Presbyterian News Service

Creating a vital snapshot of Presbyterians

Did you know that Presbyterians are more willing than Americans, in general, to pay higher prices for environmentally friendly products? Or that one-third of Presbyterians belong to a congregation that is trying to become more racially and ethnically diverse?

Way Forward Commission focuses attention on forming recommendations

The Way Forward Commission (WFC) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) met last night (Oct. 24) via a 3-hour conference call to review progress on recommendations it plans to make to the 223rd General Assembly meeting next summer in St. Louis.

PC(USA) agencies join global #GivingTuesday movement

The Presbyterian Foundation has partnered with the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) to support #GivingTuesday on Nov. 28 as a means of harnessing the collective power of partners across the world to transform how people think about, talk about and participate in the giving season.

‘No Innocent Bystanders’ provides guide for social justice work

Can the people who benefit from unjust social systems actively work for justice with those who are oppressed by those systems? No Innocent Bystanders: Becoming an Ally in the Struggle for Justice (Westminster John Knox Press) by Shannon Craigo-Snell and Christopher Doucot is a start-up guide for spiritual or religious people who are interested in working for social justice but don’t know how or where to begin.

Presbyterian Writers Guild seeks best Presbyterian writer nominees

The Presbyterian Writers Guild (PWG) is accepting nominations for its 2018 David Steele Distinguished Writer Award. The award is given biennially in even-numbered years to recognize the cumulative work and influence — regardless of genre or subject matter — of a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) writer.

Board of Pensions issues statement on housing allowance ruling

On Friday, October 6, Judge Barbara Crabb, a federal district court judge in the Western District of Wisconsin, found Section 107(2) of the Internal Revenue Code (the subsection dealing with housing allowances) to be unconstitutional based on the establishment clause of the First Amendment. Section 107(1), relating to the exclusion of the value of manse housing, was not the subject of the lawsuit and remains unaffected.

Presbyterian Church in Cameroon appeals for peace, dialogue

The Rt. Rev. Fonki Samuel Forba, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, issued a statement yesterday urging peace and dialog in response to ongoing persecution and marginalization of the country’s Anglophone population.

Study up: A Reformation anniversary reading list

As the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation is celebrated later this month, that seems to be the case. Just as printing presses rushed to distribute copies of the 95 Theses that Luther reportedly nailed to a church door on Oct. 31, 1517, publishers have released a number of books in the past year on Luther, his fellow Reformers and the lasting impact of his action, which ultimately led to the schism in Christianity between Catholics and Protestants.