Introduction The Presbyterian Church (USA) has been engaged in a decade-long struggle to divest from companies that are profiting from the Israeli
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A Palestinian American Christian Woman I was born, the youngest of four children, into a Presbyterian (Church of Scotland) family in Jerusalem, Palestine, in 1939. My birth year marked the end of the first uprising of Palestinians against their British
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Midrash on the Great Woman of Shunem and Palestinian Refugees 2 Kings 4:8-37 2 Kings 8:1-6 She wouldn’t be a refugee any more if she could come back to the home she had made. She’d left seven years ago, at the urging of the man of God, taking her son
MoreI imagine you have seen it happen before. It happened to me recently, though not for the first time. I was on my way to the Goodwill to drop off some donated items. When I pulled up to a traffic light, I saw a man quickly get out of his
MoreConstruing and Misconstruing the “Divestment” Vote The Middle East is full of bad news these days. Whether the Presbyterian vote to divest from three U.S. corporations “engaged in non-peaceful pursuits in Israel/Palestine” at their recent 221st General Assembly is more bad news or a breath of fresh air is a
MoreLet’s focus on nonviolence! I am encouraged by the news out of the 221st General Assembly of the PC(USA). The assembly decided that we need to continue our church-wide discernment process about peacemaking, and it sounds like there was some very good discussion around nonviolence in the peacemaking committee. While
MoreThere are two things I have learned about General Assembly this week: it is amazing, and it is terrifying. Not for everyone, I hope. I have met many wonderful Presbyterians for whom General Assembly is a total joy. But for this introverted, conflict-avoidant, first-time attendee, the thought of 2,000+ Presbyterians
MoreTo divest or not to divest? Now that the vote on marriage is over, it’s the elephant in the room. To be clear, I will likely offend some people with what I have to say, so I must state that these views are not reflective of my congregation, presbytery, or
MoreA Response to “Risking Peace” and the Peace Fellowship’s Proposals The forthcoming General Assembly is facing a number of issues with important consequences for the present and future identity of the Church. While the two issues that have created the greatest pre-assembly discussion are whether to permit Presbyterian ministers to
More“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matt. 5:9). Humanity, Scripture tells us, has been made in the image of God. Jesus was recognized as the son of God. Central to the notion of being “sons and daughters of God” is that of being a
MoreEditor’s Note: As the PC(USA) heads to the 221st General Assembly wrestling with whether or not to engage in certain forms of boycott and divestment in Israel/Palestine, a church with whom we are in full communion, the United Church of Christ (UCC), finds itself wrestling with the same issue. This
MoreGrape-Nut Flakes. Eleven days in Israel/Palestine…eleven exhausting, eye-opening, life-changing days…so many defining moments, so many stop-dead-in-your-tracks encounters… And the take away? Grape-Nut Flakes. Let me explain. Put 110 Presbyterians in a hotel meeting room in Newark to prepare them for the Holy Land and you will have diversity: age, gender,
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