Horizons: January/February 2024
January/February 2024
Simply the Best
Looking back at some of our most useful articles of the past 25 years
About this issue
I remember the first time I was introduced to Horizons magazine. was a volunteer leader in a small congregation, serving on a committee and looking for resources. The church secretary (also known as the wisest, most resourceful person in the church) pointed me to the church library and suggested I peruse some back issues of Horizons. “There’s always something useful in those,” she said.
Hours later, I emerged from that rabbit hole with dozens of articles dog-eared to copy and squirrel away for future use. I remember creating my own little binder, filled with the most practical gems I’d found that day. It became my go-to resource for a variety of leadership positions I held in the church.
Granted, I’m a bit biased, having served as an editor for Presbyterian Women (1998–2007), but all these years later I still point people toward Horizons as a solid, useful, reliable resource. When I was asked to guest edit a “best of” issue of the magazine, I jumped at the chance to return to that rabbit hole. I thought of the leaders Presbyterian Women cultivates and imagined them coming to me with an empty binder, asking what articles I’d recommend they copy and keep? Then I went in search of the most useful articles for interpreting the four main parts of the PW Purpose: nurturing faith, supporting mission, working for justice and peace, and building an inclusive community.
In the pages that follow, you’ll find timeless articles, refreshed with current resources, doing what Horizons does best: being the resource you’ll turn to time and time again.
Enjoy!
—Leah Ellison Bradley, Guest Editor
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Features
Giving the Lesson
Sara Covin Juengst gives a classic summary of good, solid Bible study techniques that anyone can use to teach the lesson.
Discerning Your Volunteer Path
SarahLee Morris provides a practical discernment tool for anyone ready to serve but wondering how/where to start.
Learning Together in Cross-Cultural Situations
Debby Vial creates a simple and useful resource for anyone going on a mission trip.
The Table of Belonging: How Radical Hospitality Breaks Down the Subtle Barriers of Race and Class
Dee Dee Risher’s must-read for anyone serious about addressing diversity issues and making room at their table.
Combating Domestic Violence: What Congregations and Individuals Can Do
Dorothy F. Washington contributes an especially helpful article during this triennium’s focus on domestic violence.
A Purpose with Promise
Elaine McRobbie gifts Presbyterian Women with a fun collection of exercises for groups that want to make the PW Purpose their own.
Speaking Our Suffering
Margaret Wheatley’s poignant reminder of the importance of listening and the value in another person’s story.
PW Resources
2024 Birthday Offering of Presbyterian Women Recipients
2024 Birthday Offering of Presbyterian Women Dedication Service
Anna H. Bedford Bible Study Resource
Rev. Susan Carter Wiggins offers reflections and questions for use in studying Lessons Seven and Eight of the 2023–2024 PW/Horizons Bible study, Sacred Encounters: The Power and Presence of Jesus Christ in Luke-Acts, by Olive Mahabir.
2023 Horizons Index
Departments
Annie the Kitchen Queen
Reminisce with Charlotte Johnstone and one of her most popular installments in our long-running series Dispatch from Forbearance Presbyterian Church.
Mosaic
News and Information about Presbyterian Women and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
