Celebrating 50 years of marriage by bringing hope to others
February 17, 2021
Retired clergy couple invites family and friends to join in honoring their golden anniversary with gifts to the Presbyterian Giving Catalog
by Emily Enders Odom | Presbyterian News Service
The Revs. Virginia and Fred Bunning enjoy riding their tandem recumbent tricycle near their home in Loveland, Colorado. (Contributed photo)
LOUISVILLE â In retirement, the Rev. Fred Bunning delights in reading mysteries and solving puzzles.
Fortunately, his wife, the Rev. Virginia Bunning, is not one of them.
Even so, after 50 years of marriage, a hint of mystery yet remains as the retired clergy couple continue to discover in each other their hidden gifts and untapped potential â and even, occasionally, in themselves.
by Emily Enders Odom | Presbyterian News Service
LOUISVILLE â As yet another Christmas has come and gone â and, along with it, the Magi from the East bearing their unique gifts â the spirit of giving that so characterizes this holy season lives on in these ever-lengthening days through the continued generosity of faithful Presbyterians.
Looking back on a year in which charitable giving was expected to drop precipitously, the improbable increase experienced by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on #GivingTuesday 2020 was nothing short of a Christmas miracle, surpassing all expectations and previous records.
As reported by the Presbyterian News Service on Dec. 10, 2020, the PC(USA)âs #GivingTuesday campaign yielded gifts totaling just over $150,000 as of that date, with a final number promised in the New Year as gifts were continuing to come in.
by Emily Enders Odom | Presbyterian News Service
Retired Christian educator Emma Sue Davenport and her husband, the Rev. Dennis Davenport, who’s also retired, said they turned to the Presbyterian Giving Catalog “as a true gift of thanksgiving for what God has done.” (Contributed photo)
LOUISVILLE â Behind the admittedly corny saying that graces many a collectable coffee mug, âMinisters never retire, but are simply put out to pastor,â there lies a grain of truth â retiring church workers face some very real challenges.
Or so the Rev. Dennis Davenport and his Christian educator wife, Emma Sue, recently discovered.
âI retired from Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Evansville (Indiana) in March 2019 after serving there for just over 27 years,â Dennis Davenport recalled. âWithin a month, we moved to Indianapolis where two of our three sons live, and where we discovered the truth of something Iâd always been told. One of the most difficult