When the International Peacemakers begin their visits this fall in the U.S., churches will have a chance to hear about the life struggles of the people in Sri Lanka. Herman Kumara is a human rights defender who works primarily with food producers, specifically in small scale, marginalized fishing communities.
The Rev. Jerome Bizimana knows the work of forgiveness is “never easy.” This is especially true in Rwanda where 23 years ago, in April 1994, hatred between Hutu and Tutsi tribal groups led to genocide and the death of more than 800,000 Rwandans. Although it has been more than two decades, the wounds are still very much alive.
The June 2017 installment of Keeping Faith, the video newsletter from Tony De La Rosa, Interim Executive Director of Presbyterian Mission Agency, is now available for viewing and download
Today marks the third annual observance of National Gun Violence Awareness Day. As advocates remember the 138 mass shootings and 6,303 people who have been killed as a result of gun violence so far in 2017, the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship has released its Gun Violence Prevention Congregational Toolkit.
Five representatives of the Congo Mission Team at Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church (LOPC) recently traveled to Sacramento for a meeting with the staff of Kamala Harris, California’s new junior senator and former attorney general. They were joined by two members of Congo Prosperity Catalyst, a Bay Area organization for Congolese nationals in diaspora.
Each year, on a Sunday during Lent, Presbyterians take a day to celebrate the mission and ministry of the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP). For nearly 50 years SDOP has helped poor, oppressed, and disadvantaged communities by establishing partnerships within those communities to address issues such as mass incarceration, labor and worker rights, clean water and natural resources, youth empowerment, and ending the exploitation of immigrants.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), via its Office of Public Witness, has joined 30 other faith communities endorsing a letter to President-elect Trump urging him and his administration to prioritize issues of climate change, the environment and justice.
The election earlier this month revealed deep divisions in our country and raised many important questions for Christian people of faith as we look to our future as the Church. For many faithful Presbyterians, one of the questions facing us this week has a particular urgency: How can we navigate the tensions surrounding the Thanksgiving dinner table with friends and family who voted differently from us?
Reconciliation is at the heart of Christian faith. It is arguably the most radical and transforming work done by God and practiced in our own lives. In 2 Corinthians 5:19 the apostle Paul teaches us that through Christ, God was “reconciling the world to himself” and calls us to a ministry of reconciliation with each other. But what does reconciliation mean? Does it mean we forgive and forget? Or convince others that we are right?
