Led and inspired by the joyful recorded percussion provided by youth drummers at Beechmont Presbyterian Church in Louisville, Presbyterians on Tuesday dedicated the Presbyterian Center’s new conference center that will host the 225th General Assembly — and, perhaps, some future assemblies as well.
“We were blessed with a $100,000 gift from a donor who wished to remain anonymous,” said Rachel Yates, executive presbyter of the Presbytery of Milwaukee. “The donor wanted every congregation — no matter its size — to have $2,000 for mission.”
Part 3 of the Awakening to Structural Racism online conversation Monday dealt with Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) efforts to dismantle structural racism and white supremacy — even when those efforts are placed on hold during the most recent General Assembly, held online and without the usual committee work because of the pandemic.
Among the winners announced Thursday during the Associated Church Press’ 2019 Best of the Church Press Awards was the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II.
Ecumenical leaders who are gathered in Louisville through Saturday are exploring how God continues to call the church to be a faithful witness, even during the current troubled times.
At age 16, Kalief Browder found himself on New York’s Rikers Island, awaiting trial for a crime he says he didn’t commit. Returning from a party in the Bronx, Browder was accused of stealing a backpack holding a credit card, an iPod Touch, a camera and $700. At his arraignment, he was charged with second-degree robbery. Bail was set at $3,000. Browder didn’t have the ability to “bond out” — pay the fee. He would spend the next three years in jail before being released, with his charges dropped.
With issues such as racism, gender equality, LGBTQ rights, immigration, national security and more roiling the United States, the nation finds itself in one of its most turbulent political and social eras since the Civil Rights movement.