PCUSA.org – February 12, 2025

• LOUISVILLE — The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is among more than two dozen plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in response to a rescission of the Department of Homeland Security’s “sensitive locations” policy. That policy had restricted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from conducting immigration raids, arrests, and other enforcement actions at houses of worship.
• The case, Mennonite Church USA et al. v. United States Department of Homeland Security et al., was filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., by the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) at Georgetown Law. View the lawsuit here (Click the Link in the column at www.mygpc.org).
• A description of the PC(USA)’s ministry and mission is on page 15 of the lawsuit: “Guided by their call to welcome the stranger and belief in the inherent dignity of all people, PC(USA) actively advocates for and works toward more just immigration laws and processes.”
• Speaking on behalf of the General Assembly, the Stated Clerk and Executive Director of the Interim Unified Agency of the PC(USA), the Rev. Jihyun Oh, said, “The policy statement ‘God Alone is the Lord of the Conscience’ adopted by the 200th General Assembly (1988) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) sought to ‘articulate the conditions of the civil society necessary to the free and effective conduct of the church’s mission and ministry…’ because these are a ‘vital dimension of Presbyterian witness and responsibility’ both for the free exercise of religion in our country and for the common good.”
• “The policy statement affirmed that ‘the free exercise of religion’ must be understood to include and protect the right to practice faith in public and private as well as the right to believe….’ This is what the current legal action aims to do: to proclaim that the practice of faith is lived out not just in a worship service but in ministry, including public witness and acts of justice, that are expressions of the worship with the whole of our lives.”

The bullet points are taken from a larger article on The Presbyterian Church (USA) website.

Friends, as you’re reading this, I am in Stony Point, NY. I was invited to attend the Presbyterian Church (USA) Justice Summit at the Stony Point Conference Center, Friday, April 4 – Sunday, April 6, 2025. The Summit is focused on social issues that are currently under threat—Immigration issues, Institutional Racism, and Gender Justice.

On our Interim Pastor journey with you, I remain faithfully yours,

Steve

The Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh (Interim Pastor)

Mennonite Church USA v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security Complaint >

The Worship Service Part 3

Silence beckons us to cast our burdens on God and claim the promises of Scripture that remind us that God is faithful, that nothing is impossible with God.

We Are Sent as God’s Servants into the World

¨ Response to God continues with the “Closing Hymn.”

¨ Then the “Charge and Blessing” is given. God’s blessing is bestowed upon each of us, and we depart to serve.

¨ We conclude worship with “Sending Music” and “The Postlude”.

¨ We leave The Great Room and Sanctuary knowing that we have been in God’s presence. We have praised God, recognized our need of God, heard from God, and have been empowered by God for further service in his redemptive work in the world.

Do remember, silence is a most significant tool to plumb the depths of worship as we move through the different sections and disciplines. Quieting our minds and hearts in order to be focused on God is important. Silence is the discipline we can use to encounter the holy and awesome God. Silence is an attitude of heart and mind that attempts to get in touch with God. Silence is the discipline to unlock the worship experience for something bigger than us.

If we aren’t focused on the purpose of worship, we will miss God. Silence assists us in centering our minds and hearts to listen so that our responses to what we hear can give our very selves to the One who has made us, that is, God our Father Almighty.

On our Interim Pastor journey with you, I remain faithfully yours,

Steve

The Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh

Interim Pastor

The Worship Service Part 3

Silence beckons us to cast our burdens on God and claim the promises of Scripture that remind us that God is faithful, that nothing is impossible with God.

 We Are Sent as God’s Servants into the World

• Response to God continues with the “Closing Hymn.”
• Then the “Charge and Blessing” is given. God’s blessing is bestowed upon each of us and we depart to serve.
• We conclude worship with “Sending Music” and “The Postlude”.
• We leave The Great Room and Sanctuary knowing that we have been in God’s presence. We have praised God, recognized our need of God, heard from God, and have been empowered by God for further service in his redemptive work in the world.

 Do remember, silence is a most significant tool to plumb the depths of worship as we move through the different sections and disciplines. We quiet our minds and hearts in order to be focused on God is important. Silence is the discipline that we can use to encounter the holy and awesome God. Silence is an attitude of heart and mind that attempts to get in touch with God. Silence is the discipline to unlock the worship experience for something bigger than us.

If we aren’t focused on the purpose of worship, we will miss God. Silence assists us in centering our minds and hearts to listen so that our responses to what we hear can give our very selves to the One who has made us, that is, God our Father Almighty.

On our Interim Pastor journey with you, I remain faithfully yours,

Steve

The Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh

Interim Pastor

The Worship Service Part 2

Silence beckons us to cast our burdens on God and claim the promises of Scripture that remind us that God is faithful, that nothing is impossible with God. 

We Hear God’s Word 

• Texts from the “Old and New Testaments” are read. These texts are not just words. According to the Reformed tradition in which we stand as Presbyterians, the Bible is God’s authoritative word in all matters of faith and practice. Thus, the Bible is important, as it is the authority of and for the Christian faith.
• Then the “Sermon” is preached, thus focusing the worshipper on the Word of God. The preacher is doing his best to lift up the words of Scripture for the listener to hear. Ultimately, it is up to the Holy Spirit to bear testimony to our spirits that the Word of God is fully worthy of our consideration. The Holy Spirit convicts us through the preached Word, and we are called to repent and to obey.
• We hear an Anthem from the Choir to assist us in drawing closer to God and one another.
• We sing a Hymn to assist us in deepening our encounter with God.

We Respond to God’s Word 

• We move into a time of Prayer.
• The service continues with “Joys and Concerns of the People.” Here, in response to what God has done for us in and through confession and hearing God’s Word read and preached, we lift up the concerns and burdens we have for our world, nation, and cities as well as the needs of those people for whom we are burdened and concerned.
• As a final response to what has been taking place through our reverence of God during the entire service, the “Offering” is received. Here, we give back our time, talent, and treasure. God takes care of us.

Do remember, silence is a most significant tool to plumb the depths of worship as we move through the different sections and disciplines. We quiet our minds and hearts in order to be focused on God is important. Silence is the discipline that we can use to encounter the holy and awesome God. Silence is an attitude of heart and mind that attempts to get in touch with God. Silence is the discipline to unlock the worship experience for something bigger than us.

On our Interim Pastor journey with you, I remain faithfully yours,

Steve

The Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh

Interim Pastor

The Worship Service Part 1

This week, I begin a three-part Column on the worship service. I will comment on various components of our worship services, lifting up the discipline of silence as a key tool to our experience of God. Worship is first and foremost about God. When the Christian community gathers to worship each Sunday morning at Grace Presbyterian Church, we are to give God our best in praise, adoration, and reverence. God is God. We are God’s creation.

Silence is a most significant tool to plumb the depths of worship. That is, how we quiet our minds and hearts in order to be focused on God is important. Silence is the discipline that we can use to encounter the holy and awesome God. Silence is an attitude of heart and mind that attempts to get in touch with God. Silence is the discipline to unlock the worship experience for something bigger than us.

We Gather as the People of God 

• A “Musical Call to Worship” focuses us on the reason we have gathered. We are in God’s presence. The service is not about us. It is about God. We are aware of the transcendent. We are being lifted up into an experience bigger than ourselves.
• The Greeting, Announcements, and Invitation to Discipleship occurs. This is significant for the “body life” of our church family.
• The “Call to Worship” and a “Hymn” pull us into the realization that God is with us and will speak to us.
• We participate in a “Confession of Sin,” private and corporate, an “Assurance of Pardon, and “Exchange of the Peace”. Why? According to Scripture, we are depraved through sin and only in Jesus Christ and his forgiveness can we discover our true identity as persons created in the image of God. We need God to forgive us. We need to be reminded that our sins do have consequences and that our lives are ultimately bankrupt without the loving and forgiving salvation of Jesus Christ in our lives who gives us peace.
• A Response Hymn concludes the We Gather as the People of God

On our Interim Pastor journey with you, I remain faithfully yours,

Steve

The Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh

Interim Pastor