“We thank thee at this 50th Anniversary. Fifty years ago our people came here harboring nothing but hostility. Since then, we have made great progress.” The Rev. Benjamin Brave, Sr. — better known as Ben Brave — spoke these words on September 3, 1932, at Standing Rock Reservation on the North Dakota border. A group had gathered to mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival of “the hostile bands” in 1882.
Most people pass by First Presbyterian Church in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, noting its beautiful historic sanctuary. It sat on a one-way street, and the 1950s addition to the much larger sanctuary barely merited a backwards glance. But when the city of Manitowoc changed the street to a two-way, Rev. Matt Sauer, the church’s pastor, began to see that 1950s addition as a blank canvas — and an opportunity.
In the Communicators Network PC(USA)’s first-ever episode of Community Conversations broadcast via Facebook Live on Tuesday, the Rev. Lee Catoe and the Rev. DeEtte Decker didn’t hesitate to share their thoughts on how churches and the denomination can use social media more effectively to help amplify the voices of people who aren’t regularly heard from. Hear the conversation by joining Communicators Network by clicking here.
On Wednesday, Aug. 25, the Presbyterian Week of Action will turn its attention to the LGBTQIA+ community with events including a children’s story time and a poetry and story slam.
In Peaceful Neighbor: Discovering the Countercultural Mister Rogers, Michael Long explores how Rogers, an ordained Presbyterian minister, used his children’s program as a platform for sharing countercultural beliefs about caring nonviolently for one another, animals, and the earth.