As reports of inhumane conditions in child detention facilities near the United States-Mexico border surfaced over the weekend, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) staff working on immigration and asylum issues, like many observers, were shocked and saddened.
The next U.S. presidential primary election will feature at least three viable women candidates — a development that would have no doubt thrilled Presbyterian minister and leader Eunice Poethig. The Presbyterian Historical Society recently completed the processing of Poethig’s papers, and they illuminate her advocacy work in expanding the numbers of women and people from other marginalized communities serving as leaders in ministry and civic life.
David LaMotte was telling the story of Wesley Autrey, who was dubbed the “Subway Superman” and “Subway Hero” in 2007 after he saved a man who had fallen onto the tracks of the New York City subway while suffering an epileptic seizure.
President Donald Trump was not the first leader to use tweets, the Rt. Rev. W. Darin Moore told a crowd Monday from the steps of the United Methodist Building, across the street from the U.S. Capitol.
Susan Orr came to her first Ecumenical Advocacy Days in 2013, and the past several years, she’s been loading up the van with friends and colleagues in April to make the eight-hour drive from Rochester, New York, to Washington, D.C.
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” That’s how the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights begins. The declaration was drafted in response to the calamities and barbarous acts experiences by people all over the world during World War II. This year marks the 70th anniversary of this historic document in moral consciousness that has been a beacon of hope and purpose throughout the world. The United States was instrumental in this effort, and Eleanor Roosevelt was the driving force in the drafting the document that would become the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It all started on Palm Sunday at Beechmont Presbyterian Church. I had just learned that two youth group members, Faith Evanson, 15, and Lodia Yanga, 16, had returned from the March for Our Lives event in Washington, D.C.
The 63rd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is scheduled for March 11–22, 2019, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The event is expected to draw representatives from member states, U.N. entities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from around the world. Applications are now being accepted and can be accessed on the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations (PMUN) web page.
Faith is not just personal; it’s political. Our leaders pass laws about how we treat one another, laws about money and more. The Bible addresses these issues as well in Scriptures like the Ten Commandments, the parable of the sheep and the goats, Sabbath rules and Jesus’ advice to the rich young ruler to sell his possessions and give to the poor. To say the Bible and Jesus are not political is to deny their influence and relevance to our lives in the 21st century.
“People sometimes look at 20-to-40-page reports on energy, tax policy or end-of-life issues and ask, ‘Do you have something shorter?’ Well, the ‘Social Creed’ is that concise statement of what the churches stand for, deliberately avoiding ‘hot button’ language,” said Christian Iosso, coordinator for the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy for the PC(USA). “The Trinitarian format, loved by the Orthodox churches, was suggested by Patty Chapman, a marketing executive as well as Christian educator who served on the Presbyterian writing committee.”
