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Per capita: A presbytery leader’s perspective

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Guest commentary by G. Wilson Gunn Jr. Editor’s note: In the weeks following the 223rd General Assembly, on Fridays we will publish commentary expressing opinions on and responses to the actions of the assembly. Congregations increasingly are working with flat or shrinking budgets.  Many presbyteries are minimally functional due to insufficient cash flow.  When a presbytery fails to provide the fundamental services required by the Book of Order, in short order the congregations will suffer.  In the absence of adequate oversight, congregations are more exposed to financial malfeasance, sexual abuse, imprudent encumbrances and the erosion of our essential standards for teaching elders. When a presbytery system erodes to the point at which it cannot aid a congregation in conflict, intervene in the event of a lawsuit or adequately oversee the comings and goings of teaching elders, the congregations are an inch away from trouble.  The presbytery I serve, National Capital Presbytery … [Read more...]

Tagged With: GA223 • per capita

The six love languages of the PC(USA): A reflection on the 223rd General Assembly in St Louis.

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  Guest commentary by Don Meeks  Editor’s note: In the weeks following the 223rd General Assembly, on Fridays we will publish commentary expressing opinions on and responses to the actions of the assembly. This week, while interpreting my recent experience as a commissioner to the 223rd General Assembly, I had an “a-ha!” moment. I offer this reflection in the hope that others may benefit from a new way of thinking about our shared life together. I wasted no time in gathering with church members in the days following the assembly.  After sharing my overall impressions of GA (as part family reunion, part Easter Sunday worship, part congressional hearing and part justice summit), I offered my observations of the issues and passions expressed by commissioners, committees and advocacy groups. I recounted the proceedings on divestment, the Middle East and LGBTQIA+ inclusion.  I spoke about the Way Forward and broadening whose voices are at the table.  I did my best to … [Read more...]

Tagged With: GA223

Having my say about fossil fuel divestment and shareholder engagement

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Guest commentary by Pam McVety   Editor’s note: For the next several Fridays, we will publish commentary expressing opinions on and responses to the actions of the 223rd General Assembly.    “The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) believes that church investment, as well as personal investment, are more than practical questions. We believe that the Lordship of Jesus Christ is at the heart of all that we do and therefore, directs all aspects of our lives, including how we earn, use and invest our money.” (183rd General Assembly, United Presbyterian Church USA, 1971) As a scientist and grandmother, I am stunned and saddened that the 223rd General Assembly voted to support Mission Responsibility Through Investment’s (MRTI) report calling for more shareholder engagement with fossil fuel companies instead of supporting categorical divestment. Every day for the past 20 years, I have read articles about the worsening effects of climate change and observed that what is happening … [Read more...]

Tagged With: fossil fuels • GA223

A visit with Mister Rogers remembered

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Guest commentary by Richard Austin Thompson Fred Rogers was the hallmark of a good neighbor. With 2018 marking the 50thanniversary of the launching of the Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood TV series, there has been revived interest in Fred Rogers himself. From the making of films about him – the documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” and the forthcoming biopic with Tom Hanks portraying him, not to speak of the recent PBS special about him – to the post office issuing a stamp featuring him, there has been nothing else like this renewed attention to his life and work since his death in 2003. As it happens, we are being reminded of him in the year of the “separation of families.” His gentle, loving, always respectful relationship to children is suddenly perceived in stark contrast to the government’s heart-breaking policy of taking children from their parents and placing them in anonymous institutional settings without any guarantee of their being reunited with their mothers or … [Read more...]

My mom and me: Theological comfort and the suicide crisis

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Guest commentary by Chip Hardwick The news earlier this summer came almost too quickly to digest. Upscale handbag designer Kate Spade, fresh off the 2017 list of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business,” reportedly took her life on Tuesday, June 5. Only three days later on June 8, celebrity chef and former bon vivant Anthony Bourdain was found dead in his hotel room in France after apparently choosing to end his life. As the news ricocheted around, similar reactions emerged. Spade’s handbags have a “lighthearted, all-American style,” which made it hard to imagine her taking her life. Tributes to Bourdain included statements such as, “If I could choose anyone’s life, I would be him.”  No one seemed capable of wrapping their mind around why these seemingly well-put-together public figures would die by suicide. My mind didn’t spend any time exploring these celebrities’ motivations; it was far too busy revisiting 1997.  That fall my stepmother, the only mom I had known … [Read more...]

Tagged With: mental health

Spinning old symbols …

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  You can’t attend any General Assembly without noticing the vast array of bowties worn by Presbyterian men. But today about 200 Presbyterians, women and men, are wearing hot pink bowties, as a statement of support for the #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements. Since the hashtag #MeToo broke last October, Sara Dingman, executive of the Synod of Lincoln Trails, has been hosting #MeToo and #ChurchToo dialogues, workshops and retreats for women and men in the synod she serves. Every woman, everywoman, has a #MeToo story to share. Time’s up for the church to remain silent. Dingman offered to bring 50 hot pink bowties to St. Louis for mid council colleagues to wear, to show their solidarity for women who have been harassed and abused in and beyond the church.   News spread and she ended up ordering as many as she could find on Amazon and Ebay — about 200.  “I only wish I could have found three times as many.” Why pink? Millions of people rallied at women’s marches in … [Read more...]

Tagged With: GA223

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