LOUISVILLE (OGA) Rethinking ministry is difficult. Implementing new ideas and establishing them is even more difficult. We should be acutely aware of this fact of faith as we engage this season of Lent/Easter. Jesus encountered the struggles of the cross while trying to reform the practices of the Jewish temple and community. In a time when the Church is called to rethink ministry, it appears that in some places we are unwilling to engage the challenges. I stated at the beginning of my tenure as Stated Clerk that “anytime a General Assembly appoints three different groups to fix the national church, it is clear that reform is needed.” Consistently, I have urged our staff in the Office of General Assembly to cooperate with the process of change while praying with hope for positive expectations within the PC(USA). I am thankful that they have responded favorably to my request. My call to cooperate with the Way Forward Commission, the All Agency Review Committee, and the 20-20 … [Read more...]

(OGA) General Stated Clerk J. Herbert Nelson, II issued a statement today from Israel – where he is traveling with a delegation of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) leaders, criticizing President Trump’s decision to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel to instruct the U.S. State Department to begin planning to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Nelson’s statement is similar to one issued by the National Council of Churches, which had been in contact with him earlier. In its statement , the NCC praised the witness of the PC(USA) delegation and asked for prayers for its safety. The full text of Nelson’s statement: Statement by the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II General Assembly stated clerk, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would be a grievous mistake. For Christians concerned with peace and justice, Jerusalem must be a city shared by three faiths and two peoples. As long as Israel occupies East … [Read more...]

SEOUL (OGA) In a sermon here November 1—All-Saints Day—Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), General Assembly Stated Clerk J. Herbert Nelson, II, pledged that the denomination would continue to press the United States government to formally apologize for a massacre of Korean civilians that claimed as many as 300 lives in the early days of the Korean War. “I cannot apologize for the government of the United States,” Nelson told the Korean congregation in his sermon, titled When the Righteous Perish. “However, we who are here today from the United States can pledge to not let the silence of this massacre continue.” On July 26–29, 1950, elements of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment opened fire on a group of civilians at a railroad bridge near the village of No Gun Ri, 100 miles southeast of Seoul. In 2005, a South Korean government inquest identified the names of 163 dead or missing and 55 wounded. The South Korean government-funded No Gun Ri Peace Foundation estimated in 2011 that 250–300 … [Read more...]

LOUISVILLE (OGA) Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly Stated Clerk J. Herbert Nelson, II, issued the following statement today (November 8) on the mass murder of twenty-six worshipers at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Sunday, November 5: Solidarity statement on the mass shooting at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, November 5, 2017  This past Sunday, November 5, the Church celebrated the Feast of All Saints, a day to commemorate those “saints” of our lives whose lives on earth have ended, but whose loss is still felt and whose memory is a blessing and an inspiration to us. This All Saints’ Sunday, twenty-six saints, ranging from a few months to seventy-two years of age, were unexpectedly and violently robbed of their lives when a gunman opened fire in the midst of worship at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas. The small congregation has lost a significant number of its members, including the pastor’s … [Read more...]

LOUISVILLE (OGA) Citing Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly actions dating back at least to 2012, the denomination’s stated clerk, J. Herbert Nelson, II this week sent a letter to the U.S. Congress urging legislators to pass a “clean” DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) ACT “that offers hope for young migrants by providing a pathway to citizenship.” A renewed DREAM Act – which would codify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program – would affect about 1 million persons brought to this country as infants or children by undocumented parents. Continuation of DACA is currently at issue as part of the proposed DREAM Act legislation. “DACA,” wrote Nelson in his October 26 letter, “provided a glimpse of how successful the legislative decision would be across the board.” Passage of the legislation, Nelson added, would benefit employers, families, churches, institutions of higher education, communities and the nation. Citing the biblical … [Read more...]

LOUISVILLE (OGA) Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly Stated Clerk J. Herbert Nelson II has sent a letter to President Trump decrying the president’s decision to lower the number of refugee admissions for 2018 to just 45,000 – the lowest number since the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program was established in 1980. “At a time when the world is facing a refugee crisis, it is inconceivable that the United States would turn its back on the world’s most vulnerable,” Nelson wrote. Noting that Jesus Christ and John Calvin – the founder of the Presbyterian Reformation – were both refugees, Nelson wrote, “this [refugee resettlement] is essential to who we are.”   The full text of Nelson’s letter to the president: Dear Mr. President, As the top elected ecclesial officer of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), a denomination of 1.5 million members, I am deeply disappointed by your choice to lower the number of refugee admissions for 2018. At a time when the world is … [Read more...]