LOUISVILLE (OGA) As the nation mourns the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is calling on national leaders to be thorough and not rush to fill the new vacancy. The Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, urges Capitol Hill to consider waiting until after the presidential election. Senate Republican leaders have indicated plans to move quickly to get a nominee approved. “We are not in a place right now where we are pressed with some type of decisions that have to be made. The reality is we ought to take our time and see who the next president of the United States might be and offer that person, whoever it might be, the opportunity to put forth a nominee,” said Nelson. “To have a nation that is teetering on the edge of transition, it seems unfair to the electoral process.” Prior to his current role, Nelson served as the director of the PC(USA) Office of Public Witness in Washington, … [Read more...]

(PNS) David Esterline, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary’s president and professor of Cross-cultural Theological Education, has announced his retirement effective summer 2021. “Serving as President of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary has been one of the great privileges of my life. It has brought deep satisfaction as I’ve watched the changes we have accomplished together in these years,” said Esterline, according to a seminary news release. “I look forward now to watching the great work of the next chapter, as the seminary benefits from the energy and wisdom a new leader will bring.” Board Chair James Gockley said, “During President Esterline’s tenure at the seminary, he has led with integrity — including through the current pandemic — to ensure that Pittsburgh Seminary is a community of faith and learning, dedicated to the formation of women and men for Christian ministry, committed to living, learning, and worshiping together in ways that illustrate God’s generosity and … [Read more...]

LOUISVILLE (OGA) As its budget continues to tighten, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is facing tough decisions on what its focus will be in the coming years. The Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PC(USA), says the church needs to change. … [Read more...]

(PNS) The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will celebrate Native American Day by hosting two of the first events in an ongoing series. The events were created to bring attention to the Church’s involvement in the unjust practices that have been imposed on Indigenous people in this country for centuries, as well as its more recent commitments to join in solidarity with Native Americans in their efforts for sovereignty and fundamental human rights. The events will start on Tuesday, Sept. 22, from 5–6 p.m. EDT with a “Speak-In,” which will be a roundtable conversation about the Doctrine of Discovery and how it has affected practices and theology in the Church. The Speak-In, titled “Turning from Anti-Indigenous Practice and Theology in the Church,” will feature members of various Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Native American committees. They include Fern Cloud (Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Tribe), Stated Clerk of the Dakota Presbytery; June Lorenzo, J.D., Ph.D. (Laguna Pueblo/Navajo … [Read more...]

(PNS) The Rev. Clark Scalera keeps running into this roadblock when giving an update on the impact of wildfires in Oregon’s Presbytery of the Cascades. “We can’t get close to see if there’s any damage,” said Scalera, the presbytery’s Advocate for Congregations and Clergy, discussing a specific church building and giving a variation of a statement he made several times during a Thursday afternoon call. It is hard to get assessments of the damage from a disaster that is still unfolding, cutting off access to structures with walls of flames and making the air itself so dangerously thick with smoke it is not safe to go outside without a professional face mask. Right now, Oregon and Cascades Presbytery find themselves the flashpoint in a western wildfire season that is lasting longer and spreading wider than anyone can remember. “In 10 years, I have never been called to a fire in Oregon,” says Mike Bullard, a member of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA)’s National Response … [Read more...]

(PNS) In a lecture series sponsored by Union Presbyterian Seminary and the Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation this week, the Rev. Dr. James Forbes spoke on “COVID-19: A Parable of Plagues before Deliverance.” Forbes, considered to be among the most significant prophetic voices in our nation, is pastor emeritus of The Riverside Church and professor emeritus at Union Theological Seminary in New York, and has for several decades helped frame the nation’s theological sense of justice. Forbes opened his remarks by stating, “I hope what we start to say tonight will cause us to think clearly about what we are going to do in these challenging days of the COVID-19 virus and the many other challenges we face.” Forbes said that about this time last year, as he was preparing an article on the arrival of the first Africans on the shores of this country, he was led almost as if by the Spirit to read a passage from the Book of Genesis. “This is a passage that I am sure I have read … [Read more...]