The election earlier this month revealed deep divisions in our country and raised many important questions for Christian people of faith as we look to our future as the Church. For many faithful Presbyterians, one of the questions facing us this week has a particular urgency: How can we navigate the tensions surrounding the Thanksgiving dinner table with friends and family who voted differently from us?
Reconciliation is at the heart of Christian faith. It is arguably the most radical and transforming work done by God and practiced in our own lives. In 2 Corinthians 5:19 the apostle Paul teaches us that through Christ, God was “reconciling the world to himself” and calls us to a ministry of reconciliation with each other. But what does reconciliation mean? Does it mean we forgive and forget? Or convince others that we are right?
Congregations, presbytery leaders and college students across the country are reacting positively to recent visits from the International Peacemakers. The group of speakers from across the globe recently wrapped up a month-long visit to U.S. communities, sharing the struggles facing those in war torn or poverty-stricken regions.
The 2016 International Peacemakers are finishing up their visits to U.S. churches, colleges and communities. Seven of the speakers gathered this week at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary to debrief with staff. During its day-long gathering, the group shared their experiences, hopes and recommendations for future meetings.
Las personas de color en los EE.UU. están siendo asesinadas por la policía en números desproporcionados debido al color de su piel, su raza y origen étnico. Condenamos y lamentamos el asesinato continuo y sistemático de personas desarmadas de color, particularmente hombres afroamericanos y pedimos que se realicen investigaciones exhaustivas en los homicidios policiales de Keith Lamont Scott en Charlotte, Carolina del Norte, Terence Crutcher en Tulsa, Oklahoma, y Tyre King en Columbus, Ohio.
For five years Westminster Presbyterian Church in Middletown, New Jersey has assembled a memorable display on its Great Lawn each fall. Beginning in 2012, the church’s “Field of Flags” display has contained one American flag for every service member killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.
ACREC calls the members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to leave the comfort of their buildings to put their bodies on the line as co-conspirators in a movement for transformation, to stand for reparative justice instead of cheap reconciliation, to join communities of resistance, declaring that all people are created by God which means uttering without equivocation that Black Lives Matter!
A group of Christian leaders from across the globe have gathered at the Presbyterian Mission Agency in Louisville to prepare for a month-long journey throughout the U.S. Nine International Peacemakers will be speaking to congregations, presbyteries and synods about the challenges and rewards of sharing Christ in their homelands.
The 2016 Season of Peace is underway and Presbyterian churches began the month-long emphasis on Sunday with the theme “Come to the Table of Peace.” The emphasis is designed to encourage congregations to seek or enhance their focus on becoming peacemakers.
In September of 2015, thousands of Syrian refugees found themselves stranded at a Budapest train station, making their way across Hungary toward the Austrian border. For most, the travel had been difficult as they were turned away from other countries or settled in communities that were not very welcoming.
