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Olivia Avery shared this reflection on Sunday, January 30, 2022. You can watch it online here. Our 2022 Break With a Purpose trip was to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, where we spent a week offering hospitality to Afghan refugees waiting to be resettled around the country. Jewish Social Services is a resettlement agency located in Madison. With the support of volunteers through Open Doors For Refugees, they are resettling families and individuals in and around Madison. Visit opendoorsforrefugees.org to learn how you and/or your congregation to volunteer.

Emma Elsdon shared this reflection on Sunday, January 30, 2022. You can watch it online here. Our 2022 Break With a Purpose trip was to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, where we spent a week offering hospitality to Afghan refugees waiting to be resettled around the country. Jewish Social Services is a resettlement agency located in Madison. With the support of volunteers through Open Doors For Refugees, they are resettling families and individuals in and around Madison. Visit opendoorsforrefugees.org to learn how you and/or your congregation to volunteer.

Silas Setterstrom shared this reflection on May 2nd, 2021 at Graduation Sunday. You can also watch or listen to it. Hey everyone, for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Silas, and I’ve been attending Pres House since the fall of 2017 (and now that I’ve said that out loud I instantly feel a whole lot older). I’d like to start off by sharing a few lessons that I’ve learned over the past four years that I wish I would have known before, and then I’ll talk about how Pres House has shaped my journey. The first lesson I’ve learned is to be yourself. Now, I know it sounds cliche, and that people always say this, but I really think that this is one of those sayings that often goes in one ear and out the other, or at least it often did for me. I spent…

Spencer Johnson shared this reflection on May 2nd, 2021 at Graduation Sunday. You can also watch or listen to it. I chose my first campus faith community because they had a bonfire at Picnic Point. An avid camper myself, it seemed like the right kind of vibe for me. However, apart from the name of a deity and an affinity for bonfires, I quickly found out that we had little in common. The first red flag appeared when I was asked about, of all things, my class schedule. I mentioned I was taking an introductory course on biblical literature, which was met, to my surprise, with dismay. They told me of a previous student who, after taking that class, had confessed he no longer believed in God. They admonished me to find out if the professor was a believer before I listened to anything he said. I was shocked and…

Emily Johnson shared this reflection on May 2nd, 2021 at Graduation Sunday. You can also watch or listen to it. Hi, everyone. My name is Emily Johnson, and I have been a part of the Pres House community for nearly five years, beginning in the fall of 2016 when I began my undergraduate studies here at UW-Madison.  Last December I completed my degree in biology and Spanish, and I’ll soon be leaving this city that I have come to love as I move to New York to start medical school in the fall. Even before I was a student at UW, though, Pres House was a part of my life. I spotted our quaint building for the first time on a campus tour while still in high school, and in that moment I felt a deep sense of comfort in there being a place to continue practicing the Presbyterian faith…

Each week during Lent, we will be sharing spiritual practices for your Lenten journey. The seventh and final practice is detailed below.

Each week during Lent, we will be sharing spiritual practices for your Lenten journey. The sixth practice is eating with gratitude and comes from the Center for Spirituality in Nature. Along with this practice, we encourage you to read or watch Ava’s story: "Food, Faith, and Frozen Meals."