There has been a lot of talk in the past year about twin pandemics and multiple pandemics, including the COVID-19 virus, extrajudicial killings of people who are Black, poverty, and other societal ills exacerbated by the circumstances of the 2020s, thus far.
But one of the quietest pandemics has been gender-based violence, particularly violence against women.
“October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month,” Ruling Elder Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri, Co-Moderator of the 223rd General Assembly (2018), said as she greeted worshipers during Wednesday’s online chapel service.
Sunday, October 7th, is Domestic Violence Awareness Sunday. This week, this month, and every day, may we lift up the stories of all those, past and present, who have been silenced far too long, praying that they may empower us to live into the gospel message of hope. Featured is a prayer from Presbyterian Women Executive Director Susan Jackson Dowd.
A standing-room-only crowd heard a stunning testimony, and more, from domestic abuse survivors as worshippers gathered in the Presbyterian Center’s chapel Wednesday for a service marking Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The service was sponsored by PC(USA)’s Racial Ethnic & Women’s Ministries (RE&WM) and Presbyterian Women.
