As the Bearing Witness team prepares for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Week of Action, August 23-29, efforts to ensure that Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries (RE&WIM) can continue to develop leaders of color within the denomination are well under way.
A panel discussion hosted by the Disparities Experienced by Black Women and Girls Task Force was nearing a close Thursday when the Rev. Ashley DeTar Birt asked panelists how the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) could better support queer and trans Black women and girls.
The Rev. Dr. Elizabeth “Betsy” McCormick and ruling elder Mary Almy served as mission co-workers in Sudan for more than 14 years, but during that time Mary was living a dual life.
Excitement is building for this year’s Presbyterian Week of Action, which takes place Aug. 23-29. It will lift up not only Black Lives Matter but other marginalized groups, such as Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, who have been the target of hatred and discrimination.
Toward the end of the Rev. Shanea Leonard’s Gender & Inclusion presentation Tuesday, they presented a slide with puzzle pieces scattered apart on the left and fit together on the right.
Ruling Elder Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri felt a “breath of fresh air” watching last week’s inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The pandemic of 2020 has further exposed disparities in healthcare and social justice and the wealth gap that exists in America. These glaring issues make the works and the words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., just as relevant today as they were in the 1950s and 1960s.
One moment emerged above all the others recently during a “Vital Conversations” webinar hosted by the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Office of Vital Congregations.
While discussing how it feels to enter a room full of white people, the Rev. Shanea D. Leonard, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s associate for Gender & Racial Justice, talked about scanning the room for a person of color to chat with. Sometimes the search produces no one.
