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Welcome to Perspectives,
the online magazine published by the Office of the General Assembly.
Perspectives
offers an exploration of issues facing the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
and its witness in society through
- reflective and
provocative analysis of our life together as a denomination, and
- the lenses of
Scripture, Reformed theology, cultures, and a constitutional and confessional
framework.
IN THIS ISSUE:
Mission work and witness alongside and on behalf of others in the name of the risen Christ, whether nearby or half a world away, is the focus of this month’s issue.
Here’s a brief look at the articles:
 In an Easter message to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Setri Nyomi, General Secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, focuses on the relationship between the resurrection of our risen Lord and peace. It is the kind of peace that makes a difference: “God’s peace should be spoken by the church, not as a lame platitude, but accompanied by an intention to be God’s agent of transformation in bringing peace.”
In response to a resolution passed by the 217th General Assembly (2006), the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will join in a Week of Prayer and Witness with Christians in the Middle East between Easter and Pentecost, April 8 through May 27. All congregations are invited to participate for one week during this time. Resources created by the offices of the General Assembly Council and volunteers from the Israel/Palestine Mission Network are available for use, including the “Prayer for Repatterning Our Lives,” which is featured here. For details, visit this Web site.
The Fellowship of the Middle East Evangelical Churches is specifically inviting all of its partner churches to join them for prayer on Maundy Thursday, April 5. In their invitation, they write, “We Christians in the Middle East ask you to join us in prayers for our troubled region, which is in dire need to keep alive a vital Christian witness of love, justice, forgiveness and reconciliation. We Christians have been here since the first Pentecost and Evangelicals since the early19th century. We must not allow the lights of Middle Eastern Christianity to abate.”
Joey Byrd says that he has “The Best Job in the Army.” He is a Presbyterian minister serving our church as the brigade chaplain to the 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team in Camp Hovey, Korea. He writes, “The greatest joy I have in this ministry is just helping Soldiers. These men and women in uniform are just like you and me with the same challenges, struggles, and successes. It’s an honor to be asked by a young 19-year-old man far from home, ‘Sir, can I talk with you?’ In confidentiality and by God’s love and grace the Soldier shares his precious and unique story.” Byrd and his wife Carol, also a Presbyterian pastor here in the United States, are scheduled to move to Wiesbaden, Germany this summer.
The need for clean and accessible water is great and growing. According to the World Council of Churches, the lives of over one billion people are at risk because of the lack of adequate water and sanitation. The response to the need is also growing. The United Nations has called for an International Decade for Action ‘Water for Life,’ 2005 to 2015. The Synod of Living Waters has a well-established mission “ to serve as a resource to churches of all denominations, civic organizations and others in mission, enabling them to provide clean water to their partners in need.” The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) is also hard at work in this area. We feature an article by one of WARC’s vice-presidents, Ofelia Ortega. She writes, “Water is an element very much needed and almost miraculous. It is the mother of life. Our daughters and sons were in the water of our wombs. ‘Ya se rompió la fuente’ (‘The waters have broken’) is the phrase that we use in Latin America to announce that a baby is ready to be born. The water from our wombs is a sign of the life that is coming.” The article appears in Water—God’s Gift for Life, © 2006 by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. It is used here by permission.
An entirely different aspect of water is its potentially destructive nature. Those left in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita know all too well this deadly force. Cindy Droppers, an elder at Onida Presbyterian Church in Onida, South Dakota, is one of the countless Presbyterians who have journeyed to the Gulf Coast to provide assistance. We close with Droppers’ experience in her own words in “Out of Chaos, Hope,” which was originally published in the January 2007 issue of Oahe Messenger, a publication of Oahe Presbyterian Church of Pierre, South Dakota. It is used here by permission. Photographs of the trip, taken by Meleta DeJong, are available on their Web site. Do
you have suggestions for future issues or other comments to share? Drop
us a line.
Sharon
K. Youngs, Editor
.
All Rights Reserved.
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