The Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, who co-founded the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival and runs the Kairos Center housed at Union Theological Seminary, brought the four-week, denomination-wide study of Matthew Desmond’s “Poverty, by America” to a close Monday saying she’s “really excited” that denominational leaders organized the online book study “and so many are interested in this work of becoming poverty abolitionists.”
The first and historic Matthew 25 Summit was held January 16-18 at New Life Presbyterian Church in South Fulton, Georgia. This event was the first in-person gathering for people committed to and interested in learning more about the Matthew 25 movement.
More than 160 people tuning into Monday’s third online installment studying Matthew Desmond’s best-selling book, “Poverty, by America,” discussed together the heart of Desmond’s argument for doing away with poverty: how we rely on welfare, how we buy opportunity and a chapter on how to invest in ending poverty.
Technology glitches Monday couldn’t derail the second week on the PC(USA)’s national online study of Matthew Desmond’s book “Poverty, by America,” which drew nearly 200 people from around the country.
As womanist theologians, the pastors of Liberty Community Church in Minneapolis are seeking the healing of their Northside neighborhood through co-creating spaces of rest and resistance with individuals victimized by the sex trafficking trade and within a community suffering from the effects of systemic poverty and structural racism.
Evaluations, next steps and planned regional gatherings following last month’s first-ever Matthew 25 Summit were among the topics for members of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board during the second and final day of their two-day online gathering Wednesday.
On the first day of two days of meetings that began Tuesday, the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board approved and sent to the 226th General Assembly recommendations for changes to the PC(USA)’s Special Offerings.
Matthew Desmond, the author of the 2023 book “Poverty, by America,” made a 15-minute online appearance Monday to help launch a four-week PC(USA)-wide study of his best-seller. More than 260 people were present to hear from Desmond, the Maurice P. During Professor of Sociology at Princeton University, whose 2017 book, “Evicted,” won the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction. They also discussed the first two chapters in small groups.
By way of photo submission, Presbyterians are invited to tell the world the ways their church, worshiping community, mid council or organization is carrying out the Matthew 25 Invitation.
“So much that was said went straight to my heart, and I am left inspired and dedicated to the work of Matthew 25 for months to come,” said Jennifer Morgan, ruling elder at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Madison, Wisconsin. “This Summit has strengthened my faith in other people, the Presbyterian Church as a whole, and our gracious, loving God!” said Morgan, who attended the Matthew 25 Summit with two other church members and a member of the staff at Covenant.
