Outlook Reporting Archives - The Presbyterian Outlook

Photo Album: Charlottesville community meeting – what can we do now?

August 14, 2017 by Jill Duffield Leave a Comment

Following a weekend of violence in which white nationalists spilled their bigotry and hatred onto the streets of Charlottesville, the people of the town turned out to start figuring out what comes next. A standing-room-only crowd filled a meeting room at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center on the evening of Aug. 14 to talk about the Unite the Right rally, about the prospect of more white nationalist demonstrations in Virginia or elsewhere, about what the community can do to heal, identify the broken places, and resist hatred. The crowd included young people and old, whites and people of color, long-time activists and newcomers, filling the chairs, sitting on the floor, leaning in the doorways. People broke up into small groups to share ideas, strategize, learn one another’s names. Outlook editor Jill Duffield was there – among those discussing this question: “What do we do now?” Resolve was the mood of the packed auditorium. The citizens of Charlottesville … [Read more...]

After Charlottesville: What Now?

August 13, 2017 by Leslie Scanlon Leave a Comment

With the images of Charlottesville seared in people’s hearts, around the country those who stand against racism and violence began organizing and speaking out. Preachers rewrote their sermons. Communities organized prayer vigils and rallies of solidarity with Charlottesville – with gatherings planned in cities large and small. Within hours of the violence in Charlottesville, people congregated in Boston and Portland and Minneapolis and elsewhere, to denounce hatred and racism. What’s going on in your city and your congregation? What response have you seen? What did you hear in church this morning – or not hear? What needs to happen next? … [Read more...]

Photo album: Calls for love, not hate, in Charlottesville

August 12, 2017 by Jill Duffield 1 Comment

Presbyterian Outlook editor Jill Duffield was among those in Charlottesville, Virginia, who turned out Saturday (Aug. 12) in opposition to a sometimes-violent white nationalist rally that many condemned as demonstrating racism and bigotry. Duffield documented some of what happened -- starting with a "Love Over Fear" sunrise prayer service at First Baptist Church that included a blessing of the peacemakers and those trained in non-violent resistance, and remarks by Cornel West, a Harvard professor and social activist. Duffield has been working with the Charlottesville Clergy Collective as it organized a faith-based response to the white nationalists' "Unite the Right" rally. After the service, counter-protesters marched through the streets -- providing a public witness to the importance of love, compassion, peacefulness and diversity. The governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, declared a state of emergency. White nationalists marched Aug. 11 at the University of Virginia, in a … [Read more...]

Way Forward Commission discusses publishing, loans, feedback and more

August 9, 2017 by Leslie Scanlon Leave a Comment

The Way Forward Commission continues to plow through the work before it – including instructing Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) leaders to present a plan and timeline for consolidating publishing operations in the denomination by the commission’s meeting in Seattle January 17-19, 2018. The commission’s vote to do that, in a conference call meeting Aug. 9, adds more urgency to an issue that’s already under discussion: the possible consolidation of Congregational Ministries Publishing (which produces curriculum for the denomination and is currently housed in the Presbyterian Mission Agency) into the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. That consolidation is already being considered – but the commission’s vote means “we are putting pressure on them to do this, not just encouraging,” said Mark Hostetter, a minister from New York who serves as the commission’s moderator. On July 18, following a closed-door discussion of more than two hours, the executive committee of the … [Read more...]

Tagged With: Way Forward Commission

General Assembly Meeting Service responds to NAACP Missouri travel advisory

August 8, 2017 by Leslie Scanlon Leave a Comment

(OUTLOOK) The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has a series of big meetings planned in Missouri – including the next General Assembly June 16-23 in St. Louis – all coming up as the NAACP has issuing a warning about the safety of African-Americans traveling in the state. In October the PC(USA) will hold a series of meetings in St. Louis for mid council leaders: the Association of Mid Council Leaders and Association of Stated Clerks and the Moderators’ Conference (all October 13-14) and the Mid Council Leaders Gathering (formerly the Fall Polity Conference), which is being held Oct. 15-17 and is co-sponsored by the Office of the General Assembly and the Board of Pensions. The PC(USA) also held Big Tent 2017 at Washington University in St. Louis – focused on the theme Race, Reconcilation, Reformation – from July 6-8. Now the Missouri chapter of the NAACP has issued a travel advisory for people of color traveling in Missouri, after Missouri’s governor Eric Greitens signed legislation … [Read more...]

Court of Appeals upholds dismissal of defamation lawsuit following the 1001 New Worshipping Communities investigation

August 1, 2017 by Leslie Scanlon Leave a Comment

A Kentucky Court of Appeals panel has upheld a state court ruling dismissing the defamation lawsuit that Roger Dermody brought against the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). In a July 28 decision, a three-judge appeals court ruled that the lower court was correct to apply the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine, saying that not to do so would involve “excessive government entanglement into an ecclesiastical controversy.” The three-judge panel upheld a 2015 summary judgment by Jefferson Circuit Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman dismissing Dermody’s lawsuit. Dermody, the PC(USA)’s former deputy executive director for mission, filed the defamation lawsuit in state court in May 2015 when he and three others – Eric Hoey, Philip Lotspeich and Craig S. Williams – lost their jobs following an investigation involving a $100,000 grant sent from the 1001 New Worshipping Communities program to a nonprofit corporation set up in California. An internal PC(USA) investigation determined that the … [Read more...]

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