Sunspots

In this Pentecost sermon, SPDR Director Rev. Libby Janes reflects on how the Holy Spirit enables people not merely to hear words but to truly understand one another across cultures, languages, and experiences. Drawing on personal stories of international friendships, seminary life, and worship, she emphasizes that the language of faith is ultimately the language of love—a love that calls us to lis...

In this episode of Sunspots, Mary Megan Schnittger, Director of Youth Ministry at Northwoods Presbyterian Church In Houston and Travis Dunmire, 2026 Synod Youth Workshop Planning Team member, share their experiences with Synod Youth Workshop, the beloved summer youth event held at the University of Tulsa. Together, they reflect on the life-changing impact of small groups, youth-led worship, lifelo...

What does it look like to “love your neighbors” in the immigrant community here in our Synod? Listen in as Kristy Rodgers visits with community organizers, Sandra Avalos Araiza and Angee Andrade, as well as Rev. George Mason and Commissioned Pastor Armel Crocker about the ongoing efforts to support the immigrant community at the ICE facility in Dallas. There are also things you can do to prepare y...

Ministry for our immigrant neighbors is happening in North Texas and you can help! Listen in for an invitation from Armel Crocker to join an ongoing interfaith effort at the Dallas ICE facility, and keep your eyes open for a broader conversation coming soon! Ways You Can Help Our Immigrant Neighbors in Dallas: https://tinyurl.com/39ps7kka CLEAR DFW Website: https://www.cleardfw.org/

On this episode of Sunspots, we talk with Libby Janes, the new Director of the Synod Partnership for Disaster Recovery. We find out about her deep roots in the Presbyterian Church, her background in social work and ministry, and her experiences ranging from youth mission trips to serving as a cardiology social worker in New York during the COVID-19 pandemic. Libby shares how these diverse experien...

Libby Janes views her role as SPDR Director as a call to ministry. When she preaches, she hopes to meet people where they are, hold communities' experiences of grief with gentleness, and point to the presence of God with us, through every moment of our lives. This sermon "Take Courage" on Haggai 1:15b-2:9 tells the story of the people of Jerusalem, who have returned from exile in Ba...

On this episode of Sunspots, Kathy Lee Cornell interview Rev. Philip Blackburn about his work with the Town Square Collaborative, a program at the University of the Ozarks that supports rural congregations, pastors, and communities.  Blackburn shares his journey from urban ministry to focusing on rural churches, highlighting the isolation these congregations often feel and the lack of tailored res...

Episode 5 of 5 in the Welcoming the Stranger series Immigration affects ALL of us: our individual and communal histories, as well as our current realities. Scripture is clear on our responsibilities to welcome the stranger(s) because we have all been strangers. In this final episode of this series, Rev. Marta Pumroy and Kristy Rodgers talk about what’s happening at the border now and what we, as i...

Episode 4 of 5 in the Welcoming the Stranger series As a student at Lyon College, Allison Mundy went to El Paso for a Border Encounter as part of the Synod’s Imagine event in 2019. A few years later, as she prepared to graduate from Med school, Allison talked with Kristy Rodgers about that experience and the ways it has shaped her life and ministry since. Be encouraged and inspired!   This series...

Episode 3 of 5 in the Welcoming the Stranger series The largest part of the US-Mexico border (1254 miles) lies in the state of Texas. In this episode, Rev. Tim Blodgett, Rev. Lynne Hargrove, and Rev. Charlie Smith, presbytery leaders in our Synod, talk with Kristy Rodgers about their visits to the border and if/how immigration issues affect congregations and presbytery ministry in their areas.   T...

Episode 2 of 5 in the Welcoming the Stranger series As a young girl, Lynn Hargrove grew up in El Paso, Texas, long before she became the general presbyter for The Presbytery of New Covenant.  Listen in on this conversation with Border Ministry Coordinator Marta Pumroy about what she remembers of the past as we compare it to the current situation on the US/Mexico border.   This series was brought f...

Episode 1 of 5 in the Welcoming the Stranger series Tres Rios Border Foundation partner liaison, John Nelsen, shares the history behind border ministry in the El Paso/Juarez region. In this conversation with Border Ministry Coordinator Marta Pumroy, John shares the current work that Tres Rios does in partnership with hospitality sites in the area focusing on changes that have happened in 2025.   ...

Hill Country Flooding Update with Kathy Lee-Cornell, Bobby Musengwa, Laurie Palmer, and Kathy Riley SPDR continues to coordinate with and support all those involved with the Texas Hill Country Flooding relief efforts. Leaders from Mission Presbytery, First Presbyterian Church in Kerrville, and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance offer the following updates and resources.  Tim Hutchon, President and C...

FPC/Kerrville Flooding Response Update with Jasiel Hernandez Garcia SPDR continues to coordinate with and support all those involved with the Texas Hill Country Flooding relief efforts. Leaders from Mission Presbytery, First Presbyterian Church in Kerrville, and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance offer the following updates and resources.  Tim Hutchon, President and CEO of Mo Ranch has also provided...

Emotional Spiritual Care - Texas Hill Country Flooding with Kathy Riley and John Cheek SPDR continues to coordinate with and support all those involved with the Texas Hill Country Flooding relief efforts. Leaders from Mission Presbytery, First Presbyterian Church in Kerrville, and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance offer the following updates and resources.  Tim Hutchon, President and CEO of Mo Ranc...

On this episode of Sunspots, we meet Tammy Stepka. Tammy is known by the folks at Grace Presbytery as the Office & Ministry Coordinator. In the Synod of the Sun we are getting to know Tammy as our new Interim Administrative Assistant. Tammy has served on the staff of Grace Presbytery since 2017 and joined our staff in January of this year. Tammy has a B.A. in Organizational Leadership and is a...

On this episode of Sunspots, we talk with Elizabeth Brinegar, Teaching Elder from the Presbytery of Arkansas and the returning Director of Operations for Solar Under the Sun. Elizabeth is a familiar face in the Synod, having served six years as a Commissioner, was elected Moderator for 2019, was the Coordinating Team Chair, and served on the Search Committee for the Synod Leader. Elizabeth discuss...

On this episode of Sunspots, we talk with Lisa Almon, Co-Moderator of the Hispanic Mission Ministry Network and hear about the Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders Today workshops. Lisa talks about how there was a need for training Commissioned Pastors and other Lay Leaders in Hispanic congregations and how the Holy Spirit guided some key leaders to create this series of six workshops. Lisa describes the...

On this episode of Sunspots, we talk with Lindsay Freeman-McCarthy, Communications Contractor for the Synod. Lindsay is a 12th generation Presbyterian and daughter to two Presbyterian ministers. She’s an ordained Presbyterian Deacon and Ruling Elder, former camp counselor at Ferncliff, and was an active youth and young adult in the church. While on a study trip to Spain and walking the Camino de S...

On this episode of Sunspots, we talk with Kristy Rodgers, who is a Commissioned Pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Bartlesville Director of Family Ministry. Moderator 2022 and Coordinating Team Chair 2023. Also with us is Rev. Jennifer Grantham, minister at large in Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery. Kristy and Jennifer are leading a study in their Soul Training series called What Does the Bible Say...

On today’s episode, we have a conversation with Neil McKown, Director of Student Ministry at Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church in Austin, TX and the self-appointed Commissioner for the Souperbowl of Caring Smackdown in Mission Presbytery.  Now in its seventh year, the Smackdown is a competition among almost two dozen churches in Mission Presbytery to see who can donate the most non-perisha...

Today's episode features two Ruling Elders from Tres Rios Presbytery. If you are not familiar with Tres Rios Presbytery, it is a group of congregations and ministries located in the westernmost portion of Texas, and it’s known as Tres Rios because the presbytery is marked by three rivers: the Concho, Pecos, and Rio Grande. In our disaster work, we actually don’t hear a lot coming out of Tres...

This is a recording of a Hurricane Preparedness Webinar and Table Top exercise that the Synod hosted on July 11, 2024, just four days after Hurricane Beryl made landfall on the coast of Texas. Earlier this year, many forecasters predicted that this years’ Atlantic hurricane season will be more active than usual, with as many as 25 named storms to form from now through November. And as we have just...

Our latest Sunspot’s Disaster Partnership Conversation podcast features a three-part series, highlighting the tornado recovery efforts across the Presbytery of Arkansas. On March 31, 2023, a high-end EF3 tornado hit Central Arkansas, damaging areas of Little Rock, North Little Rock, Sherwood, and Jacksonville. In that same storm system, another EF3 tornado swept through Wynne, Arkansas. Five lives...

Our latest Sunspot’s Disaster Partnership Conversation podcast features a three-part series, highlighting the tornado recovery efforts across the Presbytery of Arkansas. On March 31, 2023, a high-end EF3 tornado hit Central Arkansas, damaging areas of Little Rock, North Little Rock, Sherwood, and Jacksonville. In that same storm system, another EF3 tornado swept through Wynne, Arkansas. Five lives...