Fred says, "I am an honorably retired Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. My present "ministry" is this blog and living for Jesus Christ in Arizona's beautiful but sometimes very hot Valley of the Sun."
Glad to have you back in the web ring (technical difficulties with RingSurf notwithstanding).
"New Jersey Presbyterian Hunger Action and Advocacy is a joint ministry of Monmouth and New Brunswick Presbyteries. We share the goal of the Presbyterian Hunger Program: to alleviate hunger and eliminate its causes. We are here to help congregations engage in a range of creative ministries to help hungry and poor people. We are often challenged by the problems in our world, but this is nothing new for the people of God. In the time of Second Isaiah, Israel returned from exile in Babylon to find their faith in God and God’s promises challenged by what they saw—the temple in ruins, the monarchy gone forever, the religious institutions destroyed—and how different it looked from what they thought God had promised. “Where was the temple? Where were the singing mountains? Fine, we’re free, they thought, but the economy is in ruins. Okay, we’re home, but there aren’t any homes left. What have we done to deserve this? . . . . Perhaps it is a question we, too, might raise. Fine, Jesus has come and we are saved. But why does the world look like it does? Couldn’t God make things right? “Chapters 56-66 of Isaiah speak to this situation. And sometimes the words are harsh. You might wonder where God is (58:3). You might even claim you’re doing your best (58:2). But you need to know that the problem with the world has more to do with people—worse, with you—than with God (59:1-8). This does not mean God has given up on Israel (or on us). God still yearns for a relationship with people that is whole and productive (65:1). But Israel (or we?) will not (cannot) respond.”[1] In order to enhance our congregations’ and presbyteries’ capacity to respond to present-day problems through both advocacy and relief ministries, we have begun the New Jersey Hunger Action and Advocacy initiative. In this initial phase of its implementation, the project includes two presbyteries: Monmouth and New Brunswick. [1] From Isaiah’s Challenge to the People of God, a Bible study on Isaiah 58:6-12, published by the Presbyterian Hunger Program. Check out our “Congregations” pages to learn more about what congregations are doing and find ideas of what you can do. Hunger Action Enabler/ Advocates, Rev. Marcia MacKillop and Rev. Phyllis Zoon, serve as educators and motivators–we are here to help. Our website/blog is a “work in progress” that we hope will be informative, useful and fun. All comments welcome!"
Reminder: older and less active blogs (e.g. those not updated within the last 12 months) are still linked here. I recently did a bit of blogroll cleaning!
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