Norcross Presbyterian Church in Norcross, Georgia, held a dedication ceremony during a recent Sunday worship to mark the return to its original house of worship — built by its congregation more than 120 years ago in 1899.
Jesus was asked, “… And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29)
America’s history with Indigenous peoples hasn’t always been neighborly. In the past five years, the General Assembly has taken actions to change that legacy, and to be neighbors not conquerors.
The canvas before us looks to be from a surrealist artist.
In the center, a figure in a beaked plague mask rides a green horse. To one side, bed-sheet banners with the message “No Job, No Rent” hang from apartment windows. To the other side, shirts on marching protesters bear the inscription “BLM.” And scattered through the scene are darkened churches painted upside down.
International Roma Day is an opportunity for those of us who know little about the Roma (often pejoratively called “gypsies”) to learn about and celebrate their culture, history and people, moving past stereotypes and media depictions.
I still visualize the words etched into a granite slab on a wall of Elmina, a stately castle on the coast of Ghana, constructed in 1482 by the Portuguese:
IN EVERLASTING MEMORY OF THE ANGUISH OF OUR ANCESTORS. MAY THOSE WHO DIED REST IN PEACE. MAY THOSE WHO RETURN FIND THEIR ROOTS. MAY HUMANITY NEVER AGAIN PERPETUATE SUCH INJUSTICE AGAINST HUMANITY. WE, THE LIVING, VOW TO UPHOLD THIS.
The plaque describing the shared history of two Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) churches is on prominent display for everyone to see as they exit the sanctuary of the 3,000-member First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. Underneath the Scripture passage declaring “there is neither slave, nor free” from Galatians 3:28 are these words:
“Among the 12 founding members of First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro in 1824 were the enslaved servants of the Rev. William D. Paisley (founding minister) and Robert Carson.”
Children’s book publishers – hoping perhaps for the next contemporary classic, another “Polar Express” or “Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins” – have sent out a blizzard of holiday choices this year.
As Presbyterians commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation two prominent Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) theologians say it is an opportunity for the church to reconsider history — and how it tells the story of the past 500 years.
Early in our Presbyterian history of international mission, William Sheppard took on the challenge of evangelism in a distant, unknown land. His faith helped to build the church; his advocacy for the Congolese changed the world.
