The Office of Public Witness
at the 221st General Assembly
 |
| OPW Staff and Summer Fellows in the GA Exhibit Hall |
The staff members of the Office of Public Witness were busy
at the General Assembly (GA), which took place June 14-21, 2014, in Detroit, MI.
While Director for Public Witness J. Herbert Nelson and Representatives
Catherine Gordon and Leslie Woods attended the GA as resource people for
various committees (5 committees amongst us), our Summer Fellows served the
Assembly as Student Assistants. Three of them were assigned as committee
assistants, so if you visited or served on the committees on Middle East,
Marriage, or Mission Coordination, you probably met them! And our recent
seminary intern, Sabrina Slater, represented Princeton Seminary as a
Theological Student Advisory Delegate.
It was a busy week for us. Even as we supported the
commissioners, advisory delegates and corresponding members with our prayers
and expertise, J. Herbert Nelson also made five speaking appearances. We had a
great time connecting with old allies and new partners for justice all over the
place – from the Exhibit Hall to the committee room to the Plenary floor. Here
are just a few highlights:
GA Plenary
The Rev. J. Herbert Nelson addressed the General Assembly
during the Friday afternoon plenary. In his address, he reminded us of the long
Presbyterian tradition of engaging in public life, from John Calvin’s advocacy
with the leaders of 16th century Geneva, to John Witherspoon who
signed the Declaration of Independence, to Stated Clerk Eugene Carson Blake who
marched with the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King. He quoted current Stated
Clerk Gradye Parsons who wrote in 2009 “So, 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.” Rev. Nelson remarked, “this
paradoxical call places us in a significant position to love our nation while
possess a willingness to make it better.” Nelson concluded his remarks to the
GA by saying, “We cannot remain silent in these troubling times. The world needs the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to stand up and be the Church. Join me in making a
difference in this sin sick world. We can do it together. Thank you and God Bless!”
New Education
Initiative
 |
| J. Herbert Nelson and Frank Dimmock |
Compassion, Peace and Justice Ministry, together with World
Mission, announced a new “Educate a Child, Change the World” initiative that
seeks to provide quality education to one million children worldwide by the
year 2020. This joint partnership was approved the General Assembly and
launched at a lunch event where Frank Dimmock, World Mission’s catalyst for
poverty issues, and J. Herbert Nelson, each discussed the critical issues of
education as a tool to create equality. Education transforms lives,” Dimmock
said, “empowering girls and women particularly … for leadership … for economic
opportunity … for better health.” The children who be reached by the education
initiative “are children of God and our children,” Dimmock continued,
“providing them a quality education is not just the right thing to do, it’s the
smart thing to do.” Both speakers emphasized the fundamental truth that “every
child can learn.”
CPJ Meal and the
Reverend William Barber
 |
| The Reverend Dr. William Barber |
At the Thursday evening meal, Compassion, Peace and Justice
Ministry welcomed the Reverend William Barber, President of the North Carolina
NAACP and leader of the growing Moral
Monday movement. Barber, whose presence is powerful and inspiring,
challenged us to take the on the special interests that use private money to
create public power. He said, “Never before have we seen so much money spent to
oppose equality.” He went on to profoundly disturb us with the observation that
“we live in an age when corporations are treated like people and people are
treated like things.” Barber challenged the church, at large: “if
we claim to believe in the triune God, then we have to oppose the triune evils
of racism, classism, and militarism… how can we oppose Rome when we have become
Rome?” We left the evening feeling energized, but convinced of just how
much work there is still to do in the cause of God’s justice in our public
places. “Never forget,” Barber said, “when you pray ‘God bless America,’ that
God is not the property of just one nation.”
Gratitude for the General
Assembly
The Office of Public Witness gives thanks for the work of
the General Assembly, for the commitment of the Commissioners and Advisory
Delegates who did the hard work of discerning the will of the Spirit, and for
all the OGA event planners, student assistants, volunteers, and COLA folks
without whom the Assembly would not have been possible. As the voice of
Presbyterian public policy, tasked with representing the social witness policy
of Presbyterian General Assemblies, the Office of Public Witness pays close
attention to the GA. We have come home with a lot of new work to do! Join us in
the struggle for compassion, peace, and justice in our public lives.
