ST. LOUIS — Bart Smith, a teaching elder from De Cristo Presbytery, argued that “God’s people” should mince no words in calling out the federal government for separating children from their parents and detaining families in prison-like conditions. The 223rd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) endorsed that line of thinking June 21 with a 484-34 vote for a resolution that calls for an immediate end to the government’s zero-tolerance policy toward families illegally entering the United States. The resolution also calls for federal authorities to promptly reunite parents and children who have been separated and to place families “under the care of the community,” rather than in detention. The assembly approved an amendment Smith offered that puts a sharper edge on the resolution as passed by its Committee on Peacemaking, Immigration, and International Issues. The amendment condemns an executive order, newly issued by President Trump, that would end the separation of … [Read more...]

ST. LOUIS — The General Assembly’s Middle East Issues Committee sped smoothly through much of its agenda June 18. The only close votes were on a measure that calls on congregations to support grassroots peacemaking efforts and one that takes the RE/MAX real estate company to task for persisting in marketing property in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Grassroots peacemaking Before endorsing this commissioners’ resolution, committee members questioned what the term “grassroots” peacemaking really means and examined arguments against the resolution offered by several advisory groups within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). One of them, the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, accused the resolution’s authors of setting up “a false dichotomy between policy and grassroots action.” After deleting some other language that some members found puzzling, the Middle East panel voted 29-25 to send the measure forward to the General … [Read more...]