(OGA) A number of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s ecumenical and interreligious partners were set to be recognized at the 224th General Assembly (2020) this year in Baltimore. The COVID-19 pandemic changed all of that, but it didn’t stop the Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PC(USA), from lifting up the work of two individuals and one presbytery. Stated Clerk’s Interreligious Award Tom Reid Tom Reid is the associate director of the Miller Center for Interreligious Learning and Leadership at Hebrew College. The center provides current and future religious and ethnical leaders with the skills to serve in a religiously diverse society. “We aim to cultivate authentic personal and institutional relationships across lines of difference,” said Reid. “We do this through study, dialogue, and joint action with clergy, academics, and communal leaders as well as students and seminarians.” The Miller Center is involved in both … [Read more...]

(OGA) Over the next two years, Presbyterians will be seeing and hearing a lot about the Sankofa bird standing in a stream of water. The image could be seen brightly behind the Reverend Gregory Bentley last Saturday night as he and Ruling Elder Elona Street-Stewart became the Co-Moderators of the 224th General Assembly (2020) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The two selected the image of the bird standing in the Mississippi River as a representation of both African American and Native American cultures. “We wanted people to know that we’re being part of the history of the church that we had to recognize as we move forward with whatever the church is going to be in the future,” said Street-Stewart. “We both said, that’s the Sankofa. The whole idea is that you’re moving forward, your feet are moving forward, to reach back and to take what was precious to allow us to take that wisdom and move forward, so it all came together.” Street-Stewart says she and Bentley began … [Read more...]

LOUISVILLE (OGA) One of the planned highlights of the 224th General Assembly (2020) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was the presentation of the PC(USA) Crystal Teardrop Awards. The awards, presented by the Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PC(USA), are given to individuals who have worked to make the world a better place. The awards were to be presented in person at the assembly gathering in Baltimore, but that was shelved with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. That hasn’t stopped the Stated Clerk from ensuring that this year’s recipients or family members are recognized. Deanna Hollas Nelson is recognizing three individuals who have devoted their time and energy in the prevention of gun violence. Among those being recognized is the Reverend Deanna Hollas, the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship’s coordinator of Gun Violence Prevention Ministry. Hollas is the first-known Minister of Gun Violence Prevention. Deanna … [Read more...]

LOUISVILLE (PNS) — The Rev. Drs. J. Herbert Nelson, II and Diane Moffett are among more than 340 signers of a statement demanding justice for Breonna Taylor, a Louisville woman slain by police. Firing, prosecuting and charging the three Louisville Metro Police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Taylor is chief on the list of demands from an interracial, interfaith group of signers who include Nelson, stated clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and Moffett, president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. “As faith leaders in Louisville, we call on the Mayor, Metro Council and the Attorney General to heed the calls for justice that have echoed in our streets in these recent days and for decades,” the faith leaders state. “We will never have peace without justice, and we call on you to meet the demands of the Movement for Black Lives, Breonna Taylor’s family, and local leaders.” Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical … [Read more...]

(PNS) While the book of Lamentations — with two verses from chapter 5 serving as the scriptural basis for the 224th General Assembly (2020) — there’s still hope, commissioners and others participating in the GA Bible study Wednesday evening learned. “We have found hope in lament,” said Mary Florence Taneti, who together with her husband James Elisha Taneti led Wednesday’s study, which touched not only on the five chapters of Lamentations, but on modern-day examples of why lament remains the most appropriate response in a world reeling from the deadly viruses of coronavirus and racism. As to that second virus, she said, “we have no vaccine for it, and we are afraid of finding one … Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us,” she said, quoting Lamentations 5:1. “Look, and see our disgrace!” She acknowledged those who are lamenting the online assembly. “General Assembly is a biennial ritual we treasure,” she said. “This year we grieve the missed opportunity of meeting each other in … [Read more...]

LEXINGTON, Kentucky — Global Christian leaders, including the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations, called on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to create a Commission of Inquiry into the death of George Floyd and systemic racism and police brutality in the U.S. and other parts of the world in a statement that did not mince words. “Anti-black racism and racist actions are violations of human rights,” read the statement, which came in response to debate in the UNHRC June 17 and 18 in Geneva. “These acts of racism against African descendant people are well documented historically and in our contemporary contexts. The historic roots of anti-black racism are grounded in the commodification of African lives as seen in the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the East Africa Slave Trade, and the disregard for those who were enslaved and their descendants. “The call for change has not been enough. Petitions to their nations’ capitals have not brought about the deep changes … [Read more...]