The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP), which serves the Church by providing the General Assembly with careful studies on issues with moral challenges, Christian discernment, and making policy recommendations for faithful action, announced the publication of two new General Assembly resources. Honest Patriotism is a theological and ethical guide on civic responsibility. Religious Freedom Without Discrimination describes claims of religious freedom being used to exempt individuals and employers from providing women’s reproductive health coverage or goods and services to LGBTQ+ individuals.
United Nations Day 2018 marks the 73rd anniversary of the U.N. charter that has been the foundation of the U.N.’s work since 1945. Originally created to promote world peace in the aftermath of World War II, the U.N.’s role has since grown to encompass protecting human rights, promoting social and economic development, and providing aid and comfort to countries and people around the world afflicted by famine, disaster and war. Oct. 24 has been celebrated as United Nations Day since 1948.
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, the nation’s oldest ecumenical body, concluded its annual “Christian Unity Gathering” last week in a spirit of celebration and hope. Leaders from across the Council’s 38 member communions came to College Park, Maryland, to join in conversation, worship and decision-making. The Christian Unity Gathering (CUG) continued the Council’s “A.C.T. Now to End Racism” campaign, begun with a mass rally on the National Mall last April.
A citywide interfaith Service of Light & Remembrance, hosted by Faith Forward Dallas, will be held to remember neighbors in Dallas County, Texas, who died homeless during this past year. The service will take place at First Presbyterian Church of Dallas on Sunday, November 4, starting at 4 p.m.
Miriam is a teacher at a public elementary school in her indigenous community in Guatemala. When the government funds for the school hadn’t come halfway through the school year (but had for all of the non-indigenous public schools in the area), she led a march of teachers from their small town in the mountains to the municipal building in Xela, six miles away. Outside the government building, indigenous teachers and parents held a rally and delivered a letter demanding the money allocated for their children’s education.
Sunday, October 7th, is Domestic Violence Awareness Sunday. This week, this month, and every day, may we lift up the stories of all those, past and present, who have been silenced far too long, praying that they may empower us to live into the gospel message of hope. Featured is a prayer from Presbyterian Women Executive Director Susan Jackson Dowd.
It all started on Palm Sunday at Beechmont Presbyterian Church. I had just learned that two youth group members, Faith Evanson, 15, and Lodia Yanga, 16, had returned from the March for Our Lives event in Washington, D.C.
Colleagues and friends of Susan Stack gathered in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s chapel on Sept. 20 to honor and remember the life, legacy and ministry of the longtime Presbyterian Health, Education & Welfare Association (PHEWA) social justice advocate.
The 63rd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is scheduled for March 11–22, 2019, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The event is expected to draw representatives from member states, U.N. entities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from around the world. Applications are now being accepted and can be accessed on the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations (PMUN) web page.
In the fall of 2016, the Rev. Dwayne Black, pastor of The Sanctuary Church, found himself behind bars more than once for feeding the homeless on Florida’s Fort Lauderdale Beach. His arrest gleaned international attention. In his defense, Black says he “follows the red letters in Scripture.”
