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Ecumenical & Interfaith
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Linking People, News, Information, and Resources - |
x Interfaith Relations
| Relationships of PC(USA) | Links to interfaith organizations | Link to an interfaith calendar | x\ 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"
Relationships of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Conference center becomes home to an intentional interfaith community
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. 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.
"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. x 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:
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.”
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,
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. x 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: * 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.
Links to more interfaith organizations on other web sites:
On this web site:
On the PC(USA) web site:
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Clark Lobenstine, a Presbyterian minister and for 31 years the executive director of the
Other persons to be presented 
Led by directors Rick and Kitty Ufford-Chase (pictured left), Stony Point Conference Center has launched an intentional interfaith community known as the 
Jewish house is led by Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb (pictured, near right) of the 
A list of institutions that might be supported through "
was prepared by the Union for Reform Judaism, and Presbyterians will find additional help for such a study in the 
At the © 2006 Ecumenical & Interfaith Network - PCUSA
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