A formal apology by the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy to African Americans for what the presbytery calls “the sin of slavery and its legacy” recently occurred following a “Journey of Reconciliation” last fall to two institutions in Montgomery, Alabama, dedicated to telling the stories of enslaved black people and those terrorized by lynching and humiliated by Jim Crow.
A formal apology by the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy to African Americans for what the presbytery calls “the sin of slavery and its legacy” occurred this month following a “Journey of Reconciliation” last fall to two institutions in Montgomery, Alabama, dedicated to telling the stories of enslaved black people and those terrorized by lynching and humiliated by Jim Crow.
Two years ago, the current and former Stated Clerks of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) journeyed to Utqiagvik (Barrow, Alaska) — the nation’s northernmost city — to apologize to Native Americans, Alaska natives and native Hawaiians for damage inflicted by the church in previous decades.
Two years ago, the current and former Stated Clerks of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) journeyed to Utqiagvik (Barrow, Alaska) — the nation’s northernmost city — to apologize to Native Americans, Alaska natives and native Hawaiians for damage inflicted by the church in previous decades.
“You cannot understand our history as a country until you understand the history of the church.”
That’s how Mark Charles — a Navajo pastor, speaker and author — began his presentation to a room full of missionaries in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which gathered this past summer for their annual meeting.
The chapel of the Presbyterian Center was recently filled with voices singing the hymn God the Creator in observance of Native American Day at the Presbyterian Center. The chorus of the hymn reminds us that “we’re brothers and sisters in God’s love” in spite of our differences.
Healing has begun between Native Alaskan groups and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) following an apology issued by the Presbytery of Yukon at the meeting of the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) October 22, 2016. Both native representatives and the presbytery acknowledge this significant gesture is the start of a long process to address the abuses of the past century, especially as they relate to the treatment of Native Alaskan children at church-affiliated boarding schools.
