Racial Justice

The work of Board of Pensions diversity council is ‘a journey’

Yvette Russell describes the work of the Board of Pensions’ diversity council as “a journey — and a deeply personal one for me.” Russell, who is vice president of Customer Engagement at the Board and council chair, was invited to speak about that journey at the annual meeting of the Church Benefits Association (CBA), held virtually December 1-3.

Fulfilling the General Assembly mandate to engage in full inclusion

To fulfill a mandate from the 223rd General Assembly (2018) on celebrating the gifts of people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities in the life of the Church, readers are invited to participate in a survey that will help the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) live into its decisions and stances by engaging in full inclusion through accepted practice, as well as the Church’s theology in its engagement with individuals and partners around the world.

Redeeming a racist bequest

Ever since discovering  their church was built a century ago partly through funds donated “for the white race only,” the 1,200 or so members and the leadership of Knox Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, have worked hard not to duck the church’s history, but to learn from it and to, in tangible ways, reach out and make connections that make it clear where the church is headed during the next 100 years: ending the sin of systemic racism.

The complexity of the prison industrial complex

After three experts on the topic of what’s known as the prison industrial complex had their say during a 90-minute webinar last week, Dr. Rodney Sadler summed up their critique and ideas with this sentence: “It’s almost like you’ve said we ought to take this faith we say we believe seriously.”