| |
Archives: September 2004 |
This page lists reports and commentary from all of September, 2004.
|
Our coverage
of the 2004 General Assembly is indexed on a special page.
Click here for reports and
commentary from August, 2004.
Reports from July 2004 are on
their own page.
For links to earlier archive pages,
click here. |
9/30/04 |
More Light Presbyterians announces "Victory
2006" campaign - a strategy for local action and education to
encourage fair dialogue on LGBT concerns. |
The Interfaith Alliance calls for opposition to a move to force passage
of the
Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act (Jones bill/HR 235).
This law would make it legal for churches to endorse candidates and lend
support to campaigns -- just in time for November's elections.
Thanks to Betty Hale, who called our attention to this. |
We've received
another comment on the
"new wineskins" discussion A newcomer to the
PC(USA) asks why, if they are so unhappy, evangelicals don't simply move
into a more conservative Presbyterian denomination.
|
9/29/04 |
The Witherspoon Executive Committee will be meeting from this afternoon
through Friday noon at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.
We ask for our prayers as we gather. And if you have concerns or
suggestions to share with us,
please send a
note! |
More on "new
wineskins" We've already received two
thoughtful comments on Gene TeSelle's
discussion of a proposal being advanced by some evangelical
Presbyterians, under the title of "New Wineskins," for some radical changes
in the way the Presbyterian Church is structured, and the way it operates.
|
9/27/04 |
"New
Wineskins" proposed
A group of Presbyterian evangelicals is
calling for a functional, non-hierarchical, grass-roots structure for the
PC(USA). Witherspoon Issues Analyst Gene TeSelle examines some of its
very interesting points, and some critical concerns.
|
2004 Peace and Justice conference offered resources,
actions, and hope What has long been an important
annual event in the Presbyterian Church, the Peacemaking Conference,
happened again this year, August 3 - 7 in Tacoma, Washington, under the
theme “Hope for a
Global Future: Let’s Pray, Let’s Act.”
It was broadened in scope this year
to include issues of hunger, environmental concerns and economic justice.
And it was co-sponsored by the Presbyterian Peacemaking
Program, the Presbyterian Hunger
Program, the Environmental
Justice Program and the
Self-Development of People Program.
Click here for the Presbyterian News Service report.
And we offer here two personal responses to the
conference, along with a list of things to do and to study, gleaned from
conference presentations.
Suzan Ireland gives her
personal impressions, while
Christine Gibson summarizes some of the content of the conference.
And Dick Gibson, Synod Hunger Action Enabler, Presbytery Restoring Creation
Enabler, and "all around peacemaker" for the Presbytery of North Puget
Sound, provides an awesome
list of things to do, and
resources to help you do them. |
Celebrating the churches' "Social Creed" - and considering a
new one
The 216th
General Assembly called for conversations and studies to
commemorate the centennial of the 1908 Social Creed of the Federal
Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. That statement engaged
churches in advocating for reforms such as an end to child labor,
the six-day week, occupational safety, a living wage, and other
steps aimed at moving American society closer to what a
"Christ-like God" was believed to want for all Americans.
Beyond celebrating the past, the action calls
for looking forward with "a survey of key Christian principles to
guide 21st century Presbyterians and others in addressing major
and likely future concerns, such as the lack of health insurance
for 44 million Americans, the outsourcing of jobs to countries
without human rights or environmental safeguards, and the impact
of growing economic inequality on our democracy ..."
This is obviously a project close to the heart
of Witherspoon's values. As a first step toward supporting the
study, Gene TeSelle offers
a background paper on the Social Creed, and
Chris Iosso explores some of
the details of the 1908 statement, and what such a new
statement might mean for us today.
Gene TeSelle notes that the recent
statement by the World Alliance of
Reformed Churches, calling for resistance to "oppressive
empire" of economic and political domination, seems to be a
contemporary effort akin to the Social Creed of 1908. |
A passionate, perceptive author laments a nation living under
an "unfeeling president" This morning's e-mail
brought a copy of a brief essay by novelist E.L. Doctorow, forwarded by the
Rev. Christine Baker, Director of Pastoral Care at Rochester General
Hospital, Rochester, NY. She said, "This is one of the most powerful and
profound writings I have ever read. If it is appropriate, please post this
on the Witherspoon site."
We think it's very much appropriate, so here's a taste of
it, and you can click below to read the whole thing.
The essay begins:
I fault this
president for not knowing what death is. He does not suffer the death of
our 21-year-olds who wanted to be what they could be. On the eve of D-Day
in 1944 General Eisenhower prayed to God for the lives of the young
soldiers he knew were going to die. He knew what death was. Even in a
justifiable war, a war not of choice but of necessity, a war of survival,
the cost was almost more than Eisenhower could bear.
But this
president does not know what death is. He hasn't the mind for it.
...
His conclusion provides a moral warning to the American
people as a whole:
The president
we get is the country we get. With each president the nation is conformed
spiritually. He is the artificer of our malleable national soul. He
proposes not only the laws but the kinds of lawlessness that govern our
lives and invoke our responses. The people he appoints are cast in his
image. The trouble they get into and get us into, is his characteristic
trouble.
Finally, the
media amplify his character into our moral weather report. He becomes the
face of our sky, the conditions that prevail. How can we sustain ourselves
as the United States of America given the stupid and ineffective warmaking,
the constitutionally insensitive lawgiving, and the monarchal economics of
this president? He cannot mourn but is a figure of such moral vacancy as
to make us mourn for ourselves.
Originally published in the
Easthampton Star,
the piece is also posted on
CommonDreams.org.
We'd like your comments!
Please send a note
and we'll post it here - if you identify yourself in some way. (Your name
is a good start; we won't ask for your Social Security number or your bank
account.)
|
9/25/04 |
Pension funds and responsible
investing ... and Israel
With all the
discussion of the PC(USA) action to divest stock holdings in companies doing
business supportive of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory, Gene
TeSelle offers some thoughts and questions about pension funds, which have
become a part of the debate.
For a report on
discussions of divestment at the recent meeting of the General Assembly
Council, see
Leslie Scanlon's article in The Presbyterian Outlook. |
9/23/04 |
World Alliance of Reformed Churches has called for
resistance to "oppressive empire" of economic and political domination
The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) issued a
statement on August 12, 2004, at the close of its 24th
General Council in Accra, Ghana, in which it reflected on the failure of
Christians to resist the trading in human beings as slaves, which went on
for two centuries through the "castles" on the coast of Ghana. They move
from that to a call for resistance to the global economic oppression of our
own time, in the name of the Christ who is the "Lord over all." |
Nervous about talking politics in church?
Brian McLaren, serving what looks like an evangelical, progressive
congregation in Maryland, ponders how he can deal responsibly and
prophetically with our coming election, without simply urging people to
vote, or alienating them by taking sides on issues where they don't all
agree.
He offers some helpful thoughts and strategies, which are
posted on the Sojourners website.
Thanks to
Utne
Webwatch. |
Peace Fellowship invites friends to join witness against
School of the Americas, Nov. 19-21 Marilyn White
(who has herself served time in prison for her participation in these
non-violent actions) sends this invitation:
Help spread the word.
Join Us at Fort Benning, Georgia
November 19-21
Together We Will Shut Down the School of Assassins!
For over a decade, students, religious, labor, veterans, human rights, and
social/global justice groups have been converging every November at the
gates of Fort Benning, Georgia, to speak out in solidarity with the people
of the Americas and to engage in nonviolent direct action. We will gather
again this year on November 20 and 21 to continue together in the struggle
until the School of the Americas is closed and the policies it represents
are changed forever!
The Saturday and Sunday events this year will be preceded
by teach-ins, trainings, and caucuses on Friday, November 19. Continue to
check the website (www.soaw.org) as plans
unfold and various events are announced in more detail.
PPF has arranged for housing in Columbus and
transportation from the Atlanta airport for Presbyterian participants. To
join our group, contact Marilyn White at
marwhite@igc.org or 281-554-2851. Arrange for your flight to arrive in
Atlanta by noon on Friday, November 19 and to leave after 2:00 p.m. on
Monday November 22.
Everyone is invited to the Presbyterian Peace Breakfast at
the Holiday Inn North on Saturday, November 20 at 7:30 a.m.
Please
RSVP to Marilyn. |
Progressives lose track of time Perhaps the
most revolutionary item on the progressive agenda doesn't even make the top
ten list: Time. For all our so-called prosperity, Americans may be some of
the most overworked people in the world. Americans work nine weeks, or 350
more hours per year than their European counterparts. And sometimes, when it
comes to time, activists are the least progressive of all.
Betsy Hartmann surveys this problem in Zmagazine
Thanks to
Utne
Webwatch. |
As election approaches, Catholics call for a broader witness
for social justice by their church Just as some
moderate evangelicals have reminded our nation that "God is not a Republican
... or a Democrat," a group of Catholics, led by Martin Sheen and
Sister Joan Chittister OSB of Pax Christi USA, is refuting the claim that
Catholics are single issue voters and reclaiming the proud Catholic
tradition of social justice teaching.
Here's their call to action:
To characterize the whole content of the Catholic faith
in a single issue is inappropriate and unjust. We know from our faith
history that multiple social issues make up the depth and breadth of
Catholic Social Teaching. Pope Pius XI wrote that being a good Catholic
involved working against financial monopolies that restrict enterprise.
Pope John XXIII condemned sexism, the arms race and systemic poverty. Pope
John Paul II has called repeatedly for the transformation of economic
structures that oppress the poor.
Yet, despite our rich history, rarely a day goes by
without our politicians, the media, and even some of our own religious
leaders holding up one lone issue as the litmus test for Catholics.
Are you frustrated with individuals telling you that one
issue should decide your vote? If you are, join us in sending a
strong message to America that our faith and our commitment to the common
good are not exhausted by any one issue. Click below to add your
name to "Life Does Not End at Birth," a statement that reminds
politicians, church leaders and the media that we are called to vote for
candidates based on the full range of issues that impact the common good:
www.faithfulamerica.org/LifeNotEndAtBirth.htm
Help mobilize a million Catholic voices for justice by
supporting the publication of this statement across the country:
www.faithfulamerica.org/LifeNotEndAtBirth.htm
The statement will appear in secular and Catholic
publications nationwide, reaching the millions of Catholics still
struggling with their conscience and with the teachings of the church as
they decide how to vote in the 2004 election.
In peace,
Martin Sheen and Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB
|
9/21/04 |
In Colombia murder happens - and Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase is there to
minister in our name Rick Ufford-Chase, current
Moderator of the PC(USA), is reporting on his moderatorial experiences
through a web-log (blog). His latest report, on Sept. 18, came from
Colombia, where he has been visiting our sister Presbyterian Church. He
tells of his conversations with women and men long involved in the struggle
for human rights in their strife-torn society. He goes with Milton Mejia to
visit the woman who is the regional head of the government prosecutor's
office, to talk about the case of Mauricio, another Presbyterian who is now
in prison for his human rights work.
During the office visit, Milton receives a call telling
him that Alfredo Correa de Andreis, a sociology professor in his
mid-forties, has just been assassinated in the street a few blocks from
where there are sitting. He had shared a prison room with Mauricio and has
worked with Milton for the displaced.
So our Moderator shares in the pain of these people,
brings comfort, and joins in worship that affirms hope in the midst of the
terrible troubles.
You
can read this "blog," and sign up to receive the ones that will follow. |
Federal Marriage Amendment continues to
loom as a threat to equal justice
Equal Partners in Faith urges progressive
groups to take action
[Press release from Equal Partners in
Faith, dated 9-17-04.]
The Federal Marriage Amendment, defeated
in the Senate in July, is now on the docket for the House of
Representatives. This bill seeks to enshrine discrimination into the U.S.
Constitution. It will probably get more traction in the House than in the
Senate. That is why EPF urges progressive people of faith to contact their
representatives in the House and ask them not to support or endorse the
Federal Marriage Amendment.
The stakes are very high. Equal Partners
in Faith believes in "Equal Justice for Equal Souls" and the FMA
eviscerates equality at the highest level of American Law. Please call
your Congressperson and tell them that you and your organization strongly
opposes passage of the Federal Amendment.
Click here to gain
more information on this topic and what you can do.
Sylvia Rhue Director, Equal Partners in
Faith |
IMPERIAL DESIGNS:
Theological Ethics and the Ideologies of International Politics Gary Dorrien, Distinguished Professor at Kalamazoo College and an
Episcopal priest, offers a thorough analysis of what he sees as four
distinctive perspectives shaping American foreign policy - each of them with
roots in some elements of modern Christian social thought. He traces the
four perspectives - liberal internationalism, realism, principled
anti-interventionism, and finally what is variously called unipolarism,
neoconservatism, or neo-imperialism.
CrossCurrents presents
the substance of his thinking in a fairly lengthy essay, and it is also
appearing in a new book.
|
As income gap widens, more US families are struggling
Unless you earn more than $100,000, America is just not the
place to live. Over the last 30 years, your share of GDP has gone down
consistently. It used to be that your salary just didn't go up. Now, with
automation and outsourcing, your job is much more likely to leave forever.
Griff Witte of the Washington Post takes a hard look at what this
really means for the Americans failed by the economy.
Click here for the report. [Free, one-time registration is required.}
Thanks to TomPaine.com |
"One Door" opens
onto all kinds of work opportunities in the PC(USA)
You can now do a PC(USA) job search including mission and volunteer
opportunities, as well as ministry openings, in the US and world-wide.
|
9/17/04 |
Buy
Pants to Support Worker Justice!
Workers at the only maquila factory in El Salvador with a democratic trade
union need your immediate support.
Just Garments was founded last year after
an international campaign succeeded in reversing the closing of Tainan
Enterprises' factories after workers asked for contract negotiations in
2002. After a hard struggle, Just Garments has secured its first
commercial order from No Sweat for khaki pants, which markets only
union-made products.
The size of No Sweat's initial order will
be determined by orders placed over the next ten days on its website at
www.NoSweatShop.com. The size of
the order - and therefore its impact on employment at Just Garments -
depends on anti-sweatshop activists and consumers placing orders by
September 24, 2004.
Read more and
place an order! |
Baptisms and a beauty
pageant As the Miss America Pageant
approaches, Bruce Gillette shares a true and moving story of Miss New
Jersey, and her baptism along with her severely autistic sister. |
Farmworkers win right to organize after
5-year struggle
Precedent-setting agreement reached; Mt. Olive Pickle boycott over
After five years of a public action boycott
by the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO (FLOC), it has reached a
precedent setting agreement with the North Carolina Grower's Association (NCGA)
and the Mount Olive Pickle Company.
This Thursday, September 16, 2004, over
8,000 "guest" farm workers in North Carolina will become the first such
workers in the history of the United States to win union representation and
a contract. It will be the largest union contract in North Carolina's
history. |
The Presbyterian Washington Office has issued its regular
bi-monthly
"Washington Report," with very helpful updates on:
The rising rates
of poverty and of uninsured people in 2003
For the third
consecutive year the poverty rate and the percentage of those uninsured
have increased. In 2003 alone, an additional 1.3 million people fell below
the poverty line. Of those, 733,000 were children. Now nearly 18 percent
of children in the United States are living in poverty. Of the 35.9
million people living in poverty, 15.3 million (43 percent) are living in
deep poverty - with cash incomes
below half of
the poverty line. This is the highest share on record.
Democratic reform
in Indonesia - and how limiting foreign military financing could help
the government control its military
A just foreign
policy must respect human rights and should hold accountable those who
violate them. Unfortunately, the United States is rewarding Indonesia,
whose military has killed thousands of civilians in recent years and which
dismantled a U.S.-backed ceasefire in Aceh (a province struggling for
separation) by launching its largest military operation in 25 years. The
U.N. stated this military (the TNI) was "responsible for the intimidation,
terror, [and] killings" in neighboring East Timor. It also stands accused
of murdering two U.S. teachers.
As the election
draws near ...
The PC(USA)
provides a variety of materials to guide churches and pastors in making
their witness within the limits of the federal tax regulations for
churches and other tax-exempt organizations.
And click here for some
good information on our own website.
... and how to
focus your congregation's political concerns
A quick look
at how General Assembly actions can be found, and can be used to shape
your political discussions and actions.
|
Looking back at the Assembly:
Common Ground
Witherspoon's Secretary/Communicator, Trina Zelle, reflects
on our church's historic commitment to mission as a common ground which can
hold us together - if we'll just get on with it. Zelle is currently serving
Church of the Beatitudes United Church of Christ in Phoenix.
|
9/16/04 |
The failure of preventive war
The New York Times, in an editorial on September 12, 2004, traces
briefly and clearly the tragic failure of the current Administration's
doctrine of preventive war.
You can
read it
in the Times (for which you may need to register), or
at TruthOut.org |
National Council of Churches
home page currently features articles on:
|
Cutting-edge
Lutheran mission under attack for calling a lesbian pastor
Central City Lutheran Mission, in San Bernardino, CA, describes itself as
"a cutting edge ministry which assumes
both delivery of a
wide variety of social services and development of a Word and Sacrament
ministry." Their simple style focuses on neighborhood leadership in a
multilingual ministry, "where the poor and oppressed become subject in a
pastoral project for neighborhood transformation and are not simply the
objects of the church's charity or social services."
The Mission recently called the Rev. Dr. Jenny Mason as an
Associate Pastor. Mason was ordained in 1991, served for ten years in
urban ministry in Chile, and has already been serving for some months on
the CCLM staff. While the Lutheran Church (ELCA) exercises considerable
latitude in matters of ordination and sexuality, this call has been
challenged and is now under review by a special committee, and some
economic sanctions have already been imposed on the Mission.
You can learn more of the situation in a statement from the CCLM. |
The President's faith: open and ambiguous
The faith of any candidate for the presidency seems of great interest these
days. Alan Cooperman of the Washington Post provides a careful
analysis of the complexities of President Bush's statements about his faith
- including "two versions of how he came to accept Jesus." |
How can you make a political witness without losing
tax-exempt status?
The Lawyer's Alliance provides guidance on how non-profit groups can
express political convictions without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status.
Some suggestions: Identify your group's position on issues, rather than
discussing political positions of particular candidates. If you invite
candidates to an event held by your group, send them a letter explicitly
stating that this is not a campaign event. Don't link your group's website
to political or campaign sites. It's better not to endorse (or even
explicitly encourage participation in) particular political events, such as
rallies, protests, and such.
A helpful visitor adds this note:
Editor:
Thank you for the article from the Lawyer's Alliance about political
activity by churches. Unfortunately, in its brevity, it may give some
misimpressions about what kinds of activity are dicey. I am particularly
concerned that it is not precise in its discussion of "political activity."
My understanding from reading the more lengthy
explanations on the PC(USA) website, is that a church endangers its tax
exempt status when it endorses (or even appears to endorse) a particular
political candidate or party. This does not prevent a church from engaging
in activism around issues or from encouraging its members to exercise the
civic duty of voting, but from endorsing candidates with similar stands on
those issues. A much trickier question to my mind, is what are the
boundaries for a church's prophetic witness about the behavior of an elected
official, when that official is running for reelection, so that the church's
critique is not perceived as a political endorsement of the official's
opponent.
Peace, Salaam, Shalom,
Kathleen Eschen-Pipes
Santa Cruz, CA
|
Positions open
|
9/13/04 |
September 11th has been an occasion for mourning
-- and for reflection on what it all means for us today.
We offer a few samples:
 | Witherspooner Bill
LeMosy wrote out his meditations after participating in a vigil on
September 9. In the silence he discerned a call for action -- for
peace and wholeness.
|
 |
September 11th
Families For Peaceful Tomorrows affirm that war is not the answer to
terrorism
 | As September 11th Families For Peaceful Tomorrows
commemorated the third anniversary of the loss of their brothers,
sisters, fathers and mothers, these most directly effected Americans
issued a statement saying that the answer lies in defeating fears, lies
and ignorance.
|
|
 | 'I thought
we were different'
 | Georgie Ann Geyer, who has decades of experience as
observer and commentator on international affairs, observes the third
anniversary of 9/11 with a thoughtful essay. She struggles with an
"endlessly haunting question: Have we changed as a people so as to be
willing, as the polls show us, to re-elect men and women who have misled
us and lied to us every step of the way? ... Have we, the rational,
"exceptional" people of our history, been overtaken by the war fever and
that same identification with the demented warrior-leader as lesser
peoples throughout history?"
|
|
 |
America
Right Or Wrong
 |
Anatol Lieven, a British journalist, writer and historian,
compares the way our political elites have used fear, national identity and
popular ignorance to unite the country behind a war on terror that looks
remarkably like ... the Dutch colonial period. He says that as every crisis
is now viewed through the lens of the war on terror, "America is fast
becoming irrational in its analysis and use of deadly power."
|
|
 |
We welcome your thoughts, or
suggestions of other reflections.
Just send a
note!
|
|
Here's the
latest letter from Don Beisswenger, a Witherspooner in prison for
protesting against the School of the Americas, as he nears the end of his
6-month term. |
Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase opens a "blog"
In a note dated September 7, 2004,
Dave Hackett informs us that
Rick Ufford-Chase
has opened a direct-feed Web log - popularly known as a blog - to respond to
the many people who have expressed interest in hearing about his
moderatorial travels and experiences. The blog, named "U-C: What I See," is
available online at
http://www.what-i-see.blogspot.com/.
The site already has several blog entries. Rick hopes to share his thoughts
and reflections every few days as he travels.
Rick invites his readers to share comments on any blog posting by clicking
on the "comments" link attached to each entry. He hopes to have additional
interactive features up and running soon, including a "forum" discussion
group people can join and contribute their thoughts to.
Rick is
an
eighteen year mission worker for the church who has spent most of his career
on the U.S./Mexico border. He will serve as PCUSA moderator for a two-year
term. |
More on non-profits and political expression
Derrick Kikuchi has posted on his website (which is well
worth a visit in itself) another resource on what a non-profit tax-exempt
organization can and can't do in articulating its voice during this very
important election year.
You can view it at
reachandteach.com.
Click here for guidelines
and resources from the PCUSA |
Viola Larson
takes issue with some statements linked to by a "radical faith" website
recently mentioned here. |
9/6/04
Happy Labor Day! |
We're posting
the latest issue of Network News
right here.
Click here
to download (free!) Adobe Reader software to view this and all PDF files.
For members, your copy will be in the mail in a week or
so. If you're not a member, we hope
you'll join us -- help support what we're doing, and gain the benefits
of being part of a dynamic network of progressive Presbyterians. (And
besides, you don't want to be a freeloader, do you?!)
The preceding four issues
of Network News are also posted now. And we'll add more as
we have time. |
How can you make a political witness without losing
tax-exempt status?
The Lawyer's Alliance provides guidance on how non-profit groups can
express political convictions without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status.
Some suggestions: Identify your group's position on issues, rather than
discussing political positions of particular candidates. If you invite
candidates to an event held by your group, send them a letter explicitly
stating that this is not a campaign event. Don't link your group's website
to political or campaign sites. It's better not to endorse (or even
explicitly encourage participation in) particular political events, such as
rallies, protests, and such.
Thanks to
Utne
Webwatch |
A introductory
website on radical faith Witherspooner Dugan
Frederick of Denver sends this suggestion:
In case you do not know about this website, you may be
interested in this one. I find it to be excellent and full of
thought-provoking information in the various links.
The website offers links to many of the current
progressive theologians and issues, with the aim of offering insights from
academic theological thought for those who are interested in moving beyond
their traditional views to "more substantial" current views.
The site is a project of the Society of the Sacred Mission
in England. |
Covenant Network offers new documentary,
Turning Points: Stories of Life and Change in the Church
Turning Points: Stories of Life and Change in the Church
is a documentary about Presbyterians struggling with the denomination's
current ordination standards. This hour-long, four-part story with a study
guide is suitable for use in adult education classes, pre-presbytery
workshops, session meetings -- wherever the church gathers for study and
discernment of God's call to the church today.
Click here for
more information. |
Does the Bible Justify
Violence? In a new release from Fortress Press,
biblical scholar John J. Collins asks tough questions about the
relationship between the portrayals of violence in the Bible and how they
have been used throughout history. This work, Does the Bible Justify
Violence, is based on his Presidential Address to the Society of
Biblical Literature.
|
9/4/04 |
Looking toward
the election --
Theologian Doug Ottati considers our human tendency to prefer
"utilitarian religion" -- using God as a guarantor of getting our way.
And your WebWeaver ponders the good old Calvinist
doctrine of election, and what it
might suggest about the mixed bag of American elections. |
Ken Smith, elected at
General Assembly as the new President of the Witherspoon Society, introduces
himself. |
9/3/04 |
Witherspoon's membership brochure is
updated, and it's right here -- in Adobe pdf format.
Take a look at it if you're thinking about joining us -- and print a few to
share with friends!
Click here
to download (free!) Adobe Reader software to view this and all PDF files.
|
A serious look at big-time diversity
Someone has asked that we repost a book review that we
originally posted in 2000. Given our church's commitment to racial and
cultural diversity, you may find it helpful too.
Gene TeSelle provides a thoughtful look at an
urban anthropologist's analysis of a very racially diverse neighborhood in
New York City. Roger Sanjek's The Future of Us All: Race and Neighborhood Politics in
New York City draws on a ten-year study to provide a realistic picture
of the difficulties in building a multicultural community in the face of
political and other pressures. But he also shows that it can be done.
From this ten-year study he draws a
realistic picture of the difficulties in building a multicultural
community in the face of political and other pressures. But he also
shows that it can be done.
|
9/1/04 |
The Ghost Ranch seminar:
The Liberty Bell is still cracked,
but we can do things to make repairs.
Jane Hannah reports on the seminar held at Ghost Ranch,
July 26 - August 2, 2004, under the title "The Liberty Bell is Still
Cracked." Three well-informed presenters addressed the global economy,
corporate power and decisions, environmental impacts, our personal
lifestyle, and public policy advocacy. The group recognized that all those
topics are interconnected, and concluded that "to be effective change
agents, we must be simultaneously informed and pro-active at those points
where unjust structures reinforce and perpetuate each other." |
And you can plan now for another great Ghost Ranch week next summer!
July 25 - 31 -- on
the topic, "PATHS TO A JUST AND PEACEFUL
WORLD."
In partnership with
The Witherspoon Society, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship and Presbyterians for
Restoring Creation. |
Presbyterian Church creates website dealing with
Israel and Jewish
relations Responding creatively to the
concerns expressed by Jewish individuals and organizations, by Presbyterians
and others about what have been called "anti-Semitic" actions by the 216th
General Assembly, the PC(USA) has established a very helpful website.
It includes comments by
Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase and
Stated Clerk
Clifton Kirkpatrick, along with links to the
GA actions (it
doesn't hurt sometimes for folks to know what was really said - and not
said), answers to
frequently
asked questions,
comments from a number of Presbyterians, and
links
to many other good resources. |
Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase is speaking out on border deaths and the issues
around Israel and Judaism The Moderator of the
216th General Assembly, Rick Ufford-Chase, has recently been
published in Christian Century - a powerful statement entitled
"Dying to Get In,"
on the crisis on the Mexican border, as more and more would-be migrants die
in the heat of the desert trying to find a decent life for themselves in the
U.S. He cites "No More Deaths" (www.nomoredeaths.org)
as one sign of hope on the border, as church people organize to offer help
to migrants by going to them in the desert.
He has also written about the loud criticisms of the
General Assembly actions in relation to Israel and Judaism.
The
PC(USA) website has posted one of his responses, and the
Presbytery of Greater Atlanta has one as well.
For one helpful survey of Jewish reaction, you might check
out
the Atlanta Jewish Times. |
Measured words of praise for
the GA actions on Israel and for even-handed reporting of the situation
-- and the debate.
Kathleen Eschen-Pipes
begins her note:
I join in
applauding the recent decisions of the General Assembly regarding Israel
and Palestine. I am particularly relieved that the Mission Responsibility
Through Investment committee will be divesting my pension funds from
companies that profit from the suffering of innocent Israelis and
Palestinians.
There's more good, thoughtful commentary. |
Not just in New York:
Another demonstration against BushThe hundreds
of thousands of demonstrators in New York City are getting lots of attention
- from the media as well as from the police. But similar actions
are going on around the country. Gene TeSelle reports on
three demonstrations this week in
Nashville. |
Labor
unions call for a Million Worker March in DC on Sunday, October 17.
Buses to Washington will be organized, and
local demonstrations will also be planned. Their web site is
www.millionworkermarch.org.
From their call: "This mobilization is being proposed in
response to the attacks upon working families in America and the millions of
jobs lost during the Bush administration and with the complicity of
Congress. The working class has not suffered such hardships since the Great
Depression." |
All our August stories are listed on
the August archive page.
Click here for all our reports from July 2004.
All June reports are on the June 2004 archive page.
Check earlier months through the general archive
page. |
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GA actions
ratified (or not) by the presbyteries
A number of the most important actions of the 219th
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:
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Amendment 10-A,
which removes the current ban on
lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender persons being considered as
possible candidates for ordination as elder or ministers.
Approved! |
 |
Amendment 10-2,
which would add the Belhar Confession to our Book of
Confessions. Disapproved, because as an amendment
to the Book of Confessions it needed a 2/3 vote, and did not
receive that. |
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Amendment
10-1, which adopts the new Form of Government
that was approved by the Assembly. Approved. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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