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Archives: February 2007 |
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This page lists all reports and commentary from
February, 2007
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Postings from earlier in
June, 2007
All postings from
May
April, 2007
March, 2007
February, 2007
January, 2007
December, 2006
November, 2006
October, 2006
September, 2006
August, 2006
July, 2006
Our coverage of the 2006 General
Assembly is indexed on a special page.
For links to earlier archive pages,
click here. |
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2/23/07 |
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US detention/torture system put on
trial Naomi Klein, writing for The Nation
(March 12, 2007, issue) reports on the trial of José Padilla in Miami, where
the cruel methods US interrogators have used since September 11 to "break"
prisoners are finally being put on trial.
This was not supposed to happen. The Bush Administration's
plan was to put Padilla on trial for allegedly being part of a network
linked to international terrorists. But Padilla's lawyers are arguing that
he is not fit to stand trial because he has been driven insane by the
government.
Arrested in May 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare airport, Padilla,
a Brooklyn-born former gang member, was classified as an "enemy combatant"
and taken to a Navy prison in Charleston, South Carolina. He was kept in a
9-by-7-foot cell with no natural light, no clock and no calendar. Whenever
Padilla left the cell, he was shackled and suited in heavy goggles and
headphones. Padilla was kept under these conditions for 1,307 days. He was
forbidden contact with anyone but his interrogators, who punctured the
extreme sensory deprivation with sensory overload, blasting him with harsh
lights and pounding sounds. Padilla also says he was injected with a "truth
serum," a substance his lawyers believe was LSD or PCP.
According to his lawyers and two mental health specialists
who examined him, Padilla has been so shattered that he lacks the ability to
assist in his own defense. In order to prove that "the extended torture
visited upon Mr. Padilla has left him damaged," his lawyers want to tell the
court what happened during those years in the Navy brig. The prosecution
strenuously objects, maintaining that "Padilla is competent," that his
treatment is irrelevant.
US District Judge Marcia Cooke disagrees. She has ordered
several prison employees to testify at the hearings on Padilla's mental
state, which begin February 22. They will be asked how a man alleged to have
engaged in elaborate antigovernment plots now acts, in the words of brig
staff, "like a piece of furniture."
What is on trial in Florida is not one man's mental state. It is the
whole system of US psychological torture.
The full article
>> |
GHOSTS OF ABU GHRAIB premiered last
night on HBO
The National Religious Campaign Against Torture is publicizing a new
documentary examining the abuses that occurred in the fall of 2003 at the
Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. "Ghosts of Abu Ghraib" premiered on HBO on
February 22. Click here for
additional show times.
NRCAT is working with the film’s director, Rory Kennedy, and HBO about
further plans for having wide viewing opportunities of this sobering
documentary, and your feedback will help them in their planning. Please send
your reactions to the film to them at
campaign@nrcat.org.
Through interviews with
perpetrators, victims and witnesses, Ghosts
of Abu Ghraib examines the abuses that occurred in the fall of 2003
at the notorious Iraqi prison.
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“Locking up family
values”
This
is the title of a study published today by Lutheran Immigrant and Refugee
Services and the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, about
detention of immigrant families including three-year old children in
prison-like conditions.
A press release describes the
report as follows:
Groundbreaking report finds
significant problems with U.S. treatment of immigrant families in detention
Washington, DC, Feb. 22, 2007:
Refugee advocates found prison-like conditions at the Department of Homeland
Security’s (DHS) facilities that house immigrant families, including asylum
seekers, who are in immigration proceedings. The Women’s Commission for
Refugee Women and Children and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS)
describe their findings in a report released today, Locking Up Family
Values: The Detention of Immigrant Families, which also lays out steps
that DHS can take immediately to ensure that families in U.S. detention are
treated humanely.
This is a 72-page PDF document, so you may need a little time
to download it if you don’t have a fast connection.
Click here to get
it >>
Thanks to
Jonathan R. Nelson, on the
Presbyterians for Just Immigration e-list. |
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Immigration is new rallying point for KKK
Bloomington, Indiana, has seen a local Ku Klux Klan group
using anxieties about immigration and the economy to recruit new members.
This is apparently happening elsewhere around the country, as well.
The full report >>
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Reflections from Mount Kilimanjaro ....the Roof of Africa
Michael Adee, National Field Organizer for More Light
Presbyterians, has sent his thoughts on his recent trek to the mountaintop
... a journey to celebrate freedom, and the dignity of all God’s people that
is his own deep commitment. His
essay >> |
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Presbytery and synod execs, facing difficult times, are encouraged to
move from reactive space and to ask "adaptive" questions to solve problems
No quick-fix, technical outline for the future of
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) synods and presbyteries was arrived at during a
recent two-day meeting in Albuquerque, but that was precisely as the
meeting's facilitator intended.
Coming to these gatherings looking for a solution assumes
there is a technical solution, but "deep change requires adaptive work,"
said the Rev. Gilbert Rendle. Instead, we need to sit together "and ask
better questions."
The
full report from Presbyterian News Service >> |
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2/21/07 |
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From the Presbyterian Witness in Washington Weekly:
The
Federal Budget: a Human Needs Budget?
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
– Matthew 6:21
The Presbyterian Washington Office is posting very helpful
analyses of the proposed federal Budget, from the perspective of our
church's views on social needs and social justice. These are being
posted as part of the office's Witness in Washington Weekly, with the first
section appearing in the February 12, 2007 letter, and the second in the
February 19 letter. They are authored by Leslie G. Woods, staff person for
Domestic Poverty and Environmental Issues. More articles will be posted in
the near future.
The first
section offers a general introduction to the budget process, and some of
the major issues and concerns. The
second part deals more
specifically with funding for hunger and nutrition programs, home energy
assistance, and conservation.
We reprint them here with the kind permission of the
Washington Office. If you find these analyses helpful, you can receive them
yourself only by subscribing to the e-list for them, since they are not
normally posted on the Washington Office web-site. Just go to
http://capwiz.com/pcusa/mlm/signup . And we encourage you to
do just that! |
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More on flags in church:
Not long after 9/11 some people began a conversation about the
appropriate display of US flags in church sanctuaries – or whether such
displays are never appropriate.
Our page dedicated to that conversation
continues to attract visitors, some of whom continue to offer comments. The
latest comes from Tim Musser, of Cleveland, Ohio, who says, "Here is the
best piece I’ve ever seen on the issue - and not just for Catholics but all
Christians." He sends a link to an essay by the Rev. Emmanuel Charles
McCarthy, with the interesting title, "Sacerdotal
Flagism: Should the Flag Be Permanently Displayed in Church Sanctuaries
Or Other Explicitly Christian Environments?" [This four-page essay
is in PDF format.]
He opens with Jesus’ words: "My house will be called a
house of prayer for all peoples." (Mark 11:17) He builds his argument
against the display of the American flag (or that of any other nation) on
the Catholic Church’s traditional claim to be a truly universal church,
which means it must never identify itself with any single nation.
He writes: "The flag is a sign of the temporal, the
totally passing, the utterly perishable. The state is not an object of
redemption in the New Testament. Its existence is as fleeting as a cloud,
here today, extinct tomorrow." Good grief, is he talking about the US of A?? |
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Two pastors named as GAC program directors
Leaders in Evangelism & Church Growth and Racial Ethnic
& Women's Ministries to join staff in April
A report from Presbyterian News Service, dated February
20, 2007 [posted here 2-21-07]
The Rev. Eric Hoey, co-pastor at Alhambra True Light
Presbyterian Church in San Gabriel Presbytery, has been named director of
the Evangelism and Church Growth program area and the Rev. Rhashell D.
Hunter, pastor of Community Presbyterian Church in Flint, MI in Lake Huron
Presbytery, has been named director of the Racial Ethnic and Women's
Ministries program area. Both will join the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
national staff here in April.
The full report >>
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2/15/07 |
| MRTI wants help pressuring Hilton Hotels to meet, talk
Hope is that global lodging giant will help fight child sex
trafficking
Presbyterian News Service reports that the
Mission Responsibility Through
Investment (MRTI) committee, which monitors PC(USA)-related
investments to ensure they are socially responsible and consistent with
General Assembly policies, is calling on agencies and partners of the
denomination to join forces with the public to demand that
Hilton Hotels Corp. take steps in
combating child sex trafficking spurred by the tourism industry.
The committee also dealt with the Sudan/Darfur crisis.
The
rest of the story >> |
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Somplatsy-Jarman offers a review of MRTI’s work in 2006|
During the Christmas season, the Rev. William
Somplatsky-Jarman, who serves as the Associate for
Mission Responsibility Through
Investment in Louisville, sent a letter to friends and supporters of
MRTI, reviewing their work through the past year, and encouraging people to
give extra support for their vital and demanding work.
The full
letter >> |
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"Formally engaged" New Wineskins votes to
move ahead with "marriage" to Evangelical Presbyterian Church
A report from Presbyterian News Service
After a yearlong courtship, a formal engagement between
the New Wineskins Association of Churches (NWAC) and the Evangelical
Presbyterian Church (EPC) was agreed to on Friday, Feb. 9.
The NWAC, a group of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
congregations unhappy with the state of the denomination, voted unanimously
on Feb. 9 to petition the EPC to create a non-geographic, transitional New
Wineskins presbytery (NWEPC) for those churches wishing to leave the PC(USA).
The EPC will vote on the matter at its General Assembly
(GA) in June. If approved, the NWEPC presbytery, transitional for a period
of five years, could be set up immediately following the GA, said the Rev.
Dean Weaver, co-moderator of the NWAC.
Highlights of the plan include:
 | The NWEPC will be self-governing under the NWAC
Constitution and shall have the authority to ordain, install, receive and
dismiss pastors. |
| NWEPC pastors and staff shall be
immediately eligible to participate in the pension and medical plans of
the EPC. |
| Each NWEPC church will own its own property and will
elect and ordain elders and deacons from its own congregational members.
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| The NWEPC shall have the authority to plant churches.
|
Under PC(USA) law, a PC(USA) congregation must ask its
presbytery to dismiss it in order to officially leave the denomination. A
presbytery can only dismiss a congregation, either with or without the
church property, to an ecclesiastical body "whose organization is conformed
to the doctrines and order of this Church," according to a 1976 General
Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission decision. The EPC falls within that
rubric, said Office of the General Assembly officials.
It’s not clear exactly how many PC(USA) congregations
might seek to leave the denomination and join the EPC via a newly created
New Wineskins presbytery, but the New Wineskins say they have 151 endorsing
churches overall. Not all will opt to leave, particularly with weighty
issues over whether they could take church property with them often hanging
in the balance.
The complete story >> |
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A new response to "the immigration issue"
--
Sanctuary
Widening the Circle of Hospitality
 |
Hospitality – the offering
of rest and shelter to those who lie outside the circle of kinship – is
a core value of every faith tradition. It could even be said that it
represents the core of our humanity as well, since hospitality
effectively transforms the "other" into family.
Sanctuary is perhaps the most significant form of
hospitality – a welcoming of the rejected – people whose very humanity
has been called into question. Sanctuary is the response of faith
communities nationwide to the recent immigration raids that have
resulted in the deportation of parents whose citizen children often find
themselves on their own or sent to live with strangers. |
The New Sanctuary Movement is nothing more and nothing
less than people of faith coming together to say, "No more!" and to offer a
safe space to families who are being torn apart in the name of an
immigration law that everyone acknowledges is broken. For more information
on the issue and how you can get involved,
read on ... >> |
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No2Torture gathering in Los Angeles draws 70 Carol
Wickersham reports on the January 19-20 meeting, which was co-sponsored by
the National Religious Coalition Against Torture (NRCAT).
Speakers included keynoter Dr. Richard Mouw, President of
Fuller Theological Seminary, who provided a grounding in the Calvinist
understanding of the universal and human temptation to sin, as well our
source of redemption in our sovereign God. Dr. George Hunsinger of Princeton
Theological Seminary provided insights into "Torture as the Ticking Time
Bomb," unpacking how torture fuels terrorism, and how legitimizing torture
undermines the constitutional democracy which we claim as "our way of life."
The full
report >> |
| The Washington Report to
Presbyterians presents the outlook for
2007
The bimonthly Washington Report to Presbyterians, prepared
by the PC(USA) Washington Office, presents the "outlook for 2007," with
three sections, dealing with:
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Save the Date!
Interfaith Worker Justice – 2007 National Conference
Come Walk With Us: Welcoming, Struggling and Organizing
for Worker Justice
Saturday, June 16 – Tuesday, June 19 in Chicago
Cost, registration, and lodging information will be
available on-line at www.iwj.org by late
February, 2007. |
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2/13/07 |
|
A WEEK FOR PEACE, GLOBAL JUSTICE AND
CREATION
July 30 - August 5, 2007
Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New Mexico
This summer the Witherspoon Society is joining with the
Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, Presbyterians for Restoring Creation and the
Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, along with Ghost Ranch, to provide
Presbyterians with a rich selection of leaders and topics centering on just
what the title says: peace, global justice, and the creation.
More >> |
 |
A major Christian Peace Witness for Iraq will be held
in Washington on March 16-17 |
The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship will be there, and
Marilyn White of PPF has sent this message in preparation for the event:
To: Presbyterian peacemakers and friends
Some of you have been asking about the Christian Peace
Witness in Washington, March 16, and Presbyterian Peace Fellowship
involvement.
Yes, we'll be there and Rick Ufford-Chase is organizing
some exciting high-profile Presbyterian involvement in the National
Cathedral service, civil disobedience action, and more.
For those of you who have been considering civil
disobedience (holy obedience) this will be a prayerful, faith-based action
with HUGE numbers. For every person risking arrest, support people are
needed to hold the cell phones, communicate with families and press, etc. So
everyone is needed and welcome.
You'll find more information on the
Peace Fellowship website. And from there, go to the
Christian Peace Witness web site where you need to register, because
space is limited at the national cathedral.
If you are coming, send a note to our volunteer
organizers, Maren and Andrea, at
ppfcpw@gmail.com Let them know if you can provide housing or
transportation, or if you have a room and need a roommate. Let them know if
you have found a good place to stay that others could take advantage of. Let
them know if you are looking for floor space in a church or other really
basic accommodations. Let them know if you will be attending our lunch and
gathering on Saturday, March 17 at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, 1313
New York Avenue, 11:00 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Are you going to Ecumenical Advocacy Days the previous
weekend? If you are staying on for the CPW the following weekend, you might
want to attend the Ecumenical Advocacy Conference on the Philippines, March
12-14. We are thinking of expanding our accompaniment work to the
Philippines and our church partners will be explaining their dire human
situation at this conference. There is a link from the Ecumenical Advocacy
Days web site with more information.
If you are just coming for the CPW, when should you
arrive?
If you are going to participate in the CD action, a
required orientation meeting will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Other
meetings and workshops begin as early as Thursday evening. If you are flying
into Baltimore, allow at least 2 hours to get into Washington. It should
take less time from the other airports.
Don't rush home -
On Saturday afternoon, we will have a great gathering of
Presbyterians, led by the Presbyterian Peacemaking program, the Washington
office and others.
Following that meeting, plan on dinner in a restaurant
with a large or small group.
On Sunday morning, plan on worship at New York Avenue
Church, with Rick Ufford-Chase preaching.
I can't seem to find a reasonable airfare home on Sunday
afternoon, so I'm staying until Monday. We'll plan some more activities for
anyone who wants to stick around. Send me your ideas.
About housing:
I hope to have some hotel suggestions by Tuesday. I'll
send another note at that time. After that, all communications will be from
the ppfcpw address, so contact them if you want to stay in the loop.
Comments and suggestions are welcome -- see you in
Washington.
Peace, Marilyn |
|
Ecumenical workshop planned on developing
welcoming ministry for LGBT persons/families
[Announcement from More Light Presbyterians]
Ready to revitalize, deepen or begin a welcoming and affirming ministry
or group in your local church, college, seminary campus or community?
If so -- MLP is co-sponsoring a faith-based community organizing workshop
next month - March 15 - 18 in Chicago with you and your church or
group in mind.
More >> |
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40 Years in the Wilderness: 40 Years of
Occupation
Sabeel International Young Adult Conference
July 19- July 29, 2007
| Do you want to know more about Current Realities in
Palestine, during this 40th year of the Occupation? |
| Do you want to visit Biblical Sites and share Biblical
reflection with Young Adults from around the world? |
| Are you between the ages of 18 and 35 and want to be
involved in advocacy for peace with justice in the Holy Land? |
If you answered "yes" to these questions, then we invite
you to participate in Sabeel’s 2nd International Young Adult
Conference.
Our vision for this conference is to gather, network, and
further educate young leaders from Palestine and around the world, during
this
40th year of the Occupation; so that they may be trained,
commissioned, and equipped with the tools to act in advocacy to end the
Occupation.
The conference will include:
| Visits to Palestinian Towns and Villages |
| Events Celebrating Palestinian Culture Worship
|
| and Biblical Reflections |
| Volunteer Experience |
| Advocacy Workshops |
| Sharing Experiences and Ideas with Palestinian Young
Adults |
The registration and program fee for the conference is
$700.
This includes all of your land costs – food,
accommodations, ground transportation, speakers and activities – but it does
not include airfare. When scheduling flights, please keep in mind that
participants should arrive on July 18th.
SPECIAL OFFER- For those interested in traveling in the
Galilee there will be an option for a two-night tour for an additional $150
after the conference.
REGISTER BY JUNE 15th AT
WWW.SABEEL.ORG or e-mail
youth@sabeel.org for more information
ABOUT SABEEL: Sabeel is an ecumenical grassroots
liberation theology movement among Palestinian Christians. Inspired by the
life and teaching of Jesus Christ, this liberation theology seeks to deepen
the faith of Palestinian Christians, promote unity, justice and love. Sabeel
also works to promote a more accurate international awareness regarding the
identity, presence, and witness of Palestinian Christians as well as their
contemporary concerns. It encourages individuals and groups worldwide to
work for a just, comprehensive, and enduring peace informed by truth and
empowered by prayer and action.
Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center
P.O.B. 49084
Jerusalem 91491
Tel: 972.2.532.7136
Fax: 972.2.532.7137
www.sabeel.org |
|
Festival of Homiletics, May 21-25 in Nashville, will focus
on prophetic preaching
The Festival of Homiletics is going to be held in
Nashville May 21-25 this spring. For a mere $260 you can hear a lineup that
includes
| Walter Brueggemann |
| Barbara Brown Taylor |
| Fred Craddock |
| Tom Long |
| Anna Carter Florence |
| Brian McLaren |
|
| Will Willimon |
| Gordon Lathrop |
| Jim Wallis |
| Jim Forbes |
| Cynthia Rigby |
| Will Campbell ... and others. |
|
To
get details and to register >> |
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British Jews break away from 'pro-Israeli' Board of Deputies
A new organization of British Jews has been launched recently
in response to a perceived pro-Israeli bias in existing Jewish bodies in the
UK.
The founders of Independent Jewish Voices, IJV, which will
include such luminaries as the Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter
and the historian Eric Hobsbawm, say that the group is being established as
a counter-balance to the uncritical support for Israeli policies offered by
established bodies such as the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
The full story >> |
|
2/9/07 |
|
Catching up on anti-Semitism – and now it’s
the "new" anti-Semitism You
probably recall the furious criticisms on the Presbyterian Church (USA)
after the 2004 General Assembly approved a call for studying the possibility
of the church’s divesting itself of stocks in companies currently doing
business in or with the State of Israel in ways that support the Israeli
occupation of the Palestinian Territory.
We reported and commented on those attacks at the time, and have
continued to link to many discussions of Israel, Palestine, and charges of
anti-Semitism.
But now a number of Jewish groups in the US are talking about a "new
anti-Semitism," which some observers see as the familiar fear-mongering that
has been practiced so effectively by President Bush and his administration,
using "terrorists" (and of course Arabs and/or Muslims) as the focus of the
fear.
The fierce criticisms of Jimmy Carter’s recent book, Palestine: Peace
Not Apartheid, seem to be one current example of what these members of
the "Israel lobby" are calling the new anti-Semitism.
To gain some understanding of what’s happening among our Jewish sisters
and brothers, Geoff Browning, an active participant in the
Israel-Palestine Network, attended a conference on "the new
anti-Semitism" in the Bay Area, and shared a report with the group.
He has kindly agreed to let us share it here, as well.
Browning’s essay >> |
|
Wal-Mart joins union in calling for universal health care coverage for
all Americans by 2012.
Wal-Mart Watch, which is sponsored by
Wal-Mart labor unions, links to a variety of reports on this hopeful
development.
A quick sample:
Wal-Mart,
Union Join Forces on Health Care
[Washington Post]
At a news conference on Capitol Hill, Wal-Mart chief executive H. Lee Scott
sat at one end of a table and vowed to put aside differences to "drive this
debate forward." On the other end was Andy Stern, president of the Service
Employees International Union (SEIU) and frequent Wal-Mart critic, declaring
he had made a "tough choice" in the goal to improve coverage.
Wal-Mart, union push universal health care
[CNNMoney.com]
In a partnership of unlikely allies, Wal-Mart's CEO, other corporate
leaders and the head of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
called Wednesday for universal health care coverage for all Americans by
2012.
Wal-Mart Joins Health-Care Call
[Wall Street Journal]
The campaign -- which is also supported by AT&T Inc., Intel Corp.,
staffing firm Kelly Services Inc., the Communications Workers of America and
three public-policy groups -- comes amid a surge of interest in how to
extend health insurance to the 46 million Americans without it.
Healthcare reform calls get louder
[Los Angeles Times]
The proposal was short of specifics but had four broad themes: universal
health coverage by 2012, better preventive care and disease management; more
efficient healthcare delivery, and cost-sharing by workers, employers and
governments. |
|
Labor notes:
Interfaith Worker Justice 2007 National Conference
Sunday, June 17 - Tuesday, June 19
Chicago, IL
This event is planned for
"clergy, labor activists, seminarians and
faculty."
Cost, registration and lodging information will be
available on-line at
www.iwj.org by late February 2007.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
New film visits
Chinese sweatshops
The Feb. 12, 2007 issue of The Nation has a review by Stuart
Klawans of a film, "China Blue," based on a visit to a Chinese sweatshop
where garments are sewn for high-class American labels. It shows the reality
of sweatshop life, and also gives the perspective of the factory owner, who
feels that he is constantly being squeezed by the garment retailers.
Note: This article is posted on The Nation's website, but
may be available only to subscribers. |
|
Faith and Eco-Justice
Fellowship
NCC offers training and support for faith-based
eco-justice work
Award also offered
for eco-justice sermon – deadline is March 1
The National Council of Churches seeks to transform the
faith-based eco-justice movement by training and supporting emerging
practitioners engaged in faith-based environmental work. We will nurture and
train this new generation of leadership and aim for diversity and
collaboration. The next fellowship class will begin in the summer of 2007. |
|
2/5/07 |
Solution elusive as
churches weary of gay clergy debate
Many members say they would like to
move on to religious mission
An article in this morning's Atlanta
Journal-Constitution opens with the headlines above. The
reporter's basic point is that church members (Presbyterians, along with
Lutherans, Episcopalians and others, on both sides of the debates about
ordination and same-sex marriage) are increasingly anxious to get on with
what they see as the church's primary mission. As one Presbyterian
elder says, that means "helping
the poor, the homeless, the community at large."
Read the article on-line >>
Michael J. Adee, National Field Organizer for More Light Presbyterians,
has written a thoughtful essay exploring the implications of the article for
people who are committed to working for the full inclusion of lgbt
Presbyterians in the life and ministries of the PC(USA).
His essay>> |
|
Covenant Network offers resources as controversies
multiply on matters of justice in ordination, equality in marriage, and more
The Covenant Network has sent out this note about the
resources:
The 217th General Assembly, in adopting the
recommendations of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity, and
Purity of the Church, offered the PCUSA an invitation to step back from
controversy and concentrate on living together as brothers and sisters whose
love of one another in Jesus Christ supersedes our differences.
Sadly, some Presbyterians seem either addicted to
conflict, or unwilling to tolerate views that differ from their own. In some
presbyteries, peace, unity and purity have been elusive; and yet, across the
denomination Presbyterians still seek to live out their faith and live into
the opportunities and responsibilities highlighted by the GA’s action.
The Covenant Network of Presbyterians has been developing
resources to help. I hope you have already discovered Guidelines for
Examination of Church Officers (2006),which you can access by
The Guidelines are meant to be shared widely, and
we hope that you will study and use this resource in your session and
presbytery. Also available from the online store is a CD, Legal Resources
in the Presbyterian Church (USA), which contains pertinent GA PJC cases
and other documents (including the Guidelines) that will be helpful
to those dealing with the intricacies of ordination, same-sex unions, church
property and other controversial issues. |
Young adults sought for volunteer service both
internationally and in the US
Doug Baker, who is the PC(USA)’s Regional Liaison for Ireland and UK,
has sent this reminder and invitation:
One of the most exciting opportunities the Presbyterian
Church USA has for individuals and congregations to become directly involved
in mission is the Young Adult Volunteer Program. There are nine
international sites (including Northern Ireland) and about an equal number
of sites within the US where young adults ages 20-30 can spend 11 months in
service and learning. At each site there are at least three YAVS so that
they can also form an intentional community for their year, and engage in
discipleship training and reflection with a Site Coordinator, who in most
cases has been a long-term mission person in that setting. (I am the Site
Coordinator for the Northern Ireland program.)
Sadly, most years we have more positions to fill than
applicants! Those of us associated with this particular form of mission
service, whether in the Louisville offices or on location at each of the
sites, can 't believe that there aren't more candidates out there – if they
simply knew about this possibility. That is where you come into the picture.
Please think seriously about ways to make individuals you know, who might be
interested in serving as part of this program, aware of it. I am attaching a
description of the Northern Ireland program - not to push candidates toward
this one site, but as one example of what is possible. I would encourage you
to look yourself at the information on the two PCUSA websites that relate to
this program worldwide and then encourage possible candidates to do the
same.
Applications need to be submitted by the end of
February in most cases, for a selection process which includes phone
interviews before a residential placement event in Louisville in mid-April.
There are two PCUSA websites that have information on the
YAV program: Go to
www.pcusa.org/msr/youngadult.htm
or
http://onedoor.pcusa.org,
then select "search." Enter a region (or select "any region" depending on
how much you care to search), select "full-time," and then "young adult
opportunities." Just for the sake of seeing the listings, check "member of a
PCUSA congregation."
TO FIND OUT ABOUT BECOMING A YOUNG ADULT VOLUNTEER: you
may also contact PCUSA Mission Service Recruitment at 888-728-7228 ext 2530.
A Final place to get great information on this program is
by going to
http://www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/yav.htm
and reading some of the letters written by Young Adult Volunteers currently
serving in different sites.
Thank you for taking time to explore this program and
making others aware of it.
Grace and Peace,
Doug Baker
Regional Liaison for Ireland and UK
doug.baker@dnet.co.uk
A little Witherspoon note: A number of
recently returned Young Adult Volunteers played very active roles in
Witherspoon's "Dancing with God"
conference on world mission in September, 2005. Their
contributions to our conversations gave evidence of the wide variety of
experiences they had enjoyed, and the deep learning they had done.
We recommend this program with real enthusiasm!
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2/3/07 |
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A further report on the trial
of the "SOA 17" Even the judge acknowledges the
complexity of the situation
We've received a new report on the trial of the 17 persons
arrested last November at Ft. Benning, GA, for crossing the fence into the
fort to protest the continuing activities of the School of the Americas.
This report comes from Robert Leslie, of Decatur, GA, who participated in
the protest action last November without "crossing the line."
NOTE: We've just added the
statement given to the Court by
Philip Gates, one of the Presbyterians convicted. |
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Arizona congregation adopts
statement of conscience, rejecting US use of torture
The
congregation of Southside Presbyterian Church, in Tucson, Arizona, has
adopted a statement of conscience, saying that "Our
conscience demands that we reject [the Military Commissions Act of 2006] as
contrary to our faith manifested in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We
vow to speak against this law and to take action against it until it is
repealed. We invite people of all faiths to join with us in resisting this
Act, and in encouraging all people to work together to bring about the
repeal of this Act and the rejection of torture by our government."
The full
statement >> |
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PC(USA)
leadership writes to congregations about
apparent intent of some congregations to leave the denomination
Clifton Kirkpatrick, the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly,
and Linda Bryant Valentine, Executive Director, General Assembly
Council, have sent a joint letter to all PC(USA) congregations,
declaring their regret at the apparent intent of a few
congregations to withdraw from the denomination, and affirming
that "we are better together than we are apart."
Their cover
letter to pastors >>
Their letter to all congregations >> |
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Postings from earlier in June,
2007
All postings from May
April, 2007
March, 2007
February, 2007
January, 2007
December, 2006
November, 2006
October, 2006
September, 2006
August, 2006
July, 2006
Our coverage of the 2006 General
Assembly is indexed on a special page.
For links to earlier archive pages,
click here. |
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Visit
our lively
new website! |
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GA actions
ratified (or not) by the presbyteries
A number of the most important actions of the 219th
General Assembly have now been acted upon by the presbyteries,
confirming most of them as amendments to the PC(USA) Book of Order.
We provided resources to help inform the
reflection and debate, along with updates on the voting.
Our three areas of primary interest have been:
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Amendment 10-A,
which removes the current ban on
lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender persons being considered as
possible candidates for ordination as elder or ministers.
Approved! |
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Amendment 10-2,
which would add the Belhar Confession to our Book of
Confessions. Disapproved, because as an amendment
to the Book of Confessions it needed a 2/3 vote, and did not
receive that. |
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Amendment
10-1, which adopts the new Form of Government
that was approved by the Assembly. Approved. |
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If you like what
you find here,
we hope you'll help us keep Voices for Justice going ... and
growing!
Please consider making a special
contribution -- large or small -- to help us continue and improve
this service.
Click here to send a
gift online, using your credit card, through PayPal.
Or send your check, made
out to "Presbyterian Voices for Justice" and marked "web site," to
our PVJ Treasurer:
Darcy Hawk
4007 Gibsonia Road
Gibsonia, PA 15044-8312 |
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Some blogs worth visiting |
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PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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