In May of 2019, the Advocacy Committee for Women’s Concerns (ACWC) released a statement that it was “compelled to advocate for [the] continuation of safe, legal abortion rights nationwide”, resting on past PC(USA) policy to support this position. As ACWC’s statement notes, PC(USA) policy in support of a woman’s right
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In social justice and in Sunday school, we need to pay more attention to the lessons we can learn from kids. When I joined a volunteer committee to rework my church’s Sunday school policies, I was reminded of the recent Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic, On the Basis of Sex. The
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Swirling around the atmosphere as I write this is the furor over the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of the United States. In a remarkable movement from margin to center, the experiences of women have become the heart of Kavanaugh’s questioning and ultimately, the decision whether or
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The explosive #MeToo phenomenon which took over social media last week highlights our long tolerance and enabling of an intolerable, systematic abuse of power. We must not take for granted the honest witness of millions of women (and some other survivors of abuse as well) speaking truth in the
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“I believe you.” We should never underestimate the power of these words. What’s more, God calls us, as people of faith, to speak these words in our relationships and our larger communities. Though voiced aloud, the words “I believe you” are not solely a verbal statement. They represent a posture
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Being involved in the church and in the community brings a great deal of responsibility. As a 26-year-old active Presbyterian and elected City Councilwoman in Harrisburg, PA, I learn more about that responsibility each day. One might think being actively involved in both the religious and political spheres would be
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I am a woman of faith. I have grown up in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and have a deep love and appreciation for my denomination. Our church’s involvement in the Religious Coalition on Reproductive Choice is one of many reasons that I am proud to be a Presbyterian. As it
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It was late on the night of March 20 of this year, Palm Sunday. Father Vincent Machozi, an Assumptionist priest in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, was working on his laptop in a community center near the city of Butembo, where he taught in the seminary. Suddenly, a
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Special from the Presbyterian Hunger Program, originally published in the Spring 2016 edition of the PHP Post. The struggle for gender, racial, and economic justice are all parts of the same thread, and deal with similar questions of power and privilege. Rev. Dr. Melanie L. Harris, Associate Professor of Religion
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In Zora Neale Hurston’s 1928 essay, “,” she writes about her lived experience as a black woman in the South. She talks about her racial awakening, describing it as “the day I become colored.” She uses many metaphors to talk about race, including calling herself a “brown paper bag” alongside other bags
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