Posts from June 2014

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Middle East Issues Cheryls Reflections

by Cheryl Galan
palestine-Israel

The hotly debated issue of divestment is one of a constellation of recommendations about the Middle East coming to this General Assembly. This morning, I listened to testimony of speakers from both sides of the Middle East issues. I was impressed that commissioners heard from a Rabbi from southern California, a Jewish student and a []

PCUSA General Assembly 221 + Day Three.

by admin
Lilian Daniel

GA day three began with a talk by Lillian Daniel, author of a book calledSpiritual But Not Religious Isn’t Enough.  She had a lot to say about our practices and assumptions, especially regarding communicating with those who define themselves as spiritual but not religious (sbnr).  She appears to place the blame for our cluelessness in this area []

PCUSA General Assembly 221 + Day Two. (Sunday)

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ways-to-give-banner-image2

This morning I went to the breakfast sponsored by the Presbyterian Foundation, mainly because I wanted to hear the speaker, Stanley Hauerwas. Before Hauerwas came on, though, there was an excellent short video on the intentional investing the Foundation has been doing in Palestine, at the instruction of the last General Assembly.  Apparently we are providing []

PCUSA General Assembly 221 + Day Two (continued)

by admin

Post-denominational. In several of the reports received by the Assembly on Sunday we were asked to compare the situation today with some time in the past, like 1983, when the current configuration of the denomination was founded.  The Special Committee on the Review of Biennial Assemblies entertained us for a while with clips from that year, []

PCUSA General Assembly + Day One.

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Worship GA 221

The assembly begins with worship.  Trying to worship in what is in effect a giant, open warehouse, with several thousand people, in rows of plastic chairs, under a ceiling of lights, hvac ductwork, and wires, is challenging.  From where I sat the “chancel” area was a rumor, with the action projected on giant screens. All the same, I []

PCUSA General Assembly + Sidebar + Zionism Unsettled.

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Zionism_Unsettled

One of the hot issues coming before the assembly has to do with Palestine and Israel.  The main substantive initiative concerns divestment.  Some want to sell the shares of stock that the denomination owns in three companies: Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions, and Hewlett-Packard.  These companies make money providing to the Israelis the means by which they maintain their illegal []

PCUSA General Assembly 221 + Day Minus One.

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Detroit contrast

Driving into Detroit it is impossible to miss the boarded-up and derelict neighborhoods lining the Interstate.  Economic shifts, nationally and globally, have left parts of this city all but abandoned.  Sixty percent of the population has departed since 1960.  The municipality is famously bankrupt.  Municipal services have been slashed to the point that some neighborhoods are without even traffic []

Blogging from GA by Cheryl Galan

by Cheryl Galan
Blog picture

Dear Partners in Ministry, Tomorrow I depart for Detroit, MI, where I will take part in the 221st General Assembly of the PCUSA.  I am grateful for our commissioners who will give of their time, energy, and passion for Jesus Christ and the church.  Please join me in praying for Phyllis Black, Susie Krivenko, Ken []