The third in the series “COVID At The Margins,” a discussion series by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) created to shed light on the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color and what the church and people of faith can do to respond, highlighted the impact of the virus on the LGBTQIA+ community.
During the Vital Congregations lament worship service Wednesday, nearly 50 participants were asked if they were willing to weep if they saw a sibling in pain — or if they were just content to be a lens.
For a short time in June, eight mission co-workers will briefly turn their attention from their work with global partners to serving the greater church as Mission Advisory Delegates (MAD) for the 224th General Assembly (2020).
For the first time in history, GA will conduct its business virtually. The docket has been abbreviated to address only critical business during the global pandemic.
As Americans watched the pandemic move across the globe with startling speed, we thought about our medically vulnerable relatives, our children and the elderly. We planned how to gather food and water, made sure we had medicine in our homes. We washed our hands, didn’t touch our face and if we had to leave the house, we put on a face mask. It was inconvenient, but for most of us, possible.
Nearly 400 people gathered virtually Wednesday to share with one another the good things God is doing through the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Matthew 25 invitation, which seeks to build congregational vitality, dismantle structural racism and eradicate systemic poverty.
“Can you breathe?” asked Rev. Dr. Margaret Aymer of worshipers at the Just Worship conference at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
On Friday, an independent group of United Nations human rights experts released the sort of statement we are used to seeing about other nations.
When staff began planning for the 224th General Assembly (2020) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), they didn’t expect to be preparing for a scaled-down, three-day event to be held online only. Much goes into organizing conference space, hotel contracts, and community events, and things were moving like clockwork for the gathering that was scheduled for Baltimore.
What should predominantly white churches do to help their communities address racial disparity and systemic racialized oppression? A panel convened by two Union Presbyterian Seminary organizations — the Katie Geneva Cannon Center for Womanist Leadership and the Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation — had some ideas Tuesday during an hour-long webinar.
Hardly a day goes by without the Rev. Brad Munroe receiving a call from someone wanting to make a donation to help Native Americans in the southwestern United States, many of whom are struggling to cope with poverty and the weight of COVID-19 and its economic fallout.