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Presbyterians in the news


Presbyterian teacher in Indonesia helps Americans learn, too

Rebecca Blair Young, a PC(USA) mission co-worker, teaches systematic theology at Jakarta Theological Seminary in Indonesia. She has also served as liaison for tsunami relief with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. Young has now written a three-session series on Hinduism for the downloadable Thoughtful Christian curriculum (# TC0401) available online. The third session "looks at the influence of Hinduism on American culture in order to encourage a deeper understanding about Hindus and their faith that goes beyond the clichés prevalent in the media."

Temple of Understanding names a Presbyterian as an "Interfaith Visionary"

Clark Lobenstine, a Presbyterian minister and for 31 years the executive director of the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington [DC] (IFC), has been named by the Temple of Understanding as an "Interfaith Visionary" on the occasion of the Temple's fiftieth anniversary. Other persons to be presented as Interfaith Visionaries at the celebration on October 19 in New York City include Desmond Tutu and Prince Hassan of Jordan. Lobenstine is a parish associate at Silver Spring Presbyterian Church. See his biography.

Relationships of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Conference center becomes home to an intentional interfaith community
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Led by directors Rick and Kitty Ufford-Chase (pictured left), Stony Point Conference Center has launched an intentional interfaith community known as the Community of Living Traditions. Interested persons are invited to apply for residency for a fall, spring, or full year. This residential community is motivated by a desire to foster interfaith peacemaking. A Jewish house is led by Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb (pictured, near right) of the Shomer Shalom Institute for Jewish Nonviolence. The house for Muslim participants is led by Rabia Terri Harris of the Muslim Peace Fellowship. A third group is related to the Luke 6 Project (A Christian Community for Nonviolence, Justice and Care for Creation). See information on the application process. The Stony Point Center, a PC(USA) national conference facility, is located an hour outside New York City.

Congregations relate to "neighbors of non-Christian religious traditions"

Results of a survey of congregations for the year ending December 31, 2007, showed that  about half stated they worked with neighbors of non-Christian religious traditions to respond to human needs or undertake other service activities. About a fourth make intentional efforts to build relationships with neighbors of other religious traditions. Only seven percent said they had specific plans to share the gospel with Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and others of other faith traditions in their communities.

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Conversations with Muslim group underway

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) began national conversations with Muslims related to Warith Deen Mohammed, the late influential African-American leader, in October 2008 before his death. The Muslim Journal has called the group the "largest constituent of Muslims in America." There had been sporadic relationships with this community over the past 17 years. Presbyterians were a key component in a locally-based consultation between African-American Christians and Muslims in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1992, a gathering intended to contribute to national understandings. Former PC(USA) moderator Fahed Abu-Akel addressed the group's annual convention during his term of service. Most recently, PC(USA) staff have visited conventions. See the goals of the conversations, as they were finally formulated.

MORE: Ecumenical initiatives with Muslims in the U.S. in which the PC(USA) participates

           Text of PC(USA) brochure on Christians and Muslims

Consultation with Muslims is part of GA preparatory process

As preparation was underway for the presentation of a new document on Christian-Muslim relations to the 219th General Assembly (2010), PC(USA) staff called together both Christians and Muslims to discuss the issues involved. In the picture above are some of the participants--a Muslim woman and three Muslim men, four PC(USA) staff, and three other Presbyterian Christians of whom two are seminary professors.

Chicago Presbyterians and Muslims kick off a year of dialogue

The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC) has had a relationship with the Presbytery of Chicago — and there have been relationships between individual mosques and church congregations — but now there is an agreed intention for them to expand. In the fall of 2009, CIOGC and the presbytery signed a declaration initiating a Year of Muslim-Christian Dialogue for " understanding and relationship . . . friendship and discovery." The signing venue was an event planned in conjunction with the PC(USA)'s Interfaith Listening program. Representatives of presbytery congregations and mosques / Islamic centers in the Chicago area made presentations on their histories, traditions, and experiences. Interfaith Listening speaker Mary Mikhael, president of the Near East School of Theology in Beirut, spoke, emphasizing that the most effective resource for understanding between Muslims and Christians is personal relationships, not books. Zaher Sahloul of CIOGC expressed gratitude for the PC(USA)'s advocacy for peace and stability in the Middle East. The presbytery's executive presbyter is Robert Reynolds and the chair for its interfaith work is Jay Moses (pictured) (see blog for November 8).

"It is not our duty to judge, but to witness . . ."

Presbyterians at the third annual Presbyterian Global Fellowship conference in August 2008 heard John Azumah of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana -- a scholar in Christian-Muslim relations born into a Muslim family -- tell them, “It is not our duty to judge, but to witness, to tell truthfully what we have seen. If only we can just mind our own business, then the Holy Spirit will do the rest of it.” He said witness involves knowing Muslims as individuals, engaging with them in love and respect, sharing personal testimonies of faith, then "waiting on the Lord" -- the last of these being very hard for North Americans, he observed.

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PC(USA) relations with the Jewish community in recent years are recounted

If a reading of press releases were to be the measure for the quality of relationships between Presbyterian Christians and Jews, they would readily be characterized as constantly shifting. In recent years, Presbyterian and Jewish leaders have encountered a series of mutual  hopes and disappointments.

The PC(USA) stated clerk and key leaders of congregational Judaism issued a joint statement In December 2006 saying that they had turned toward a "new season of dialogue and understanding." Gary Greenebaum of the AJC said they would set a serious theological agenda because "if we just deal with politics, we’ll never get too far.” Indeed, Presbyterian-Jewish dialogue consultations thereafter looked at three key issues needing attention -- land, covenant, and evangelism.

The Decembeer 2006 agreement included several commitments:

  • to bring congregations together for fellowship / study
  • to join in public policy efforts
  • to work to articulate their positions on Israel and Palestine clearly and faithfully
  • to recommend selected Israeli and Palestinian organizations and projects for congregational involvement and support

Reform Judaism's Eric Yoffie (pictured below) said they were not in the same place on Israel, "but the significant differences that generated so much anger . . . have been addressed.”

A list of institutions that might be supported through "positive alternatives for investing in Mid-East peace and development" was developed as a cooperative effort of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Union for Reform Judaism, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation, following the December 2006 agreement. "No endorsement of any of these organizations is intended," according to the PC(USA) release of the list. "However, we do encourage congregations and individuals to look into the work of these groups and to consider supporting and/or visiting them."

Nevertheless, the Jewish daily Forward of January 30, 2008 declared that Jewish relations with the PC(USA) were strained following "remarks by church officials criticizing Israel." Jewish leaders complained that “the anti-Israel tone of your statement calls into serious question whether the season of mutual understanding we welcomed . . . has yet arrived.” Again in June 2008 a joint Jewish statement said that the "season for which we continue to hope has indeed not yet arrived." Mark Pelavin of the Reform movement's interreligious office said, “We’re frustrated and angry, but that doesn’t mean we will walk away.” (See a 2005 article by Pelavin titled "We Can't Go It Alone.")

Following the PC(USA)'s 218th General Assembly (2008), nine Jewish organizations welcomed the Assembly's action in adopting an overture from National Capital Presbytery that asks Presbyterians to be “nonpartisan advocates for peace who do not “over-identify with . . . Israelis or Palestinians" but "identify with the need for peacemaking voices." The action says, "We will avoid taking broad stands that simplify a very complex situation into a caricature of reality where one side clearly is at fault and the other side is clearly the victim." Nonetheless, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) said it was not happy with the same General Assembly's endorsement of the Amman Call of the World Council of Churches.

As the time for the 219th General Assembly (2010) approaches, a paper on Jewish-Christian relations is on the agenda. So, too, is a major new study on the Middle East.

Reform Jews and Presbyterian Christians have a common study resource

A resource for joint congregational study and discussion, Open Doors, Open Minds, was prepared by the Union for Reform Judaism, and Presbyterians will find additional help for such a study in the Presbyterian Supplement created as a companion piece. See the Open Doors, Open Minds Follow-up Programming suggestions on the Reform Judaism web site

A pastor tells what he has learned from Judaism

The Association of Presbyterian Christian Educators (APCE), at its 2010 conference, heard pastor Michael Lindvall of Brick Presbyterian Church, New York City, describe some of what he has learned from Judaism. First, he expressed appreciation for Judaism's tradition of storytelling and Jews' dedication to "doing" Judaism—to expressing belief through practices such as Shabbat observance, keeping kosher, celebrating bat and bar mitzahs. Secondly, he pointed to "faithful questioning" that understands faith does not mean having no questions.

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Presbyterians in mission relate to people of other faiths

Do you want to follow the work of Presbyterian mission around the world in interfaith efforts? Here are some sample people and institutions:
* Rebecca Young at the Jakarta Theological Seminary in Indonesia, facilitates interreligious discussions and working with students who want to learn about other religions in order to be equipped to dialogue. Her seminary is now involved in preparation of teachers of Christianity for the country's schools and the new curriculum they will teach.

* Bernie Adeney-Risakotta, serves as director of the innovative Indonesian Consortium on Religious Studies, and Farsijana Adeney-Risakotta works with the Indonesian Women's Coalition, a primarily Muslim group

* At the Institute for Religion, Culture and Peace at Payap University, Chiang Mai, Thailand, John Butt, though officially retired as a PC(USA) mission worker, is senior advisor

* Peter Armacost , president of Forman Christian College in Lahore, Pakistan, points to the college's goals both to create a model of interfaith harmony and to serve Pakistan's Christian community


Links to interfaith organizations

Click on logo to go to organization's web site. Click on name to go to news on this web site.

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Council for a
Parliament of the World's Religions

 

North American Interfaith Network (NAIN)

 

Religions for Peace (WCRP)

 

United Religions Initiative (URI)

 

Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC)

 

National Conference for Community

and Justice (NCCJ)

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Links to more interfaith organizations on other web sites:
At the Charter for Compassion web site

At the North American Interfaith Network web site

An interfaith calendar for 2010, showing dates for observances of various religions

On this web site:
Interfaith Principles: a statement adopted by the PC(USA) General Assembly

A Model Statement of Interfaith Commitment: a locally-prepared statement

On the PC(USA) web site:

Interfaith Relations: information and news from the PC(USA) office of interfaith relations

Interfaith Toolkit: resources for reflection and how-to-do suggestions

Seeking Unity, Building Community: a blog of the personal reflections of the PC(USA) staff for both ecumenical and interfaith relations

A Theological Understanding of the Relationship between Christians and Jews: a PC(USA) statement (1987)

Christians and Jews: the text of a brochure summarizing PC(USA) understandings 

  Christians and Muslims: the text of a brochure summarizing PC(USA) understandingsu


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