This page lists reports and commentary from July, 2006

Presbyterian Peace Fellowship responds to the violence in the Middle East  

Jim Wallis of Sojourners provides an incisive look at the complexities of the conflict, pointing to the wrongs being done on all sides, and the need for sympathy and help, too, for the victims on all sides.

On the role of the United States he comments: "The U.S. has provided no real leadership thus far, being unwilling to embrace the international call for a ceasefire. It has rather been Israel's major supporter and has expedited the shipment of additional weapons. I also believe that the U.S. invasion of Iraq has, inadvertently, contributed to the ascendancy of Iran and radical Islam in the region."

He adds that "for Christians there are also deeper issues involved regarding faith and the body of Christ. It's time for American Christians to start listening to Christians and churches in the Middle East, and Lebanon would be a good place to start."

He concludes: "The people of Israel, Lebanon, and Palestine have suffered enough. It's time for immediate action by the U.S. and the world community to achieve a situation in which Israel, Lebanon, and Palestine are secure and viable states living side-by-side in peace."        The whole article >>

Another point of view, from a Lebanese evangelical

The first Presbyterian News Service report on the New Wineskins conference, held July 19-22 at Kirk of the Hills Presbyterian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, notes that the Rev. Parker Williamson urged that evangelicals not wait for a majority to start their own true church.  “I want to urge you to be very careful about the hurry-up-and-wait syndrome. Wait for what?”

A second PNS report focuses on the content of some of the sermons given during the conference.

Presbyterian Outlook offers a number of reports:
[You need to register to access these stories, but there’s no charge.]

The Rev. John Mann, an American Presbyterian pastor serving a church in Glasgow, Scotland, was asked in July 2004, to preach at the funeral of a teenage Scots soldier killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq. At the request of the soldier's family, he spoke a prophetic word of denunciation of the war. His message to Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George W. Bush, he said, would be just three words that he hoped someday would be "inscribed on the tablets of [their] hearts - and those three words are 'shame on you.' "

We have posted a number of Mann’s reports and comments here, including his continuing support of Rose Gentle, the mother of Gordon Gentle, the Scots soldier who died in Iraq, in her efforts to get the British government to hold an independent inquiry into the decision to go to war.

First Presbyterian Church of Marshfield, Wisconsin, is sponsoring a Central Wisconsin Peace Conference on October 21-22, 2006, with former PCUSA moderator the Rev. John Fife as the keynote speaker.

It looks like a full day and a half of presentations, and break-out sessions dealing with Mexican cooking, services to the growing Central Wisconsin Hispanic population, the stewardship of water; helping our children become peacemakers, and dealing with the proposed ban on civil unions in Wisconsin.

And even a Mexican feast!

The Rev. Carolyn Gillette has written some hymns that may be helpful for worship for those concerned about the war in the Middle East.

A New Hymn for Peace (March 17, 2003)
This hymn was written on the eve of the war with Iraq and continues to be relevant today.
To the tune of BEACH SPRING 8.7.8.7 D "God, Whose Giving Knows No Ending"

 A Hymn for Peace

A Hymn for Peace dedicated to the Memory of Shaul Lahav, Grandson of Helen and Paul Loeb, who was killed on November 18, 2003 on the road between Bethlehem and Jerusalem

This hymn was written after we heard that the grandson of a church member was killed while serving in the Israeli Defense Force.

To the tune of LEONI 6.6.8.4 ("The God of Abraham Praise")

The story behind this hymn, and the hymn itself, are also on this Witherspoon website >>

God, How Can we Comprehend?

This hymn is for use by churches who want to support the relief efforts for war's refugees .

To the tune of ABERYSTWYTH 7.7.7.7 D "Watchman, Tell Us of the Night" or "Jesus, Lover of My Soul"

WITNESS IN WASHINGTON WEEKLY
The Washington Office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Congress has scheduled an August break from its usual agenda of legislative business in order to take some vacation time and attend to matters in their Districts. The Washington Office would like to point our readers to the Christian & Citizen Election Year Packet which can be found by going to our web page at www.pcusa.org/washington . It is on the right side below the fold. The Packet contains many items that may be useful to you during fall discussions you may have about elections.

In keeping with the both the agenda of Congress and the Justice & Compassion goals of the General Assembly Council to give concentrated attention to Peace and Poverty, this edition of Witness in Washington Weekly will highlight--

• CITIZENS’ HEALTH CARE WORKING GROUP INTERIM RECOMMENDATIONS >>

• TAKE ACTION: HAITI CALL-IN DAY - TOMORROW JULY 25

• UPDATES:

Voting Rights Bill passes the Senate
Stem cell legislation vetoed by President Bush

2006 Covenant Conference:
Discerning the Call: Ordination and Mutual Forbearance

November 9 - 11, 2006, Broad Street Presbyterian Church, Columbus, OH

Just posted:  a one-session study on Hezbollah, Israel, and Lebanon: Why Should Christians Care?

New in Popular Culture -- Gilead

Staff Pick -- What Would Jesus Drive?

Top five studies last week

• What Happened at the 2006 Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly?
• Shi'ites and Sunnis: Sibling Rivalry in the Muslim Family
• Islam
• Names for God in the Bible
• The Da Vinci Code

Click on any of the links above to be redirected to the site for more information.

Stay tuned next week for "The Gospel of Judas: Recent Discoveries, the Bible, and Tradition."

We offer here a few comments and analyses of the current crisis in the Middle East, reflecting a variety of viewpoints and faith traditions.

If you want to suggest other statements, or share you own views, we'll be happy to hear from you, and post them here.

Just send us a note!
 

CCR publishes first report on torture at Guantánamo with declassified primary accounts from current detainees and attorneys

On July 10, 2006, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) published the first report citing declassified primary accounts from current detainees and their American attorneys to detail torture and inhumane treatment by U.S. officials at Guantanamo Bay prison.

The "Report on Torture and Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment of Prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba" is the most comprehensive primary source account ever published of ongoing abuse at the prison, detailing systematic physical, psychological, sexual, medical and religious abuse of detainees, filling 51 pages and 279 footnotes. The report is particularly significant in light of the Supreme Court's recent Hamdan decision because it catalogues conduct by U.S. officials in violation of the Geneva Conventions, which the court applied to detainees, and analyzes the administration's attempt to create a "legal black hole" for enemy combatants in sections discussing the administration's liability concerns regarding conduct at the base Geneva, war crimes, and the forthcoming revisions to the Army Field Manual.

More from CCR >>                  For the full text of the report in PDF format >>

Thanks to George Hunsinger

John R. Preston, author of the recent book Wrestling Until the Dawn: The Fight for Biblical Justice in a Postmodern World, builds on the recent books by David Korten and Mark Taylor to urge that in preaching today, we follow the example of Jesus, who "in his non-violent approach to injustice, used stories to question, satirize, and thereby undermine the empire of his time and place."

New Discussion Guides from the editors of Sojourners

Sojourners has just issued three discussion guides, each created from a collection of articles from Sojourners magazine, which are part of a series designed to spark discussion, thought, and action about how to live out God’s call for justice. Sojourners commends them as "a great teaching tool, and perfect for the classroom or small groups."

Each is about 40 or 50 pages long, and costs $4.95.

The topics:

• Christians and the Middle East
• Christians and Racial Justice
• Christians and the Global Economy

The Session of the First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto voted in June 2006 to endorse a statement in support of comprehensive immigration reform. We encourage members of our congregation and community to read that statement and act upon it through prayer, communication with elected leaders, and direct involvement in the struggle for immigrant rights.

Thanks to Gail Thompson, of First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto, CA, for this news.

Dr. Ray Heer, a long-time Witherspoon member, has dealt with his "great discontent with what’s happening in our country" by setting forth his own perceptions of what principles and policies would create a better life for the United States in these difficult days.

His "cover letter" to his daughters explains more about his motivation for this undertaking, and his introduction acknowledges that his platform is formulated without the need for compromise, but is offered as "the idealistic dream of one citizen of what a platform might look like with a concern for the common good, overlooked in so much current rhetoric."

A Church for Our Time
Ghost Ranch, July 31 – August 6, 2006

Voices of Sophia will hold a gathering
at Ghost Ranch, Santa Fe, NM, October 26-29

Each Fourth of July, our nation makes a big deal of immigrants who are becoming naturalized citizens.

This year, the Minneapolis Star Tribune observed the occasion with a little test of our knowledge of the facts about immigration – both "then" (in the good ol’ days) and now (when immigration is being defined by some as the greatest of threats to our nation).

They offer seven questions and ask you to choose the best answer. And the right answers are sometimes surprising – and enlightening.

As a sample, here’s one question – and we’ll even give you the answer if you promise to try the other six questions without peeking.

The question:

Until 1924, how many immigrants could come to the United States each year?

Answer:

A. The 1924 National Origins Act for the first time imposed broad immigration quotas.

Peacemakers Anne Barstow and Tom Driver receive the Andrew Murray award   

One feature of this year’s Witherspoon Awards Luncheon was a double-header. Anne Barstow and Tom Driver, a couple both of whom have long been active in working for peace in the U.S. as well as in Colombia, Haiti, and Central America, received the Andrew Murray Award in recognition of their courageous work, especially in acting as accompaniers to people whose lives have been under threat because of oppressive (and often U.S.-supported) regimes.

The Witherspoon membership meeting, held just after the Awards Luncheon on Sunday, June 18, took two very important actions.

First, the group approved a set of revised by-laws, which takes into account the shift to biennial General Assemblies, and – in harmony with many similar groups – renames our group of officers as a Board rather than an Executive Committee. It also shifts our leadership from a single President to two Co-Moderators.

You’ll find the new by-laws – which were not changed from their draft form – in the Winter 2006 issue of Network News. Click here, and scroll or jump (using the page box at the bottom of the Adobe Reader screen) to pages 32-37.

Following that action, we elected a full slate of officers, since no election was held last year, and all the earlier terms had expired. About half the officers were elected for one-year terms, and the rest for full two-year terms. In the future, all elections will be held by mail-in ballots each May.