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Matthew 25
The Poor People’s Campaign held a virtual pep rally this week to encourage the public to head to Washington, D.C., for an in-person Moral March that’s being organized to stimulate voter turnout and push for policies to uplift people who are struggling under the weight of poverty.
Beginning in 2016, the Presbytery of Philadelphia began shepherding the congregations of three struggling churches — First African Presbyterian, Good Shepherd Presbyterian, and Calvin Presbyterian — in a process that eventually led to the formation of a new, vibrant church: New River Presbyterian Church.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has affirmed since 2016 a commitment to mission and ministry as guided by Matthew 25. That commitment, to building vital congregations, dismantling structural racism, and eradicating systemic poverty, is meant to move us into deeper understandings of who we are called to be as followers of Jesus Christ and how we are called to love our neighbors.
Flautist, futurist, bandleader and composer Nicole Mitchell Gantt joined the Rev. Jermaine Ross-Allam Wednesday for the second installment of the Matthew 25 series, “Imagining a Future Beyond Systemic Poverty and Structural Racism.”
The Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, a Presbyterian pastor who co-founded the Poor People’s Campaign and directs the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights & Social Justice, took 75 minutes Wednesday evening for the first of two scheduled Zoom conversations on the Matthew 25 Movement’s foci of eradicating systemic poverty and dismantling structural racism.
“I always see people in our congregations eager to do some kind of service with our neighbors. Their first thought is often that that’s meeting a basic need, some sort of hands-on giving someone food or drink or clothing or shelter,” said the Rev. Rebekah LeMon, senior pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. “But we have to ask ourselves, as people of faith, why our systems don’t allow everyone to have food, clothing, shelter and welcome.” For the past six years, LeMon has served on the board of Presbyterians for a Better Georgia (PBG). “Advocacy is the way we try to create systemic change that would better support all of our neighbors.”
While most pastors devote Holy Week to poring over commentaries, planning worship and washing feet, the Rev. Caroline Vickery also washes clothes.
At the local laundromat.
“Between 2 Pulpits” hosts the Rev. Dr. John Wilkinson and Katie Snyder called on the Rev. Dr. Laurie Kraus to wrap up their One Great Hour of Sharing podcast series by highlighting and illustrating the intersections of disaster assistance, ending hunger and the self-development of people.
The PC(USA)’s Office of the Middle East and Europe, part of the World Mission ministry, is presenting a webinar titled “Roma in Europe: Living on the Margins.”
In an ongoing series of prison-related stories from around the world, this article will take us to Pakistan, one of the several countries in the Indian Subcontinent of South Asia located between the Himalayas in the north and the Indian Ocean to the south.
