Around the world, international partners of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) often invite our mission personnel to share in the ministry of their local congregations.
Since arriving in Houston from Ghana, pastor Ebenezer Boateng has persevered through many ups and downs.
But finally, the new worshiping community he founded, the Presbyterian Church of the Redeemer, officially became a chartered congregation in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
LOUISVILLE — Whenever the Rev. Carlton Johnson talks about hymns from the heart of the Black church, he feels a responsibility to carry on the tradition of his ancestors. For their hymns are, as W.E.B. Du Bois observed, “the most original and beautiful expression of human life and longing born on American soil.”
The objective of this brief reflection is to explore the theological interplay between the Bible and racism. Being an African-Jamaican, I have embraced the Christian faith through Presbyterian missionary Christianity. For me, Scripture centers on being “the Word of the Lord.”
Proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel and making known to others the teachings of Jesus has been integral to the church since its earliest days. We may ask, why does the church share its faith in Jesus Christ this way? The simple answer: We do it because Jesus commands us to do it (Matthew 28:19–20).
In the backyard of my house in Accra, Ghana, there are plantain, papaya and mango trees, each giving fruit at their particular times of the year. I’m excited as the dry season ends — the beginning of spring in the U.S. — when our avocados ripen and become ready to eat!
At a recent worship service, we read from the end of the book of Revelation. It described the beautiful vision of the New Jerusalem descending from heaven to Earth, and God coming to dwell among the people and the world God created. Listening to it read, I was struck again by the image of the tree of life on the banks of the river, producing new fruit for each of the 12 months of the year.
I still visualize the words etched into a granite slab on a wall of Elmina, a stately castle on the coast of Ghana, constructed in 1482 by the Portuguese:
IN EVERLASTING MEMORY OF THE ANGUISH OF OUR ANCESTORS. MAY THOSE WHO DIED REST IN PEACE. MAY THOSE WHO RETURN FIND THEIR ROOTS. MAY HUMANITY NEVER AGAIN PERPETUATE SUCH INJUSTICE AGAINST HUMANITY. WE, THE LIVING, VOW TO UPHOLD THIS.
I still visualize the words etched into a granite slab on a wall of Elmina, a stately castle on the coast of Ghana, constructed in 1482 by the Portuguese:
