On Tuesday, panelists from the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy and the Presbytery of the Pacific regaled those attending the Polity, Benefits and Mission Conference with the innovative Matthew 25 work going on in their jurisdictions — one related to affordable housing and the other to racial justice.
The Rev. Ryan Landino, presbytery leader at the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy, told the story of the loan debt that was saddled years ago on Third Presbyterian Church, a predominantly Black congregation in St. Louis. Alongside Landino on the panel were the pastor of the church, the Rev. Cedric Portis Sr., and the Rev. Liz Kanerva, the associate presbytery leader.
"I think it has moved us to a new place as a presbytery,” says the Rev. Heidi Worthen Gamble, mission catalyst at Presbytery of the Pacific, referring to the presbytery’s approach to engaging in the three critical global initiatives of Presbyterian World Mission. These initiatives are reconciliation in cultures of violence, addressing root causes of poverty and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.
When she was co-pastor with her husband of a mission church in rural Alaska, the Rev. Heidi Worthen Gamble hosted many short-term mission trips from Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations elsewhere. “As time went on we struggled to continue to find work projects for these groups,” Gamble told the Moderator’s Colloquium on Ecclesiology Wednesday (April 24) at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary (APTS). “We began to ask whether it wouldn’t be more beneficial to create jobs in the village rather than mission projects for church groups.”