Lenten Reflections on the Confession of Belhar now available through PC(USA) Store

Timely title from Congregational Ministries Publishing provides focus on unity, justice and reconciliation

by Debbi Markland Ulmer | Special to Presbyterian News Service

Additional reporting by Emily Enders Odom

LOUISVILLE — Less than six months after the historic vote by the 222nd General Assembly (2016) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to add the Confession of Belhar to the PC(USA)’s Book of Confessions, Congregational Ministries Publishing (CMP) has released a new book titled Lenten Reflections on the Confession of Belhar.

This book of devotions, edited by Kerri Allen and Donald K. McKim, is well timed for a denomination that is eager to incorporate this newest and 12th confession into the life, liturgy and spiritual practices of mid councils and congregations.

Allen, a PC(USA) teaching elder and a native of Saint Paul, Minnesota, served in parish ministry prior to entering the Ph.D. program at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Chicago. McKim is an honorably retired teaching elder, Reformed theologian and editor. He was the Academic Dean and Professor of Theology at Memphis Theological Seminary and Professor of Theology at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. McKim studied at Westminster (Pa.) College and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and received his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.

“Don McKim and Kerri Allen have produced a timely and helpful resource for Lent—a book of seasonal reflections on scripture and the Confession of Belhar,” says Mark Hinds, CMP’s publisher. “Congregational Ministries Publishing is pleased to make this book available to all followers of Jesus who seek to answer God’s call to unity, reconciliation, and justice.”

Having provided the book of devotions with editorial guidance, Allen reflects on the writing of this valuable resource for Lent. “The timing of this devotional meditation is providential,” she says. “At a time when the nation is deeply divided and fearful of the unknown, the Belhar Confession reminds the church of Jesus Christ that unity in Christ is dependent on standing in solidarity with the least, the lost, the lonely—the marginalized and the oppressed. These devotions provide the spiritual reflection for the church’s responsibility to prophetic witness in profoundly troubling and complex times.”

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Published by the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Congregational Ministries Publishing, this new book of devotions may be ordered through The PC(USA) Store.