Build up the body of Christ. Support the Pentecost Offering.

redlining

The PC(USA)’s role in repairing historic harms

“A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast” turned its attention last week to the repair of historic harms, including reparations. The guest of the Rev. Lee Catoe and Simon Doong was the Rev. Jermaine Ross-Allam, named last year to direct the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Center for the Repair of Historic Harms. Listen to their conversation, which is about 50 minutes, by going here. Ross-Allam comes in during the 20th minute.

Setting the table before engaging a few select causes

In an effort to deepen its commitment to the Matthew 25 invitation, Anchorage Presbyterian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, has been holding a series of weekly sessions it’s calling A Place at the Table. Sunday’s discussion on affordable housing in and around Louisville featured Tony Curtis, executive director of the Metropolitan Housing Coalition. Curtis’ slides are here and his talk may be viewed here, along with a previous talk by retired attorney Bill Wilson about the history of housing and redlining in Louisville.

If the land could speak, what stories would it tell?

After COVID-19 forced the cancelation of planned projects and in-person worship, Coastland Commons, a 1001 New Worshiping Community in Seattle Presbytery, moved to Zoom discussions about their city’s history of land use by Black, Indigenous and people of color communities. After about six months of Zoom gatherings, they figured out a safe way to see Seattle anew through socially distanced community walks. They reached out to the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), which organizes redlining tours in Seattle’s Capitol Hill and Central District neighborhoods.

If the land could speak, what stories would it tell?

After COVID-19 forced the cancelation of planned projects and in-person worship, Coastland Commons, a 1001 New Worshiping Community in Seattle Presbytery,  moved to Zoom discussions about their city’s history of land use by Black, Indigenous and people of color communities. After about six months of Zoom gatherings, they figured out a safe way to see Seattle anew through socially distanced community walks. They reached out to the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), which organizes redlining tours in Seattle’s Capitol Hill and Central District neighborhoods.

In a pandemic, back-to-school excitement is tempered

An event millions of Americans are about to face — the return to in-person education, and the impact that race, faith and COVID-19 are having to shape the education experience for students, parents, educators and other school staff — were the subjects of an hour-long panel discussion last week sponsored by Union Presbyterian Seminary.

A journey of reconciliation leads to an apology

A formal apology by the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy to African Americans for what the presbytery calls “the sin of slavery and its legacy” occurred this month following a “Journey of Reconciliation” last fall to two institutions in Montgomery, Alabama, dedicated to telling the stories of enslaved black people and those terrorized by lynching and humiliated by Jim Crow.

Presbyterian Women march draws attention to ‘The Ninth Street Divide’

Over 200 people gathered at the Galt House Hotel in downtown Louisville to join the 2018 National Gathering of Presbyterian Women in the PC(USA) for Friday’s peace and justice march. Drawing attention to “The Ninth Street Divide,” organizers hope the march raises awareness of the lingering effects of racism and discriminatory practices such as redlining that have resulted in segregation in Louisville and in many other cities in the nation.