A loving, committed community—Day 4, June 21
After three days of education and inspiration, the 2015 Churchwide Gathering ended on Sunday, June 21 with worship. The speakers and performances wove together the challenges to wholeness for all of God's children and our power as a community to overcome those challenges.
During the closing worship service, (left to right) Kimberly Elliot, Teresa Chavez Sauceda and Sadekie Lyttle-Forbes serve Holy Communion. Photo by Louise Davidson.
A diverse and empowered body
By Kathryn Baker
Sunday plenary and worship is always a highlight of any PW Churchwide Gathering. This one was no exception. The Sunday, June 21 plenary session and worship was also the closing to the 2015 Churchwide Gathering.
Gathering attendees explored the daily theme, “Oneness in the Global Community,” beginning with a time of spiritual reflection led by Dee Koza. She likened a story of clotheslines in East Germany to 1 Corinthians 12:27, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” She told of how, at the time of the Berlin Wall, women of East Germany related to one another by moving their clotheslines so they could see one another. As they hung their clothes on the line, they prayed for their neighbors.
Sadekie Lyttle-Forbes, a mission partner from Jamaica, preached the Word. She said, “When we become Christians, the image of God should become clearer to those who look at us, when they see our actions, the way we treat people and each other, the way we speak, should draw people to Christ.” In short, our love for others reflects Christ. She added, “Love carries the ingredients of inclusiveness.” What unifies us is that we are all baptized by the same Spirit. No one should say another cannot belong; our diversity makes the body of Christ beautiful. Read more.
Aunt and neice duo Kathy Randall and Sara Hill eagerly await a plenary session during the 2015 Churchwide Gathering. Photo by Michael Martin.
A family Gathering
By Kathryn Baker
Sara Hill and her aunt, Kathy Randall, attended the Gathering together. Kathy is a long-time Churchwide Gathering participant and planner, and chaired the 2012 PW Churchwide Gathering in Orlando. Sara is a wife, mother and associate pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Fort Dodge, Iowa. And this was Sara’s first PW Churchwide Gathering. She didn’t know much about the event, but when she saw publicity, she asked her Aunt Kathy about it. She and Kathy, a member of St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church in New Orleans, decided to attend together. Read more.
PW Gathering book groups
By Louise Van Poll
Looking for a good read? Looking for something engaging or inspiring or thought-provoking for your next book study? Well, hundreds of attendees of the 2015 PW Gathering participated in at least one of three book groups during the Gathering.
The three books discussed were The Submission by Amy Waldman; Paula by Isabel Allende and Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor. Read more.
