J. Herbert Nelson Visits South Sudan; Meets with U.S. Embassy Officials

Office of Public Witness Director Meets with United States Embassy Officials in South Sudan

Washington, DC, February 3, 2015 – The Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson returned this past weekend from ten days in South Sudan. While there, he investigated ways that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness (OPW) can better partner with World Mission to more effectively engage partner churches and organizations, mission co-workers, and other personnel, for more effective justice advocacy.

Before leaving Juba, South Sudan, Nelson spoke with officials at the United States Embassy and appealed for their intervention in returning South Sudan pastors who had been arrested in Sudan, back to their families, congregations, and communities. A Presbyterian News Service article dated January 21, 2015, reported that Reverend Yat Michael, a South Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SSPEC) pastor was arrested after preaching on December 21, at Khartoum North, a congregation of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church. Subsequently, the Reverend Peter Yen, a SSPEC pastor who was also visiting Khartoum, hand-delivered a letter from the SSPEC General Secretary. The letter called for the release of Reverend Michael. A few days later on Sunday, January 11, Yen was asked to report to security and he too was detained without warrant or charge. No further information is known at this time about Reverend Yen. Click here to See full PNS article.

“I went to South Sudan on a missionary experience and ended on a mission of mercy,” said Nelson. “It is important that we prevent the intimidation and possible loss of life among Church leaders and others who are expressing the gospel’s call for love in a militarized and war-torn part of the world.” The U.S. Embassy in South Sudan was not aware of arrest and promised to investigate the matter with the U.S. Embassy in Sudan. According to Human Rights Watch, since December 2013, up to 10,000 people have died, one million people have been displaced, and 400,000 have fled to neighboring countries. According to those we spoke with on the ground, some estimate the death toll to be as high as 40,000 persons since the beginning of the most recent outbreak of violence. 

The PC(USA) Office of Public Witness is now in the fifth year of a plan to revitalize and strengthen the work of advocacy in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Of the trip to South Sudan, the Reverend Nelson said:

“We are intentionally focused on reaching out to entities of the denomination that are working with marginalized people -- those who most often face injustice in the world. World Mission is one entity within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that has historical connections with church partners and global reach to persons and communities. Given the political significance of South Sudan to global politics and the longstanding mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Africa, it was important for me to witness first-hand the recent devastation that the people of South Sudan and mission co-workers are encountering.

“It is imperative that we make a connection in the denomination regarding mission and justice. We tend to view mission as an essential element of our historic role as Presbyterians, but oftentimes we fail to see the connections between our mission work and efforts to challenge systemic injustice in our country and our world. We must seek to uphold the human rights of all persons in the United States and around the globe. Jesus affirmed both mission and justice in his ministry. He taught that they are both essential to the promotion of the Kingdom of God. The bible reminds us of both prophecy and mission. These two elements are not mutually exclusive in living out the fullness of the gospel’s intent.

The Reverend J. Herbert Nelson, II, is the Director for Public Witness at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness in Washington, DC.

Response to Criticism of J. Herbert Nelson's Hobby Lobby Statement

The PC(USA) Office of Public Witness (OPW) is encouraged by the diverse dialogue that is occurring in response to the Reverend J. Herbert Nelson’s statement with respect to the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling. The OPW gives thanks for the words of support as well as the expressions of disagreement.  It is through dialogue and engagement that we may begin to break down the walls of ideology and see Christ in and through each other.

Much of the criticism of Rev. Nelson’s statement has been to point out his lack of specificity as to the particular contraceptives challenged in the Hobby Lobby case. Access to reproductive health care is an essential human right affirmed by Presbyterian General Assemblies, many of which have reaffirmed the historic Presbyterian commitment to accessible, comprehensive health care that should be equal, accessible, affordable, and high quality for all persons. (214^th General Assembly, Minutes, 2002, p.634)

But more than a ruling related to available contraception, Rev. Nelson and the Office of Public Witness wished to express in his statement a concern about religious liberty. The Hobby Lobby decision establishes a precedent that sets the conscience of employers over and above the conscience of workers. Further, the decision grants first amendment liberties to for-profit corporations, which, no matter how closely they are held, are not people.  Allowing corporations, whose primary function is profit, the freedom to impose religious values on employees is fundamentally un-American and contrary to the values upon which this nation was founded.

As always, the Office of Public Witness represents the actions approved by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly and its predecessor bodies, which have affirmed that God Alone is Lord of Conscience and that individuals must make decisions in personal and public life that are consistent with their own values, without seeking to coerce others. National policy that allows employers and the owners of corporations to coerce employees with respect to their moral decisions undermines our churches and the nation.

The Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, is Director for Public Witness in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness in Washington, DC.

J. Herbert Nelson Reacts to the Hobby Lobby Decision

The Reverend J. Herbert Nelson this week expressed dismay at the Supreme Court’s (SCOTUS) decision in the case of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby. The Presbyterian Church spoke to the question of access to contraception when the 205^th General Assembly (1993) called on Congress to provide funding that ensures access to contraception, at no cost, to any person who needs it. In the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), we affirm that each person is created in God’s image, and that each woman is endowed with God-given moral capacity and authority to determine whether or not to become pregnant. Denying any woman the right to exercise that moral agency is wrong.  It is because of our faith that we view access to contraception, and all forms of health care, as a human right. 

Further, in today’s workplace, "the 220^th General Assembly (2012) encourages the church's support for policies that strengthen families, support children's development, provide comfort to the elderly, and help to insulate decisions about family formation and child-bearing from undue economic stress." (Minutes, p. 246,Recommendation 3.b., italics added).

Presbyterians further profess that God Alone is Lord of Conscience and that individuals must make decisions in personal and public life that are consistent with their own values, without seeking to coerce others. We believe that the establishment clause in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution seeks to protect religious institutions from government infringement, and we are grateful for this protection.  But Hobby Lobby is not a religious institution.  It is a closely held corporation whose overriding objective is profit, not religious expression or evangelism.

In response to the ruling, the Rev. J. Herbert Nelson, PC(USA) Director for Public Witness, said --

“We are very concerned by the corporatization of the federal government, and we question the Supreme Court’s extension of personhood and freedom of religion to for-profit corporations. This move to treat corporations as people is a troubling trend in U.S. public life. We need to remember that it is people, not things, who have moral agency.

When discussing religious liberty in this case, we must also remember that it is the religious liberty of the workers that is infringed by the employer’s ability to express a religious view through its corporate policies. Indeed, because we view access to health care as a human right, both workers’ religious liberty and their human rights are in jeopardy. At its most extreme manifestation, an employer imposing religious views on unwilling employees begins down the path to slavery. The employees of Hobby Lobby are not mere extensions of its owners, but are endowed with their own moral agency and should not be imposed upon by the beliefs of their employer.

“In light of yesterday’s SCOTUS decision in the Hobby Lobby case, I urge Congress to take steps to make contraception available to all women and men, whether through federal appropriations, a re-classification of contraception as a prescription drug, or through private insurance requirements, such as the special “accommodation” for religious institutions with genuine objections based on conviction. Indeed, however Congress accomplishes this remedy, it is essential that all women and men have access to comprehensive reproductive health care.

“And while Congress must act to remedy this grave injustice perpetrated by our Supreme Court, it is incumbent upon all of us to challenge the shift in our society that endows corporations with rights that ought to be reserved for people. We could do so much better, if only we would create the political will.

The Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, is the Director for Public Witness at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness in Washington, DC.