by Rev. Kate Kotfila | December 19, 2017 | AlbPresbychristmas | Blog
Merry Christmas! I am still enough of a kid at heart that the first real snow of the season always fills me with joy. The steady flakes and the white blanket covering the lawn and trees look magical. The muffled quiet of a steady snow makes me think of Silent Night.... Read more
by Rev. Kate Kotfila | November 29, 2016 | AdventJohn the Baptistmental illness | Blog
Mike attracts and repels at the same time. A friend for 25 years, Mike deals with chronic mental illness. Bipolar, he tends toward the manic side, always with another get rich plan just around the corner. His world is bigger than life. Mike is self absorbed and his... Read more
by Rev. Kate Kotfila | November 6, 2016 | | News
November 16 12pm-2pm Why don’t economic safety nets pull people out of poverty? How often have middle class people asked, “Why don’t poor people . . . plan for the future . . . work harder . . . take advantage of services . . . pull themselves up by the bootstraps?... Read more
by Rev. Kate Kotfila | May 25, 2016 | building assessmentchurch buildingsproperty | Blog
Last January we all committed to gather information on our congregations’ buildings and finances throughout the presbytery. A little less than half of the churches have sent in forms and confirmed that reports are up to date. For several churches this exercise has... Read more
by Rev. Kate Kotfila | February 20, 2016 | Mission | Blog
Working in the Dental Clinic Two dentists, an oral surgeon and two hygienists are supported by an educational materials salesman, a retired organist, a diet tech, college students and professors in the back room of the local Pentecostal church. Two light bulbs hang... Read more
by Rev. Kate Kotfila | February 16, 2016 | GuatemalaMission | Blog
Pachaj, Guatemala 2016 We arrive in two buses. Thirty-one travelers gather their belongings. One by one we step off the bus. Pam’s leg is in a brace after falling a week ago. Charlie, at 93 uses ski poles to steady himself. His daughter, a dancer guides him off. A... Read more
by Rev. Kate Kotfila | January 18, 2016 | Syria | Blog
I first met Eleanor, Matthew, and Lutha in 2010 when I was visiting the church their father pastored. Having PK’s (pastor’s kids) of my own, I was delighted that they too had that sense of ownership of the church building that only PK’s can have. They showed me around... Read more
by Rev. Kate Kotfila | September 30, 2015 | | Blog
There came a point in the working out of the partnership agreement between leaders of the Mam presbytery and the Albany presbytery that I lost it. Group editing is never easy. Doing it through three languages, Mam, English, and Spanish was just more than my poor brain... Read more