LOUISVILLE (PNS) — The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness in Washington D.C. is urging members to contact their congressional representatives and ask them to oppose further military action against Iran without congressional approval. The Action Alert follows the targeted assassination of Iranian general Qassem Suleimani last week at an Iraqi airport. The drone strike on Suleimani’s convoy, which killed several others as well, was followed by threats of retaliation from Iranian officials and counter threats by President Donald Trump. “The most important thing right now is for people to make their voices heard through Congress,” said Catherine Gordon, Associate for International Issues in the Office of Public Witness (OPW). “There is still time for a de-escalation and a diplomatic solution, but people need to take action and they need to be vocal and visible.” There are bills in the House of Representatives and the Senate that would prohibit further military … [Read more...]

(PNS)  Since its establishment in 2015, the nonprofit Interfaith Veterans’ Workgroup,  based in Wilmington, Delaware, has provided a supportive interfaith community to assist returning veterans reacclimate to civilian life. “When people ask me what IVW is about, I say, ‘We welcome veterans home to use their warrior wisdom for peacemaking,” said the Rev. Tom Davis, a retired Presbyterian pastor and commissioned interfaith peacemaker who in 1970 was the senior military adviser to Coastal Group 34 in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. When Davis founded IVW using startup funds provided by New Castle Presbytery, Presbyterian Church of the Covenant in Wilmington and individual donors, 20 veterans a day were taking their own lives. The 20-per-day statistic is now 17, as the Department of Veterans Affairs calculation no longer includes active-duty servicemembers and members of the National Guard and Reserve. IVW membership includes both civilians and veterans for a total of 63. Among … [Read more...]

PHILADELPHIA (Board of Pensions) — Important protections for retirement and health benefits plans operated by churches, religious institutions, and affiliated organizations were included in the federal spending packages signed into law Dec. 20, 2019. This victory follows several years of work by the Church Alliance to repeal unfair taxes and retain the eligibility of thousands of people for 403(b)(9) savings plans. “This is the biggest advocacy accomplishment for us ever,” said the Rev. Frank Clark Spencer, President of the Board of Pensions and a member of the Steering Committee of the Church Alliance. The Alliance, a coalition representing 38 denominational benefits organizations, persuaded legislators to address three issues poised to negatively affect ministries and church workers. “All three are significant for our members, congregations, and affiliated employers,” Spencer said. One is the repeal of the parking lot tax, included in the tax reform law that took effect … [Read more...]

MONTREAT, North Carolina (PNS) — Preaching from Deut. 6:4-9, a text she described as both aspirational and inspirational, the Rev. MaryAnn McKibben Dana sent about 900 people attending the College Conference at Montreat home Sunday morning with a closing worship message focused on Sabbath and remembering. Moses’ message to the people about to enter the Promised Land (“You shall love the Lord your God” and “Keep these words that I am commanding you today” and “Fix them as an emblem on your forehead” and “Write them on the doorposts of your house”) is “the language of New Year’s resolutions,” she said. It’s chock-full of the words “all” and “shall” and “it’s a little over the top.” “Nothing we do will ever be enough,” she said. “Otherwise, why would we need God’s grace?” Moses uses the words he does “not because we are expected to do it perfectly,” she said, “but to show us there is no area of life exempt from God’s concern.” A distance runner, McKibben Dana said she … [Read more...]

MONTREAT, North Carolina — It was Friday’s happy task for the Rev. Rachel Hébert and A Williams of Williamsburg (Virginia) Presbyterian Church to help busy college students find delight in Sabbath-keeping. The two — Hébert is the church’s associate pastor of community care and Williams is director of education ministries — used at least three approaches during a Friday workshop for about 20 of the 900 people attending the College Conference at Montreat, which runs through Sunday. First, Hébert led the group through a Lectio Divina reading of Isaiah 43:15-19. Since it was raining outside during the workshop, Hébert played outdoor noises she’d recorded earlier that morning. She read the passage three times, asking workshop participants to listen in turn with the knowledge they are God’s created and that they can listen contemplatively. “Sabbath isn’t just a delightful rest,” Williams said. “It’s a way of being delightful in all our forms of rest, and it starts with quieting the … [Read more...]

MONTREAT, North Carolina — Before delivering the final keynote address to the Collegiate Conference at Montreat Saturday, the Rev. Jimmie Hawkins addressed the elephant in the room: the fact that the nation could well be on a path toward war. Hawkins, director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Office of Public Witness in Washington, D.C., prayed for “the spirit of the Prince of Peace to be in our hearts. Bless the leaders of the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran, that blustering, thoughts of violence and hostilities may come to naught. Hear our voices and make us one, because you, O God, loves every child everywhere.” At that point, Hawkins launched into an hour-long talk that would eventually earn him a standing ovation from the 900 or so Presbyterian collegians attending the conference titled “Remembering Sabbath.” The conference concludes with a worship service Sunday morning. “The purpose of Sabbath is renewal, so we can wake up in the morning and be … [Read more...]