Browse Tag

GA222

Breaking Down Walls: A Collaborative Response to Climate Change

12 mins read

Originally published on October 27, 2016 at http://www.fossilfreepcusablog.org/blog/breaking-down-walls-a-collaborative-response-to-climate-change Environmental advocates on all sides of the PC(USA)’s divestment debate at June’s General Assembly meeting were dismayed, if not depressed, by the outcome. We entered the week with one widely supported overture from Fossil Free PCUSA and 31 presbyteries, three well supported

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Christian Stakes in an Election When Civility and Civil Religion Seem Dead

16 mins read

Aren’t Christian stakes simply justice stakes? Not entirely. Christian ethics, and mainly Reformed Protestant and Enlightenment versions of those, shaped the U.S. Constitution. They defined what goods government was to serve, what constituted legitimate authority, and how power was to be exercised; where government power ended and individual rights began,

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Why the Election Debates Are So Frustrating

18 mins read

(Because Real Discourse Requires…) The September 6 issue of The New York Times featured an Op Ed article by David Brooks who exposed Donald Trump’s mis, dis, and simply false information about the effects of immigration on American life. But David had begun his article with something generic and anterior

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An Open Letter on Urban Ministry

5 mins read

To Our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Brothers and Sisters September 6, 2016 Dear Colleagues Across our Church: We are prompted to write by the tragically early death of our brother in Christ, the Rev. Eugene “Freedom” Blackwell, pastor of House of Manna in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Eugene joined the church triumphant on August 29th,

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Except on Palestine?

27 mins read

“I didn’t know church could be like this,” said Sam, a teenager who had come to an event in Fellowship Hall. That Sunday after worship, we had Anna Baltzer speaking about why, as a Jewish-American, she had come to be an outspoken critic of Israeli policies, part of her national

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There is Such a Thing as Being Too Gentle

12 mins read

Watering down the LGBTQ/Q Apology Overture at GA222 I never thought “collateral damage” was a term I’d identify with as a church-lady. I was wrong. I was baptized as a young girl in a Presbyterian church that would become my family’s spiritual home for the next fifteen years. I remember

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“All We Want is Peace”

10 mins read

Discerning Peace in the 21st Century – Part II When the Peacemaking and International Relations Committee of the 222nd General Assembly was considering the Peace Discernment resolution (12-06) from the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP), they heard from many speakers. Understandably so, as this resolution is the final report

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Our Bodies, Our Faithful Choices

11 mins read

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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From Palestine to Portland

15 mins read

Working for Peace in the Middle East at the 222nd General Assembly About a month ago, I was sitting in a large ballroom adjacent to other commissioners and delegates to the 222nd General Assembly, anxiously waiting for the work of the Committee on Middle East Issues (Committee 8) to begin.

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Through the Lens of Belhar

11 mins read

The General Assembly Acts for Justice and Liberation in Palestine and Israel “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” -Amos 5:24 The 222nd General Assembly PC(USA) took place from June 17-25, 2016, in Portland, Oregon. I was fortunate enough to attend and serve as a

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