Human Rights Day, observed each year on December 10, commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. This year's Human Rights Day is devoted to the launch of a year-long campaign called “Our Rights. Our Freedoms. Always.”
During a 12-day Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Peacemaking Travel Study Seminar to Colombia, Bill Davnie, stated clerk of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area, saw much of the country and participated in a number of discussions dealing with that nation’s La Violencia period of partisan fighting.
World leaders are gathered in Paris for two weeks of intensive talks and meetings designed to avert climate disaster. Joining the contingent of high-ranking government officials, activists, business leaders, and faith-based representatives from nearly 200 countries are two Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) associates, Rebecca Barnes, Associate for Environmental Ministries and Bill Somplatsky-Jarman, Coordinator, Mission Responsibility Through Investment with the Compassion, Peace & Justice Program.
Join Larissa Kwong Abazia, Vice Moderator of the 221st General Assembly (2014) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and Wilson Kennedy, a member of the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly, host two upcoming Twitter chats about the identity and purpose of the PC(USA).
As authorities continue their investigation into Thursday’s shooting rampage that left 14 people dead and 21 wounded in San Bernardino, Calif., local pastors are holding prayer vigils and preparing for a weekend of worship and tears. Several churches and interfaith organizations in and around the community held vigils throughout the day and evening on Thursday with additional services and gatherings continuing through the weekend.
‘Tis the season to be jolly. But not for some. “Longest Night and Blue Christmas services represent one way of responding to this significant pastoral concern,” says the Rev. David Gambrell, associate for worship in the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s office of Theology and Worship.
The Magnificat has always been one of my favorite passages in the Bible. However, this past Advent season, when I was preparing to preach on the Magnificat, I found myself kind of dreading it. I had felt increasingly weighed down by the events happening in our country. On November 22, 2014, Tamir Rice was shot and killed by a police officer in Cleveland. Tamir was 12 years old, the same age as my adopted African American twin sons. Two days later, a grand jury decided not to indict the police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Michael Brown was 18 years old, a year older than my adopted biracial son. A week later, a Staten Island grand jury refused to indict the police officer who choked Eric Garner, causing his death. I kept thinking, “How can I preach on Mary’s song of joy about God bringing justice to the world when I’m feeling so depressed about injustice in our country?”
Susan Holman, a senior writer at the Global Health Education and Learning Incubator at Harvard University, has won the 2016 Grawemeyer Award in Religion presented by the University of Louisville and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
Puedo contar en una mano el número de veces que, como adulto, me he pasado la Navidad en mi propia casa. Hemos compartido ese día con abuelos/as y otros familiares. En una época pre-Amazon, escondíamos los regalos entre el equipaje y pasábamos esos días en la carretera al igual que José y María. Pero por supuesto, yo sabía que mi cama estaba allí, esperándome cuando todo finalizara.
Las Naciones Unidas indican que actualmente hay más de 60 millones de personas desplazadas en nuestro planeta cansado de la guerra, las cuales probablemente nunca verán su casa otra vez. Es el número …
우리는 예수 그리스도를 따르는 자들로서 상실의 고통을 겪고 있는 샌 버나디노의 가족들을 위해 기도합니다. 우리는 부상 당한 사람들의 몸과 영의 회복을 위해 기도합니다. 올 해는 대량 학살이 기록적으로 많이 일어난 해이며, 12월 2일에는 미국에서 두 번의 대량 총격 사건들이 일어났습니다. 우리는 이것이 도저히 믿겨지지 않으며, 참혹한 마음을 금할 수 없습니다.