NEWS

Help the people of Vanuatu

PCUSA, acting through Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA), is partnering with Action by Churches Together (ACT) Alliance coordinating donations toward this particular disaster. Donations can be made by individuals and congregations online to PDA account no. DR 999 999. Specify the Vanuatu disaster. Many other relief agencies, such as UNICEF, are also responding. Due to the remoteness of Vanuatu, it is not practical to think of donations in kind.

Presbyterians Give Final Approval for Same-Sex Marriage

After three decades of debate over its stance on homosexuality, members of the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted Tuesday to change the definition of marriage in the church's constitution to include same-sex marriage.

The final approval by a majority of the church's 171 regional bodies, known as presbyteries, enshrines a change recommended last year by the church's General Assembly. The vote amends the church's constitution to broaden marriage from being between "a man and a woman" to "two people, traditionally a man and a woman."

Coalfield Development mission trip

 Coalfield Development mission trip to Wayne County, WV June 22-27, for youth 8th grade and up. Deadline to sign up is April 22. Sunday brunch to offset costs will take place Sunday, April 12.

Ruling Elder Judy York's remarks during "same-sex marriage" debate at Presbytery, February 14

Friday morning, on the 13th of February, Randy [Tremba, Pastor at Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church] e-mailed me at the crack of dawn and asked if I would be able to fill in for Jeananne Stine, who was home with the flu, at the Presbytery meeting scheduled for the next day. The marriage amendment on the docket is an issue very close to her heart and work—it was an honor to represent her even though it meant rearranging Valentine’s Day plans with my family.

Marriage Vote

Update 2/16/15:  On Saturday, February 14, the Shenandoah Presbytery approved (99-79) a proposed amendment (14-A) to the PCUSA constitution redefining marriage as "between two persons, traditionally a man and a woman." The amendment must be ratified by 86 of the 172 Presbyteries in the PCUSA before it can become official. The voting of Presbyteries continues through this year. The tally thus far is 51 YES 23 NO.

SPC has gone solar!

Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church installed a 60-panel solar array on the Church—the largest community-supported solar system in West Virginia. This project, and the way it has come about, could become a model for countless similar endeavors in small towns and large cities across both the state and the nation. 

Shepherdstown Church in Third Year as Earth Care Congregation

The Shepherdstown church recently entered its third year of certification by PCUSA as an Earthcare Congregation, one of a growing number of such Presbyterian congregations nationwide.

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