Presbyterian Voices for Justice 

A union of The Witherspoon Society and Voices of Sophia

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End-of-life resources

Helpful resources for making decisions about the end of life   [3-25-05]

Bruce Gillette has listed these resources for people who are now thinking seriously about end-of-life decisions.

bullet Mayo Clinic has a good online article titled Advance directives: Make your medical care wishes known
 
bullet "Are Your Affairs in Order? A Planning and Resource Book" is an excellent resource from Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church. From its introduction: "We want you to plan ahead! To do so is to be absolutely consistent with our Christian heritage. Because we believe that death is not the end, we are able to face it with courage - with a sense of responsibility to those loved ones who carry on after our own death. Because we love them, we want to have our 'affairs in order'"
 
bulletAnother excellent resource is Five Wishes: The Five Wishes document helps you express how you want to be treated if you are seriously ill and unable to speak for yourself. It is unique among all other living will and health agent forms because it looks to all of a person's needs: medical, personal, emotional and spiritual. Five Wishes also encourages discussing your wishes with your family and physician.
 
bullet In life and death we belong to God – A Study Guide (89-page pdf file) from the PCUSA's Theology and Worship looks at Euthanasia, assisted suicide, and end-of-life issues "...While the study suggests no neat resolution of the issues, it will encourage participants to wrestle with ambiguities, to respect one another's perspectives, and to model ways of effectively considering controversial topics. The authors hope that, when the study concludes, participants not only will have learned new information but will have also grown in faith..." Also on this site: End of Life Issues – General Assembly action, and a Presbyterian Panel study on end-of-life issues.
 

Living Will Resources

A guide to religious and secular living will forms, laws, and other spiritual resources for thinking about end-of-life issues is provided by BeliefNet. Their guide includes appropriate forms for various states, thoughts about the spiritual issues involved in creating a living will, and information on what various faith traditions says about end-of-life issues.

 

ActForChange has sent this note, including both political statements and some helpful resources:

There are many lessons to learn from the unprecedented intervention by Congress (as led by Rep. Tom DeLay) into the tragic situation of Terri Schiavo.

The first is that the current Congress will intervene in the most private of family matters if it sees political advantage in doing so.

As a result, the only way to ensure that your own views are respected in similar settings is to have an advanced healthcare directive or living will. Working Assets does not provide legal advice. However, many have found helpful the information on these subjects provided by
The American Bar Association and the Living Will Registry.

The second lesson is that there is no limit to the sheer audacity and hypocrisy of Rep. DeLay and his followers in this unprecedented intervention, only days after voting to slash billions of dollars from the health program which provides for millions of Americans and which itself saves thousands of lives.

ActForChange urges that people demand that their representatives save lives by restoring cuts to the critical Medicaid program.

Click here to take action!

 

Do you have other suggestions of helpful material as people think seriously about living wills, end-of-life planning, and related matters?
Please send a note
 and we'll share them here!

 

Some blogs worth visiting

 

PVJ's Facebook page

Mitch Trigger, PVJ's Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!

You can post your own news and views, or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you.

 

Voices of Sophia blog

Heather Reichgott, who has created this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:

After fifteen years of scholarship and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy, students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and thoughtful community.

 

John Harris’ Summit to Shore blogspot

Theological and philosophical reflections on everything between summit to shore, including kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology, politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian Church in Flushing, NY.

 

John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive

A Presbyterian minister, currently serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton, Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and lightening up.

 

Got more blogs to recommend?

Please send a note, and we'll see what we can do!

 

Plan now for our 2010 Ghost Ranch Seminar!

GHOST RANCH SEMINAR

July 26-August 1, 2010

WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER
CONFRONTING THE STRUCTURES OF INJUSTICE

 

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