LOUISVILLE (OGA) As he begins his second term, the Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), is hoping to put words into action over the next four years. The COVID-19 pandemic and social justice challenges currently facing the U.S. have impacted all Christian denominations. The clerk says the current state is forcing churches to do more than merely talk about the problems. “We need to be challenging those who are oppositional to the Holy book we believe and set up a system where we can be nimble and where we can get to the place of greatest resistance to the gospel, as opposed to having 20 meetings before we get there,” he said. “It is the challenge of this age.” … [Read more...]

(PNS) Nearly eight in 10 Americans say houses of worship should be required to follow the same rules about social distancing and large gatherings as other organizations and businesses in their local area, a Pew Research Center survey released Friday states. While left-leaning respondents say they are more likely than those who lean to the right politically to say houses of worship should be required to follow the same social distancing rules as other organizations, a two-thirds majority of Republicans also expressed this view. More than 8 in 10 people who attend religious services said their congregation should either be closed altogether or open only on a modified basis. Among the most commonly mentioned modifications were staying 6 feet apart during worship (51%), requiring masks (44%), limiting the number of worshipers (41%) and limiting singing (29%). Seventy-nine percent of worship attendees surveyed said their house of worship is streaming or recording its … [Read more...]

The Washington Office of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. is calling for Congress to swiftly authorize the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to release Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to help struggling countries combat the coronavirus. The SDR is an international monetary reserve asset that was created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement its member countries’ official reserves. With COVID-19 now topping 19 million cases worldwide, SDRs would be especially helpful to low- and middle-income countries that need to obtain food and COVID-19-related necessities, such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical supplies, according to an Action Alert from the Presbyterian Office of Public Witness (OPW). The coronavirus has ravaged the health and economies of many countries and is expected to lead to an increase in world hunger as sickness, lockdowns, job losses, reduced hours, poverty, racism, conflict and other factors contribute to suffering. During this global crisis, “we must … [Read more...]

A massive explosion in Beirut, Lebanon on Tuesday has left at least 100 dead and more than 4,000 people wounded. The cause is still under investigation. Mission co-worker and World Mission’s regional liaison for Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, the Rev. Elmarie Parker, has been coordinating with partners in Beirut. She has been sheltering-in-place in the state of Washington since March. Her husband and fellow-mission co-worker, the Rev. Scott Parker, was in Beirut, where he is sheltering-in-place and escaped injury. Global partners in Beirut have reported property damage but no deaths. Scott Parker said the blast felt like an earthquake. Officials said the blast registered as a 3.3 magnitude earthquake that could be felt as far away as Cyprus. Elmarie Parker was contacted Tuesday by the Rev. Joseph Kassab, secretary general of the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon (NESSL), who reported that there is some minor damage to their building, but no injuries. He had … [Read more...]

The Rev. Dr. Lamar Williamson Jr., beloved Presbyterian pastor and educator and a former mission co-worker in the then-Belgian Congo, died peacefully on July 11 in Black Mountain, North Carolina. He was 94. In his obituary, his family lovingly described him as “first and foremost, a man of God whose love of the Lord was seconded only by is love of his wife and family, all enriched by his love of knowledge and his extraordinary wit.” A native of Monticello, Arkansas and a veteran of the U.S. Army, he enrolled at Union Theological Seminary (now Union Presbyterian Seminary) in Richmond, Virginia, receiving his Master of Divinity in 1951. In 1948 he was a PCUS youth delegate in the first General Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Amsterdam. He married Ruthmary Bliss in 1949 and they had their first child, Fred, in 1950. In 1952 he earned a Bachelor of Theology in Montpellier, France. He then served as pastor at Hilton Presbyterian Church in Harveyton, Kentucky. He … [Read more...]

LOUISVILLE — As the country continues to reckon with its history of racism and oppression of Black and brown people and take steps toward healing, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is planning to host a Week of Action Aug. 24-30. The week will provide a variety of ways for Presbyterians and other individuals to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement and those who tend to be marginalized by society because of their race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. “The Presbyterian Church cares, knows what’s going on, and we’re beyond just making statements,” said the Rev. Shanea D. Leonard, the lead organizer of the Week of Action. “We’re hoping that anyone that is willing to and able to will get involved in some way.” The Week of Action is a collaborative effort by the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA), the Office of General Assembly (OGA) and the Administrative Services Group (ASG). The Week of Action “is an endeavor to provide a public witness that … [Read more...]