Presbyterian Mission Agency 1001 new worshiping communities Archives

When church is dangerous, digital ministry provides sanctuary

Posted June 12th, 2024

“Finally!” was all my United Methodist friend had to text me when I asked how their General Conference was going. While I echo their relief, I know the recovery period for my LGBTQIA+ siblings is far from being final. Presbyterians stand as proof that the vote is sometimes the easiest part of change

Podcast guest gazes up at her broad and sturdy family tree

Posted May 30th, 2024

The latest installment in the “New Way” podcast of the 1001 New Worshiping Communities movement includes a conversation about the formative years experienced by Minister Antonia Coleman, who works in the PC(USA)’s Office of Innovation and its Center for the Repair of Historic Harms. Listen to Coleman’s discussion with “New Way” host the Rev. Sara Hayden here.

App encourages small acts of discipleship

Posted May 24th, 2024

“We don’t rise to the level of our goals; we fall to the level of our processes,” says the Rev. Dr. Jason Whitehead, a pastor and social worker who has co-created the Daily Ripple app as a model for spiritual formation and the meeting space of a new worshiping community.

Without passages on justice for the poor, the Bible is a very slim volume

Posted May 16th, 2024

“I was raised to see that faith and justice were completely linked, and so I just think it’s about living out one’s faith,” says the Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, who talks with the Rev. Sara Hayden on the New Way podcast about being raised by an activist mother and where she is finding hope and challenge in her own activism and motherhood today.

PC(USA) campus ministry in New Orleans benefits from ecumenical partnerships

Posted May 10th, 2024

The Labyrinth Café and Gathering Place is a campus ministry for Tulane University and the University of New Orleans in uptown New Orleans. “It’s a community center where people can gather and ask deep questions about life and faith,” said the Rev. Zoë Garry, campus minister and director of the Labyrinth.

Striking a balance between ‘Spirit-led’ and ‘decent and in order’

Posted May 3rd, 2024

When it comes to “Spirit-inspired worship,” the Rev. Veronica Cannon sets a very high standard and advises that churches and the people who attend them not compromise.

Minute for Mission: 1001 New Worshiping Communities

Posted April 24th, 2024

“We’re Presbyterians. We don’t DO evangelism.” I heard these words as I served as a presbytery’s associate for mission and evangelism. The speaker was the chair of a congregation’s Mission and Evangelism committee ….

Presbytery of San Fernando celebrates 55 new worshiping communities in 55 years

Posted March 26th, 2024

“God is not yet finished with the Presbyterians!” said Nick Warnes, director of Cyclical LA, a ministry of the Presbytery of San Fernando in California, and executive director of Cyclical INC. Warnes was describing what it meant for him to meet the milestone of 55 new worshiping communities in the 55-year history of the Presbytery of San Fernando.

Multi-congregational and multicultural church in Colorado is a model for the PC(USA)

Posted February 27th, 2024

“Aurora has become a place where immigrants and refugees from all over the world are settling now,” said the Rev. Doug Friesema, pastor of Aurora First Presbyterian Church in Colorado, whose congregation has opened up its space to five other congregations that serve Spanish-speaking immigrants, refugees, individuals from the African diaspora and African Americans.

Multi-congregational and multicultural church in Colorado is a model for the PC(USA)

Posted January 30th, 2024

“Aurora has become a place where immigrants and refugees from all over the world are settling now,” said the Rev. Doug Friesema, pastor of Aurora First Presbyterian Church in Colorado, whose congregation has opened up its space to five other congregations that serve Spanish-speaking immigrants, refugees, individuals from the African diaspora and African Americans.