This page lists our postings from all of January

Today, January 31, the Presbytery of Cayuga-Syracuse voted in favor of Amendment 08-B by a vote of 33 in favor and 12 against, according to information from Kathleen Waters, Stated Clerk.

And Western North Carolina is the first presbytery to shift from opposing inclusive ordination to support 08-B.

They voted by 144-108-1 in favor of amending G-6.0106b.

Resources for discernment and debate on 08-B: 

More Light Presbyterians has gathered a strong collection of resources for those wanting to support Amendment 08-B. Click here for their Answering God’s Call to Serve! Resource list.

The Covenant Network also provides a brief list of resources.

Two other organizations committed to inclusive ordination, Presbyterian Welcome and That All May Freely Serve have launched www.1000Conversations.org, “a grassroots effort to get the church talking,” by encouraging church members to have a conversation about ordination and Amendment 08-B with another church member or a member of their Presbytery whom they do not know well, or whose theological views may be different than their own.

Expects PC(USA)’s voice to be better heard by new administration

Presbyterian News Service reports on the recent meeting in Berkeley, Cal., of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP). Jerry Van Marter begins:

With the new administration of Barack Obama seeking more counsel from mainline denominations than its predecessor, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) approached its lengthy agenda with renewed vigor here Jan. 22-25.

On issues ranging from human rights to immigration to the Iraq war, the committee seemed convinced that the PC(USA)’s voice will be now be heard more clearly in Washington than at any time in recent memory.

The question, of course ― in Washington and Louisville ― is what can be done on a number of fronts in light of the global economic meltdown.

Issues on which ACSWP will be working, mostly in response to mandates from the 2008 General Assembly, include HIV/AIDS, gun violence, a theology of compensation, immigration and detention, and “The Nature and Value of Human Life.”

Most of these projects and others may be hindered by recent budget and staff reductions in the General Assembly offices in Louisville.

"Roberta's Rules of Order":
Helping Progressive Presbyterians Be More Progressive in group Meetings and Decision-Making

Last October we posted a book review essay by Witherspooner Sue Spencer, recommending Roberta's Rules of Order as a valuable alternative to the formalities of Robert's Rules for running many of the meetings which Presbyterians love so dearly.

David McPhail has made the journey to Ft. Benning, GA, before, and returned in November of 2008 to join again in the continuing effort to move the US military establishment to close the School of the Americas, now renamed with the catchy acronym WHINSEC.

He notes the roots of the SOA vigil in the non-violent civil rights demonstrations of the 1960s, when people went to jail to make known their demands for racial justice. This leads to thoughts about the spiritual roots of civil disobedience, and then to the growing numbers of Latinos in the vigils, lending new dimensions to the concerns for U.S. involvement in torture, violence, and oppression in Latin America. And the poverty in Latin America is being lifted up as an increasing concern.

Fledgling “Global Oikonomics Project” aims at ‘well-being of all’

As the world struggles with the current economic crisis, the Presbyterian Church, through its Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP), is beginning to add a moral and ethical dimension – a concern for justice – to the concern for economic recovery.

“There needs to be a moral, justice-seeking dimension to this work and above all an acute sense of its likely impact on the poor,” retired San Francisco Theological Seminary dean Lewis Mudge told his fellow members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) at their recent meeting in Berkeley, CA.

Presbyterian News Service reports on the upcoming Souper Bowl of Caring, which celebrates the annual football Super Bowl by gathering contributions of canned goods and money to feed the hungry.

Begun 20 years ago by a seminary intern at Spring Valley Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC, the Souper Bowl of Caring spread across the nation and is observed in many denominations. It has raised more than $50 million, transforming professional football’s biggest weekend into a the nation’s largest youth-led weekend of giving and serving.

It’s as simple as holding soup pots at church doors following worship on Super Bowl Sunday and asking worshippers to drop in a dollar to help those who are hungry. Each group then donates their collection directly to the charity of their choice — no money is sent to Souper Bowl of Caring headquarters. Organizers simply ask that groups report their collection amount so a national total can be determined.

On January 26, six human rights advocates appeared in a federal courthouse in Georgia. The "SOA 6," ranging in age from 21 to 68, were found "guilty" of carrying the protest against the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC) onto the Fort Benning military base. The six were among the thousands who gathered on November 22 and 23, 2008 outside the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia to demand a change in U.S. policy towards Latin America and the closure of the SOA/WHINSEC.

The "SOA 6" spoke out clearly and powerful in court, making a compelling case for the closure of the school and creation of a culture of justice and peace, where there is no place for the SOA mindset that promotes military "solutions" to social and economic problems. The six spent the weekend preparing for their trials with a team of lawyers, legal workers and volunteers, and today they stood up for all of us working for a more just world.

The "SOA 6" included:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New Castle Presbytery approves Ordination Amendment 08-B

On January 24, New Castle Presbytery, which includes Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland, voted to affirm Ordination Amendment 08-B by a vote of 82 YES, 48 NO.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Area Presbyterians vote Yes on gay clergy

That All May Freely Serve (TAMFS) offers a brief, helpful analysis of the current state of voting on Amendment 08-B.

It begins:

The Presbyterian Church (USA) is six steps closer to making a dramatic change after over 30 years of debating gay and lesbian ordination. Over the last week, six Presbyteries voted yes on a constitutional amendment that allows gay and lesbian people to be ordained whether or not they are in a partnered relationship.

On January 17, Des Moines, Northern Kansas, and Newton (NJ) voted yes and on January 24, Baltimore, Albany and New Castle (DE), voted yes.

Coming up! On January 27, five more presbyteries will vote: Utica (NY), Carlisle (PA), Palisades (NJ), Donegal (PA), and San Fernando (CA) and, on January 31, four more will cast their ballots: Southern Kansas, Western North Carolina, Huntingdon (PA), and Cayuga-Syracuse (NY).  

More >>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reflecting on allies

The Rev. Ray Bagnuolo, an out gay man now serving as an ordained Presbyterian minister, has shared a note of appreciation for “allies” in the struggle of lgbt Presbyterian for a full place in the PC(USA).

His full blog/note >>

This announcement comes from Witness for Peace

Open doors to education and empowerment. At this dynamic time for Latin America and the United States, travel with Witness for Peace in 2009. Your "witness" – the true stories about the people you meet on a Witness for Peace delegation – will have the power to touch others and transform policy.

Read about our exciting upcoming delegations. Join us!

There will be delegations to places including Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Colombia.

I am an African, I have friends from all nations. The real problems must be confronted, the killings must stop. The area will be a great place if the people can live together.

The author of this note identifies herself as Lydia Daniels, a Liberian, now a Swedish citizen for over 20 years, living in Sweden and the UK, and working as a nurse.

A previous [motion] to postpone indefinitely (i.e., “No Action”) was defeated by a tally of 27 yes, 76 no. Most of the debate centered on the No Action option, and after that was decided the meeting moved very quickly to vote on the Amendment itself.

The debate during the afternoon was preceded by a 75 minute session in the morning devoted to statements by panelists representing different positions, small group discussion, and Question/Answer. Interestingly, the two panelists representing the positions “for” and “against” started from the same Scripture passage: Matthew 22:34-40 (“Which is the greatest commandment?”). The historical occasion of President Obama’s inauguration last Tuesday was much in the air, and cited by both liberals and conservatives. God is working God’s purpose out!

Terry Diggory
Communications “Hub” for Presbyterian Rainbow
(LGBT advocacy group in Albany Presbytery)

This message has come to us from the Rev. Larry Emery, pastor of Community Presbyterian Church in Walnut Grove, CA.

In his inaugural address, President Obama had a lot to say, most of it pretty sober. There have been many commentaries on his speech, but E. J. Dionne of the Washington Post has given one that I find very helpful. (That’s partly because it’s close to what I’ve been thinking myself.) He begins: 

President Obama intends to use conservative values for progressive ends. He will cast extreme individualism as an infantile approach to politics that must be supplanted by a more adult sense of personal and collective responsibility. He will honor government's role in our democracy and not degrade it. He wants America to lead the world, but as much by example as by force.

And in trying to do all these things, he will confuse a lot of people.

One of the wondrous aspects of Obama's inaugural address is the extent to which those on the left and those on the right both claimed our new president as their own.

He goes on to list the values that Obama proclaimed: "honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism." Nothing very far out there, is there? (Well, tolerance and curiosity might be a little on the edge.) But there’s nothing about the radical “I’ll get mine” ethic that has undergirded much of the economic and social individualism of recent decades; nothing about the superiority of U.S. interests over other nations’.

This is more than just a break from the presidency of George W. Bush.  Dionne suggests that Obama is making a sharp break with the “Reagan revolution” which held that government is bad, or at least dangerous unless strictly limited. In its stead, Obama is calling this nation (which he refers to, bless him, as “the United States,” rather than “America”) to recover our commitment to the common welfare, the community, which is a part of our traditional values that has been sorely missed over the past few years. And that is not something to blame on Bush; he used our radical individualism for his own purposes, but he did not create it. We asked for it. We got it. And now we the people seem to have decided it’s time for a change.

But the real change, as Obama keeps reminding us, must come from all of us. Obama and Washington can’t do that big a job. But Yes, just maybe, we can.

Dionne’s article >>

Jim Wallis of Soujourners writes thankful reflections on the Inauguration, as one of the numerous members of faith communities who were invited into many parts of the transition and celebration.

George McGovern, former senator from South Dakota, and the Democratic nominee for president in 1972, writes in The Washington Post:

As you settle into the Oval Office, Mr. President, may I offer a suggestion? Please do not try to put Afghanistan aright with the US military. To send our troops out of Iraq and into Afghanistan would be a near-perfect example of going from the frying pan into the fire. There is reason to believe some of our top military commanders privately share this view. And so does a broad and growing swath of your party and your supporters.

'War on terror' was wrong

The phrase gives a false idea of a unified global enemy, and encourages a primarily military reply

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband writes in The Guardian, UK:

Seven years on from 9/11 it is clear that we need to take a fundamental look at our efforts to prevent extremism and its terrible offspring, terrorist violence. ... But ultimately, the notion is misleading and mistaken. The issue is not whether we need to attack the use of terror at its roots, with all the tools available. We must. The question is how. ...   More >>

We don’t need to tell you again this good news. But there’s more to be said and done.

The complete NRCAT note >>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And from No2Torture ...

Click here for her note >>
 

MLP suggests gatherings with family, friends & church

This Saturday and Sunday evenings, January 24 and January 25, the Lifetime Cable Channel premieres the long awaited film version of the powerful book by Leroy Aarons, Prayers for Bobby. Sigourney Weaver plays Bobby's Mother, Mary Griffith and Ryan Kelley plays Bobby.

We encourage you to gather family and friends from your church to watch this poignant and powerful film together. We encourage you to get your church's youth group, campus ministry or seminary community together to watch this film.

Presbyterian pastor Carol Howard Merritt has written Tribal Church to help our churches understand and relate to the generation of people age 20 to 30. John Shuck summarizes it thus:

With insight, compassion and first-hand knowledge she is helping the church understand the unique situation this generation is facing.

This generation has been dismissed as materialistic which is a far cry from the truth. In her third chapter which we will discuss today, she shows how this generation is facing serious economic struggles. They work harder for less pay with huge educational debt, large mortgages (if they can get one), and few career prospects. Often they feel badly about it, thinking it is their own fault.

If your congregation is anxious to attract “more young people,” this book might offer real (and surprising) help.

From John Shuck’s blog, Shuck and Jive >>

And see Carol Howard Merritt’s web page >>

Baltimore Presbytery voted strongly yesterday (106-38) in favor of amending the provision in the Book of Order which in effect bans the ordination of lgbt Presbyterians..

Violence strikes again at Virginia Tech University

A female graduate student from China was murdered Wednesday night at Virginia Tech University, in Blacksburg, VA, site of the mass killing of students in 2007.

Police on Thursday identified the victim of the Wednesday night stabbing as 22-year-old Xin Yang, who had arrived on the Blacksburg campus from Beijing on Jan. 8 to begin her studies in accounting.  According to campus police, her body had been decapitated.

The Rev. Catherine Snyder, a member of the Witherspoon Board, is one of the numerous campus ministers serving that campus. 

Let us all pray for the students there, and Catherine and other chaplains who will have to deal with this terrible reminder of how close violence is in their lives.

More on this sad event >>

How the discernment process worked in Newton Presbytery  

Julia Thorne, who is Manager for Immigration Issues in the Office of the General Assembly, also participates in an Interfaith Immigration Group in Washington, which met with President Obama’s transition team in December. The group has prepared a document expressing their call for “humane immigration reform,” to be presented to the new Administration.

They are encouraging pastors and other people of faith who share these concerns to sign on to the statement. If you are interested in signing on please send Julia your name and the church where you are a pastor. If you are working in a validated ministry, or are honorably retired, feel free to sign on as well. Elders can also sign if they can also state that they are Moderator of Session, Chair of Peacemaking Committee, or some such thing to show religious leadership.

You can send your name and the name of your congregation to Julia Thorne, at julia.thorne@pcusa.org. She will be happy to add your name to the list.  If you have questions, Julia invites you contact her.

The group already has around 500 signatures, and is hoping to add many more by the middle of February.

Click here for the full text of the Platform (in html)

You may have had your fill of reporters and pundits today, and I will certainly not try to rival them.

But if you want to read a reflection that has depth and passion and humor and insight, take a look at this essay by bestselling author William Rivers Pitt, whose latest book House of Ill Repute: Reflections on War, Lies, and America's Ravaged Reputation.

Here’s his opening paragraph:

The cover of the newest Nation Magazine depicts a painting of Obama's inauguration rendered and submitted by a member of the online web forum DailyKos. The painting is in no way historically accurate, as Thurgood Marshall is depicted delivering the oath, but in every meaningful way, the artwork is spot-on truth. Susan B. Anthony is there, and here, as is Nelson Mandela, and Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King Jr., and Barbara Jordan, and Malcolm X, and Henry David Thoreau, and Gandhi, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and down at the front by the rail, there and here are four little girls from Birmingham who died in fire long ago. They are all on that podium today. We were all on that podium today.

He proceeds to offer his own thoughts, mingled with intriguing observations from others.

A new beginning for America, a new day for the world.
Let not our hopes grow too large or our expectations too grand,
the challenges are many and the way is long, but let us move forward together.

I proudly supported President Obama, and I rejoice in his inauguration.
He is a bright man and has assembled an intelligent and experienced team.
However, knowledge and human intelligence alone will not save us.

Progress will take all of us working together for a better future –
for ourselves, for the world, and for our heirs.

In this time of exhilaration, I am reminded of the cautionary poem by Robert "Red Hawk" Moore:

    THE PROBLEM WITH HUMAN INTELLIGENCE

    Easter Island is a remarkable place
    not only for its giant stone statues,
    one thousand of them, each weighing
    18 tons and standing 15 feet tall, but

    also for its fossil pollen record and
    what it tells us about Human Beings.
    Easter Island is completely treeless
    but the fossil pollen tells us that

    a fruit palm tree flourished on Easter Island
    for thousands of years and the decline of that species
    began about 1200 years ago and continued for
    several hundred years until the tree became extinct.

    1200 years ago is when the Humans came to Easter Island.
    If you stand on the island’s highest point
    you can see nearly the entire island so
    the people knew what they were doing:

    systematically they were destroying their paradise
    and the man who cut the last tree, the very thing
    he depended upon for his survival,
    knew it was the last tree standing and

    he cut it anyway.

My prayer is for President Obama and for this nation – that we will both know what is right, and that we will have the courage to do it – so that our Earthly paradise will survive and prosper.

We are ones we have been waiting for!

Arthur

WITNESS IN WASHINGTON WEEKLY
The Washington Office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)January 19, 2009

This week’s messages are —

Mary Frances Berry calls for a new way to justice and equality

Mary Frances Berry's opinion piece in the New York Times, "Gay But Equal?" offers a new way for us to think about and work for justice and equality for all persons. She suggests: “To help resolve the issue of gay rights, President-elect Obama should abolish the now moribund Commission on Civil Rights and replace it with a new commission that would address the rights of many groups, including gays.”

Mary Frances Berry, the chairwoman of the Commission on Civil Rights from 1993 to 2004, is the author of And Justice for All: The United States Commission on Civil Rights and the Continuing Struggle for Freedom in America.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) is committed to non-discrimination in civil society for LGBT people. The 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) called for the end to discrimination against LGBT persons in our Church through Ordination Amendment 08-B. This article offers a wider context for our own Presbyterian struggles, and reminds us of the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: "The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."  

May this be so in our Church, our country, and all of God's world.

The full article >>

Thanks to Michael Adee, of More Light Presbyterians

In so doing, the presbytery rejected the recommendation of their Bills and Overtures committee for "No action."

This amendment, if approved by a majority of the presbyteries, would revise G-6.0106b so it is not merely a ban on ordination of lgbt persons, but rather affirms that judgments about ordained service are to be based on the whole range of the ordination vows, not singling out the clause dealing with sexuality. 
For background and more discussion >>

Thanks to Bill LeMosy and to More Light Presbyterians

NOTE:  Des Moines is the second presbytery, along with Monmouth, to approve amendment 08-B, while some 13 presbyteries have so far voted against it.  Most of those have voted against every effort to move toward a more just and inclusive policy on ordination.  Clearly the voting in the other presbyteries will be very important, and we will bring you more information and resource material as soon as we can.

For the latest listing of presbytery votes, you might check on Presbyweb >>

If you have other results to report, or comments on the issue itself, please send us a note, to be shared here.

‘Vision, Virtue, and Vocation’

Authors of new Social Creed press social justice agenda with Obama

from Presbyterian News Service:

LOUISVILLE ― January 16, 2009 — Two primary authors of “A Social Creed for the 21st Century” have sent an open letter to President-elect Obama advocating the social policies outlined in the creed.

Speaking on behalf of the U.S. churches that have endorsed the creed, the Rev. Christian Iosso, coordinator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, and the Rev. Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, wrote: “… we are ready to help you achieve great deeds that will bring positive change for the people of America and the world.”

The general assemblies of both the PC(USA) and the NCC, which represents 36 member churches, endorsed the Social Creed last year. The document, patterned after the Social Creed of 1908, addresses a number of social ills bedeviling U.S. society.

and the Word became flesh

Presbyterian Health, Education & Welfare Association
Social Justice Biennial Conference
in the Big Tent

June 11 - 13, 2009
Atlanta, GA

Isaiah 54:2 says, "Enlarge the site of your tent…" Is our Tent large enough for those with no tent or those who stand outside, waiting for hospitality to be offered? Our participants will connect with those working at the grass- roots of our denomination in justice ministries. Listen, learn and share how congregations can be in ministry with persons and families affected by disabilities, mental illness, human trafficking, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, substance abuse, immigration, child welfare, health disparities… These are ministry, justice, and biblical imperatives! Atlanta, with its deep history of involvement in civil rights, is the perfect landscape to engage in this discussion.

The Big Tent is a celebration of the Presbyterian Church (USA) as 10 conferences of the Church come together in Atlanta. There are some common meal, worship and workshop times, as well as separate conference schedules.

Engage the Church in more diverse ways than ever before.

JUNE 11 – 13, 2009 • Atlanta, GA

Click here for the conference brochure, in PDF format

To register >>

G. Jeffrey MacDonald, an independent journalist specializing in religion, ethics and ideas, writing for Religion News Service, begins his report:

Undeterred by solid Democratic gains in November’s national elections, religious conservatives who oppose abortion are going on the offensive with a new weapon: a sick economy.

In its largest-ever state-based initiative, the Family Research Council (FRC) is contacting every state lawmaker in the country with a plea to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, one of the nation’s largest providers of family planning and abortion services.

Their argument is fairly simple: lots of organizations need public money now, but Planned Parenthood—with a $1 billion budget and a $114 million operating surplus—isn’t one of them.

“Planned Parenthood has proven that they don’t need federal or state handouts,” says Tom McClusky, vice president for government affairs at the Washington-based FRC. “During these economic times, when states are rethinking their investments, subsidizing abortion is probably not the kind of thing that they want to be known for.”

The Rev. Eriberto (Eddie) Soto, Associate for Latin American Ministries in Charleston-Atlantic Presbytery, has recommended Strangers in the Land, a study guide from the editors of Sojourners magazine.

A six-week guide on immigration, the church, and the bible, it is based on Old Testament scholar M. Daniel Carroll R.’s transformative 2008 book Christians at the Border. This six-week devotional and study guide provides the reader a daily excerpt from Christians at the Border, a scripture on the same theme, a provocative question, and a prayer. Every seventh day is arranged for use with a small group, including a story-based group organizing model, worship suggestion, stimulating discussion questions, and action suggestions. Price is $9.95.

(A poem from a Witherspoon member)

            At almost 61 years I see the days ahead
with some amazing feelings of hope
and breath

            there are to be sure
many things that could hold us back
as a country, a people, a world.
           but it is my prayer
not to be one of those things –
not to be a stumbling block for anyone who wishes to
            serve or to learn or to live in this place of plenty
not to be one who says no you can't belong
            when you might try and belong
after all you were always rooted in the same ground.

            will we? after all this time? be ready to live
into the work God has for us? as individuals but even much more
importantly to live in community ... über community ...

as Nietzsche coined the term "übermensch" to describe the higher state to which he felt men (and women) might aspire.  

we shall see. and the good news that we live into
            is that God knows. Thanks be to God.

God abides

Bobbie G. McGarey
Interim Pastor, Lawton OK

Web site connects volunteers to events across the nation

by Susan Lindsey, Senior Communications Associate

LOUISVILLE ― January 15, 2008 — To commemorate a man who lived his life in service to others, in 1994 Congress transformed the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday into a national day of community service. Presbyterians across the nation are encouraged to join in this day of service as individuals or in groups.

While anyone can organize an event that helps others, people can also participate by going to the Web site to find events already planned in their communities. Events are being held Jan. 17, 18 and 19.

The site features a broad range of activities, sponsored by such groups as the American Red Cross, the Urban League, Retired Senior Volunteers, college student associations, community centers, the NAACP, peace activists, homeless shelters, hunger programs, environmental organizations, Goodwill and a host of other associations and individuals.

This year, President-elect Barack Obama is calling on all Americans to offer more than a single day of service and instead make an ongoing commitment to serving our communities.

“Presbyterians engage in service in innumerable ways every day of every week, all year long,” said Linda Valentine, executive director of the General Assembly Council. “We celebrate this initiative to encourage all people to join in service on Martin Luther King Day.”

Lutheran Pastor Mitri Raheb of Bethlehem, in Israel/Palestine, offers a very helpful perspective on Israel’s military assault on Gaza. He was an ecumenical delegate to the PC(USA) General Assembly in 2004 GA in Richmond.

Here are some excerpts:

Gaza: A Different Perspective

Watching the news these days is not an easy task, especially if you switch between Arab channels like Al Jazeera on one hand, and Western channels like Fox on the other. The war on Gaza is portrayed so differently that one sometimes might wonder if these diverse narratives are actually dealing with the same conflict. ... The most important thing, I believe, is not what we are told and shown, but what this war is trying to hide. Here are some of the intentions as I see them:

1) The two-state solution is the intended victim of the war on Gaza.

Although Israel is aiming at destroying Hamas’ military capabilities (as primitive as they are), I believe that Israel’s real intention is to polish Hamas’ political image. This may seem an outlandish contradiction, but let’s look at what has been happening. While Israel can’t tolerate rockets falling into its territory, it is in its long-term strategic interest to have Hamas control the Gaza Strip. Why? For a simple reason: if Hamas controls Gaza and Fatah controls the West Bank, then the two-state solution is over. ...

2) Regional power struggles continue to be played out in Palestine.

The war on Gaza, although purely an Israeli decision, was also triggered also by some regional powers who were backing Hamas. ...

3) Gaza is the new poster-child for justifying humanitarian aid.

Gaza will now be marketed on a much wider scale as a severe humanitarian crisis. Disempowering aid, handouts and food supplies will start flowing into Gaza like never before. Yet Gaza’s problem is, fundamentally, a political one. What the people in Gaza really need is for the occupation to end, for the population to be able to live freely, to export and import, to fish and grow flowers. ...

More >>

Carol Wickersham of Presbyterian-based No2Torture shares with us the New York Times' report on the meeting on Jan. 14 of leaders of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, with members of President-elect Obama's transition team. She adds:

We are finally being heard. Let us join in prayer with so many around the world that by the grace of God, torture will soon end, the rule of law will be restored and healing will begin. ALSO, those with Senators on the Judiciary Committee should immediately call them and ask that they press questions about accountability at the confirmation hearing for the Attorney General which will begin today.

The Times' story begins:

A broad coalition of religious groups is calling on President-elect Barack Obama to issue an executive order on his first day in office banning the use of torture.

Leaders of the coalition, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, met with officials from the Obama transition team on Wednesday afternoon and emerged saying they were optimistic about the prospects for such an order.

Linda Gustitus, the group’s president, said the coalition leaders met with Michael Strautmanis, who has been named chief of staff to Valerie Jarrett, a senior Obama adviser.

The full news story >>

NRCAT leaders add this suggestion for further action:

Please take a minute to email President-elect Obama's Transition Team and ask him to end torture on Day One of his presidency. Just take these three easy steps:

•          Visit his transition website at http://change.gov/page/s/ofthepeople.

•          Fill out your contact information. Write "torture" in the "Another issue" box.

•          In the "Your ideas" box, write something like: "Please issue an Executive Order ending our use of torture as an interrogation technique on Day One of your presidency. As a person of faith, I have been deeply troubled by our country's use of torture as an interrogation technique. Torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of detainees is wrong, and it is contrary to American values."

Write to Pres.-Elect Obama and Congress, calling on them to investigate the practices of torture, because “Without accountability it is unlikely that the practice of torture will stop.”   The full text of their letter >>

Living Wage events link MLK dream to end poverty wages

From Presbyterian News Service

With the U.S. economic crisis deepening and unemployment soaring, a group of 11 denominational and religious organization leaders are among the inaugural signers of a call to raise the federal minimum wage to $10 in 2010.

The signers include the Rev. Gradye Parsons, General Assembly stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Nearly 400 faith leaders from all 50 states have already endorsed “$10 in 2010,” a campaign led by Let Justice Roll, and more are signing on each day.

Interfaith Worker Justice provides ...

A congregational toolkit for helping unemployed workers

Friday's grim news that 524,000 jobs were lost in December and that the unemployment rate hit 7.2 percent starkly underscores the need for all sectors of our society to support unemployed workers and to encourage employers to treat all workers justly in times of economic crisis.

Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) has recently prepared a Congregational Toolkit to help unemployed workers. Available free of charge from the IWJ Web site, the toolkit outlines what resources are available to unemployed workers, suggests how to establish support groups for unemployed workers, and offers worship aids for lifting up unemployed workers and employers in this time of crisis.

"Congregations have always stood by unemployed workers in times of struggle," said Bishop Gabino Zavala, Co-President of IWJ's Board of Directors. "These congregational tools help us fulfill our mission of serving God's people."

Blessings,

Renaye Manley
Organizing Director
Interfaith Worker Justice

The Presbyterian Disaster Assistance office has just issued this special appeal:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

“For surely I know the plans I have for you…to give you a future with hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

All people impacted by the current violence in the Middle East are facing overwhelming humanitarian needs as a result of the continuing violence. The most basic needs—safe shelter, medical care, food, water, electricity—are well beyond the reach of many of those caught in the crossfire.

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is in consultation with our partners in the region to make aid available to those most in need.

When Jesus walked these very lands, by his words and his ministries he told all who would listen to care for: the children, the old, the poor, the sick, the most vulnerable.

. . . In this moment of crisis, while leaders strive to find a path to lasting peace, our priority must be caring for those left vulnerable by the violence.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

GIVE to help the PC(USA) and our partners meet the physical needs of those in all the areas where violence leaves them vulnerable, and the emotional and spiritual needs of the many more who have been traumatized by that violence. Mail your church’s gift to Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Church Remittance Processing, P.O. Box 643700, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700, or give through your congregation’s normal giving channels. Write “DR000081-E1” on the check or remittance form so that we can ensure your gift is designated to meet these urgent needs. You can also give online at www.pcusa.org/pda/ 

PRAY for all those whose lives have been and continue to be affected.

STAY INFORMED with regular updates on the situation, how your church is responding, and to find available worship resources at www.pcusa.org/pda or by calling PresbyTel at 1-800-872-3283.

And click here for more information, prayers and reflections on this Witherspoon site.

We have just received a worship service designed by Rev. W. Mark Koenig, coordinator of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, for a service held at the Presbyterian Center on Thursday January 8, 2009. We hope you find them helpful as you pray and work for a just peace.

You are encouraged to use this material (and other items we have posted earlier) in services of prayer and worship, or study and dialogue.

The service of worship opens:

CALL TO WORSHIP

Thanks to Rick Upchurch,
of the Collegiate Ministries office of the PC(USA),
who sent this to us.

WITNESS IN WASHINGTON WEEKLY, published by The Washington Office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Urge Immediate U.S. Efforts to End Gaza Violence, Restore Cease-Fire

The escalating Gaza violence of these past days has been a sobering jolt from holiday celebrations. For Palestinians and Israelis, there has been no peace.

It is urgent that United States call all the parties to restrain from using force and, rather, to trust a diplomatic process. The current violence has caused unbelievable suffering of innocents and both the Hamas lead government of Gaza and the Israeli government have descended into callous behavior that will set the peace process back for many years. Over fifty percent of Gaza's 1.4 million residents are under the age of 14 who now have nowhere to run from the violence, and who were already suffering from malnutrition because of the blockade on Gaza. On behalf of those children and the children of Israel, both Israelis and Palestinians must halt this spiral of violence. We mourn the loss of life on both sides and call now on the United States to exercise bold leadership to immediately end the violence, restore the cease-fire and lift the blockade of Gaza's borders.  

The full statement calling for a cease-fire >>

Included with this call for action is a statement by the Rev. Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the PC(USA).

He includes excerpts from the statement on Israel/Palestine by the 218th General Assembly (2008)

A meditation from More Light Presbyterians

On Gaza
by Starhawk

Starhawk, who is a noted activist, organizer, and author of The Earth Path, as well as Webs of Power: Notes from the Global Uprising, The Fifth Sacred Thing; and eight other books on feminism, politics and earth-based spirituality, also describes herself as “a Jew, by birth and upbringing.”

She writes movingly out of her own visit to Israel/Palestine some four years ago, and sees the root of the problem in the Israelis’ “kind of psychic blind spot where the Palestinians are concerned. If you are truly invested in Israel as the Jewish homeland, the Jewish state, then you can't let the Palestinians be real to you. It's like you can't really focus on them. Golda Meir said, ‘The Palestinians, who are they? They don't exist.’ We hear, ‘There is no partner for peace,’ ‘There is no one to talk to.’ ” So Israel seeks “peace” by working to exterminate the Arabs whom it defines as “pests.”

The only way to peace, she says, will lie through the hard path of atonement – acknowledging that the Palestinians are human too, with a story of their own that needs to be heard and respected, and then acting to resist the policies of war, and create a new climate for peace.

The Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing has sent this message urging people of faith to share information and nurture concern in their congregations for the hundreds of thousands of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo who have been victims of brutal sexual violence during their nation’s conflicts over the past few years.

For more information >>

Israeli defense minister Barak promised that the invasion "won't be short"

Here’s one report from the Israeli newspaper, Ha’aretz >>

There is, once again, plenty of reporting by US media on Israel’s invasion of Gaza, which began yesterday, January 3. Most of it, however, reflects in one way or another the Israeli point of view, partly because Israel is allowing no foreign journalists into Gaza.

We believe it may be helpful for “the other side” to be heard – including Palestinians, Israelis and other Jews who are committed to peace, Christians and others.

So here’s a sample:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Palestinian Christian perspective

The Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem presents a concise overview of the Gaza situation from a Christian Palestinian perspective.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jewish voices of dissent

Jewish Peace News presents various voices of dissent coming from inside of Israel and other places in the Jewish world. Some of the dissent is organized as demonstrations and petitions and some manifests on blogs and in more traditional publications.

This collection of articles and essays includes voices of dissent coming from inside of Israel and other places in the Jewish world. Some of the dissent is organized as demonstrations and petitions and some manifests on blogs and in more traditional publications.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) offers an online crisis resource center on Gaza attacks.  More >>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rabbi Michael Lerner, who is is editor of Tikkun, a prominent progressive Jewish and interfaith magazine and chair of the interfaith Network of Spiritual Progressives, writes in Religion Dispatches: "Israel's attempt to wipe out Hamas is understandable, but dumb. No country in the world is going to ignore the provocation of rockets being launched from neighboring territory day after day. ... Israel has every right to respond. But the kind of response matters." The present Israeli military action, he argues, is entirely out of proportion to any possible Hamas response.  More >>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We welcome your contributions! 
Other sources we might include,
or your own understanding of the invasion
and the complex situation that surrounds it.

GA actions ratified (or not) by  the presbyteries   

A number of the most important actions of the 219^th General Assembly have now been acted upon by the presbyteries, confirming most of them as amendments to the PC(USA) Book of Order.

We provided resources to help inform the reflection and debate, along with updates on the voting.

Our three areas of primary interest have been:

If you like what you find here,
we hope you'll help us keep Voices for Justice going ... and growing!

Please consider making a special contribution -- large or small -- to help us continue and improve this service.

Click here to send a gift online, using your credit card, through PayPal.

Or send your check, made out to "Presbyterian Voices for Justice" and marked "web site," to our PVJ Treasurer:

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!

Voices of Sophia blog

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

John Harris’ Summit to Shore blogspot

John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive

Got more blogs to recommend?