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Presbyterian Office of Public Witness

Webinar explores how Presbyterians can help ease border crisis

The causes of the refugee crisis along the United States’ southern border and its many communities — as well as actions Presbyterians and others can take to help stem the crisis — were among the topics of a Friday webinar put on by the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Office of Public Witness.

A workaround for the cold shoulder

Now that they’re both about three years into their work leading, respectively, the Office of Public Witness in Washington, D.C., and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations in New York City, the Rev. Jimmie Hawkins and Ryan Smith say they’ve found ways to work around a White House that often doesn’t welcome their input.

Mission as advocacy

In early October 2018, two dozen members of the Congo Mission Network (CMN) converged on Washington, D.C., to advocate for U.S. support for democracy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The gathering, which preceded the annual CMN meeting, sought to raise the DRC’s profile prior to presidential elections in that country on Dec. 30. The CMN members sought U.S. assistance to strengthen democratic institutions in the Congo and to avert a humanitarian disaster by mobilizing resources to assist parts of the DRC that have been affected by corruption, conflict and natural disasters.

Pennsylvania church opens its food center to furloughed federal employees

The Food Center at Morrisville Presbyterian Church in Pennsylvania opened more than two decades ago as an emergency resource. As the federal government shutdown dragged into its fourth week, volunteers there realized a new emergency was developing. “Ron Workman, who is our treasurer, is the one who suggested we might want to look into offering food to furloughed federal employees,” says Carol Romano, operations manager for the food bank.

Joining the Interfaith Caravan of Hope

As people from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador continue to make their way to the Mexico-U.S. border, a delegation of Presbyterian ministers and leaders headed to McAllen, Texas this weekend as part of the Interfaith Caravan of Hope.

Bridging the partisan divide topic of D.C. panel

Representing the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is a bit harder these days for the Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Office of Public Witness in Washington, D.C.

PC(USA)’s Compassion, Peace & Justice staff aids Louisville refugees

“What do you think?” Rob Fohr, director of Faith-Based Investing and Corporate Engagement for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), asked after surveying the multi-room warehouse packed with household supplies. “I think there’s a lot to do,” replied Carl Horton, coordinator of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program.