On April 16, Wrangell First Presbyterian Church in Alaska will celebrate its 125th anniversary during the spring meeting of Alaska Presbytery.
Wrangell, founded by legendary Presbyterian missionary Sheldon Jackson and Amanda McFarland, the widow of another Presbyterian missionary, was the first Protestant and Presbyterian Church in the Alaska Territory. It was chartered on Aug. 3, 1879, with the Rev. S. Hall Young as pastor.
The celebration will include a dramatic presentation depicting the founding pioneers and Klah, a native Alaskan who worked in the community before the church was founded, and John Muir, the West Coast explorer, a friend of Young’s. The keynote speaker will be the Rev. Walter Soboleff, a Presbyterian minister and Tlingit (native Alaskan) leader.
Send greetings to First Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 439, Wrangell, AK 99929.
# # #
The Rev. Bill Teng, a native of Hong Kong and a fourth-generation Presbyterian minister, has become the moderator of National Capital Presbytery.
Teng has been the pastor of Heritage Presbyterian Church in Alexandria, VA, since 2001. He is a former pastor of Union Church in Hong Kong and of Chinese Community Church in Washington, DC.
# # #
Barbara P. McNew , a former teacher, computer graphic designer and printing company owner, has joined the staff of PresbyTel, the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s toll-free telephone information service, as a telephone consultant.
McNew is a member of Central Presbyterian Church in Louisville.
# # #
The Church at the Center, an innovative congregation for young adults that worships in a refurbished movie theater in downtown Seattle, has called the Rev. James Kearny as its second pastor. He began his ministry there in November and was installed on Feb. 22.
Randy Rowland , the founding pastor, has renounced the jurisdiction of the PC(USA).
Rowland pleaded guilty last September on charges of (non-sexual) abuse of pastoral power and breaching the confidentiality of congregants and staff. He chose to leave the denomination rather than pursue Seattle Presbytery’s prescribed course of rehabilitation.
# # #
Seminole and Creek Presbyterians will hold a dinner program on April 3 to celebrate the legacy of Dorsey Fife, a founder of historic Wewoka Presbyterian Church in Indian Nations Presbytery. The event will take place at Achena (OK) Presbyterian Church, with participants coming from as far away as Florida.
Fife, who was born in 1838 and died in 1930, lived for his entire life in the Indian Territory of Oklahoma. He was educated in Presbyterian mission schools and ordained in 1868. He served several churches in the Indian Territory, including Wewoka, which he helped found in 1898. He is buried on the grounds of the Achena church.
# # #
Congregational Ministries Publishing, part of the Congregational Ministries Division in Louisville, has announced that Candace C. Hill has been appointed associate for Presbyterians Organized in Nurture and Teaching (POINT).
Hill, a former schoolteacher, has devoted the past 25 years to Christian education. She was previously the POINT representative for Blackhawk Presbytery in Illinois. She also served as a Christian educator in Pittsburgh and Murrysville, PA. She begins her new work March 29.
|
