This page lists reports and commentary from earlier in April, 2006

The streets of New York City echoed Saturday with the chants, songs and shouts of at least 350,000 people from across the United States. Mobilized around the calls to end the war in Iraq, to say no to any attack on Iran, and to support the rights and dignity of all people, including immigrants and women, the marchers brought a renewed urgency to the clear demand for change. The march featured the largest antiwar labor contingent in US history.

Initiated by a historic alliance linking a diverse coalition of national organizations, the March for Peace, Justice and Democracy embodied the understanding that all those working for such goals must come together to right the reckless, dangerous, and wrong-headed direction the U.S. government has been following.

TruthOut has a press release from United for Peace and Justice (excerpted above), an AP report, and a video report.  See them all >>

Clergy and Laity Concerned About Iraq (CALC-I) is sponsoring a morning and an evening interfaith service bracketing the April 29 mass march in New York City.

The March is aimed at ending the Iraq war; taking action to minimize the climate crisis of global scorching; and protecting immigrant rights, women's rights, civil liberties, and human rights against the growing attacks on them.

The morning interfaith service will gather at 9:40 a.m. and take place in the open on 19^th Street between 5^th Avenue and Broadway, near Washington Square. (Please enter 19th from 5th Avenue.) An interfaith contingent will leave directly from there to join the March.

Immediately after the March to Foley Square, there will be a Festival of Peace, Justice, Democracy and Earth with resources, etc., of many organizations.

The evening interfaith service will be held at Middle Collegiate Church, 50 E 7th Street (at 2nd Avenue). It will begin at 7 p.m

Monday, MAY 1.
JOIN RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND LAY PEOPLE IN
Condemning Torture and Demanding Justice
for Those Imprisoned at Guantánamo

10:00 am Interfaith Prayer Service, 777 UN Plaza
11:30 am Press Conference, 777 UN Plaza
12 Noon March to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations

Our solemn and prayerful procession will begin at the Isaiah Wall (First Avenue and 43rd street) and continue to the U.S. Mission to the UN (140 East 45th Street at Lexington). We will carry the names of prisoners being tortured in violation of every law -- national, international, religious and moral.

At the U.S. Mission, our interfaith ceremony will witness, mourn, and condemn torture.

Sharing the prisoners' stories and reading from our faith traditions, we will occupy the U.S. Mission's Plaza, refusing to leave until Bolton commits to supporting the UN High Commission on Human Rights' demands to shut down Guantánamo.

We will have a legal demonstration area on the north side of 45th street.

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER TO PARTICIPATE >> 

National Farm Worker Ministry encourages you to participate in ongoing marches and rallies to promote the rights of all immigrants, including farm workers. A national coalition for comprehensive immigration reform is calling for coordinated actions on May 1. It is important that a significant number of non-immigrant supporters be visible at these events.

There are reports from various places around the U.S. about active police efforts to detain undocumented immigrants, visiting factories, setting up highway check points, and more.

The ACLU has prepared very helpful pamphlets in English and Spanish, offering information to people on "what to do if..... You are stopped by immigration agents or police while on foot; your car is pulled over by immigration agents or police; immigration agents or police come to your home."

Download the flier in PDF format ...

William P. Thompson, Presbyterian and ecumenical leader, dies at 87
'Stately clerk' had long and distinguished career

William P. Thompson, 87, a towering figure in Presbyterian and ecumenical circles in the last half of the 20th century, died on April 27 at Plymouth Place, a Christian retirement community in suburban Chicago. He had been in declining health for several years.    More >>

PC(USA) group will get first-hand look at Israel/Palestine
Presbytery teams will meet with officials, plan future ministries

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is sponsoring a travel study seminar in Israel and Palestine. A group of more than 100 Presbyterians left on Wednesday (April 26) and is expected to return to the United States on May 5.    More >>

Moderator urges GAC to seek task force on Middle East issues
Ufford-Chase proposes ‘effort to listen to one another and seek a solid consensus’

A document proposing that the 217th General Assembly create a task force to listen to Jews, Christians and Muslims and to monitor the politics of the Middle East for the next two years is under consideration by the General Assembly Council (GAC).

The task force, proposed by Rick Ufford-Chase, the moderator of the 216th GA, would "develop guidance" to honor each group’s concerns while the denomination "considers how to move forward on these issues," Ufford-Chase said.   More >>

Update 

GAC approves suggestion of task force on Israel/Palestine
Group would ‘develop guidance’ on church policy in embattled region

The General Assembly Council today (April 28) unanimously approved a proposal to ask the General Assembly to establish a working group to seek Jewish, Christian and Muslim input as the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) develops strategies to promote peace in Israel and Palestine.   The full report >>

 
WCC protests settlers' violence against Christian volunteers in Hebron

Expressing "alarm and concern," the World Council of Churches (WCC) has made a formal protest to the Israeli ambassador in Switzerland over two recent incidents involving violence by Israeli settlers against Christian volunteers from the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI).   More >>
 

Publishes "Following the Money: Donors and Activists on the Anglican Right"

We invite all who wish to make common cause with us to come together to study, discuss, pray, worship and strategize:

McCormick Seminary
Peacemaking Mission Team, Presbytery of Chicago
National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT)
No2Torture, a faith-based, grassroots organization

The Rev. Jean Marie Peacock, Vice Moderator of the General Assembly and Associate Pastor of Lakeview Presbyterian Church, New Orleans

Catherine Gordon, Associate for International Issues, Washington Office of the PC(USA)

Rear Admiral John Hutson (Ret. USN), President and Dean of the Franklin Pierce Law Center, former Executive Assistant to the Judge Advocate General of the Navy. This talk on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. will also be open to unregistered guests.

This book, an exploration in theological ethics, is motivated by two central questions. First: How can we think and speak with integrity about God as One who is active in human affairs and the world? How can God make a difference in our world and in our lives? Second, and no less important: What is the character of God’s activity in the world, and how are we to relate and respond to this activity? How does God make a difference in our world and our lives, and what are some of the implications for our own actions?    More >>

Why, when, how?

In the midst of calls by retired top brass for Donald Rumsfeld's head and public discussion on expanding President Bush's "Long War" into Iran-perhaps even by means of tactical nuclear weapons-the Middle East Policy Council brought together a panel of distinguished specialists to consider how or whether the United States can extricate itself, with honor, from the morass in Iraq. Should we leave quickly? Should we send more American troops? Should we redeploy rather than withdraw? Should we stay for a generation-until "victory"? Here is what the experts had to say.

Chas. W. Freeman, Jr., President of the Middle East Policy Council, set the stage for the discussion by describing the concern of people in Iraq and the Middle East about a quick U.S. withdrawal – and the equal concern about the U.S. forces remaining there.

He describes quickly the results of the American invasion and occupation:

I'm not going to recapitulate what we have accomplished in Iraq. It's clear that we did succeed in removing Saddam Hussein and bringing him to trial. We verified that there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. That's a major achievement for our political-military strategy. We, however, also destroyed the Iraqi state, we dismembered Iraqi politics, we destabilized inter-communal relations in Iraq, we de-secularized political life in Iraq, and we attracted, created, and are now in the process of training an entire new generation of terrorists.

The discussion that follows is long and sometimes intricate, but it does provide helpful ways of thinking about withdrawal – as both difficult and necessary.

Longtime civil-rights, anti-war activist remembered as ‘the man of paradox’  

Thirteen hundred people gathered at New York’s Riverside Church on April 20 to celebrate the life and ministry of the Rev. William Sloane Coffin Jr.

Author and journalist James Carroll delivered a eulogy for Coffin to a sanctuary packed with admirers of the man who led Riverside Church from 1977 to 1987 and embraced a host of anti-war and civil rights causes.

Coffin, 81, died on April 12 of congestive heart failure.

"Life in death, that contradiction — no, that paradox — is a fitting last subject of the sermon that was Bill Coffin's life," Carroll said. "Who was that man? Why, he was the man of paradox, of course. ... He was the first white man standing with black folks. A patrician who was the tribune of nobodies. A patriot in disobedient dissent. A critical thinker with a simple faith."

Coffin was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1956. He later gained ordained ministerial standing in the United Church of Christ, which he maintained until his death.

In 1958 he became the youngest chaplain in the history of Yale University, his alma mater.  Before joining the church, he served as Gen. George Patton’s Russian interpreter in World War II and worked for the Central Intelligence Agency in Eastern Europe.

At one point, peace activist Cora Weiss asked the congregation, "Who was inspired by Bill?"  Nearly everyone raised a hand.  "No one has ever crammed more into a life, up until the last minute," Weiss said.    The full report >>

From Presbyterian News Service, April 18, 2006 – A 16-person staff team is scheduled to finish its work on a drastically reduced General Assembly mission budget for 2007-2008 today (April 18). That will pave the way for General Assembly Council (GAC) Executive Director John Detterick to add finishing touches and start sending it out to GAC members by Friday, April 21.

A detailed budget, including proposed program and staff cuts needed to balance it, will be given to council members when they arrive on April 26 for their four-day meeting here.

The Mission Work Plan (MWP), approved by the GAC in February, includes four goal areas —Evangelism and Witness, Justice and Compassion, Spirituality and Discipleship, and Leadership and Vocation — and eight objectives. It is the sole basis for the budget decisions now being made.

Because the GAC’s budget deliberations next week will include staff cuts, it will be meeting for about 10 hours in closed session. Final action on the mission budget is due on Saturday, April 29. Presbyterian Center staff — who now number about 600 — will be notified of their employment status on Monday, May 1.  The rest of the story >>

A note from the Witherspoon Society:  At this very difficult time for all of our staff in Louisville, we encourage you to hold them lovingly in your thoughts and prayers.  And maybe get in touch with some of the folks you know, and let them know they are not forgotten.

We recently carried a report of the stoning by Israelis of Palestinian children and along with five foreign activists, including members of two church-sponsored monitoring teams, who were escorting Palestinian girls from a school in the divided West Bank city of Hebron. A few days before that, a Palestinian suicide bomber had blown himself up in Tel Aviv, killing and injuring many.

Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick responded to that incident with a statement in which he asserted that "It is our unwavering belief that the use of terror and the killing and maiming of innocent people are never justifiable."

And addressing Hamas, he wrote: "We (condemn) all forms of terror and violence that have led to such unspeakable human tragedy in the region…. All forms of violence, whatever their purported justification, have only hardened the resolve of the victims on every side and rendered lasting solutions ever more remote."

Bill Moyers argues that American democracy is threatened by perversions of money, power, and religion. Money has bought our elections right out from under us. Power has turned government "of, by, and for the people" into the patron of privilege. And Christianity and Islam have been hijacked by fundamentalists who have made religion the language of power, the excuse for violence, and the alibi for empire.

His closing words:

Want an alternative to the Religious Right, to the materialism and selfishness of the competitive marketplace, and to the religio-phobia and tone-deafness to spiritual concerns on the Left?

The Presbyterian Peacemaking 25^th Anniversary Celebration and Dinner will take place on Monday, June 18 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:50 p.m. at the Sheraton Hotel in Birmingham, AL.  

A group of Jewish settlers attacked five foreign activists, including members of two church-sponsored monitoring teams, who were escorting Palestinian girls from a school in the divided West Bank city of Hebron, team members said.

More than a million people, mostly immigrants, have taken to the streets recently to rally for a compassionate, respectful and comprehensive immigration law. They carried signs that boasted: "We are America;" signs that asked "Do not criminalize us" and begged; "Do not deport my parents." There were more than 140 rallies across the U.S. for a National Day of Action for Immigrant Justice. Protesters against the pending harsh immigration laws chanted, "Today, we march; tomorrow, we vote." The anger of future voters has struck fear in the hearts of politicians, on both sides of the aisle.

Not all the marchers are undocumented. Some are registered voters or will be old enough to vote in the next Presidential election. Although the Senate was poised to vote in the spring, the force of these protests may delay any vote until after the fall midterm election. In the meantime, people of faith can take time to reflect upon this issue from a theological perspective. As quoted in the opening, ‘The solution of one problem,’ i.e., the estimated 12 million undocumented persons in the U.S., ‘brings us face to face with another:’ Do we march all 12 million to the border and push them out, or do we develop a path to citizenship?

The four ministers who have been endorsed by their presbyteries for Moderator of the 217^thGeneral Assembly have all responded to a set of five questions from the Witherspoon Society, to give them the opportunity to express their views on some of the more urgent concerns of our church today.  The Presbyterian News Service has released stories on each of the candidates as they have been endorsed by their presbyteries.

Walter T. Davis, Jr., HR, a member of San Francisco Presbytery, explains the thinking behind the overture.

Messages from Moderator and Stated Clerk  

In his bimonthly message to the church, Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase tells of experiencing truly multicultural worship at Pasadena Presbyterian Church.

Should the US Invade Iran? by Greg Garrett

The Immigration Debate: What’s a Christian to Think? by Christian Iosso

King Amendment latest in a series of attempts to gut equal opportunity programs   

Wrestling Until the Dawn: The Fight for Biblical Justice in a Postmodern World, by John R. Preston   

Gene TeSelle reviews this recent book by a Witherspoon member, who identifies with Jacob wrestling with an angel, as an image for the struggles of faith in our own postmodern time, as Christians seek ways to live faithfully in confronting the oppression and suffering of human life.   

On Wednesday we reported on the death of Bill Coffin, college chaplain, pastor of Riverside Church in New York City, activist for decades in the struggle for racial justice, peace, and a better world.

Leon Howell, who has known and worked with Bill Coffin for many years, has shared this recollection of him, along with a number of other remembrances, including

tributes from

It begins:

We, the undersigned faith-based leaders and organizations, join together to call upon President Bush and our elected officials in Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform legislation that establishes a safe and humane immigration system consistent with our values. Our diverse faith traditions teach us to welcome our brothers and sisters with love and compassion.

The Hebrew Bible tells us: "The strangers who sojourn with you shall be to you as the natives among you, and you shall love them as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt (Leviticus 19:33-34)." In the New Testament, Jesus tells us to welcome the stranger (cf. Matthew 25:35), for "what you do to the least of my brethren, you do unto me (Matthew 25:40)." The Qur'an tells us that we should "serve God…and do good to…orphans, those in need, neighbors who are near, neighbors who are strangers, the companion by your side, the wayfarer that you meet, [and those who have nothing] (4:36)."

We call for immigration reform because each day in our congregations, service programs, health-care facilities, and schools we witness the human consequences of an outmoded system. We see and hear the suffering of immigrant families who have lost loved ones to death in the desert or immigrants themselves who have experienced exploitation in the workplace or abuse at the hands of unscrupulous smugglers and others. In our view, changes to the U.S. legal immigration system would help put an end to this suffering, which offends the dignity of all human beings.      The whole document >>

Coffin gained prominence in the 1960s as an outspoken advocate for civil rights and against the Vietnam War. He joined a group of civil rights activists known as the freedom riders and was arrested several times at demonstrations against segregation. He became a leader of the group Clergy and Laity Concerned About Vietnam, which engaged in civil disobedience including offering sanctuary in churches and synagogues to draft resisters.

He continued his activism after leaving Yale in 1976 and moving on to become minister of the Riverside Church in New York City. There he broadened his agenda to working on issues of peace, nuclear disarmament, poverty, homelessness and protecting the environment. But he was criticized by some in the congregation as too attentive to his social agenda, at the expense of pastoral work and management of the church.

The lengthy New York Times obituary article offers lots of details from Coffin's life >>
The report from Associated Press >>
The obituary in the L A Times >>

A personal note from your WebWeaver:

I carry a vivid memory of Bill Coffin from the time when I was an undergraduate at Yale, and Bill, then a student at Yale Divinity School, was serving as the Presbyterian Campus Minister, and advisor to our little student Westminster Foundation.

Bill gave me a ride to a meeting off campus one fall evening – on the back of his motorcycle. As we rode, he told me how he had learned to drive motorcycles in Germany a few years earlier, while serving with the CIA in Germany. And how he had to learn to drive fast to avoid pursuing Russian troops. And how he had to be careful driving around New Haven in the fall, because he still drove fast, and the wet leaves on the streets were a real hazard. I was deeply moved. Not by awe as much as by dread.

But that’s how Bill was, and has been through the decades: Full of love of life, always ready for adventure and willing to take risks. His love and courage and humor have brought life and joy to countless people around this country and around the world.

He has invited so many of us to share in the struggle for justice and peace. If we can live and work with just a bit of the courage and wit and grace that he has shown, we’ll do well. The world is a better place for his adventurous spirit, and we might dare to hope that some of us are better people.

Fifteen committees will process the business of the 217th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in June, according to the Office of the General Assembly (OGA). Committee leaders for the eight-day Assembly also were named this week by OGA and Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase. Each committee will have elected commissioners as moderator and vice-moderator, plus an appointed assistant and a parliamentarian/recorder.

Urgent Alert from the Washington Office of the Presbyterian Church (USA)

PresbyAction Network: Immigration Alert
Immigration: Politics Trumps Policy   

Take Action!

Further demonstrations continue around the country in the wake of Senate not voting last week. April 10th Rallies have been called for in various locations. Go to http://www.april10.org to see what continuing events may be happening in your locality. This site will list future events as well. Your Members of Congress are at home on recess for two weeks. Visit them in their district offices.   More >>

Doug Ottati, who is a regular contributor of a column of "theological musings" in the Witherspoon Society’s Network News, has just published a new book entitled Theology for Liberal Presbyterians and Other Endangered Species.

He will be signing copies of his book at General Assembly on Thursday, June 15 11:00-1:00 and 5:00-6:00 at the Cokesbury Bookstore in the Exhibit Hall.

Here’s the publisher’s notice for the book:

In this witty, accessible, and concise book, theologian Doug Ottati contends that liberal Presbyterians and other liberal Protestants still have much to contribute to the contemporary world. Offering an alternative to evangelical and conservative thought that he believes now pervades the larger culture, Ottati presents what he sees as the foundations of liberal, theological thought. Writing out of the Reformed tradition and a theology of grace and with a dose of humor, he addresses current issues such as evangelism, the ordination of homosexuals, and the war on terrorism. Ideal for individual or group study, this book is a call to liberal Presbyterians and other liberal Protestants to restate, rethink, and revise traditional theologies and beliefs in the face of contemporary knowledge and realities.

We’re proud to note that many of the essays in the book have appeared previously in Network News.

Two primary care physicians at Cambridge Hospital, who are also associate professors at Harvard Medical School, argue that the proposed "Health Care For All" program in Massachusetts will provide far less than it promises.

Since the release of three members of the Christian Peacemakers team in Iraq after months of captivity, a lengthy conversation has gone on between two Presbyterians with rather different backgrounds and views.

Some of the notes are long, but we believe this discussion offers a helpful example to two differing views of the Iraq war, efforts to work for peace in the midst of the war, and much more.

The most recent of the notes is a response from Beth Pyles, a member of the Christian Peacemakers Team, to criticisms that Earl Tilford has leveled against the whole CPT enterprise, and specifically against what he has seen as its lack of gratitude for the efforts of America troops to rescue the three hostages.  You can scroll down to follow the conversation back to the beginning, or click here for the beginning of the story, and work your way back up the page.

A number of progressive organizations related to the PC(USA) are jointly putting their information and commentary on General Assembly business on a web site, hosted by the Witherspoon Society. We are honored to be invited to play this role.

The site is already up and running, at www.justpresbys.org . Some material is already posted there, and more will be added frequently. There will be daily updates during the Assembly as well.

If you have comments or suggestions, just send a note to dougking2@aol.com .

Beth Pyles, back from Baghdad, responds to criticism from Prof. Tilford 

Beth Pyles, a member of Christian Peacemaker Teams who recently returned from Baghdad, recently sent us a thoughtful response to the sharp critique of the work of CPT, from Prof. Earl Tilford, a Presbyterian elder, a retired military officer, and professor at Grove City College. 

In her cover note she says of her commentary:  "I know it's long, but there was much to respond to. Thank you for all your good work."

As the debate on immigration policy continues to rage in the U. S. Senate, you and your congregation may find help in a study guide developed by The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP), based on a Resolution Calling for a Comprehensive Legalization Program for Immigrants Living and Working in the United States, which was approved by the 216th General Assembly (2004).

One of the main themes advanced by Rabbi Michael Lerner at the conference on progressive spirituality and politics held last summer in Berkeley was the idea of a new bottom line, in which human well-being and a healthy community are weighed as heavily as financial profits in our society’s planning and policies.

Former Vice President Al Gore is now sounding the same theme, in an essay which begins: "Capitalism and sustainability are deeply and increasingly interrelated. After all, our economic activity is based on the use of natural and human resources. Not until we more broadly ‘price in’ the external costs of investment decisions across all sectors will we have a sustainable economy and society."

Pre-assembly educational event slated for June 15^th in Birmingham

This pre-assembly event will share visions and perspectives regarding justice and peace in Israel and Palestine. It is not a forum for or against proposed items of GA business. The program will include a current assessment of human rights; a panel of Jewish, Muslim, and Christian leaders sharing their visions for a just peace; a description of Presbyterian ministry and mission; and time for general discussion.

Confirmed speakers include Mr. Mark Pelavin, Associate Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism; Mr. Salam Al-Marayati, Director of Muslim Public Affairs Council Bishop; Dr. Munib Younan, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land.

Rabbi Michael Lerner and Tikkun Magazine have announced a conference for May 17-20, centered on the proposal for a Spiritual Covenant for America, which is based in part on the conversations that took place at the July, 2005, conference in Berkeley, California, and was developed into a platform in Rabbi Lerner's The Left Hand of God.

In part, the conference is intended to launch a prophetic spiritual politics agenda to the media and the politicians in D.C., and to train organizers who will take the agenda into their communities.    More >>
 

The Autumn 2005 issue of The Reformed Review, published by Western Theological Seminary, is focused on some of the main questions raised by conservatives about same-sex unions and various other questions. For the table of contents and links to all the articles >>

James Brownson deals with the tension faced by pastors in dealing with "gay unions," as they strive to maintain a "consistent witness" to what he views as the biblical rejection of such relationships, and the need for "pastoral accommodation" to the realities of today’s society.

Robert Gagnon takes over 100 pages to do a critical commentary on the recent book by David Myers and Letha Scanzoni, What God Has Joined Together? (The book itself is just about 200 pages long!) Gagnon’s article >>