As the threat of more attacks lingers in Sri Lanka, the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is calling on all faiths to find peaceful solutions to their problems. As many as 350 people are known to have died in a series of bombings on Easter at three churches and three hotels. Sixty people have been arrested in connection with the attacks. “We offer our consolation to all who have suffered devastating loss as a result of these most recent acts of violence,” said the Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II. “We call on those in authority to put aside their apparent internal differences and work together to provide comfort for those harmed by these cruel acts and bring to justice the perpetrators.” In his statement, Nelson said religious leaders need to determine the root causes of the violence. “We must continually seek to discern what it is at the core of all religious ideology, including our own, that turns certainty of rectitude into … [Read more...]
COGA opens spring meeting in Philadelphia
Members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) have gathered in Philadelphia this week for its spring meeting. Part of the agenda includes meeting jointly with the Presbyterian Historical Society Board of Directors. The two groups gathered Tuesday morning at the offices of the Board of Pensions for cultural proficiency training, led by the Rev. Molly Casteel, manager for equity and representation for the Office of the General Assembly and Vanessa Julye, racism program coordinator for Friends General Conference. During its regular meeting, COGA heard from the Rev. Cindy Kohlmann and Ruling Elder Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri, Co-Moderators of the 223rd General Assembly (2018), with an update on their work and travels since the February meeting. Cintron-Olivieri discussed the recent visit with a PC(USA) delegation to the Middle East. The delegation responded to a General Assembly mandate to show solidarity with the people who are … [Read more...]
Appointments to General Assembly Special Task Forces and Reconciliation Team
(OGA) Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri and Cindy Kohlmann, Co-Moderators of the 223rd General Assembly (2018), announced today appointments to two additional special entities approved by the General Assembly: Family Leave Task Force Contina Lundy, Co-Moderator (Presbytery of Philadelphia) Landon Whitsitt, Co-Moderator (Presbytery of Heartland) Heidi Bolt (Presbytery of Twin Cities Area) Tito Colon Ramos (Presbiterio del Noroeste) Hailey Malcolm (Presbytery of Cincinnati) Paul Volker (Presbytery of North Central Iowa) Jarvie Commonweal Endowment Reconciliation Team José Olagues, Co-Moderator (Presbytery of Grand Canyon) Roxie Holder, Co-Moderator (Presbytery of Eastern Virginia) Terry Dunning (Presbytery of Utah) Kimo Kim (Presbytery of Detroit) Oscar McCloud (Presbytery of New York City) Samuel Stone (Presbytery of Palisades) Kathy Barlow Westmoreland (Presbytery of Santa Fe) Regarding the appointment of the Jarvie Commonweal Endowment Reconciliation Team, the … [Read more...]
Coming together for South to South mission and ministry
(PNS) “Your story is our story.” That’s what a group of visitors from global partners Nile Theological College (NTC) and RECONCILE (Resource Centre for Civil Leadership) in South Sudan, told members of the staff at Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences (PIASS) when they visited Rwanda recently. Rwanda has just marked the 25thanniversary of the 1994 genocide that killed more than 800,000 Tutsi at the hands of the majority Hutu population. The campus of the Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences in Butare, Rwanda, prominently displays a memorial to those killed during the 1994 genocide. (Photo by Kathy Melvin) Since South Sudan’s birth as a nation in 2011, over 50,000 people have been killed, more than 1.9 million have been internally displaced and 1.8 million have fled the country. Although a peace treaty has been signed, it’s a fragile peace. Two mission co-workers, colleagues and partners recently traveled to the PIASS campus in Butare, Rwanda from … [Read more...]
Regarding ruling elders: Risk-taking in spiritual leadership
(OGA) The gospel of Matthew tells the story of a man who entrusts a large amount of money to each of three servants and then goes on a journey. When he returns, he calls the servants for an accounting. Two of the servants have invested and made a profit. They are praised and rewarded. The third servant, motivated by fear, has buried the master’s money in the ground for safekeeping. This servant gets a scathing rebuke and is thrown “into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mt.25:14–30, NRSV). What did this third servant do wrong? The story seems to say that he was judged harshly, not for losing the talent, but for failing to do anything with it. Fear of failure kept him from investing what belonged to the master for the master’s purposes. For this he was thrown into the outer darkness. Many churches wither and die because their leaders are afraid of failing. Like the third servant in the parable, they refuse to take the risks necessary to do the … [Read more...]
Presbyterians aid vulnerable Puerto Ricans threatened with displacement
(PNS) Even before flooding from Hurricane Maria destroyed their home’s contents in 2017, Waleska García Castro and her family faced a human-made threat that could have caused them an even greater disruption. This family, along with others residing near the Martin Peña Channel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, did not have a deed to their dwelling, and they were looking at the possibility of displacement. Mariolga Juliá-Pacheco, coordinator of special projects for the Martin Peña Channel Land Trust, leads a tour for staff members of the Compassion, Peace & Justice ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. This threat stemmed from plans to dredge the polluted channel and make other improvements to the waterway. Consequently, property values would likely increase dramatically in this community near San Juan’s financial district, airport and universities. The land would be ripe for speculation and gentrification, and the deedless residents could be forced to leave. Some … [Read more...]
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