The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a dramatic shift in the way organizations around the country are conducting business. For the first time in the history of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the organization will not hold an in-person General Assembly. This year the 224th General Assembly, originally scheduled to be held in Baltimore, will be a virtual event.
It’s a line that appears twice in the documentary, “Flint: The Poisoning of an American City.”
“What happened here is now happening in other places. It could happen in any city in the United States. It did happen in the city of Flint, Michigan.”
Light Street Presbyterian Church in Baltimore has been home to a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregation for more than 160 years. Founded as a place of refuge for children who worked in factories, Light Street always knew it existed for the city’s working-class neighborhood.
For five weeks during the summer, nearly 50 youth in West Baltimore can be seen working on their reading and math skills, or they might be packing up for a day on a local farm or at an area museum. It’s all part of the Rosemont Community Interfaith Coalition, which is focused on ending the violence in the Maryland city by offering positive experiences and hope for youth.
Memorial Day weekend turned into a memorable time for residents around Baltimore, but not in a good way. The region has been pounded with rain followed by flash flooding, leaving hundreds with water damage and one Army National Guard rescuer missing.
The second day of the NEXT Church 2018 gathering in Baltimore began with a worship service focusing on “testimonies of death and dying.” Over 675 participants have gathered for the annual conference of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) members, pastors and those in affiliated ministries under the theme of “The Desert in Bloom: Living, Dying, and Rising in a Wilderness Church.”
With bumper stickers and hashtags, Facebook pages and community partnerships, the Freedom Rising initiative to improve the plight of the African American male is beginning to take off in the five cities where the program will be piloted. The initiative approved by the 222nd General Assembly (2016) seeks to assist communities in Baltimore, Charlotte, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and New York City by addressing problems specifically related to African American males.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is taking specific action to confront the societal and racial issues facing black communities in the U.S. by living into a new church initiative to address the plight of African American males in our country.
The executive committee of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted August 25 to direct designatable funds from its fall board meeting’s Peace & Global Witness offering to the “On Taking Specific Action to Address the Worsening Plight of the African American Male” initiative.
