Women are in leadership roles throughout the church, serving as clergy, Christian educators, elders, deacons and as living testaments to our Brief Statement of Faith, which acknowledges that the Holy Spirit “calls women and men to all ministries of the Church.”
“Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers.
Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. …
Several years ago, I had an opportunity to visit Westminster by-the-Sea Presbyterian Church in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, for a Sunday worship service. I had always enjoyed my visits to this church, knowing that I would hear outstanding music and an excellent sermon by their senior pastor, the Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Sumner. But I also heard another important message that day. Dr. Sumner spoke of the need for parishioners to attend to their physical health as well as their spiritual well-being. And on this particular Sunday, there would be an opportunity to do this by taking advantage of a free screening for skin cancer that a local dermatologist would be providing immediately after the worship service.
6,172 cases of sexual assault were reported in the Department of Defense in 2016, a slight increase over 2015 and a sharp jump from 2012, when 3,604 cases were reported. This sharp increase likely stems as much from an increased willingness to report as it does from an increase in assaults. Six out of 10 survivors reported retaliation for having reported.
If your mother is white and your father is African-American, what race are you?
a. White
b. African-American
c. Before 1989, African-American
d. 1989 or later, white
Would it surprise you to learn that the answer is both c and d? For those who live in the United States, the race of a child as listed on a birth certificate has been based on a changing set of rules. If both parents were white, the child was white. Before 1989, if only one parent was white, the child was assigned the race of the nonwhite parent. Since 1989, the race of the infant has been determined by the mother’s race.
One modern form of human trafficking is the recruitment and use of child soldiers. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that 300,000 children under age 18 are forced to engage in armed conflicts around the world. The United Nations and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have taken strong stances against the use of child soldiers. In 2002, the UN adopted the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which aims to keep children from being recruited and used in hostilities. Countries ratifying the Protocol commit to not recruiting children under 18 for military service and to taking all possible measures to prevent such recruitment. To support the Protocol, the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations coordinates a Red Hands Campaign, in which more than 300,000 red hands have been made and delivered to world leaders to proclaim that children should not be used as soldiers.
As we mark World AIDS Day, we contemplate the 2017 United Nations AIDS campaign “My Health, My Right,” which affirms that health care is a human right. However, stigma and discrimination might be the most significant hurdles to the effective treatment of HIV/AIDS.
Today, the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights turns 69. This declaration outlines basic civil, political, cultural and economic rights to which all people are entitled. Though not a binding document, the declaration has provided a platform for the creation of over 60 human rights measures. These laws have helped protect many people, but there is still much work to be done to ensure the protection of all people’s human rights.
As an urban minister for more than 40 years, Bob Forsberg dedicated his willing hands, generous heart and sharp mind to serving people society had cast aside.
Recently, however, at age 91, the mental capacity that had served this Presbyterian minister so well began to fade. His memory loss became so debilitating that Forsberg, who had spent years focused on helping others, found himself in need of help.
After World War II, denominational leaders felt called to promote unity. In 1943, they established World Community Day, a day set aside for ecumenical study and prayer. Many denominations were doing their own justice and peace work, but leadership determined that one day of joint study would strengthen unity among them.
