‘Belonging to Jesus the Christ in every generation and circumstance’
A message from the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly/Executive Director of the Interim Unified Agency and the Co-Moderators of the 226th General Assembly
Dear siblings in Christ of the PC(USA),
In the days since the election, many have asked what the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s voice and witness is and will be in the days, weeks, months and years to come.
We trust that presbyteries, congregations, and individuals who are members and participants of the PC(USA) have been discerning and planning how to show up and what specific actions might need to be taken to stand with and for those who are most vulnerable. We invite the whole church into this work of imagining ways that we can enflesh God’s love and justice as good neighbors.
We also write to you as siblings in Christ and as elected leaders in this time of the life of our church, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly and Co-Moderators of the 226th General Assembly of the PC(USA), to remind us …
In every season we are called to be the Church, the body of Christ in and for the world, worshiping God and gratefully serving and acting in response to God’s grace.
The Confession of Belhar speaks to this calling declaring:
- The church must stand by people in any form of suffering and need
- The church must witness against and strive against any form of injustice, so that justice may roll down like water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream
- The church as the possession of God must stand where the Lord stands, namely against injustice and with the wronged
- The church must witness against all the powerful and privileged who selfishly seek their own interest and thus control and harm others.
As a denomination in the Reformed tradition, we believe in God’s sovereignty and God’s call for us to active discipleship in the world. Therefore, we will continue to pray and act to make God’s love and justice visible and real in the world. We reaffirm that our call is to witness to the God whom we know in Jesus Christ. We reaffirm that our call is to follow Christ Jesus and to be continually transformed into the cruciform shape of his life, death and resurrection. We reaffirm that our call is not to seek political power for ourselves and for our own good, but to act in the world toward God’s wholeness/peace.
As a denomination in the Presbyterian tradition, we believe we discern God’s will best in community that is fully represented and fully participating. Therefore, we will continue to work toward the full inclusion and participation of all communities that are part of the PC(USA), listening to “voices long silenced” as part of our life together and our processes for discerning our voice and witness.
As a denomination guided by social witness policies of General Assemblies past and present, we will continue to …
- Stand and advocate with and for those whose health and well-being are threatened because of availability of and access to reproductive healthcare, as well as health insurance coverage
- Stand and advocate with and for LGBTQIA+ siblings and communities
- Stand and advocate with and for immigrants and refugees
- Deepen our care for creation and advocate for the care of all of Creation
- Work toward structural racial equity and systemic economic justice, continuing to build on Matthew 25 commitments
- Work toward wholeness within our communities with our domestic and global partners — peace for those impacted by wars, repair of harm and broken relationships, safety for those impacted by violence, healing for those struggling with well-being.
We will also continue to …
- Support the vocation of all leaders within the church
- Support the ministries of all of our mid councils as they support leaders and faith communities of every kind within their bounds and care toward congregational vitality for the sake of God’s mission in us and in the world.
We will be the Church of Jesus Christ and we will also shift as those who are being reformed by God as God continues to act in the world and invites us to work and journey alongside God. Shifting does not move us away from the sound and solid foundation of who we are and whose we are, a foundation that gives us assurance that we are communicating with God and one another, aligning with God’s will for our lives through Jesus Christ, and building and maintaining the necessary relationships that foster the movement of the Holy Spirit among and through us. Therefore, we will certainly respond according to our theological values and our faithfully discerned policies in meaningful and impactful ways for this time and place.
The Theological Declaration of Barmen reminds us that there are no areas of our life in which we would not belong to Jesus Christ, no areas in which we would not need justification and sanctification through Christ Jesus. So we entrust ourselves to God and place our hope in God, even as we discern and plan for the days ahead.
We are Reformed. We are Presbyterian. We are PC(USA).
In faith, hope, and love,
Rev. Jihyun Oh
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
Executive Director, Interim Unified Agency
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Rev. CeCe Armstrong
Co-Moderator of the 226th General Assembly (2024)
Rev. Tony Larson
Co-Moderator of the 226th General Assembly (2024)
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