While Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) churches and mid councils do the work suggested in Matthew 25, they might consider taking a cue from Isaiah 58 as well.
From February 8-10, and again by conference call on March 12, the Presbyterian Central America study team outlined the chief concerns and questions facing the region and its churches.
One day ahead of Thursday’s National Day of Prayer, the Rev. Chris Iosso urged worshipers during the weekly Chapel service at the Presbyterian Center Wednesday to work toward a new ecumenism that bridges the widening gap between humanity and the planet they inhabit.“The climate crisis gives urgency to ecumenism, and makes divisions more problematic than ever,” said Iosso, coordinator of the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy. “It is not a struggle we can overcome on a national basis.”
Angela Nichols of Columbia, Maryland stood in the sanctuary of New York Avenue Presbyterian Church shortly before dinnertime Friday and marveled at the amount of information she had received.
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.
This Labor Day marks the 10-year anniversary of “A Social Creed for the 21st Century,” an ecumenical message of hope adopted by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. The creed’s foundation lies in the Christian bases of faith, hope and love and offers a vision of society that “shares more and consumes less, seeks compassion over suspicion and equality over domination, and finds security in joined hands rather than massed arms.”
Yes, the title is a tribute to the documentary on Fred Rogers currently in theatres, “Won’t you be my neighbor?” For about 40 years, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood was featured on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) stations as a children’s — but really families’ — afterschool program.
Groups with competing proposals for reforming the corporate structure of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), known as the “A Corp.”, gathered for the second day of discussion on the content and intent of the proposals leading up to General Assembly 223 in St. Louis this summer.
Social witness advocates within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are hoping recent statements by President Donald Trump will result in a move toward more aggressive gun safety laws.
After a brief hiatus, Unbound: An Interactive Journal of Christian Social Justice, published its first edition since the hire of new managing editor Henry Koenig Stone. The current installment: Defending the Common Good, covers diverse issues such as defending truth in media, sanctuary churches, human trafficking, an ecumenical call to good ecological stewardship, and the role of faith communities in resisting white supremacy.
