The Stated Clerk sent this letter to all Presbyteries:
________
May 19, 2014
Grace and peace to you in
the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
As Presbyterians we have
a rich history of seeking justice. Scripture instructs us in Deuteronomy 16:20,
“Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue.” A section of our Brief Statement
of Faith reads, “We trust in Jesus Christ, fully human, fully God. Jesus
proclaimed the reign of God: preaching good news to the poor and release to the
captives, teaching by word and deed and blessing the children, healing the sick
and binding up the broken hearted” (Book
of Confessions, 10.2, Lines 7–15).
As the Stated Clerk of
the General Assembly, I am writing at the direction of the 220th General
Assembly (2012) to “recognize with joy and thanks to God the historic stance of
the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in pursuit of justice as a central mandate of
our church, a mandate that calls us to uphold the need to be faithfully
partisan in situations of injustice and to speak truth to power, wherever
necessary as we pursue justice, without fear of retribution or the delay of
deflection.”
In Presbyterians
and Politics: Disturbers of Government, I recalled the first General Assembly in 1789, where commissioners
engaged with government by approving a letter to be written to President George
Washington expressing delight in his appointment to the “first office in the
nation.” I also wrote,
On one hand, it would appear that those of the Reformed tradition
have been defenders of the role of government, and on the other hand,
disturbers of governments. Presbyterians have argued with the government about
many issues, such as slavery, education, temperance, labor conditions,
segregation, war, and the environment. At times, the General Assembly has
spoken for the vast majority of the church, and at other times, the assembly
has spoken a prophetic word to itself and the world.
Today
we continue our rich tradition of engagement in the public sphere. It is a
great joy to here recognize how our
Presbyterian and Christian call to justice is being lived out in the lives of
individual Presbyterians, local congregations, mid councils, and our national
church. There are numerous examples of justice work being done and I highlight
three here:
· 984
congregations purchasing Eco-Palms in 2013;
· More than
5,000 Presbyterians calling for no military action in Syria in September 2013;
· More than 200
Presbyterians, representing congregations and councils from across the U.S.A.,
joining the Compassion, Peace, and Justice Training Day and Ecumenical Advocacy
Days in Washington, D.C., March 2014.
I have written before and
I am repeating the sentiment now. Let us be encouraged today as we prepare for
our upcoming General Assembly. May we understand this as a time to provide
opportunity for us as a denomination to pursue justice together, to hear our
collective call, and to respond with obedience, “to disturb governments, to
speak truth to power, and to engage in the political context of the age.” Let
us understand that “we—ministers, teachers, nurses, plumbers, all of us—serve
God in and through our vocation and are called to a ministry of witness
wherever we are.”
In Grace,
The Reverend Gradye Parsons
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
