Dear friends,
Many of us are back from the shores of Lake Tahoe where we spent a week. During that week, a lot of other things happened in the world. Our church’s national gathering, the General Assembly of the PCUSA, took some important votes. I don’t pretend to have all the news on it — I’m still catching up, but here are some highlights.
1) We elected a dynamic duo of co-moderators (rather than moderator and vice moderator) Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri and Cindy Kohlmann who talked about “thinking outside the box” and addressing diversity in our church. https://www.pcusa.org/news/2018/6/17/new-co-moderators-want-celebrate-diversity-and-thi/
2) The Presbyterian LGBTQ+ community received “jaw-dropping” affirmation on several important overtures: “Overtures 11-12 and 11-13 lamented the mistreatment of LGBTQIA+* persons in both Church and society, celebrated those on whose shoulders we stand, and enabled offices of the PC(USA) to advocate on behalf of the lives of LGBTQIA+* persons in the halls of power. Overtures 11-04 and 11-15 spoke to the growing misuse and abuse of religious liberty claims to justify discrimination against marginalized persons.” Read more at https://mlp.org/document/hello-welcoming-church-pcusa/.
*I know what LGBTQ stands for – what are I and A? Well, I stands for Intersex people, who have both male and female characteristics – body parts, chromosomes, or atypical hormones – which is more common than you might think at about 1% of all humanity. A stands for Asexual, those who do not experience sexual attraction. It’s important to keep these communities of people in mind as well, though LGBTQ+ can be understood to encompass them as well.
3) The Peace Church overture, which MPC sent through the Presbytery of San Francisco, passed – opening the way for Presbyterian churches to officially take a pacifist stance.
4) The Family Leave overture, also one that MPC sent through the Presbytery of San Francisco, was well received but did not pass. The assembly acknowledged that it was a worthy issue, but also a complex one. The assembly acted to create a task force that will bring a plan back in 2020. https://www.pcusa.org/news/2018/6/23/its-worth-time-get-it-right/
5) Sadly, the assembly failed to act on the overture to divest from fossil fuels. This was also an overture we sent, and advocated for, in the faith that God is urgently calling us to protect the planet from the harms of climate change. It was particularly sad because the overture did pass in committee, but the full assembly chose to compromise its original intention, committing us once again to two years of shareholder advocacy – which has not been effective at all so far. Read more: https://www.presbyterianmission.org/story/both-sides-on-fossil-fuel-divestment-issue-look-ahead-post-ga223/
That’s all for me now! I’m looking at a busy few weeks as I’m about to take the youth group to NYC for our mission trip. Ben is currently at Zephyr Point in Tahoe, and will be leaving on study leave soon too. You’re in good hands with David Siegenthaler this week, and I’ll see you when I return. Please contact the office with any needs that arise and Noel will be in touch with us. Email is fine for non-urgent matters as well.
Every Blessing,
Talitha