To connect with justice is to connect with the heart of God. It is a part of God’s core character. It is not optional but necessary. Jesus, the very fulfillment of Scripture—God on earth, here with us—declared in his first message that justice and compassion would be at the center of his ministry. In Luke 4:18-19 Jesus doesn’t say, “I am here just for your soul.” No, he declared that through the power of the Holy Spirit he was going to set captives free, bring sight to the blind, and break the chains of injustice!
My Father’s Affairs
In Luke 2:41-52, Joseph and Mary search desperately for their young son Jesus. There is a certain irony here: Jesus’ parents think he is lost, when at a deeper level he has found his calling, which is “to be about his father’s affairs.”
In Luke’s Gospel, the “father’s affairs” entail expanding people’s understanding of family and community. It starts in this story itself. Jesus’ parents have a particular understanding of his place in the family, and he challenges that notion by envisioning for himself an identity that reaches beyond his family. Throughout the third Gospel, Jesus subverts the narrow identities attributed to him and claims for himself a more expansive identity.
In August of 2013, President Obama announced the possibility of military action in Syria. Our Syrian Church partners urged the Presbyterian Church (USA) to speak out against military action, arguing that the situation would only become more violent as more weapons were funneled into the country. Mary Mikael, our church partner from the Evangelical Church of Syria and Lebanon, came to Washington, DC and the Office of Public Witness organized visits with key members of congress and the administration. She asked them to give “Syrians a chance to live.”
At the Presbyterian House in Merida, Venezuela, Dr. Edgar Moros- Ruano, a former Presbyterian mission co-worker, says “the gospel is proclaimed not only by word of mouth, but also through deeds.”
Moros-Ruano serves as pastor of the Congregation of the Resurrection and is a tenured professor of philosophy at Universidad de Los Andes in Merida. In both his pastoral work and his seminary teaching, Moros-Ruano says he has integrated leadership development as an evangelistic effort to share the gospel of Jesus to his congregations and students.
In the spirit of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., three northern NJ churches have rehabilitated a church in need of repairs.
Over the MLK holiday weekend in January 2016, the Presbyterian Church at Tenafly and Old Bergen Church of Jersey City teamed up for a construction project at the Mideast Evangelical Church in Jersey City to remodel, insulate and paint a fellowship hall, reinforce a hand rail, share in a delicious MiddleEastern meal, hear stories, and commemorate the MLK Day of Service.
In West Louisville, Ky., Westwood Presbyterian Church came up with a creative way to address what generations of African AmericansWest have come to believe, “that life is cheap, and the cheapest of all are black lives.” By hosting a drama camp for African American kids earlier this year, Westwood took them back to a time when African American culture was thriving.
As part of its ongoing mission to foster a culture of discipling–central to Christian life and practice–the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s office of Evangelism has announced plans for its annual Disciple Making Church Conference.
The 2017 conference–based on John 15:4 and titled “Abide in Me … A Spiritual Purging”–is designed to introduce participants to a variety of spiritual practices and help them live fuller mental and spiritual lives in order to bear more fruit for Jesus Christ and Christ’s church. The conference will be held January 16-19, 2017, at the TradeWinds Island Grand Resort, St. Pete Beach, Florida.
The Rev. Donald J. Dawson retired October 31, 2016, as director of the World Mission Initiative (WMI) at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and the New Wilmington Mission Conference (NWMC). Regarded as the oldest annual mission conference in the United States, NWMC has been inspiring, calling, equipping and sending people to live out the great commission locally and globally since 1906. Dawson has directed WMI and the conference since July 2000.
If this summer’s Presbyterian Youth Triennium is any indication, more young people are showing an overwhelming interest in critical topics that intersect faith and social justice, such as environmental racism. The summer gathering at Purdue University drew nearly 5,000 young people for a week of worship, fellowship and a chance to learn and engage on issues of great importance to the church as a whole. For many of the presenters on key advocacy issues, the turnout and interaction were more than they expected.
In late June, mere days after winning Peru’s presidential election by a thin margin, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski turned his eyes on the troubled community of La Oroya, where for more than 15 years Presbyterian World Mission and the Presbyterian Hunger Program have joined with partners Joining Hands Peru (“Red Uniendo Manos Peru”) in seeking justice for city’s residents.
