By the time Newark (N.J.) Presbytery was invited to participate in a two-year Vital Congregations Revitalization Initiative pilot program, it had already been placed under an administrative commission in the Synod of the Northeast.
LOUISVILLE – A recent visit by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Co-Moderator, the Rev. Jan Edmiston, re-affirmed the church’s more than 20-year relationship with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). The CIW and consumer allies, including the PC(USA), are boycotting Wendy’s, which has refused to join the Fair Food Program (FFP). The FFP has dramatically improved wages and is ensuring humane conditions for farmworkers harvesting tomatoes, peppers, and strawberries for the nation’s largest fast-food, foodservice, and supermarket chains in seven states. Last year the CIW was awarded a Presidential Medal for the rapid and comprehensive gains the program has achieved in ending and preventing forced labor and other endemic abuses.
The Synod of the Northeast of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has voted to take immediate steps to divest from the fossil fuel industry. Expressing concern about the impact of climate change on God’s creation, commissioners of the regional body say they are compelled to take action.
When the busload of teenage girls from an affluent boarding school in Farmington, Connecticut, entered the room, they weren’t exactly enthusiastic. They would be spending the afternoon with the Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport (CCGB), a faith-based social services agency dedicated to meeting the needs of people at risk and breaking the cycle of poverty and incarceration. The young women expected an afternoon of boring lectures.
