Every year, an average of 200 Presbyterians gather in Washington, D.C. for Advocacy Training Weekend as an opportunity to worship, attend workshops and fellowship with other Presbyterians and Christian denominations. But this year’s attendance for Compassion, Peace and Justice Training Day is hitting record levels and people are still signing up with less than two weeks to go.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent decision to revive the coal industry and closely scrutinize the previous administration’s Clean Power Act is being met with strong opposition among leaders in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). While the president promises the action will create jobs, many say the executive order, signed last week, will set the country back years in environmental progress.
Several ministries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have issued alerts and provided information on their activities in response to the ongoing conflict in South Sudan. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 1.61 million people are internally displaced and another 751,000 people have escaped into neighboring countries, including Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, since conflict broke out in 2013.
Hundreds of people braved cold and windy conditions in Washington, D.C. to participate in an “Emergency Lunchtime Rally” at the headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday. A number of organizations, including the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness, took part in the rally.
An estimated 80,000 people crowded the streets of Raleigh, North Carolina over the weekend to take part in the 11th annual Forward Together Moral March, led by the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II. Organizers say it was the largest crowed in the march’s history.
For the Rev. Kevin Johnson, the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the aftermath that surrounded his death, became a pivotal turning point in his life. Raised in Washington, D.C., Johnson climbed the stairwell of a high rise under construction after the shooting and witnessed a city in anger as riots broke out in the nation’s capital.
Members of the PC(USA)’s Human Trafficking Roundtable (HTR) led Wednesday’s worship service raising awareness around human trafficking, sex trafficking and forced labor.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), via its Office of Public Witness, has joined 30 other faith communities endorsing a letter to President-elect Trump urging him and his administration to prioritize issues of climate change, the environment and justice.
The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness has a new director. The Rev. Jimmie R. Hawkins has accepted the call to the Washington, D.C. office. Hawkins follows the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson II, who led the OPW from 2010 until last summer when he was elected as stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Since 1988, December 1 has been designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as World AIDS Day, a time to raise awareness of the pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. The 2016 theme is “Leadership. Commitment. Impact.”
