White Christians who do the hard work of educating themselves and empathizing with the centuries of racial trauma their African American siblings have endured can produce hope and healing that’s badly needed, members of an online panel convened by Union Presbyterian Seminary said Tuesday.
The Thanksgiving narrative many Americans learned in school and celebrate each year is a destructive myth, said the Rev. Irv Porter in a webinar offered on Monday. Porter is the Associate for Native American Intercultural Congregational Support in the Presbyterian Mission Agency. The webinar was offered as a part of Native American Heritage Month, which occurs each November.
It was Billy Taing’s candor that made for a memorable and moving webinar hosted last week by Princeton Theological Seminary’s Center for Asian American Christianity. Taing joined his fellow co-director with the organization API Rise, the Rev. Diane Ujiiye, for a discussion titled “Freedom? A Conversation About Incarceration and Being Asian in the U.S.” Dr. David Chao, director of the Center for Asian American Christianity, was the host.
The Presbytery of the Inland Northwest has launched a new capital campaign seeking to raise $50,000 for repairs and renovations of its Native American churches.
In response to a referral from the 224th General Assembly (2020) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) for the Presbyterian Mission Agency to develop theological resources for how the church has benefited at the expense of Native American peoples, a consultation was held with Native American leaders at Stony Point Center in New York Sept. 13-15.
The Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, who directs the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Office of Public Witness and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations and wrote “Unbroken and Unbowed: Black Protest in America,” published in February by Westminster John Knox Press, joined an online panel Tuesday as part of Union Presbyterian Seminary’s Just Talk/Talk Just series.
Professor Kristin Henning, who teaches at Georgetown Law, directs its Juvenile Justice Clinic & Initiative and wrote “The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth,” was the most recent speaker in New York Avenue Presbyterian Church’s McClendon Scholar Program. More than 500 people from across the country registered to attend the online event, held late last month.
Native American leaders in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) from around the country met in person Nov. 4-6 in Farmington, Minnesota, for the first time since 2020 to discuss implementation of the repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery by the 222nd General Assembly (2016).
They came from north, south, east and west, speaking español (Spanish) and singing joyful alabanzas (praises), to gather in Orlando, Florida, to celebrate Encuentro X, the 10th triennial conference of Hispanic Latin Presbyterian Women (MHLP by its Spanish acronym).
When we read about the first band of Christ followers selling their possessions and “distributing the proceeds to all, as they had need,” (Acts 2:45), we clap our hands, lauding such noble sacrifice, but snicker under our breath, whispering, “Now that’s a bit too much!”
