Southwood Presbyterian Church

Pastor’s Note

Lather, Rinse, Repent for Lent

As the season of Lent approaches, many Christians will do more thinking than normal about things like repentance. Most of us will develop somewhat of a list of things that we need to repent of, but this list is usually limited to isolated acts of… [more]

Puzzled Over the Parables?

With parables of one type or another making up about one-third of all of Jesus’ teaching in the gospel accounts, parables are widely considered Jesus’ favorite teaching method. The word “parable” can refer to many different kinds of comparisons, but comparisons made in stories… [more]

Ask a Pastor

Q: What is your take on the current school rezoning discussion?

A: This is a question I’ve been asked numerous times in recent weeks. My family and I live in the Whitesburg P-8 school district (currently and in every proposed new plan I’ve seen), a school that is within 2… [more]

Five Questions

Isn’t Lent a Roman Catholic holiday? Why are Presbyterians talking about it?

Well I suppose that Lent does come from the Catholic tradition, but so do Christmas and Easter and I don’t hear any Presbyterians talking about forgoing them. I think the reason more Presbyterians… [more]

The Lord is There

I remember sitting on a cold stone bench in the clammy darkness of a small church located in the heart of Mundri, South Sudan. As we flipped through the ragged pages of the songs to worship, I stumbled my way through the transliterated Juba Arabic singing the words Rabuuna fi. It was… [more]

Paul’s Picture of Small Groups

Tears roll down his face as he leans forward on the sofa and talks about caring for his wife with dementia. Across the room a single mom and a middle-aged couple share about challenges with their teenage kids. Before the circle is complete, someone has announced a new pregnancy, another… [more]

Welcome Home from Vida Nueva

Saturday, February 1, Ben, Sarah and Riley Niemitz joined Susan and Andes Hoyt for a mission trip in Monterrey, Mexico. Our primary goal was to develop relationships with the members and leaders of Vida Nueva—the church plant Southwood currently supports. Our secondary goal was to… [more]

All That is Fair: Lenten Soundtracks

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a period of fasting and repentance in remembrance of Christ. The ashes of Ash Wednesday are a physical sign of mourning our sin and of our frailty.  Genesis 3:19 says “For dust you are and to dust you shall return.”  We enter… [more]

Session Update

The February stated meeting of the session of Southwood was held on Tuesday, February 11, 2014. General business included a monthly report from the Diaconate given by Chairman Steve Jakab, the approval of minutes of the February 2, 2014 congregational meeting as well as a pastoral update… [more]