st century context. So far, 14 presbyteries have participated in the first wave of the 2020 Vital Congregations national project, which provides training and support, and another 12 presbyteries will be part of a second wave starting in January 2021, Threadgill said. Vital congregations are better equipped to do the rest of the work of the Matthew 25 initiative: to play a role in ending … [Read more...]