When a crowd was gathered on the hill to hear Jesus preach and the crowd was hungry, the disciples wanted to send them away. Instead, Jesus instructs them in Mark’s gospel, “you give them something to eat.”
Recently a group of Presbyterian Mission Agency personnel joined with ecumenical partners from across Latin America and the Caribbean and delegates from the World Council of Churches and the World Communion of Reformed Churches. They gathered in Bogotá, Colombia, at the “International Encounter for Reconciliation in Colombia: Ecumenical Experiences and Learnings in Peace Building.” The PMA delegation included Ellen Sherby, the Rev. Dr. Valdir França, Sue Rheem, and the Rev. Sarah Henken, PC(USA) mission co-worker serving in Colombia, a country seeking peace after more than 50 years of armed conflict.
I still can see clearly in my mind’s eye the writing printed on the spine of a book that was on the shelf of my family’s bookcase in our humble rented house in Los Angeles. In Korean script, it read: “Why We Can’t Wait,” written by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“The family members of the thousands killed under the previous Duterte administration are still working for justice and accountability but have few legal options in local and national courts,” reads a World Council of Churches statement on the human rights situation in the Philippines.
The Governing Board of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC) is pleased to announce that Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie has been elected to serve as President and General Secretary of the ecumenical organization. She is the first African American woman to serve as both President and General Secretary of the organization.
Every Thursday, I try to wear black to stand in solidarity with my siblings who are experiencing violence. Some days I forget, but working from home gives me the opportunity to correct it. But those who experience violence can’t forget, because they live with the trauma of it every day. What if we, in our daily lives, loved others like God in Christ loves them? Would we turn a blind eye to the violence and injustice we know is happening around us? What if we lived in a world that did not tolerate violence? What if the church stood as a voice against violence?
A Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) delegation has returned from the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Egypt and is encouraging others in the denomination to find ways to show their concern for the environment.
Those gathered in Karlsruhe, Germany, for the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches focused on caring for Creation during a press conference that featured panelists hailing from places as far-flung as the Arctic Circle and the Caribbean.
A group of us representing the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) were present at the World Council of Churches (WCC) Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany, in September, where “Christ’s Love Moves the World to Reconciliation and Unity” was the theme.
This year the Presbyterian Church of Trinidad and Tobago (PCTT) had one of the youngest delegations to the World Council of Churches assembly. The PCTT also afforded me the opportunity to attend the 225th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), making both assemblies an attempt at returning to fellowship in person.