The GA ticket office was telling people yesterday that tickets were sold out for the Witherspoon Awards Luncheon, which will be Sunday, June 18, at 12:30 in Sheraton Ballroom V and IX (does it sound we’re divided??) .

Well, in the great Christian of hospitality, we’ve ordered more places, so we will have more tickets available at the door on Sunday. We hope you’ll come and find a place at the table!

The General Assembly will be receiving a Commissioners' Resolution which praises efforts by the PC(USA), the Presbyterian Church of Colombia and the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship to provide volunteers to accompany church workers who are in danger because of their work for human rights in Colombia.

The resolution also calls for continued support for the accompaniment program, and urges changes in US policies and actions in Colombia.

Does anyone know how they decide moderators? ... My minister said moderators have usually come from small churches... Rick's church in Tucson, AZ, was hard to find in a mostly Mexican section of town. I would have bet on the minister from Iowa. Thanks for your posting on the General Assembly.

Martha

After presentations from the four candidates for moderator of the PC(USA), and an hour of their responding to questions from commissioners and Youth Advisory Delegates, the General Assembly has just elected the Rev. Joan Gray as its new Moderator.

She was elected on the third ballot, by a vote of 307 to 152 for the Rev. Deborah Block, 20 for the Rev. Tim Halverson, and 19 for the Rev. Kerry Carson.

The first round of votes was remarkably close: Block received 143, Gray 139, Halverson 113, and Carson 109.

For some background on Joan Grey, you might look at her responses to the questions submitted by the Witherspoon Society to her and the other three moderatorial candidates.

Gray has served seven churches in the Atlanta area, most recently as interim pastor of College Park Presbyterian Church.

She has filled leadership positions at the presbytery and General Assembly levels of the PC(USA). She was moderator of Greater Atlanta presbytery for one term, and has served on numerous presbytery committees.

She has co-authored Presbyterian Polity for Church Officers, and is known as an expert on church polity, having served on the GA Advisory Committee on the Constitution, Moderator of the Permanent Judicial Commission, Presbytery Council, and much more. She has held teaching positions as adjunct faculty at Columbia Theological Seminary and Johnson C. Smith Seminary, as well as teaching in the Princeton Theological Seminary Continuing Education program. She has also served in pastoral ministry in seven different congregations.

Nevertheless, in her opening statement to the General Assembly, she made clear that "polity is not going to save us." She told of her own experiences in working for the healing of "some congregations so broken I almost despaired. But when we broadened our focus and threw ourselves on the mercy of God, we began to move forward."   The full story >>

Report from Presbyterian News Service    [6-16-06]

A Colorado businessman and elder has contributed a historic $150 million gift to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) aimed at helping presbyteries start new churches, transform struggling congregations and develop new racial-ethic congregations.

The money from Stanley W. Anderson of Denver, CO, for the new Loaves and Fishes Church Growth Fund will be distributed to presbyteries through grants ranging from $250,000 to $1 million each. Presbyteries will be required to apply for the grants and will have to match a portion of it.

Word of the money came through a surprise announcement Thursday that electrified those attending the opening of the PC(USA)’s 217th General Assembly here, prompting commissioners to stand and cheer.

Presbytery mission causes and Presbyterian seminaries will also benefit from the money.

Prof. Mark Lewis Taylor of Princeton Seminary answers with analysis of the "rise of an imperial triumvirate."     [6-15-06]

One of the first events of the Presbyterian General Assembly on Wednesday, June14, was the gathering of Witherspooners and many others at First Presbyterian Church of Birmingham, to hear Dr. Mark Taylor discuss the trends and troubles that are shaping Americans’ lives today.

He explored what he sees as the three major elements controlling America today: the radical Christian Right, particularly the "theo-cons" who want to create a theocracy (or even a "Christocracy") in the US; the "neo-cons" who have been dominant in the development of American foreign policy during the Bush administration; and the high echelon of corporate power. These three, the "triumvirate," interact and cooperate with each other, especially since 9/11 shattered the "myth of American safety," and drove people to search for new narratives to restore their confidence and self-esteem as a nation. The triumvirate has met that need by romanticising the American past and the present American State, and thus harnessing "our peoples’ desire for belonging."

Taylor urged that progressives, if they are to have any influence at all in the US, must offer a similar narrative. And we must be aware of the danger of such narratives, blending religious and political nationalism, can only lead farther to the right – as we have seen in the rise of National Socialism in Germany, and more recently fascism in Latin America.

See the full text of Taylor’s talk in PDF format >>

Christian Israeli urges divestment

Before Taylor spoke, the group of some 80 people heard a short, powerful presentation from Angela Godfrey-Goldstein, a woman of Christian faith who describes herself as "half-Jewish," who is one of the leaders of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. She spoke of the devastation being wrought among Palestinians, as Israel has demolished some 14,000 Palestinian homes in the last 40 years, in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. "If that isn’t causing the terror, I don’t know what is," she commented. "Israel is a militarized society, and change isn’t going to come from within Israel.

If you’re looking for resources on many social and health issues before the General Assembly, the Presbyterian Health, Education and Welfare Association, with a greatly improved website may offer just what you need.

The Institute for Religion and Democracy, along with Presbyterian Action for Faith and Freedom, and The Committee to End Divestment Now, is sponsoring an address by R. James Woolsey, former director of the CIA, at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, June 16th, at the Medical Forum (third floor).

Taylor Branch - author of Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63 - will be speaking at the Presbyterian Historical Society Luncheon on Tuesday, June 20. This is the Pulitzer Prize winner whose book includes Birmingham's civil rights struggles. (Good for the Historical Society!)

It is too late to order advance tickets and, when the word gets out, it may be difficult to get tickets in Birmingham. But often in the past "auditors" have been allowed in at luncheons even though they can't get lunch.

Dr. Norman Finkelstein, who recently sent a letter to all commissioners stating his support of the PC(USA) divestment discussions, along with his book, Beyond Chutzpah, is planning to visit the General Assembly and observe meetings of the Assembly Committee #11, Peacemaking and International Issues, on Friday, June 16, where various overtures from PCUSA Presbyteries relating to Israel/Palestine are to be discussed.

Presbyterian Will McGarvey calls for continued support of divestment

McGarvey, a Presbyterian minister who has recently returned from last month's Steps Toward Peace conference, sees "the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza" as the real issue.   More >>

Middle East caucus urges reaffirmation of 2004 selective, phased divestment decision

Both investment and divestment needed, says group

Both investment and divestment must happen in order to end hostilities in Israel and Palestine, the National Middle Eastern Presbyterian Caucus (NMEPC) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) said in a newly released statement.   More >>

With multiple wars boiling, and another in the oven, the 62 year old Presbyterian Peace Fellowship will borrow the traditional "laying on of hands" ceremony to bless a tower of cardboard boxes at its Peace Breakfast on Saturday June 17 at the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly meeting in Birmingham, AL. The breakfast begins at 6:45 am at the Sheraton Hotel.  The boxes contain the first round of 2100 appeal letters to members of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, seeking pledges toward the $2 million goal of the Endowment Campaign.  More >>

The statement adds:

Since TAMFS affirms elements of the authoritative interpretation proposed by the Task Force to be appropriate constitutional provisions (See longer response in "On Not Growing Weary in Well-Doing".) of which governing bodies should be aware, we believe it would be positive to raise the provisions of G-6.0108 up to presbyteries and sessions for their consideration in dealing with candidates for ordination and/or installation.

The full text of the TAMFS statement >>

We recently posted the text of a letter sent by Norman G. Finkelstein, who teaches political science at DePaul University in Chicago, to all GA commissioners.  In his letter, speaking as a Jew, he urges them to support the Presbyterian action on to consider "a phased, selective divestment from companies profiting from Israel's occupation."

We have received numerous critical notes from people who, also speaking as Jews, said that Finkelstein most definitely does not speak for them, or for the vast majority of Jewish people in America.  As a non-expert in this area, your WebWeaver will not pretend to judge between the very different points of view, but we present three anti-divestment opinions here.

Jewish groups cooperating to head off divestment

Here’s a report from The Jewish Week ("Serving the Jewish Community of Greater New York") giving their view on the current Presbyterian debate as it comes to the General Assembly.

The article quotes Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor, inter-religious director for the Anti-Defamation League, as saying that the real issue should not be divestment, but "how to deal with the structural anti-Semitism that still exists in segments of the church that allows for divestment and for this de-legitimization of Israel." We’re not sure what that means, but it seems to be a pretty serious charge.

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Another supporter of Israel directly criticizes Finkelstein.  She begins:

I was frankly surprised to find a letter from Norman Finkelstein featured with approval on the Witherspoon Society page.   Finkelstein is a sort of crackpot intellectual, the fact that some of his ideas are congenial is no excuse for mistaking describing him as a responsible scholar.

The rest of Ms. Appelbaum's note >>

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Letter from 12 Jewish organizations urges commissioners to oppose divestment

Another letter has also been sent to commissioners, not by an individual, but by twelve large Jewish organizations. One friend tells us that this represents what the "real Jewish community" in the United States feels.

The organizations include the American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation League, B’nai B’rith International, and more.  The text of the letter >>

PFJI Network (Presbyterians for Just Immigration) meeting is Monday, June 19 from 12:30-2:30 in the North G meeting room at the Convention Center. They invite you to take your lunch and join them. And if you know of anyone that may be interested in attending, they urge you to pass this information along to them.

Commissioners preparing for the coming General Assembly have received great heaps of letters and other communications from people and groups wanting them to hear their point of view. And there may be just a few among those commissioners who have not quite kept up with the paper flood.

But one letter in the flood is worth reading, whether you’re a commissioner or not.

Norman G. Finkelstein, who teaches political science at DePaul University in Chicago, has long paid attention to the Israel-Palestine conflict, and has worked for lasting peace between the two nations.

His letter reflects both his experience and his concerns, and explains why he supports the Presbyterian study of the possibility of what he rightly calls "a phased, selective divestment from companies profiting from Israel's occupation."