Newsletters

After a long week at the 219th General Assembly, the PC(USA) emerges with a stronger witness to justice and nonviolence. There is much to celebrate from this week, both in the policies that were adopted and the spirit in which many in our church wrestled with complex and difficult issues.

Jan Orr-Harter was on hand as our liason for press and media, and she reported throughout the week on the progress of those overtures and issues concerning peacemaking and the areas where PPF is most active. In this newsletter you will find her reports from throughout the week, following developments through committee work to the final decisions of the Assembly. Thank you, Jan!

We are filled with gratitude for those members of our National Committee who tirelessly coordinated PPF's work and presence at GA. And thank you to so many of you who advocated, accompanied, prayed, followed, listened, spoke, helped, carried, and worked so hard to help our church follow the way of Christ more faithfully.

After careful deliberation, On Monday July 5 Committee 13 on Peacemaking and International Issues approved by 49 to 2 an overture from Presbytery of Atlanta, as amended, opposing continued US military action in Afghanistan, supporting humanitarian and economic help for Afghanistan, a tabulation of war casualties and prayer and support for all involved, including US troops and their families. While numerous efforts were made to weaken the four overtures sent from presbyteries calling for US withdrawal, the committee in fact strengthened the statement by stating that the church "opposes the war in Afghanistan." Click here to read more

The committees have all finished their deliberations and have forwarded their proposals to the GA plenary for final votes.

Big News: the Report in Committee 11 on Reducing Gun Violence passed the committee unanimously—and this one has some teeth in it in terms of specific congregational programs and direct action against the gun stores where weapons used in crimes tend to be sold.

In Committee 14 on the Middle East, it's more complex...
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Last night, some 15 of us gathered in the hotel for cookies and milk and to collate the packets for our breakfast guests. Each received Tom Driver's sermon, "Accompaniment: The Great Theme of the Bible," as well as several brochures on aspects of our work, a sign-up slip and a bookmark from the Endowment Campaign.

Today we held our PPF Peace Breakfast at the Hilton hotel in a full room with a strong and well-planned experience of our work and concerns—a tour de PPF.... Click here to read more

With resounding support, the report 11-06, "Gun Violence, Gospel Values," passed in the final Assembly vote by a show of hands. PPF has supported this, and through PPF National Committee member Jim Atwood, played a critical role. The General Assembly News reported that Rev. Catherine Snyder, Presbyterian Campus minister at Virginia Tech, wept openly as the committee passed the report. Snyder counseled and consoled students and families following the horrific handgun murders committed there by a disturbed student, killing 32 persons in 2007.

This action by GA has real teeth in it to help reverse the growing support for the proliferation of guns in the United States. It calls for a comprehensive program in liturgy, pastoral care, education, advocacy and direct action, including actions at gun stores identified as selling weapons frequently used in crimes. Churches are also asked to declare their properties as gun-free zones....Click here to read more

Some of the toughest items were up today, Committee 14 on all issues related to the Middle East.

On Iraq, the assembly voted down an effort to derail the overture and then voted overwhelmingly to support US withdrawal on the stated schedule for troops and contractors and for the establishment of no permanent US bases after our withdrawal.

The Middle East Study Commitee report, "Breaking Down the Walls," was approved overwhelmingly with amendments and will go out to the church. It was juggled a bit to account for what many perceived as a lack of balance. It still contains positions calling for an end to the occupation, a freeze on Israeli settlements, an end to violence on all sides, resumption of peace negotiations with help from the US and others and an end to the blockade of non-military items into and out of Gaza—and many, many other helpful steps that can be taken by and within the church.... Click here to read more

The long-awaited GA plenary session on Peacemaking and International Issues came and went, with excellent results, but not quite as we expected the process to go. We'll take the results.

On the war in Afghanistan, amendments were added to remember the 9-11 victims and their families and the US troops and their families. Personally, I think there should have been something already in the overture addressing these concerns. Even though the US was involved in Afghanistan long before 9-11, this wound pains us and needs focus from a peacemaking perspective. The overture passed overwhelmingly, stating clearly that the PC(USA) opposes the war in Afghanistan and calls for only non-military actions and a withdrawal of troops.... Click here to read more