Advocacy & Social Justice

Making real the promises of democracy

“Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy,” the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said during his 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, capping the March on Washington. Almost six decades later it’s well past time. But two leaders engaged mightily in the struggle said during Monday’s online forum “God and Division” hosted by the Katie Geneva Cannon Center for Womanist Leadership at Union Presbyterian Seminary said religion has a significant place in the battle.

Standing behind a commitment to gender justice

The Advocacy Committee for Women’s Concerns (ACWC) and the Office of Gender and Racial Justice are calling on Presbyterians to stand behind the commitment the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has made to seeking gender justice by joining the two groups in advocating for Senate passage of the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2021.

The long road home

It has been said that “justice delayed is justice denied.” However, after a great injustice against the Nez Perce Tribe, the Nimiipuu people recently celebrated the correction of a grave injustice.

Remembering Dr. King by celebrating and protecting religious freedom

A panel convened by Union Presbyterian Seminary’s Center for Faith, Justice and Reconciliation spent 90 minutes Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, discussing the importance of protecting religious freedom while remembering King. President Joe Biden declared Sunday, Jan. 16, as Religious Freedom Day.

Presbyterian pastor joins hunger strike for voting rights

The pastor of a Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Arizona, has joined a hunger strike by an interfaith coalition that wants Congress to pass voting rights legislation by Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 17.

Celebrating the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“With this faith we shall be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope” was the theme for Wednesday’s special online worship service commemorating and celebrating the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The theme was a quote from Dr. King’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech delivered at the 1963 March on Washington.

Scaling the truth and spreading reconciliation

Just as they helped launch the nation’s first Truth & Reconciliation Commission in Greensboro, North Carolina, about 20 years ago, the Rev. Nelson Johnson and Joyce Johnson are making plans for a statewide effort they hope will become a national model.