Nicholas Yoda

Nicholas Yoda, pastor of Pleasant Ridge Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, credits his home church and seminary for preparing him for ministry as a “spiritual docent in a house full of wonder and a valley full of pain.”

Together they nurtured his budding call to ministry and service as a pastor. Yoda is one of four pastors serving Presbyterian churches and graduates of Presbyterian seminaries featured in individual bulletin inserts your church can use to celebrate Theological Education Sunday on Sept. 15, 2019, or when your congregation chooses.

Resources for Theological Education Sunday

All resources, which can be found on the Presbyterian Foundation website, are downloadable. You may print them from the PDF files. If you’re using these items on social media, such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, please use the hashtag #GrowTheoEd when posting so we can find your post and thank you for sharing it.

Liturgy, written by the Revs. Mary Kathleen Duncan and Leigh Stuckey, associate pastors of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Greenville, South Carolina, includes suggested themes, hymns, litanies and prayers, as well as ideas for a brief children’s sermon. All elements of the liturgy are based on the lectionary passages Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28; Psalm 14; Luke 15:1-10 and 1 Timothy 1:12-17.

Bulletin inserts

Choose from four bulletin inserts this year each featuring a story of a PC(USA) seminary educated pastor, the Rev. Dr. K. Nicholas Yoda, the Rev. Elizabeth Kanerva, the Rev. Kaci Clark-Porter and the Rev. Dr. Jerry Cannon.

• Elizabeth Kanerva focuses on fostering relationships and staying engaged in her ministry as pastor of Glendale Presbyterian Church in St. Louis.

• Kaci Clark-Porter is co-pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in El Paso, Texas. Kaci notes that her theological education from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary formed a foundation for her ministry she continues to build on today.

• Jerry Cannon is pastor of C.N. Jenkins Memorial Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he has mentored many into ministry for decades.

Lee Hinson-Hasty is senior director for Theological Education Funds Development for the Committee on Theological Education (COTE) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Presbyterian Foundation. You can reach Lee at Lee.Hinson-Hasty@PresbyterianFoundation.org or at his office phone 502-569-5357.